Day 12  Our final trip with Ben our bus driver.  He dropped us off in a torrential downpour, thunderstorm and even some hail.  We had such great weather otherwise, but no waiting on the bus until it passes since Ben can't block the street.  After checking in, we take the metro as a group.  It is quite breathtaking to leave the metro station and have the Colosseum right in front of you in the middle of a bustling modern city.  We toured the Colosseum, the Forum and the Pantheon with our local guide.  It is really hard to digest just how old everything is!

 

Day 13  Our final full day as a group.  Off to the Vatican and Sistine Chapel.  Just like so many other stops on this tour, as part of the Rick Steves tour we get admitted with no waiting while others are in line for hours! A definite perk!!! We toured with a local guide and then were on our own to explore St Peter's and experience The Pieta...breathtaking!  We explored more of Rome in the afternoon and then off to our farewell dinner and a final moonlit walk in Rome to visit the many lit sculptures  including the Trevi Fountain, of course!  We sure hope we return.  It was hard to believe that our amazing trip with our new found travel companions was over.

 

Day 14  The group is going its separate ways.  We elected to spend today in Rome and fly home tomorrow.  We explored some more sights in Rome including the Borgese Gallery.  What a collection of amazing sculpture.  We met up with some of the others from our tour who stayed and enjoyed another last dinner together.  So, as Stephan said, "Andiamo" !!