Rome Wasn't Built in a Day (2)

Monday morning I awoke early, refreshed and ready for a day of sightseeing and a concert in the evening. I started out the day with a walk by myself in the neighborhood around the hotel and stumbled upon the Arcibasilica Papale di San Giovanni in Laterano, the first Christian church in the city of Rome and the official seat of the Pope (who is the Bishop of Rome). It's a gorgeous church with many very old mosaics covering the walls on the inside. Here's a hint: if you want to see some of the many churches of Rome visit them during the week in the early mornings. I did this two days in a row and had each church basically all to myself. The above photo is the actual seat of the Pope.

After my stroll I met back up with the group and we boarded our bus toward the Vatican. Here we got a chance to visit the Vatican Museums, including the Sistine Chapel, and then tour St. Peter's Basilica. Afterward we had some free time for lunch and we hung out a bit in St. Peter's Square.

Following our morning in the city we headed out across the countryside to the small town of Gallicano, about 25 kilometers to the east of Rome. It was here, in the evening, that we rehearsed and performed our first concert in collaboration with a youth orchestra from the town of Palestrina, another smallish town about 20 minutes east of Gallicano. We snapped this picture in between rehearsal and concert of a poster hanging up in town:

The concert was a huge success. The church was packed, the students performed well, the audience loved it, and the Italian kids were genuinely excited to hear us perform. We were even presented with a plaque bearing official town seal after our performance.



Following the concert we went to a local restaurant for dinner with the Italian kids and some of their parents (great homemade pasta, delicious main course, awesome wine). Here the kids all got to hang out with each other and talk. It was really fun to watch them interact over the meal.

After dinner we went back to Rome for one last evening at our hotel. It was a beautiful day capped off by a great performance. The next morning we awoke headed to Florence.