My trip continues!

Dear friends,

Thank you so much for your words of encouragement!! :-) My trip has only gotten better since I last wrote to you. Later that day, we sang a beautiful mass in St. Peter's Basilica and a brief concert in the Sistine Chapel. I was not able to sing for the solo quartet in the Sistine Chapel, so the other quartet was given the privilege, but the acoustics in there were unbelievable and it is a memory I will treasure forever. And Thursday afternoon, my luggage arrived!

Friday I toured the Roman National Museum and then toured the Scavi....the excavations two levels below St. Peter's Basilica and saw the tomb where they found the remains of the apostle Peter and the evidence which strongly supports the claim. In the evening, I attended a concert of the Mozart Mass in C minor at St. John Lateran.

Yesterday, I toured the Pantheon and the Spanish Steps and bought myself an Italian purse. I've been looking everywhere for a gift for Eric, but mostly I find things geared toward women, and all the t-shirts are so thin you can see through them. I don't want to go home without a gift for him, but I don't want to buy something shabby just to buy something either.

In the evening, we went to a gala dinner with 6 courses, all the wine you can drink and a cup of espresso, complete with live entertainment - a guitarist, flautist and soprano. The guitarist even changed the lyrics of a song from "bella Maria" to "beautiful Ellie." It was so much fun.

The first time I was in Rome (2002), I did all the tours with the group. Last time, I did almost everything by myself, which I loved - experiencing the culture without other Americans arounds me. This time, I wanted to be with people, so I've gone to see some things I've already and some new things and really enjoyed the comradery of my friends.

I've been a very good girl, missing some things to get to bed early, and tonight my quartet will sing at St. Ignatius. Tomorrow, I fly home.