Another Friday the 13th..we had one last month too.  Remember…anytime the 1st falls on a Sunday there will be a Friday the 13th.  Worthless Trivia.

Today, we went to Three (3) churches!  The first and second are right together at the beginning of the Roman Forum.  They have never been open when I passed by…but today they were.  Not sure what one church was called, but the other seems to be dedicated to Mary…like the other million churches in Rome!  As usual, beautiful with lovely mosaics and lovely little chapels.  We walked past the Forum and the Coloseo…they are cleaning it, so there is a lot of scaffolding around parts.  Last year, on April 1st, I received a daily Italian post I subscribe to that told the amazing news that in order to raise money to preserve the Coloseo, 25 luxury apartments were being developed along the wall.  They were to be the most expensive property in Italy.  I nearly broke out in hives…I wanted one…I would sell everything I owned just to have one of these tiny apartments.  Just before I started hyperventilating, I got to the end of the article…yep…April Fools Day!  They got me!  Oh well…it was exciting to dream on that one for a minute!  Then we continued on to the Basilica of San Clemente.  The floors of this church are like the ones in St. Mark’s  in Venice…all marble quilt patterns in different colors.  There is a lovely apse that has a band of sheep circling it, just like we saw in Santa Maria of Trastevere last month.  Did the same artist do both?  Or is one a copy?  I don’t know.  Below this church is an underground home with a pagan altar and a pagan sarcophagus as well as many Christian frescoes.  All of this was covered in the 4th century to build the Basilica.  Unfortunately, there are only tours for groups, so we had to just read small plaques to figure out what we were seeing.  Hopped a bus and headed for our area and ended up back at our new favorite restaurant…where Andy had a salad of arugula, Gorgonzola, walnuts, Parmesan cheese and a wonderful balsamic dressing.  I had a scooped out avocado, mixed with shrimp, Roma tomatoes, onions, lettuce and a delightful dressing.  We love this place and Vince the chef.  Back home to read and recuperate.  Until tomorrow….Oh, before I forget…last week two American girls were caught carving thei initials in the walls of the Coloseum.  Did these morons check their brains with their baggage?  The fines will be quite hefty…hope they lift their passports and never let them back into Italy again…maybe a ‘No Fly’ list for idiots who think they are entitled…I think they made a selfie…MORONS!