Day 1

We flew all night and arrived in Rome at 7:00 am (Rome time--2:00 am CT time).  We breezed through passport control, got our bags and met Richard Bowen, our tour guide for the next week.  We then jumped into our coach bus and drove south to Benevento.  Along the way we stopped for a break and this was the view from the parking lot.

We arrived in Benevento and immediately saw this statue, a war memorial for the first World War.  I snapped a picture of it because it shows clearly the "fasces"--the bundles of sticks, with axes, that were a symbol of power in the days of ancient Rome.

We then went into town and ducked inside the Church of St. Sofia.  As you can see, the church "recycled" materials from buildings in Ancient Roman times.  This is something one sees throughout Italy.

We then went to see Trajan's Arch.  The emperor Trajan was one of the "Five Great Emperors" and was the first Roman emperor to be born outside of Rome--in Spain.  Trajan was a great military leader, conquering the Dacians and the Parthians.  Under his leadership the Roman Empire expanded to its greatest extent.

On our way through Benevento we also saw this Egyptian obelisk.  This was brought back by the Romans from Egypt.

We then went to see the Roman theater.  The theater held between 15,000 and 20,000 and is one of the better preserved theaters in Italy.

After having lunch in Benevento, we climbed back into our coach bus and drove to Sorrento where we are staying.  Sorrento is on the ocean, across the Bay of Naples from Mt. Vesuvius.  The boys will climb Mt. Vesuvius tomorrow.  The mountain erupted in 69 AD and buried the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, which we will also see tomorrow.

On the other side of the road from the view of Vesuvius are cliffs.  These cliffs are right next to our hotel.

We then went out to a wonderful dinner.

 Afterwards, we all went out for some gelato and, I hope, followed by a good night's sleep.  There will be many more pictures tomorrow.

Ciao!  A domani!