Today was our last Sunday in Rome. Which is why I am sitting here this evening tired and sore.

We caught an early (well, early for us) bus to the Piazza Venezie and went on a church hunt. There are scores of them in the city, and we hadn’t seem enough. So after walking to the Pantheon, we hit Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, San Luigi dei Francesi, Santa Maria in Trastevere and, somewhere in there, visited the private museum Doria Pamphiilj (where we saw three Caravaggio).

We also had lunch at Gli Amici, a restaurant with a connection to the Comunita di Sant’Egidio that pairs workers with disabilities with volunteers who, together, try to build an atmosohere that doesn’t separate but exemplifies friendship. The foods pretty good, too.

It’s been a full weekend, starting on Friday night when we attended a performance at the Roma Jazz Festival. We scored tickets to hear a group of musicians, led by drummer Roberto Gatto, play a full set of prorgressive rock/jazz. I could have done without the first three numbers, which seemed like musicians in search of a sound (especially when vocalist John De Leo began impersonating Bobby McFerrin). But ultimately the group began rocking, and the house responded with a well-deserved call for an encore.

And now we begin our final four full days in Rome, trying to catch every last bit of magic this city has to offer before we fly out on Friday. Maybe, and I’m just gonna put this out there, less of that magic will be sought in churches. Think I’ve seen my share for this trip.

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