ROME We arrive in Rome about ten o’clock in the morning and transfer to our hotel for check-in and lunch. It feels great to shower, change clothes and rest for a while. We stay at the Hotel Tiziano, located in the midst of Rome’s historic center, just five minutes walk from the Piazza Navona and the Campo dei Fiore. (We have listed all of our hotels and show their locations on city maps later in this brochure.)One of the main attractions of Rome is its incredible art history, rich in ancient architecture, impressive churches, great museums, renaissance paintings and sculpture. Modern Rome also offers a great deal for the visitor, with the many contemporary shops displaying fashion and design, and the world-famous restaurants serving up much more than just spaghetti. During our stay here you will have ample time to choose your own things to see, and we will also provide several walking tours and many suggestions to help you get the most out of your time.Our first walking tour will bring you into the Piazza Navona, with its picture-postcard perfect St. Agnese Church, and stunning Fountain of the Four Rivers by Bernini - an artist we will encounter several more times in Rome, for he was the greatest of all the Baroque sculptors and architects. This Piazza is considered one of the most beautiful and lively outdoor spaces in the city, and you will probably return here on your own, for it is interesting night and day, and just minutes away from our hotel. From here we walk two short blocks to the best-preserved ancient building in Rome — the Pantheon. This is a perfect structure, still standing with its great dome intact after one thousand nine hundred years. It was the largest dome in the world until this century, and forms a spherical room. It was designed by the emperor Hadrian in A.D. 125, and has served a variety of historical functions over its many years. It is situated on the Piazza della Rotunda, which offers several outstanding cafes and restaurants, and a beautiful fountain with Egyptian obelisk. A fitting place for our first refreshment of the walk — perhaps some rich Italian ice cream around the corner at Giulitti’s, the city’s best gelateria, or have an espresso at Café D’Oro, reputedly the best in town. We walk to another incredible church, St. Ignazio, with its illusionistic ceiling mural painted during the 17th century by Pozzo, in a three-dimensional perspective that will truly amaze your eyes with its vivid realistic depiction of the heavens opening above. Notice the stage-setting quality of its small piazza in front. A few blocks away is the spectacular Trevi Fountain, made famous by the movies and arguably the world’s most beautiful fountain. We walk a few more blocks to the Spanish Steps and its lively piazza, to settle in for dinner in any of a dozen fine restaurants in this neighborhood. If you are still up for a walk, the hotel is just fifteen minutes away, or if this day has caught up with you, just peel off and hop in a cab at any time during the walk and you’re home with no effort at all. Tonight you will probably sleep well and readjust your biological clock to European time.Our morning city tour will take you to some of the most important highlights of Rome, with a local guide who will bring us to the Colosseum and many other important landmarks, explaining their history and significance. In the afternoon we visit St. Peters, the most spectacular church in the world, and walk through it with your guide who will explain many of its features. During this tour you will have an optional chance to visit the Vatican Museum, or you can have the afternoon free to go shopping or pursue your own interests.For those going to the museum, you can have a convenient lunch right in the Vatican cafeteria, and then your Hawaii escort will guide you through this huge museum, bringing you to the most important art works. The grand climax here is the breathtaking ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by the greatest of all renaissance masters, Michelangelo.This evening, after a rest at our hotel, step out for dinner, Roman style! Numerous trattorias abound in the side streets near the hotel, and after dinner take a walk in this colorful neighborhood for more great evening sights, and some further refreshments.Next morning we will take you on another walking tour of Rome that will show you some of the most fascinating and historic neighborhoods, and then later in the afternoon you can relax, and shop in the area near the hotel. The walk will begin at the Palazzo Farnese, one of the most famous renaissance palaces of the city, currently housing the French Embassy. Nearby is the Campo dei Fiore, a colorful market that has been in business for three hundred years. Its fruit and vegetable stands are quite popular with the local residents, and you will even find some clothing stalls and souvenirs scattered among the local wares. We visit these charming narrow streets along Via Giulia and experience the heart of historic Rome.We then walk a few minutes to the Chiesa Nuova, elaborately decorated in the high baroque style, and then on to the Ponte Sant’Angelo, the lovely bridge across the Tiber with baroque angels carved by Bernini. Walking the cobblestone ancient lanes in this quiet neighborhood will be one of the most interesting experiences of our entire European tour. We will see artisans working in shops unchanged for centuries; fruit and flower stands for the local residents; many attractive restaurants; little fountain faces popping out of walls; stray cats prowling the alleys; ivy-covered brick walls 400 years old.This afternoon is free for you to pursue your own interests – perhaps shopping on the busy Via del Corso or visiting another one of the many museums, or simply walking through the quiet back lanes of this amazing place.To sum it up, Rome is one of the most exciting cities in the world to visit. It offers the best of the old and the new: art history, delicious foods, attractive shops, and fascinating neighborhoods.