What an interesting day today was. First we had a wonderful breakfast in our lovely hotel before heading to the subway. It was such a nice walk to the subway past all the enormous villas mostly owned by
foreign countries.Mom is getting to be a pro at the whole subway thing even though I know it is not one of her favorite things.
We took the train from Rome to Formia which is the town were I lived with my family from 6 to 11 years old. My father was stationed in the Navy in Gaeta, the beautiful sea side town next to Formia and where I went to the 
American school. We got off the train in Formia and waited for the public bus too the old town center of Gaeta.
While we waited we fed two adorable cats one that looked like Zaboo and one that looked like Simpka, my aunt’s two cats.
We go on the bus and traveled through the whole city and saw the Rock Garden hotel w
ere we stayed when we first arrived in Gaeta 30 years ago. We also went past the marina where I took my first sailing lessons. We ended up getting off the bus by the water as there were at least 40 teenagers who got on after school and were so loud and obnoxious we just had to transfer to another bus. God help that poor bus driver that puts up with these over indulged child
ren.
After, we transferred to a bus that took us past the house where we lived in Formia. The area around it is completely different now but there was enough left of the apartment building for us to recognize it.
It was really interesting experience and it does remind you that you can’t go back but you can, for a little bit, reminisce about the way things were. It’s great that there is so much new development and that the two towns are thriving, but secretly you can’t help but wish it was a little more like you remembered just for nostalgic reasons. The Navy is no longer docked in Gaeta and have moved to Naples and we were told by a local that if there were any American’s still living here they were very far and few between. Funny but for a long time
about 200 American families lived in this area and I can truly say that there is no trace of them/us having made any mark on these communities. This could be a good thing I suppose, but it does make you wonder how easily it is to inhabit a place and then when you leave to have no part of your existence left behind. I’d never want to leave a place worse than how I found it, which was not the case, but it would have been nice to see that we collectively made things just a little bit better or at least that it matter that we had been there at all.
We took the train back to Rome and went directly to the Vatican where we made it to 6:00pm mass in Saint Ann’s Chapel which is
nicely situated right in the Vatican wall off of Saint Peter’s Square. The adora
ble Swiss Guard allowed us in the gate and then directed us to mass. Those Swiss guards are adorable in those blue uniforms and the ones in the striped uniforms are even better to behold. Mass was particularly interesting as it began with a half hour of the Rosary, all in Italian of course, and then six persists came up on the tiny alter and proceeded to officiate the mass together. I thou
ght it was fun to watch like a play and it turns out it was all in honor of a visiting priest named Bruno who happened to be visiting on his namesake, Saint Bruno’s anniversary 
day.
After mass we walked to Saint Peter’s Square and although the Basilica was closed it was great to take pictures of the fountain and the magnificence of the Basilica lit up for the night.
A walk to the Castle Saint Angelo was next and over their special saint bridge for a walk to Piazza Navona. Along the way,
of course, we passed many wonderful old buildings, ornate doorways, beautiful passageways and many hidden works of religious art. The
re was a worn picture of the Virgin Mary in this little ally called Arco de Banchi that caught my eye as it seemed like such and unusual place to have painted her.
We stopped at the Hostaria Pizzeria for dinner and sat outside taking in all the people watching we could.
We then ventured over to
the Pizza Navona, the Pantheon where we took pictures with some of the Police officers, the Tr
evi Founta
in where mom and I both threw in three pennies and made wishes, and the Spanish Steps.
We go on the bus and traveled through the whole city and saw the Rock Garden hotel w
ere we stayed when we first arrived in Gaeta 30 years ago. We also went past the marina where I took my first sailing lessons. We ended up getting off the bus by the water as there were at least 40 teenagers who got on after school and were so loud and obnoxious we just had to transfer to another bus. God help that poor bus driver that puts up with these over indulged child
ren.After, we transferred to a bus that took us past the house where we lived in Formia. The area around it is completely different now but there was enough left of the apartment building for us to recognize it.
It was really interesting experience and it does remind you that you can’t go back but you can, for a little bit, reminisce about the way things were. It’s great that there is so much new development and that the two towns are thriving, but secretly you can’t help but wish it was a little more like you remembered just for nostalgic reasons. The Navy is no longer docked in Gaeta and have moved to Naples and we were told by a local that if there were any American’s still living here they were very far and few between. Funny but for a long time
about 200 American families lived in this area and I can truly say that there is no trace of them/us having made any mark on these communities. This could be a good thing I suppose, but it does make you wonder how easily it is to inhabit a place and then when you leave to have no part of your existence left behind. I’d never want to leave a place worse than how I found it, which was not the case, but it would have been nice to see that we collectively made things just a little bit better or at least that it matter that we had been there at all.We took the train back to Rome and went directly to the Vatican where we made it to 6:00pm mass in Saint Ann’s Chapel which is
nicely situated right in the Vatican wall off of Saint Peter’s Square. The adora
ble Swiss Guard allowed us in the gate and then directed us to mass. Those Swiss guards are adorable in those blue uniforms and the ones in the striped uniforms are even better to behold. Mass was particularly interesting as it began with a half hour of the Rosary, all in Italian of course, and then six persists came up on the tiny alter and proceeded to officiate the mass together. I thou
ght it was fun to watch like a play and it turns out it was all in honor of a visiting priest named Bruno who happened to be visiting on his namesake, Saint Bruno’s anniversary 
day.After mass we walked to Saint Peter’s Square and although the Basilica was closed it was great to take pictures of the fountain and the magnificence of the Basilica lit up for the night.
A walk to the Castle Saint Angelo was next and over their special saint bridge for a walk to Piazza Navona. Along the way,
of course, we passed many wonderful old buildings, ornate doorways, beautiful passageways and many hidden works of religious art. The
re was a worn picture of the Virgin Mary in this little ally called Arco de Banchi that caught my eye as it seemed like such and unusual place to have painted her.We stopped at the Hostaria Pizzeria for dinner and sat outside taking in all the people watching we could.
We then ventured over to
the Pizza Navona, the Pantheon where we took pictures with some of the Police officers, the Tr
evi Founta
in where mom and I both threw in three pennies and made wishes, and the Spanish Steps. 
Everywhere we went it was alive with people and activity. There is great energy in this city day and night.
It also has what I would imagine
is the shortest stop light in the world. It was just too cute not to include.
All in all it was another great day and we accomplished a great deal including some really nice time for remembering the past and then spending time just admiring the present.
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