White Doves on a Battle Ground

We leave Naples in the rear wiew mirror today, heading north to Rome where we will spend the last two nights of our trip. Along the way though we stop at Monte Cassino, the site of a famous World War Two  battleground.  The Abbey at Monte Cassino was held by the Germans and on the ride to the now reconstructed church, it was easy to see the significance of the location. From this high vantage point, any troup movements for miles around could easily be seen. 

The abbey was bombed to near total destruction while allied troups scaled the high, steep slopes to overtake the enemy position.  You can imagine the struggles of the allied troups scaling this slope.

The newly reconstructed abbey was consecrated in 1964. 

The courtyard...

Symbols of peace where once a battle raged.

The memorial burial ground for the Polish troups lost here. Unfortunately we were unable to get to the Canadian, British or U.S. Memorial, sites. 

A Friday evening tour of Rome shows just a little of what this city has to offer. 

This may be the birthplace of the re-use movement. This ancient building is now the Italian stock exchange.

The Pantheon !

A remarkable feat of engineering undertaken some 2040 years ago.

Raphael's tomb in the Pantheon.

Piazza Navona carvings

Neptune's fountain at the Piazza Navona.l

More from Rome tomorrow. Can't believe our trip is near done...

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