Depart OLA parking lot at 3:00 am

  
Depart LAX at 8:20 am (PDT)
      Delta 136 to JFK
      Delta 148 to Rome

Arrive Rome, Leonardo da Vinci Airport (Fiumicino), at 8:20 am (Rome time)

Orientation ride through Rome on the way to Hotel.

Check in Villa Pamphili Hotel.

Lunch on our own. (Trastevere -- "across the Tiber" -- is nearby, with lots of good and quaint restaurants.)

Afternoon free.  (Perhaps stroll through the large Villa Doria Pamphili park.
We are also not far from the Pontifical North American College on the Janiculum Hill (Gianicolo).  It might be a good brisk walk to get the blood flowing after the long airplane trip.  The view is magnificent.  Msgr. Barry spent a year there in 1972-73 as "Pastor in Residence.")

Dinner at Hotel.

Morning Audience with Pope John Paul II.  (You might want to check out what he has said at recent audiences.)

Lunch on our own. 

Afternoon tour of the Major Basilicas. (Well, 3 out of the 4, anyway. We'll see plenty of St. Peter's later!)

Mass at St. Mary Major at 3:00 pm.  (Here's another interesting link to St. Mary Major.)

Then to the Basilica of St. Paul-Outside-the-Walls . . .

. . . and St. John Lateran (the Pope's Cathedral).

Dinner back at Hotel.  Evening free for the adventuresome.  Piazza Navona is great to wander around at night.  Cafe Tre Scalini has famous "tartufo" ice cream, which is deep, dark, and bittersweet like it should be, but still is overrated.  Much better is Giolitti, a few blocks from there (north of the Pantheon).  Their "Coppa Olimpica" is fabulous.

7:45 am Mass at St. Peter's Basilica, Chair Altar. The rest of the morning will be spent touring the rest of St. Peter's, the Vatican Museums, and the Sistine Chapel.  (That's a lot like trying to sample a twenty-seven-course dinner in a half-hour!)  There's an excellent, colorful, and comprehensive photo tour of all the Vatican sites (and much more!) at the CHRISTUS REX web site.

Lunch on our own.

The afternoon and evening are free.  (Although the 7:45 am Mass could be changed to 5:00 pm.)  This might be the time for shopping for the brave and/or foolish.  "Charming Rome" has a list of open-air markets, if you like atmosphere.  "About.com," which has something about just about everything you can imagine, has a good section on shopping in Rome.

Dinner at Hotel.

All-day trip to Assisi. (Here's the Official Italian Tourist site for Assisi.)

The Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, in the valley below Assisi, houses the "Portiuncula" chapel of St. Francis, after which the City of Los Angeles was named. (By the way, LA's new Cathedral is faithfully acknowledging the tradition behind the City's name, Our Lady of the Angels.  Check out the live webcam views.)

CHRISTUS REX website has pictures of the basilica and the frescoes of Giotto depicting the life of St. Francis.

Mass at 2:00 pm at the Basilica of St. Francis.

They tell us we'll be back at the Hotel for dinner.

Morning tour of Ancient Rome (see map): Roman Forum, Arch of Titus, Arch of Constantine, Colosseum (note correct spelling), Trajan's Column, Victor Emmanuel Monument, Trevi Fountain, Church of St. Peter in Chains (with Michelangelo's Moses).  (In addition, here's a link of pictures of Roman art & architecture from the University of Colorado.)

Lunch on our own.

Afternoon we go to the outskirts of Rome, past the Tiberina Island in the Tiber River, and the Aventine Hill.  (On the Aventine stands the well-preserved 5th century basilica of Santa Sabina, and the Monastery and College of Sant' Anselmo, where I studied liturgy in the early 1970's.)  Continuing on, we pass the Pyramid of Caius Cestius,  St. Paul's Gate, and part of Aurelian Wall, to drive along a section of the Appian Way.  We will pass the Tomb of Cecilia Metela to arrive at the Catacombs of St. Sebastian, where we will celebrate Mass at 3:00 pm.  (The Salesian Institute at the Catacombs of St. Callistus have an extensive and very well organized site on the Christian Catacombs of Rome.)

Farewell Dinner at Vigna dei Papi Osteria ("The Pope's Vineyard"; yeah, sure!)

Papal Mass, St. Peter's Square, 10:00 am . (Note: this is the first anniversary of the canonization of St. Mary Faustina Kowalska, at which the Pope in his homily declared the Second Sunday of Easter would be celebrated as "Divine Mercy Sunday.")

After Mass, noon Regina Coeli and Papal Blessing in St. Peter's Square. (He gives a short talk at this too.  Here are some examples from the past.)

Lunch on our own. Afternoon free.  Beware of overpriced souvenirs!

Here are some general sites that might help you plan free time:
  History Sites
  Churches in Rome (1); Churches of Rome (2)

You might want to walk from St. Peter's down the Via della Conciliazione, past the Castel Sant' Angelo, across the Tiber, to the Piazza Pasquale Paoli, where there's a great spot for a final gelato, Mela Stregata (Bewitched Apple).

Early dinner at Hotel.

Evening concert at the Chiesa di Sant' Ignazio.

Depart Rome Leonardo da Vinci Airport, 12:10 pm
      Delta 149 to JFK
      Delta 137 JFK to LAX

Arrive LAX, 8:35 pm