Duration: 9 Days
Dates: May 19 - 29, 2024
Departure City: Dallas, TX (DFW)

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Detailed Itinerary

Sunday, May 19 - DAY 1: Departure to Rome.
We will meet at the airport and begin our journey together. Flying to Rome Italy.

Monday, May 20 - Day 2: Rome 
10:00 pm  Upon arrival we meet the tour escort after the baggage claim area and drive to the hotel for overnight Tuesday, May 21 -  DAY 3: Rome. Ostia /Rome Imperial Rome 
08:30 am Today, after breakfast, we will drive towards the sea to visit the site of Ostia Antica the harbor city of Ancient Rome. We explore the well-preserved excavations and step back in time into Roman antiquity. Ostia was a cosmopolitan city. On the way backto Rome, we will told about the early Christian churches on the Aventino Hill, among which the  Church of Santa Prisca the home of Priscilla and Aquila. The early Christian Church met in homes; this is one of them. Tradition says Peter worshiped here. When the Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome, Aquila was a Jew. As victims of Roman persecution, this couple moved to Corinth and partnered with Paul. (Acts 18, 1 Cor 16:19, Rom 16:3, 2 Tim 4:19) Continue on the Ancient Appian way, to visit  the Catacombs of Santa Domitilla. The Christian catacombs are extremely important for the art history of early Christians. At first they were used both for burial and the memorial services and celebrations of the anniversaries of Christian martyrs. Many modern depictions of the catacombs show them as hiding places for Christian populations during times of persecution. Next we will visit Abbey of the Three Fountains, the place of Paul's martyrdom, where tradition has it that three different springs gushed out at each spot touched when Paul's head fell down. Legend claims that when St Paul was decapitated, his head bounced three times and fountains miraculously sprang out when it touched the ground. The legend is nice, but the springs were known in pre-Christian times as the Aquae Salviae, and the excavations revealed ancient mosaic pavements. Still, it’s the site of St Paul's martyrdom. It is also said that there was a stone-pine tree at the site of his death, and the identification of this place was strengthened when ancient stone-pine cones were found here during excavations in 1857. To conclude this day in Rome we will visit the place where the bones of Paul have recently been found, Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. It is a Benedictine Abbey which shares its name, origins and centuries of history, both joyful and sorrowful, with the adjoining basilica. 07:30 pm Return to the hotel, for dinner and overnight.

Wednesday, May 22 - DAY 4: Rome. All day in Rome.
Morning tour (3.5 hours) - Afternoon tour (3.5 hours). 
07:30 am  Breakfast
08:30 am  Depart the hotel for a full day tour.
Todays  tour will show the great “power" of Rome and Emperors who demanded divinity for themselves. While in Rome, this was what the Apostle Paul preached against.
09:00 am. We start from the Arch of Constantine erected to commemorate the victory of the emperor over Maxentius in the 4th century A.D. (tradition says that before the battle the Emperor saw a brilliant cross in the sky and said the famous words "in hoc signovinces", meaning "In this sign you will conquer"). The tour ends at the Colosseum, everlasting symbol of the greatness of Rome and the stage for the historical fights of the gladiators. We’ll then walk through the valley of the Roman Forum, the great Rome, with its important buildings will revive before our eyes; the Curia, seat of the Roman Senate, the State Archive, the basilicas, palaces of justice, the temple of Vesta, and the House of the Vestals, temples, columns and arches of triumph erected to commemorate gods of Roman history. From the Forum the guide will show us to the place linked to the fabulous origins of Rome, the Palatine. Here, in 753 B.C., Romolus founded the town. Starting with Augustus, the great emperors settled here. Next we visit the Mamertine Prison, the site of Peter’s and Paul’s Incarceration- On the other side of the Via dei Fori Imperiali (street of the Imperial Fora), the ruins of the fori that the great emperors built as lasting memory of their power. We see the Forum of Trajan, the biggest and most splendid of all, whose markets are true forerunners of the modern commercial centers. See the Trajan's Column, jewel of architecture and sculpture made by Apollodorus of Damascus. Finally we  will reach the Capitoline Hill, once political and religious center of the town, which today is the seat of the Municipality. A stairway leads you to the Piazza del Campidoglio, whose natural terrace provides the best panoramic point over the valley of the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill. Here you’ll find the magnificent result of a single project by Michelangelo, a copy of the most famous equestrian statue in the world, the statue of Marcus Aurelius.
12:00 pm  We continue by walk to reach the Trevi Fountain
12:30 pm  Break for an independent lunch and time at leisure 04:00 pm Regain our bus and  drive to  visit at Basilica of St John in Lateran which became among the most important Christian Churches of Rome. When Constantine opened the Roman world to Christianity, his apparent conversion was symbolized by the donation of a significant family property for the Basilica. The important Lateran Baptistery reminds us of the many early converts to the faith and the process of moving it from a rogue influence to a sponsored and ordered faith. Then continue with Holy Steps. According to tradition, these steps 
(now covered with wooden plants) are the very ones Jesus climbed in the house of Pontius Pilate only to see the Roman governor wash his hands of the self-styled messiah. Martin Luther, on his trip to Rome to meet the Pope, climbed on his knees, a tradition still maintained today
07:30 pm Dinner will be served in at our hotel. Overnight (BD)

Thursday, May 23 - Day 5: flight to Athens
Flight arrives in Athens so just the arrival transfer to the hotel for that day. Dinner and overnight at hotel Stanley Friday, May 24 - Day 6: Depart for port to board cruise ship. Cruise Itinerary:

Friday,  May 24 - Day 6: Athens (Greece) – Depart 11:00 to Mykonos.

Friday,  May 24 - Day 6: Mykonos (Greece) –
Depart 12:30. Saturday, May 25 - Day 7: Kusadasi (Turkey) – Depart 12:30.

Saturday, May 25 - Day 7:: Patmos (Greece) –
Depart 21:00.

Sunday, May 26 - Day 8: Santorini (Greece) –
Depart 20:00.

Monday, May 27 - Day 9: : Athens (Greece) – Arrive at port 06:00

Monday, May 27 - Day 9: Full day Athens tour, dinner and overnight at hotel Stanley.

Tuesday, May 28 - Day 10: Transfer to airport for departure to the US

* In case of unforeseen events, this itinerary is subject to change