No time for sleep

Only ten hours left. I'm starting to feel nervous (going to a foreign culture where I don't necessarily belong), excited (the art! the wine! the history!), anxious (waking up at 5:00 am and sitting on a plane for upwards of 8 hours - not good things to look forward to) and overwhelmed. Even though I'm probably more prepared for this trip than for most trips I've taken in the past, it's still a tough thing, to let go of what little control I have and simply accept that I have everything I could possibly need. I want to pack this and pack that and, oh what about this? and what about that? Fortunately, with ten hours to go, my bag looks excellent. Everything fits, and I don't feel that I'm forgetting something I won't be able to live without.

It's been incredibly nice having someone else handle the details of such a large excursion, but it's interesting to note that without those details in my own hands, I've found it harder to feel the reality of the trip and get excited. Ten days ago, I was still putting together a list of things I MIGHT want to do. Now the hour is almost upon me.

But enough about my feelings. Follows is my master list of stuff to do, generally in order of importance:

• Free tour of Palatine with Eugene
• History of Rome Part I by the Miracle Players
  
• Baths of Caracalla
  
• Column of Trajan
• Theatre of Marcellus
• Roman Forum
• Column of Trajan
• Forums of Trajan
• Piazza di Spagna
• Giardino di Pincio
• Chiesa S. Maria Del Popolo
• Galleria Borghese
• Trevi Fountain
• Tibre Island
  
• Citta del Vaticano
• Piazza di San Luigi de' Francesi (Carravaggio)
• Column of Marcus Aureleus
• Piazza Navona
• Porta Maggiore
• Chiesa S. Maria Maggiore
• Republican Wall
• Santa Maria della Vittoria (Ecstacy of St. Teresa)
• Museo Nazionale Romano (Palazzo Massimo alle Terme)
• Musei Capitolini
• Villa Giulia
• The Mouth of Truth
• Basilica San Clemente