RIZAL IN ITALY

· June 27, 1887- Rizal reached Rome, the “Eternal City” and also called the “City of the Caesars”
· Rizal was thrilled by the sights and memories of the Eternal City. Describing to Blumentritt, the “grandeur that was Rome”, he wrote on June 27, 1887
· June 29, 1887- the Feast Day of St. Peter and St. Paul, Rizal visited for the first time the Vatican, the
“City of the Popes” and the capital of Christendom
· Every night, after sightseeing the whole day, Rizal returned to his hotel, very tired. “I am tired as a dog,” he wrote to Blumentritt, “but I will sleep as a God”
· After a week of wonderful sojourn in Rome, Rizal prepared to return to the Philippines. He had already written to his father that he was coming home