Captain Ed has successfully wrapped up his top secret mission to Italy, having secured his future nomination as some Republican president’s ambassador to that nation, and he and the First Mate are winging their way home. But before leaving, they had time for a few final stops to share with you.

Here is the lovely First Mate, posing in front of the Pantheon. Ed said the weather was fantastic once again and they had a long walking tour of some of the holy sites in the area.

The happy couple visited the Santa Maria in Trastavere. The next picture is of the entrance. Ed’s description follows:

This is the site of one of the oldest churches in Rome, going back to around 215 AD. This building dates mainly from the 12th century. It’s one of the most humble churches we saw, but when you go inside … By the way, like all the churches we saw, this is still a working church with an active faith community.

This picture was taken of the area just below the alter inside the church. It’s incredible to realize how old this structure is.

And finally, this is the apse in the church. This is from the medieval period, which shows Jesus crowning Mary as queen of the church.

Ed will be back tomorrow and promises to work on a slide show of the many, many other wonderful sights they saw and photographed for any of the faithful Hot Air readers who are interested in sharing. Thanks for following his adventures from here at home. Ed has been reading your comments in these threads and enjoying them quite a bit!