When in Rome

Wow! Rome has been amazing. It is a much prettier city than Athens and more vibrant too. Here's a rundown on the past couple of days.

Thursday: Patrick and I flew to Rome. It was a short flight--around two hours. After we got back through the airport we took an airport shuttle train to the main train terminal where we caught the metro to near our hotel. After a grueling 15 minute walk (carrying 20 lbs of luggage is awful in the heat) we made to Hotel American Palace. I took a quick shower and then Patrick and I headed out for some traditional Italian food near our hotel. We found a wonderful pizza place with a gelateria right next door. I had a piece of pizza with prosciutto ham and Patrick tried different flavors. He tried an anchovy piece but found it too fishy. Afterwards we tried some yummy gelato. They let you combine flavors so I tried nutella and tiramisu--it was a chocolate explosion of deliciousness!

Friday: Today was the Ancient Roman Empire site-seeing day! We started off at the Colosseum in the morning. It was magnificent. We had an audio tour and stayed in there for almost 2 hours. Then we headed to the Roman Forum. We also went into two churches before heading into the Forum. We kept trying to get to the entrance, but running into a dead end at a church so we just went in them. One of them had a saint in a glass box. Patrick was shocked when he saw it (he went down the stairs before me). I warned him it was a saint's crypt, but we didn't know the body would be visible--with its shoes still on. After finding that shock, we finally made it to the Forum. We saw Julius Caesar's burning pyre (people still leave flowers there today) and many temples and basilicas (the law courts--how our churches are built today). We also saw the Arch of Constantine (the one he forced Jewish slaves to build to commemorate their defeat) and the Arch of Titus. We walked around the outside of the Palatine Hill. After the Forum we went to Capital Hill and into a museum there. We were able to see the original wolf guarding Romulus and Remus (the founders of Rome) statue. After Capital Hill it was past lunch time so we found a place for some pasta. We had delicious spaghetti carbonara. And then we started heading towards the Pantheon. The Pantheon is the oldest building in Rome still in use (because after the Romans started using it for a church). It was amazing! Raphael is actually buried in the Pantheon. After the Pantheon we walked some more around Rome. We went to the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. We also managed to found Augustus' Altar of Peace (an altar than introduced the idea of Pax Romanus). We had some gelato, watched the Portugal v Brazil football match, and found some dinner. I had a yummy sandwich with stacchino cheese (I had never tried it before). Finally we came back to the hotel after walking around for almost 13 hours--we were beat!

Saturday: Today was the Vatican City day. We had to get up early to get in line to enter the Vatican Museum. We paid extra for a guided tour and it was worth it. That museum is so crowded I don't think Patrick and I would have ever made it through to the Sistine Chapel without a guide leading the way and describing the important pieces. The Sistine Chapel is breathtaking--Patrick and I spent an hour just sitting in there (along with a billion of out closest friends). After wandering around the Vatican Museum (largest catalog in the world, but the third busiest after the Louvre and the British Museum) we headed towards St. Peter's Basilica. This church is the largest church in the world. It covers six acres! We marched around that church with our audio guides, climbed to the top of the tower and went into the crypts. We even had some ice cream on the top of the church! We were able to see La Pieta in the Basilica--so beautiful. We spent over six hours wandering around this tiny country, so by 3:30 we decided we needed some lunch. We got some italian pizza (very thin crispy crust) and started wandering around Rome some more. We got back to the hotel kinda early (7:30) so we could watch USA play Ghana. We were going to watch it downtown in Rome, but it threatened to pour (and did) so we headed to the metro since we didn't have any coats. The game was good, but we lost. Patrick ran out and picked up some food during halftime so we could continue to watch the game in the hotel's garden. It was a very good day, but my feet were dead by the end of it.

Tomorrow we head to Florence. It should be fun!