but it certainly was toured in a day! I can't believe how much we saw in one single day. We totally wore ourselves out, but it was worth it! We didn't arrive until after 7:00 on Thurs. night, and then we showered and still had to have dinner. We asked the guy at the front desk (a lovely man from Tanzania who came to Rome to study medicine. He's graduated, but he's still there. He still has to specialize and then if he meets a proper girl, then who knows....LOL!) where a good, reasonable restaurant was, and he sent us right next door. Excllent food, great ambiance, very good wine. I LOVED it! The waited had so much character. Typical Italian. Love it! I would totally go back in a heart beat (that was only a 1 glass of wine dinner, but it kicked my rear!).
So, Friday, we were total tourists. I mean total. After we finally up, we headed to the Vatican. We just walked around and looked at it. It was a 3 hour wait to get in. We wanted to see the Sistine Chapel, but we just didn't have the time. We took some pictures and made sure to see the Swiss guards and headed over to the Colosseum. Talk about breathtaking. The Colosseum is just awe-inspiring. It's been there for how many years? WOW!!! Loved it! It was super hot, I mean middle of summer hot, so we didnàt stay too terribly long (and remember, we'd lost Rick, so we were a bit on the clueless side as to what we were seeing - thank goodness I'd read the book a couple of times already and have a freakishly good memory). We were starving, so picked up food at one of the little stands 18 Euros later, we weren't starving any more, but our pockets were certainly lighter. We're talking sandwiches here folks, and remember 1 Euros costs $1.20. Ridiculous. But, we was to the point of shakiness, so it had to be done.
We'd followed Rickey's advice and purchased our Col. tickets from the Palatine hill and avoided the 45 minute wait at the Col. I can't believe the lines in Rome. So, we had the entrance to the Hill paid for, but decided to head through the Roman Forum instead. Good decision. It was amazing. We were standing in the place where great emporers once stood. Hundreds and even thousands of years ago. Mind-blowing. We checked out the Basilica of Maxentius just b/c Rickey stands in it during one of his PBS Episodes, and it was unbelievable how big this place was. It's huge as it stands, and we were only seeing 1/3 of it. Um...holy cow! We spoke with an American couple about it all and were all in awe together and then all of us happened upon a free tour. We caught it in the middle, but it was totally worth it. Some tour COs. send out their guides during the day to give free tours and then at the end tell the folks about the other tours they give, a couple we would have taken had we been there more. Anyway, she explained several of the temples to us including the one to Julius Caeser and Augustus somebody and his wife Faustinius something-or-other (and a couple of others I can't remember now), the apartments of the Vestal Virgins, the arch of Septemus Serervus, the arch of Justinius, the Senate, and the Mamertine Prison (where Peter and Paul were once held and then released when they converted their guards). It was truly outstanding. Being in this place with so many centuries of history. It wasn't just a static place, it grew and changed over the years of the Roman Empire, and I loved it! After the tour, we tried to see the tomb of the unkown soldier, but they were closing it, and man, can those Italian security guards be forceful!
So, we made our way to the Pantheon. My last "Must See" place in Rome. And oh, am I glad we did. It was breathtaking. It's not huge, but it is beautiful and you just catch your breath. After that, we walked to Piazza del Popolo and along the way happened into a lovely church and 2 paper stores. There was awesome paper, but there was no easy way for me to get it home, so I bought a "B" stamp. The girl working there just wouldn't believe me that I had ink at home that would work with it. She finally said if I couldn't use it, that was up to me. Too funny!
Finally, we decided to be the ultimate tourists and had dinner at the Hard Rock. We had Nachos and a Cheeseburger with fries and Chris had his beer served in the Souvenier glass, and we bought tee shirts and everything. And they even played Beck and Rick Springfield while we were in there. Loved every minute of it, including the Italian style mac & cheese!
We tried to go to the Easy Interenet Cafe, but on our way, I noticed that the Metro was closed. Turns out the A line (there's only 2) closed at 9:30. Um, yeah, we were planning on taking that to the train station! So, we had to run, get our bags, take a bus to the train station, and then take the metro to the other station from whence our train left. WE were totally freaked about missing our train....unnecessarily, b/c it left almost an hour late. We've yet to be on an ontime Italian train! And, it was the WORST train ride ever. Hot and long and crowded and we had a hard time sleeping. But, it was worth it. We're in Venice, and it is awesome!
On another note, we are currently in an internet cafe, and as we just had 4 glasses of the second best wine ever (the first being our first night in 5 Terre), I just asked Chris, "are we on a barge, or is it just me?" Turns out, we ARE on a boat, but the wine doesn't help!
More on Venice tomorrow, the guy is closing the cafe!
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