We got into Rome early in the evening. After a bit of a struggle in finding our hotel we went out the see the sights at night. This took us to the Trevi fountain. This was build to celebrate the reopening of the ancient aqueduct that powers it. You then can head to the Spanish steps. It was crowded. The only disappointment was that the obelisk was under construction. On to the Pantheon, its not much in the dark. So then to the Piazza Navona. There were lots of artist selling their pictures. There was a hemp tatoo vendor. I told James we should getting matching tatoos. He didn't go for it. The other disappointment was the Four Rivers Fountain was under construction. We were seeing alot of things under construction.
The next morning we grabbed a taxi and went to the Vatican. One thing that the travel books don't tell you is how long the line is going to be. We got their about 9:00 and the line was 3 hours long. Just as we got out of the taxi, some guy asked if we spoke English. We were a little hesitant, but it turned out that it was a tour group looking for people to take a guided tour. We decided it was for the best and it turned out great. We had an Art History/Restoration guide. He really knew his stuff. We spend about 4 hours and bearly scratched the surface. The line to climb the dome was long so we bagged it. Some highlights: The Sistine Chapel is smaller than the pictures show, the pictures don't do justice to Michelangelo's paintings, St. Peter's Basilica is huge, the Pieta sculpture is gorgeous. It's so much to try to describe, so just ask.
After the busy morning, we decided to walk back through the sites from the night before. We stumbled on to the Roman Forum and Coliseum. We found a nice restaurant across from the Coliseum. We couldn't find a taxi, so we started to walk back to the hotel. Halfway there, a lady with a baby came up to James with a cardboard box. She started saying something and then another child grabbed hold of his arm. I came around to the front of him to watch his pockets. He was able to break free and we kept walking. He later realized the they had pickpocketed him. Luckily, all they got was his cheesy magnet. This made him a little nervous to be going through Naples the next day. They already have the reputation of pickpocketing people. So we decided that we would rent a car and drive to Sorrento.
Since we were driving, we went back to St Peter's to climb the Dome (Cupola). We got right in with no waiting. We took the elevator up to the inside of the dome. People look like ants on the bottom floor. We then took the 323-step climb to the outside top of the dome. It is an incredible view. We noticed a helicopter flying around, it landed at the back of the Vatican. It was the POPE!. Three cars winded down the complex to a baricade of people. He popped out the sunroof and started waving. I don't care if your Catholic or not, it was pretty cool.
We left and went to do the Forum and Coliseum tours. It was really hot by then and we were to the point, you've seen one ruin, you've seen them all. We went through to the various spots, read the information I had on the and snapped a picture. I figured I would sort it out all when I scrapbooked them. We did the same thing in the Coliseum, only there isn't much to see on the inside. Its their giant "football" stadium. It's just amazing how big it is and how did they build it back then without modern tools or machines.
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