Rome

Ross and I are finishing up our second day in Rome. We were originally planning to stay another day, but we feel that most of what we want to accomplish can be done in 2. We took an overnight train from Geneva to Rome (somewhere around 12 hours) and then checked into our hosel. From there it was straight to the Vatican City. We weren't able to get into our room, so we didn't shower. It was super hot out, so we were sweating alot. I can't speak for Ross, but I was certainly in need of some freshening up. A book we have had mentioned the Pope may make an appearance, so we wanted to check it out. Unfortunately, PB was a no-show. Not that the Vatican was disappointing. The whole thing was huge, with St. Peter's Basilica the centerpiece. It was sweet to just chill on the steps of St. Peter's Square and watch people go by. tons of tourists like us, thats for sure. Inside the Basilica it was alot of statues of past popes. Pretty interesting and huge, but I think we've seen too many churches because it is taking alot to impress us now.

Today we went to the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill. It was neat to watch people excavating (I think) the ruins as we walked by them. It was kind of like there was still stuff to discover, right underneath our feet. The Colosseum was super neat. It was built in the 1st Century AD, but since then it has been used as a quarry for other projects and then restored again, so it is sometimes hard to know what is super ancient, and what is only kind of old. But overall, a very impressive building. Anyway, I need to go find some hostels so we can have somewhere to sleep come a few days.

see ya,

Nolan