Becoming International :): When in Rome...

When in Rome, do as the Romans do: walk. Walk EVERYWHERE. In the heat - and still love it here. Today, we literally started at one end of Rome and walked to the other, taking in everything at once (well, everything besides the Spanish Steps, because they were too far away - tomorrow's adventure for sure.) We started out bright and early at Vatican City, passing a TON of people (literally, the line was 5 wide and a half mile long) because we bought our tickets online in advance, so smart! We had to bypass a few tour groups, so we breezed by some frescos and statues, intent on finding the Sistine Chapel. Some right and left turns later, there it was! Our entrance was a little anticlimactic, we thought there would be a grandiose door or something, but when we walked in, that feeling changed. We got there super early, so there weren't that many people, and we sat on the sides, craning our necks for a good half an hour looking at everything. It was amazing! But then, it started to get busy, so we decided to get a jump on the rest of the day. We walked through some of the Vatican museums, then headed through the Vatican grottoes, then to St. Peter's Basilica. It was all just fantastic - I found it very spiritual, and even though I'm not Catholic, appreciated just how amazing Vatican City is. Even praying in St. Peter's Basilica was an amazing experience. We walked around St. Peter's square as well, then headed on a HUGE walk from Vatican City back to our hostel.

To start off, we went to Castel Sant'Angelo, one of the churches in Angels and Demons, and then headed across the river to the Piazza Navona, a quaint plaza with a TON of art vendors! Then we were off to the Pantheon, famous for its round oculous at the top (a circle without a roof! where does the rain go??) We had to take a gelato break at this point, and then we were off to Iglesia Sant'Ignazio, one of the places Jeff recommended to us. After that, we headed to the Trevi Fountain, then the ancient city again. We also had gone do the Trevi Fountain at night, so it was cool to see it in the daylight. I should mention that we had some DELICIOUS Italian pizza last night - OH so good, and wine too :) The food here, I hate to admit, is waayyyy better than Spanish food - go figure. PLUS, gelato is my new favorite dessert. We've already had it 3 times, and its just amazing. Way better than ice cream, and not as cold. YUM!

Anyways, we pretty much explored the entire city. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking! Tonight, we're off for pasta and tiramisu, and then a wine bar, so Carlye and the rest of us amateur wine connoisseurs can decide what wine we like the best :)

Arrivederci!

Best pizza ever - the tomatoes were SOOO fresh!