Rome

The night before leaving Florence was pretty miserable. Our room was really hot, however we did not want to open the windows in fear of the mosquitoes. It was so stuffy we finally broke down and opened them, but paid the price with 30+ mosquito bites in the morning. I also woke up and was unable to move my neck in any direction except down. This was accompanied by a terrible headache. We ended up in Rome in the afternoon and were greeted by our host at the apartment we were staying in and it was really nice and big. After settling in, we made our way out to explore the town. The apartment was close to the colosseum, Roman forum, and several other sites. We quickly learned that there was much to see in the city. It had a similar feel to DC, but with much older history. The first full day in Rome was going to be spent hitting as many monuments and sites as possible. The first stop was to the tabacco store for the Roma Pass. This gave access to two historical sites and unlimited access to public transportation. This ended up being the best investment on our trip so far. The pass enabled us to bypass the ticket line at the colosseum, which probably saved us several hours of waiting. While walking through the colosseum, I kept thinking how nice it would be to actually see how it looked back in time. You definitely need to make use of your imagination. I also realized how far the Romans were ahead of their time. To think they could build such structures with the resources they had during that time period are just amazing. The next stop was the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. This area again was made up of the ruins and required use of the imagination. After this trip, I need to go home and watch the history channel. My favorite stop of the day came from a recommendation by a friend of Nate's. This was go a coffee shop in Rome that is known for having the best coffee not only in Rome, but arguably the world. We were there mid afternoon and could barely get in the door. It was different than any other coffee shop experience. The closest thing I could compare it to was that of trading on wall street. Regardless, it lived up to the hype and the coffee was incredible. From there we made our way to the Pantheon, which now was home to several graves, most notably, Raphael. The structure is thought of we the only perfect building in the world because all the dimensions are symmetrical. At this point we headed back to rest for the evening and then grab some food at a buffet style restaurant. The food was less than stellar, but edible and included a drink. Around 11pm we decided to run some of it off and take in some more sites. We mapped it out and found that it would only be a 5k run. As in every case on the trip, it did not go according to plan and we pretty much doubled the length. It ended up being worth it as we got to take in Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps and Colosseum district all under a full moon. On day two of our stay we started the day with tea at Babingtons. We originally planned to eat breakfast there as well, but after seeing the prices on the menu, we decided a 10euro cup of iced tea was enough. It was a great experience and while that is a lot to pay for tea, it was worth it. We then headed back to Trevi to throw our coins in and see the site in the day. To wrap up our site seeing in Rome, we made our way to Vatican City. I have to say that this experience was one of the most breathtaking, and left me in awe of the talents God gave people. We saw Saint Peter's basilica and the Vatican museum which housed the Sistine Chapel. The experience is indescribable and I really do not have words to describe what I saw. At that point we went with a laid back evening at a cafe down the street and made use of the free wifi to work on the remainder of the trip.