When in Rome...

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We got into Rome, the last leg of our journey, yesterday, though it seemed at times like we weren't going to make it. We had a 1:42 reservation on the train out of Salerno straight into Rome, so we took the noon boat over from Positano, which was only supposed to take 70 minutes. Somehow, we ended up not getting into the dock until 1:35, giving us a whopping 7 minutes to make it to the train station. We sprinted (or did as much of a sprint as is possible with 200 pounds of luggage) to the station, dragging our bags up the stairs to our platform at 1:43. For the first time in what seems like the entire trip, the train had left right on time. We managed to get reservations on the 3:43 train, which of course got in 45 minutes late. Apparently Murphy's is an international law. We made it into Rome and managed to get a cab to our hotel. The weather here is absolutely perfect, not too hot and not humid. We had a good dinner near our hotel and walked down to the Trevi fountain. It was really awesome, I don't think I realized how big it is, I kept imagining the measly fountain in Central Park. It was packed with people, but we managed to get a seat in front of it to eat our gelato.
Today we got up and took the metro down to Vatican city. We stood in line for about an hour and a half to get into the Vatican museum. We mainly just went to see the Sistine Chapel, as well as all the art leading up to it. It was all amazing, kind of overwhelming. I don't have the religous background to appreciate it all, but I can appreciate how much work it must have been. We also went into St. Peter's Basilica (after walking around the entire Vatican trying to find St. Peter's Square). Very impressive, it was impossible to take the whole thing in. We had lunch near the museum, then hit some of the shops nearby (I got really cute Chanel glasses). Then we took the metro over to the Spanish steps. They were very crowed, and not especially impressive, but a good view. We walked along the shops and went in the Pantheon, more impressive art and architecture. By that time, our feet were all pretty sore, so we walked back to our hotel, hitting some shops along the way.
I really like Rome a lot more than I expected, its not overwhelming as I had heard, it probably helps the the weather is cooperating. I'm really bummed we only have one full day left of the trip, it went way too fast, but has been tons of fun!

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