Rome-ing

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Hey there from Rome! So I have spent the past three days in Rome and it has been a truly auxhilirating experience. I have pretty much seen the major points, but Rome sightseeing is sooo expensive. I Started the first day checking out the Spanish steps, although it is amazing it was being restored so the scaffolding made for not so good pictures. I did go into the John Keats museum as a pilgramage being a writer and that was really cool. I got to see the room where he died and read all the old letters and manuscripts. I also went to see the Panteon..did you know Rapahels body is buried there..I did not and was pleasantly surprised. I ate pizza with french fries on it...really interesting. I never realized how spaced out everything is in Rome...it is huge. Of course i went through the ruins and saw the collesseum. I did not go in because i thought paying 9 euro to see a bunch of rocks was not that exciting. I have had an amzing time at night in the hostel. There is a kitchen so I have been cooking my dinner in there and Salvatore, the night manager hangs out with us and provides all the libations. More wine than I have ever drank in my life. I met 3 american girls last night, and one of them coincidentally is from Naperville. Small world for sure! So after drinkg way too much last night, i woke up very hung over and me and the three girls, Dana, Susie, and Kirby headed for the Vatican. I guess if I was catholic I would be seriously amazed, and I was but, probably not as excited as the whole group of Nuns who made the pilgamage to see the Pope. It is a zoo around here during Easter by the way. They were setting up the hundreds of seats for Palm Sunday service tomorrow morning. I got to see the Popes famous chair he sits on. The line wrapped around the entire center but moved quickly so that was nice. We got right in, in about 20 minutes. Then we walked over to the Museum to see the amazing Sistine Chapel. They have not figured it out yet that all anyone wants to see is the chapel and I payed 14 euro to get in and be shoved through tiny hallways for an hour until we finally got to it. It truly is an amazing presence in that room. I just wish there werent 500 people all shoved in at once. Anway. I snuck a picture before the scary Italian man started yelling at me and 300 other people snapping pics when you are not suppost to. So...after that I walked really far to the Bergese Gardens. A lot like Central Park I would say. It was a beautiful day for a stroll. Yeah by the way I found where the sun has been hiding and it is in Rome. It has been about 70 degrees the entire time I have been here and I love it. We made our way back to the Hostel around 3 and now I am here writing my blog. I guess that is really all for now. I leave super early in the morning for Ancona, where I will board the ferry journey to Pratas and then to Athens. Should be an interesting 36 hours. I will hopefully be able to post more when I get to Athens in about two days. Till then...

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Photos

The Panteon
Did you know that Raphael's body was buried there?

Vatican City
Gearing Up for Palm Sunday