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May 28th 2006

Published: June 13th 2006

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Rugby Amanda

Pantheon

Fountain in front of the Pantheon.

We arrived in Rome in the afternoon on a flight from Prague. It was warm even at 5 p.m. and we were happy to finally wear the shorts and tank tops we'd packed. Rome is a large city with a lot to see, so after checking into our hostel, we took advantage of Europe's long summer days and headed out to see the sights that were in walking distance.

We walked to the Trevi Fountain, where I felt like I back in Las Vegas in the Forum Shops. This could be a sad commentary about growing up in Vegas where nothing is real, but I'd rather think of it as a compliment to the Forum Shops designers. We then walked to the Spanish Steps, where we didn't find out why they're called the Spanish Steps if they're in Italy, but we did see why they're known as a summer pick-up spot (see photo). We finished the day eating a late dinner at an outdoor table and sharing a nice bottle of red wine. After the cool, rainy weather in Berlin and Prague, this was heaven.

The next day, our only full day in Rome was busy as we tried

Trevi Fountain

We didn't need to go all the way to Rome to get this picture. Doesn't that look like the Forum Shops in Caesar's Palace?

to see as much as possible. With the sights spread out throughout the city, we did what Becky and Scott had done when they visited Rome and got on a sightseeing bus that stopped at all the major sites and let you get on and off at your own convenience.

We started with St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican. After waiting in line to get into the Vatican Museums (the part of the Vatican open to us commoners), we made a beeline for the Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel. To get there, you wind through dozens of rooms decorated with elaborate paintings, tapestries and statues owned by the church. When we finally got to the Sistine Chapel, it wasn't what I expected. It was a long rectangular ceiling, not a circular dome. Nonetheless, it was impressive. Unfortunately, you can't take pictures (but on the way out you can buy a poster or book. No tourist location is free of commerce, not even the Vatican.)

Next stop was the Colosseum and the Roman Forum across the street. We did a quick walk around the Colosseum and then wandered around the Forum, which I liked better because there was more to look

Spanish Steps

Pam and I drinking beers to quench our thirst on the Spanish Steps.

at. We tried to find the Palatine Hill, which has great views of the city, but walked up the wrong road. By the time we realized it and returned to the bottom, the Palatine Hill was closed! I was disappointed, but only briefly because there's so much to see in Rome you can't really expect to do it all.

That night we ate another great meal at a restaurant across from our hostel (there are restaurants everywhere in Rome. Our hostel was on a residential street, but there was still a restaurant there). After four days of traveling, I was tired of white carbs, but we were famished from our busy day so, oh well, we consumed our whole basket of bread and the salmon pasta dish we shared. We had planned to go out that night, but the exhaustion of long days of sightseeing had gotten to me. Pam didn't argue when I asked if it was OK if we didn't go out. We were very happy to take a shower, read the Da Vinci Code (which we, and it seemed like the rest of Europe, were both reading) and then collapse into bed at 11 p.m.

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