Greetings from Roma!

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We missed a few days of blogging but not of material to blog about. After our firt day in Roma and meeting with the Cardinal, we finally got some good sleep (contrary to our previous blog, train sleep with seven people in one sleeper car is not the best way to catch up on rest!)

Our hotel is at the base of the Spanish steps, a beautiful piazza near the Vatican. It really was special even compared to the hundreds of other piazzas we found as we wandered aimlessly though the maze of alleyway which they call streets in Rome. We also came to realize that it is better to pay more for good food then to search through the many streets for something cheap - when in Rome, eat like the Romans.

Today we had our guided tour of the Vatican. Requirement for any trip to Rome - make sure you have Vatican tickets before you arrive. Fortunately for us, our travel agent (that would be Mommy) was all over that and we were able to avoid the three hour wait. We had a guided tour through the museum; our tour guide was Patrick from Houston, Texas. Despite his credentials, he conducted an excellent tour, not even saying "ya'll" once. He gave a great presentation on the Sistene Chapel and Maggie and Patrick listened to ever word and then were lock-step with Patrick (tour guide Patrick) for the rest of the tour. It was all amazing. And just like in Paris, Emily was victimized by overly enthusiastic art lovers, this time running her into a wall as the woman captured the perfect photo of a Raphael fresco in an area where filming was prohibited.

We ended the day with a meal at Nick's (we are on a first name basis with the restraunant owner we met yesterday) and we had some meat for Patrick. It would have been nice if they cooked it just a little bit, but we kept up our trip motto - no food gets left behind!

Love you all and will have more to come!

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