Rockets and Lines

What a busy time we have had here in Roma. I feel like my feet may fall off any minute. Yesterday we did a tour of the Coluseum and Roman Forum and then walked to see the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and Spanish Steps. Since there is a city under a city here the metro does not quite take you everywhere like it has in other cities. We are also not quite skilled enough to figure out the whole bus system, so why not walk? Then after climbing the Spanish steps just to walk back down we raced to Diesal, thinking that the shoes would be cheaper since they are Italian and all. Not the case! We were all really hoping for a new pair off walking shoes since ours all have no traction left. Well Kalee has almost wiped out 4 times just today! Last night we got official Italian Pizza and beer. Quite different, but tasty. That comes to our title Rockets....what are they you ask? We suspected cheese since it seemed to be on every pizza...turns out it is greens, so at least we got a vegetable serving.

Today we ventured out to Vatican city and stood in line before the museum opened. 20 minutes later we are super excited cause we are just about to go in. WOOPS, we were in the group line. How the heck were we supposed to know, there were individuals all around us, geez. Then after walking 4 blocks to find the end of the line we were supposed to be in we decided to go to St. Peters Basilica first. We climbed to the dome of course! Only 551 steps, thats nothing, we do run marathons! Yeah right, I think I pulled my hamstring. We went to mass and didn't understand a word but it was great meditation and nice to rest our feet. There are tons of tourist groups that don't speak English or Italian or French...maybe of Asian descent that just are in mass gatherings and do not seem to notice when they are blocking doorways or pushing me over. I am not a small girl and I almost was scared for my life. And some members of the mass groups carry umbrellas, both open and closed. The umbrellas closed lead the herds, but many have open umbrellas for shade or to poke peoples eyes out (aka US). Talk about a treacherous Vatican! Anywho, I am done complaing about tourists....but it quite treacherous in the Sistene Chapel with the crowds. The chapel is just amazing and Michelangelos paintings are gorgeous. Totally worth the hour and half line!

So needless to say we had a great time and saw some amazing things! We are feeling a tad tired from the sun and the lines but are really enjoying ourselves.