DAY ONE
After flying from Boise to Chicago, overnight to Munich, then to Rome, we hit the ground running. Straight to the hotel from the airport and then right out into the city. We made a stop at the San Luigi dei Francesi church so that Aaron could see the tomb of Frederic Bastiat (a famed french economist). That's my baby! It's all he wanted to see. :)
After that we headed for the Vatican. Ironically the Pope was in the US, but seeing as we aren't Catholic, we really didn't care. This picture is from St Peter's Square, looking at St. Peter's Basilica, the largest church in the world. Hundreds of people were lined up around the square to go in. Luckily, the line moved fast.
This is the view from just inside the church. The picture really doesn't do it justice. It was so big it felt like you were still outside. There were pigeons flying around and roosting inside, and you have to walk quite some distance to get to the walls on either side. I've never been in something so huge. I read that it covers 5.7 acres and can accomodate 60,000 people!
Just to the right of the entrance, behind bulletproof glass, is Michaelangelo's famous Pieta. The closest you could get was about 20 feet away, but it was still amazing to look at.
This is us inthe courtyard of the Vatican Museum. One of the only places you can take pictures. The only things you can take pictures of are the things that no one wants to take pictures of. To prove that you saw the Sistine Chapel, you have to buy the $50 book, or a $5 postcard. :(
Notice Aaron's totally hot sunglasses that he haggled a street vendor for, and now he won't even wear them, no matter how much I like them.
From the courtyard of the Vatican Museum you can see the dome of St Peter's. No clue what the wierd eyeball looking sculpture is supposed to mean. After touring the museum and spending a blissful half hour in the Sistine Chapel, we headed back to the hotel for a nap before dinner (this is where we started to get tired).
We had dinner at La Carbonara on the Campo de Fiori (means "square of flowers" or "field of flowers"). The only flowers were the ones being sold from stalls. The food was, of course, delicious, and we chatted with a couple from Vancouver, BC who told us the Florence and Venice (where the had just been) were cold and rainy. Fortunately that turned out not to be the case for us.
View of the sqare from the restaurant.
We took a walk after dinner across town to see some famous sights. First off we stopped at the Pantheon. We weren't able to go inside this time, but we got a great night scene.
Next stop was the Trevi Fountain. It was so beautiful! And so crowded. Lot's of people turn up to see it at night. Despite the crowd it was easy to see and pleasant to sit by and watch.
Last stop for the night, the Spanish Steps. This is the view from the top, looking down on all the drunk college kids and "amorous" couples. It wasn't as romantic as it was supposed to be, but still beautiful.
Here's where we get lost. The metro closed early leaving us no easy way to get back to the hotel. An hour of wandering around towards the hotel and a three block bus ride got us back in time to go to bed at nearly midnight. LONG DAY!
