When in Rome...

Rome. We are finishing our second day of exploring this grand city and we are hot, tired, and our feet really hurt! We walked almost everywhere. This place is hard to describe, because it is many places combined into one. It as though a baker created a fine marble layer cake over time, and the finishing touches (our modern era) are now the many shops and restaurants stuffed in around the edges and on top for decoration. Each layer of the cake represents an entire civilization or religious movement here. There are almost too many parties involved in this baking project to mention - Romulus, the Greeks, Ceasar, the Romans, Constantine and the Christians, and modern Italians as Tim and I know them.

We started on Tuesday with the Vatican Museum (4 miles of art, sculpture, and other religious and pagan artifacts - everything from mummies to modern paintings (1950's onward). We viewed the Sistine Chapel and Michaelangelo's amazing frescos, toured St. Paul's Cathedral, and walked several miles around the city to view other churches and fountains. We met a great friend in our hostel named Curtis. He is a history major from Canada who took a class here and toured every site over the past month. Last night we went to dinner and Curtis then took us to the Colosseum after dark. (see photos below, if I can figure out how to post them on this very foreign computer - or maybe I'm the foreigner!) Today we walked around the Colosseum again, Palatine hill, the Roman Forum, the Mamertine prision (where Peter and Paul were held) and St. Peter in Chains Cathedral, where Peter's chains are kept on display. Ann, if you're reading this, we didn't have time or energy to find the foot!