Rome, the bustling capital and our last destination in Italy. So what did we do in Rome? Well most of all we attempted to stay dry. It rained four of our five days, and at times pelting down so hard that it was beat through the fabric of our umbrellas. Consequently, we didn’t go out more than we needed; but during the dry periods we did get around to the mandatory sights.
Since we are a bit behind on our chronology, here is a snapshot of Rome:
The Colosseum was as you would expect, spectacular.
The Pantheon exceeded expectations because frankly, we didn’t have any. This Roman temple turned Christian church is remarkably well preserved, at least on the inside.
The Vatican was a zoo. Every day thousands walk through these buildings and initially I didn’t know how they managed to get that many people through. Once we finally made it inside their method became obvious….. we were herded through the halls like cattle past artistic treasures. The “shush” police in the Sistine Chapel were particularly amusing as they attempted to stop the throngs of people from talking and snapping pictures. 
We also managed a glimpse of the Pope-meister during a couple of public addresses.
St. Peter's Basicila is spectacular. No other way to describe it.
Of course if you want to know the detail behind any of these places, our intrepid travelling companion Lisa chronicled Rome far better than we ever could, and she had better weather to do it in when she passed through town a month earlier. Check it out at http://lisafukushimablog.blogspot.com/2007_09_16_archive.html
As a footnote, when we are sightseeing, we always work on the proven theory that if you need lunch, never eat near a monument; but Rome having so many tourists seeing so many sights, took this to a new level. It seems that no matter how hard we tried, or how far we walked from any monument, our lunches were fraught with bad food, bad service, or both.
Before we knew it, we were on our way to the airport and destined for Spain. Time to learn a new language and give up the pizza.
Since we are a bit behind on our chronology, here is a snapshot of Rome:
The Colosseum was as you would expect, spectacular. Hard to imagine the thousands that died for entertainment. We snapped this picture of a couple of gladiators in the subway on their way home from work.
The Roman Forum is much larger than we had imagined and much too large to explore in the short bursts of sunshine we received. But we tried.
The Pantheon exceeded expectations because frankly, we didn’t have any. This Roman temple turned Christian church is remarkably well preserved, at least on the inside.
The Vatican was a zoo. Every day thousands walk through these buildings and initially I didn’t know how they managed to get that many people through. Once we finally made it inside their method became obvious….. we were herded through the halls like cattle past artistic treasures. The “shush” police in the Sistine Chapel were particularly amusing as they attempted to stop the throngs of people from talking and snapping pictures. 
We also managed a glimpse of the Pope-meister during a couple of public addresses.St. Peter's Basicila is spectacular. No other way to describe it.
Of course if you want to know the detail behind any of these places, our intrepid travelling companion Lisa chronicled Rome far better than we ever could, and she had better weather to do it in when she passed through town a month earlier. Check it out at http://lisafukushimablog.blogspot.com/2007_09_16_archive.html
As a footnote, when we are sightseeing, we always work on the proven theory that if you need lunch, never eat near a monument; but Rome having so many tourists seeing so many sights, took this to a new level. It seems that no matter how hard we tried, or how far we walked from any monument, our lunches were fraught with bad food, bad service, or both.
Before we knew it, we were on our way to the airport and destined for Spain. Time to learn a new language and give up the pizza.
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