Rome (by Greg)

Friday being All Saints Day, a national holiday, made getting in and out of Florence easy.  With Nick and Hannah as backseat partners, we motored into the northern reaches of Rome for our next agriturismo.  From there, we found the regional train into Rome...only forty minutes directly to St. Peter's Square, and no worries of finding an over-priced parking spot in heavily congested Rome.

We waited the line for St. Peter's Basilica, the largest Christian Church in the world.  The architecture was amazing...gazing up 400 feet into a dome designed by Michelangelo was breathtaking.  Nick and Greg climbed the 500 steps into the cupola for a spectacular view of Rome as viewed from Vatican City.

The next morning we went by rail again to see the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel.  The one hour wait in line stretched into two, dragged into three, and  became excruciatingly four!  That is when Our own Saint Maria went to the front of the line, chastising the line nazis and started a mini revolt. Minutes later the pilgrimage line surged through the barriers!

The Vatican museum exhibits were ho-hum as experienced by a pushing, shoving, moving mob.  The Vatican has  bowed to the almighty tourist dollar and that is exactly how it felt.  In the Sistine Chapel we were able to detach from the snaking mass and stand in the middle taking it in...it was awe-inspiring, truly one of the great works of art by Michelangelo.

This was followed by a Metro subway ride to the Colosseum, cool beans, and a trip around the Roman Forum.  We then found the famous "mouth of truth" fountain made famous by Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in "Roman Holiday." Hannah and Nick walked away hands intact.

Our last morning together saw us back in Rome, trekking through the streets to the Fountain of Trevi, the Spanish steps, and the Pantheon, still an engineering feat unequaled.

We then tried to find a good restaurant recommended by friends Hannah made (speaking Italian!) in our museum line marathon.  It was closed so we sampled some local cuisine.  We put Hannah and Nick on the train to Florence, packed our bags and headed across the breadth of Italy to sample the eastern seaboard.