"The Romans were everywhere!"

We let ourselves sleep in - til all of 10:00! Then it's up and at 'em. Our "B&B" provided cereal and instant coffee, which I have quite the affinity for after Ecuador. It was really nice to have a slow morning after some of the early and get-a-move-on mornings of the past few days.

We found lunch near the Vatican - pizza with fresh toppings and these little fried rice balls stuffed with fillings. I can't remember what they're called at the moment but they were gooood. This was one of the first meals that between the two of us we didn't finish.

Then we walked off to the Vatican! To say that it was impressive is just not a big enough statement. It's amazingly complex and beautiful. And it's huge. Every wall, piece of ceiling, altar, prayer is a work of art in itself. I wish I could have laid down on the floor looking up to be able to gaze at it all but there we're far too many people.

And there is a dress code (which we adhered to) that many people, mostly women in short skirts and skimpy tops, couldn't figure out. The Vatican is very strict about these rules - two guards stand at the steps in front of the entrance checking visitors - and they're also prepared with these paper hospital gown type things for people to wear around their shoulders or tie around their waist to cover their knees. Some people brought their own scarves and would wind up looking like they wore a long dress stamped with "ROMA ROMA ROMA" all over it. I on the other hand looked cute in a sun dress that has small shoulder frilly-ness. Inadvertent brilliance, as my dad would say!

Next to the colosseum! Which had nothing of the wait we'd be warned about and we got inside within around 30 minutes. We think it's mainly because it was the middle of the day, it was hot, and right now many Europeans are taking their own holiday. Works for us! We were prepared with lots of water and light clothing, and we stayed in the shade whenever possible.

The colosseum is also impressive but in a different way from the Vatican. The colosseum is, I believe, a testament to the Romans' incredible legacy of craftsmanship. Built well, built quickly, and built with functionality for its purpose. With all of our new-fangled technology, we still don't rival some of these structures.

And there are plenty of examples of this literally all over Rome. Ruins that are closed off, ruins that were reused, buildings that are still standing. Just as Britton realized, "Man, the Romans were EVERYWHERE!" (Yes, especially when in ROME.) ;D

And - because why stop at a full day when you can pack two days worth of things into one? - we went on a bike tour at 7:00 that night! This tour was "Unusual Rome" and complemented our time in Rome really, really well. We saw some unique sights - a panorama of Rome at sunset, the Vatican through a peephole, Hadron's (?) castle, the forum at night with pictures of how it was when it was built. Plus, we had a guide which meant our random questions were answered! I was wishing at some points during the day that we had taken guided tours, because you do get so much more info. Britton and I tend to speculate and wonder what was this for or why is it like that but can't get answers from walls or signs in Italian.