I meant to post this morning, but apparently the internet cafe opened late. It may be because today is a national holiday commemorating 150 years of the unification of Italy or maybe the guy who opens shop was just late coming in. Whatever the case, it's now Thursday evening and we've had two full days of sightseeing.

Yesterday it rained for most of the day, so we thought it would be good to head to the Vatican. Before we did, we stopped into a cafe for our first taste of the renowned Italian coffee experience. I have to say, the pastries and cappuccino were amazing. When we made it to the Vatican, we saw the Vatican Museum, culminating with the Sistine Chapel. The whole museum was impressive and I was quite surprised to see modern art included in their collection. No other piece of art has ever struck me quite like the Sistine Chapel. The immensity and quality is simply awesome.

Then we went into the Basilica of St. Peter and up the cupola. The size and lavishness of this church is amazing and the view of Rome from the cupola is worth the hike up hundreds of narrow steps, even with hazy skies. Then we took a few minutes to walk through the papal crypts. It was very touching to see the dozens of mourners in front of the tomb John Paul II.

We grabbed pizza for dinner. I tried my first ever sardine pizza. It was interesting but I don't think I'll order one again. Leslie went for the funghi (mushroom) pizza, which she thoroughly enjoyed. I was surprised at how flavorful a simple margherita (basic cheese) pizza is and how thin the crust was. As I stated in a previous post, I'm going to love the food over here.

We slept well and I'm pretty sure have overcome any potential jet lag in just a day. We started today with a trip to the Colosseum. Our Roman tour guide and good friend, Rhodora, mentioned that there are some theories that the whole gladiator spectacle may have been staged more like professional wrestling and less like the movie Gladiator. The Colosseum is, of course, impressive. It's pretty surprising how similar it is in design to many modern stadiums.

It started to rain pretty hard so we went inside the Capitoline Museum. It was full of ancient busts and sculptures, notably the Dying Gaul, the Capitoline Wolf, and the Capitoline Venus.

After that we headed to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, where it rained sporadically. It was wonderful to have Rhodora with us for this. I visited this site the last time I was in Rome and found it mildly interesting at best. With Rhodora here, an archeological scholar, we were made aware of subtle details and the context of the surrounding ruins. Aside from the food, I think this is my favorite thing we've done so far, which is evidenced by the hundreds of pictures I took.

We headed to the Trevi Fountain and threw some coins in (including Larae's €0.02 coin) which means we are assured to return. Then we grabbed dinner at L'Antica Birreria Peroni, which serves food that is best described as Italian-German fusion.

I'll try to post pictures in the future, but this internet cafe is closing so I need to head out.