Pictures from bottom to top: 1st 6 at Vatican City and Vatican Museums; Colloseum; Inside Colloseum; Beneath the old floor of Colloseum; Trevi Fountain; Tossing a coin for good luck; Wayne with the World Champion Barcelona Soccer Team members; Wayne's Birthday; Guards at American Embassy; Elevator at Martina House B&B; Part of our beautiful room; Entrance to Borghese Gardens down street from B&B; Via Veneto-Our B&B

Rome, glorious Rome!! The city built on 7 hills. And Wayne and I climbed everyone of them today!! But before I get into our day in Rome, a note to Mechelle about our train ride from Venice to Rome.
You would have freaked out!! Don Corleone was on the train with us!! I swear! At one of the stops between Venice and Rome, I got up to use the toilette. On my way back to my seat, an elderly gentleman (silk suit, gray hair, big nose, slow but not quite shuffling walk, slightly sagging eyes...you get the picture), his wife, I presume, who is beautifully coiffed and dressed (again, silk suit, pumps, silver hair, diamonds, white poodle with diamond/rhinestone? collar tucked under the woman's arms...you get the picture), and a body guard type (obviously Italian) get on the train. I am behind them as they enter a private compartment. “Don Corleone” begins talking to his bodyguard...I thought I would faint!! Gravelly, whisper-type voice, in Italian!! It's him!! You would have died right there!! I kept wanting to go back past their compartment to see if I could see him or hear him talking, but Daddy wouldn't let me...said I was going to get killed! :0)) I was so wishing you were with me!

Anyway, back to our day in Rome. We were up bright and early this morning. We had to meet our tour guide outside the Vatican Museums at 7:55 AM. Not knowing exactly where we were going, which Metro line to take or the stop to get off at, and wanting to get a little breakfast as our B&B doesn't serve breakfast 'til 8 AM, we left the hotel at 6:15. Yuck! Anyway, we made it in time to get coffee and croissant. Only 5 of us on the tour, and we had a great guide! The tour lasted for 4 hours (all inside the Vatican), and the only thing I was disappointed in was the fact that we couldn't take pictures in many of the rooms, and some we couldn't use flash. Daddy and I found this tour fascinating, though. Did you know that many of the painters of DaVinci's and Michaelangelo's time (pronounced Mick-o-angelo, in Italy, by the way) did not sign their work? Instead, they incorporated a hidden, self-portrait somewhere in their work. Interesting, especially if you've read the DaVinci Code!! St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel are absolutely amazing, and to have someone so knowledgeable about the history of the paintings was such a privilege! Altogether an amazing tour for both of us! Also, we didn't realize that the Pope is guarded by the Swiss Guard. Got some pictures of them in their “puffy” uniforms. Our guide told us that they know 400 ways to kill you!! She had a great sense of humor, but she didn't laugh when she told us that, so ??? maybe I better not mess with THEM! All kinds of interesting optical illusions in and around the Vatican that I'll have to remember to tell you when we get home. It was also interesting to think about being in the room (Sistine Chapel) where Conclave is held when a new Pope is elected. It took Michaelangelo 4 ½ years to paint the first scene on the ceiling (Noah and the ark). This was one of his first paintings, if not his first. Prior to that, he was a sculptor.

After we left the Vatican, we spent 2 hours lost trying to find Piazza Navona and the Pantheon. Never did find it! The problem is that the street names in Rome are not labeled, for the most part, and if you do find the street you're looking for, it only goes for 1 block, then dead ends. You either have to turn left or right (never sure which) and pick the street up again. Talk about 2 mice in a maze!! A hilly maze, at that! We gave up, caught a bus, and went to the colloseum. This was another one of my favorite sites of our vacation! Built in A.D. 80, it was the prototype for architectural arches. What brilliant people! The original floor is gone, so you can see down into the underground tunnels where the animals were kept. An animal would be lifted up by an elevator-type device and kept behind a “screen” before being let into the floor of the colloseum. The gladiators didn't know what they would be fighting until the last minute. A canvas awning could be drawn over the top of the arena...the first domed stadium!! All very interesting.
Thinking we were headed to the Roman Forum, we spent the next hour climbing a winding staircase/path that eventually lead to a small, simple church. Nothing else! But we weren't alone! We did get a glimpse of the old Palace from the staircase, though. It is pretty well hidden! We finally found the Forum, then caught the bus to Trevi Fountain. Enjoyed this a lot. The soccer team from Barcelona was there and we got some pictures with them. They won the International Championship here, last night. The city is filled with soccer teams! Almost forgot to mention that our hotel is just down Via Veneto from the U.S. Embassy. It is heavily guarded! Military and Italian police everywhere! We feel pretty safe! We were getting pretty tired after Trevi, so we walked back to the hotel, freshened up, and went out to dinner. Today is Wayne's birthday! I had the restaurant bring out a small cake (chocolate with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and hot fudge!) after dinner. They sang Happy Birthday to him, and he blew out his one candle. He was surprised! Rome...what a birthday present!!

We're off to Florence tomorrow. Will write more when get there. Missing everyone, and thanks for your comments. It means a lot for us to hear from all of you at home!
We've made it to Firenze (Florence) and just wanted to do a little update before sending this.
Joey, we met your uncle on the train from Rome!! Not really, but he could have been. Not sure what his last name was but it could have been Gagliano!! He was about 75 years old and his wife was with him. We shared a picnic lunch on the train! He insisted we have salami and home made bread! He had made the salami and his wife, the bread. Delicious! We shared almonds, crackers and cookies from Hungary, which he really liked. He only spoke a few words of English, but we managed to carry on a conversation the whole trip! They have 9 children. I think they might be Catholic! His wife gave me a medal of Pope Joannes XXIII(another name that I recognized from our Vatican tour, but I can't remember it) and we gave them a postcard from New Orleans and an American flag pin. He put the pin on his shirt and said, “Me Americano” He was a very jolly man, and we thoroughly enjoyed him!

Our hotel in Florence has A/C (YEA!!!) and free internet in the bar, so I am going down in a bit to send the updates from Venice and Rome. I forgot to finish the Sunday post in Rabapatona, but I will before leaving Florence, so I can post that, also.

We are going to do more relaxing in Florence as we are getting pretty tired. We will be able to give some good tips on traveling in Europe by train when we get home. We've heard that no one ever says they didn't pack enough when they come to Europe, and that is so true. We thought we were packing light, but if there is a next time, we'll bring half of what we brought. Rick Steves is absolutely correct on that!!
Later!