So day 2 in Rome...
Well after a very warm 1st day in Rome we awoke very early, dressed a little cooler and took our 705 bus and metro into the city center. The 1st thing that we did was find a market to gather some snacks for the day. The local grocery store near our hotel was closed because of the early hour so we decided to just head to the city and find one there. We gathered some, chips, bread, salami, prosciutto, cheese, fruit and water to load Jeremiahs backpack with so that we wouldn't go hungry. Then we stopped at a cafe for some espresso and a croissant. Then off to the Vatican...p.s. it was very humid that day. The 1st thing we did after we got off the train near the Vatican was decide to head toward the Vatican Museum and then do St. Peters after. Off we went with the thousands of others headed in that direction. Despite what everyone had said, the line was quite short and we got right in. A quick stop at the Vatican post office to send out a few postcards, a quick snack lunch and we were off to explore 4 miles of art. Let me just say, WOW, that was ALOT of Freakin ART!!! We saw mosaics, oils, tapestries, sculptures, fresco's, you name
it, we saw it. There were jaw dropping rooms with fresco's from floor to ceiling where past popes had entertained their guests over the centuries. My favorite were floors with mosaics that had been part of other Roman buildings but over the years brought to the Vatican (more like stolen and brought, but that is another story). The collection was simple amazing but overwhelming all at the same time. All along the way we kept seeing signs leading to the Sistine Chapel and I kept waiting and waiting to get there but the art kept going and going. Then finally we turn a corner and we are in a very dim room packed wall to wall with people standing shoulder to shoulder looking all around and up. I thought to myself "what is everyone looking at and why are there so many people in here?" I looked up and saw the amazing ceiling and immediately started taking pictures yet still I did not know where I was. Then I hear..."No pictures No pictures" and I see a guard pointing and yelling at me. I said "oh no flash?" his response "NO, NO pictures AT ALL!!!" (rude). So I stop taking pictures and ask Jeremiah why no pictures and he says "Cause this is the Sistine Chapel." Ohhh, okay this all makes sense now...maybe I was tired or maybe I'm just dumb but I had no idea that we were in the Sistine Chapel...duhhhh. BUT, the picture I took of the ceiling, it turned out it was the famous fresco by Michelangelo of God reaching out for Adam! Yep, I got it and I didn't even know what I was aiming my camera at, I just held my camera up and got a perfect shot!
After a few minutes of relaxing in the chapel we decided to head over to St. Peters Basilica so off we went. Along the way I got conned into buying a "real" Prada, all leather purse that I was convinced I had to have and begged Jeremiah to buy for me. I was so convinced that it was real and so excited to have it and then 3 seconds after it was mine and we had walked away from the 
purse hustlers, I hated it and realized it was plastic. But it seemed like such a deal at the time, he started at $65 and I got him to $30, I was saving half right? No, later in that day Jeremiah saw the exact same purse (sans Prada symbol, which fell off on day 3 of Rome) for $15!!! So mad but what can you do. Anyway we walked over to St. Peters square took a rest and then headed into the Basilica. There is one word for the basilica...GRAND! maybe 2 words...HUGE! It was the biggest thing I have ever seen and being inside made everyone seem so small. We walked around the inside, saw the famous Michelangelo sculpture of Mary holding Jesus, we saw the dead popes in their glass coffins and we saw more amazing works of art. Oh and I got yelled at in there too for taking pictures.The rest of our day was slow, we did some more walking around Rome, used the internet cafe and then went back to our hotel for some much needed R & R. Rome was kicking our booties!
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