The Holiest Place on Earth

I am tired. Woke up before 730 today from the cleaning lady, had breakfast and headed out to Vatican City early to catch a tour, as suggested by the Aussies I met yesterday. I was hoping to meet one of them there at 9, but I got distracted as I walking there by this guy wearing a shirt that said: Tomatina, Bunol!! Of course I had to stop and ask him about it... turned out he's an American from SF! So after chatting a bit I realized he was actually working.. selling tours for the Vatican museums. I was already dubious about the first flyer I had gotten offering it for 35€ so when he told me theirs were 40€ i was even more reluctant. buttt we talked some more and it seemed legit, and when am i ever gonna go back to the vatican? pretty sure he worked on commission so i was more than happy it went to him.

The entire museum/ Sistine Chapel/ St. Peters.. it all amazed me. I climbed the 551 stairs to the top of the basilica.. man that was tough. I didnt know i was only halfway to the top when i reached the inside of the basilica. At that point I was already more than wowed... and at the exit, i realized there were more stairs up. As we got to the area of the dome, the stairs became smaller and i started getting a bit claustrophobic. I dont know how anyone bigger than me got through because I had a tough time in some places. Took some pictures but it doesnt do the real thing justice.

I was already exhausted from the stairs, but I decided to make my way to the Colosseum anyway.. I got a 3 day Roma Pass and i get entrance to the first 2 museum visits for free. Definitely wanted to use it at the Colosseum to skip the long lines and the entrance fee of 11€! Also walked all around Palatine Hill. I wish I remembered everything I had learned from Classics 20-- all about the Romans.

Yesterday-- made my way down one side of the city, starting from Piazza Popolo to Campo de Fiori, basically following the itinerary Edo had made for me with a few detours. I know it's not rude to stare in Europe.. but is it weird to take pictures of random people? At the Pantheon, I thought I had gotten into someone's picture, so I moved out of the way, only for the man to turn with me and snap my picture. THEN he realized it wasnt a good one and made me pose again. Two minutes later, his son comes back to me and asks if he could take one more, with me this time. Oh yea, he had to hold my hand also. He asked where I was from, and when I said the US, he looked reallly disappointed.. and said Oh, youre not from .... I missed the last word. I've disappointed a lot of europeans with the fact im not from Asia. meh.

One more thing to add-- they hosted the Nike Human Race in Roma!!! Saw them setting up in the morning but I didnt know what time it was happening. My tour guide from today had run it last night at 8pm. What a trooper.