Day 10...Roman Holiday

My fear was illness. When I woke up I was sluggish and bed seemed to have me permanently connected to it. After lunch I finally moved myself to get dressed and I'm glad I did though I didn't feel %100 by any stretch of the imagination.

The Vatican is gorgeous night or day...regardless and there were absolutely oodles of people. The cue's to get into the Basilica was ridiculous so we decided that since we (rather I) made such a late start of it, we would hit the inside of the Vatican tomorrow. Today we boarded another tourist bus (top desk of course) and traversed the city for 2 hours without getting off. The second time we disembarked and hiked it to the Fontana Di Trevi. Again, tons and tons of people. One would think that considering that this is the 'off' season in Europe, people would give it a damn rest but oh no, tourists like ourselves were absolutely crawling on every surface.

Still the fountain was gorgeous though I didn't throw a coin over my shoulder (they say that if you do so and the coin lands in the fountain, you will one day return to Rome). I still wasn't feeling totally up to speed, my throat aching something fierce so I wasn't in the mood to fight the throng to get to the front in order to do so. P and I did of course have scrumptious gilato as we sat on the steps of the church located right across from the fountain (I know, having cold ice cream with a throat ache isn't the smartest thing to do but then again, I have read in every blog, every book in the world that one is not to miss the experience).

Another stop that I really wanted to get off at was the Church of S. Maria Maggiore but the last bus was making it's rounds and I didn't have the strength to hike it back to the Vatican. We opted to remain on board and hit that spot and a few others (I've read about the church in Dan Brown's book Angels and Demons). Our plan is to get up at the crack of ass and first check out the Vatican (including the crypts of St. Peter and the other Popes) then get back on the bus to see the Colosseo as well as the Church. We have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow hence the 8am starting time.

May I say though, my favorite spot of all was and will always remain the Vatican. As the cloak of night settled over the Holy See's empire I continuously snapped picture after picture at every angle and lighting one could imagine. I told P, who knew when I we would (if ever) get back to see all this again...we may as well make the most of it.

We had dinner at a Chinese restaurant that was pretty good but the best part was when we headed over to a pasticceria where we sat outside, sipped cappuccino's, smoked cigs (we took some delectable chocolaty confections to go to enjoy on our balcony later tonight) and gazed at the Sistine Chapel that looked larger than life. I sighed wistfully and commented that I would be sad leaving Europe.

Rather silly to say it out loud now that I think of it. Of course I'll miss Europe, what's there not to miss?

I don't think I'll be posting anymore until I get back to the States. The Internet charges are mad. We're paying €22 for 24 hours (of which we were either sleeping or out). That's okay, I'll do what I've been doing which is keeping the journal off-line and posting as soon as I get to a connection.

Okay guys, I'm out for now.

Ciao.