This morning we got up, went to breakfast (were rushed by the waiter who wanted to close up early), and then went to Rome (didn't have to get tickets because we got day tickets). Once in Rome we didn't even go to the Piazza del Populo, we went straight from one train station to another. We went next door to the underground station. In Rome there are only two lines, Line A, and Line B. Since the underground is one of the fastest ways to travel and since there's only two lines you can bet that these trains were full. This time when we road to the stop we needed for the Vatican though it wasn't packed like Sardines. 
Once we got out of the underground we got to walk to the main entrance to the Vatican and the museum. The Vatican, for those who don't know, is the world's smallest country. It covers 44 acres and is run by the Pope, the leader of the Catholic Church. On the way to the main entrance to the museum we were hounded by tour guides saying "Tour of the Vatican! Tour in English! Sir you look English, would you be interested in our guided tour?" I felt sorry for the ones who said, "I work for a different company!" or who trailed off at the end of their sentences. It was terrible. Quite like walking through a bunch of vendors down in Mexico. You like what they're selling, you're actually somewhat interested, but there's just so many of them offering that it's overwhelming and you know that if you stop and talk to one of them you immediately grab the attention of the rest of them so if you deny one the rest will hound you (10 times worse because then they're all lowering prices while you're sitting there wanting to get out and wondering whether you could bulldoze your way through the crowd of people). We didn't take any offers though (to some peoples disgust) and walked up and in to the Vatican.
After customs (the place is important so they do check you on entry) we went over to the guided tour sign and managed to fill in the spots of a few drop outs of a once filled up guided tour that was offered by the Vatican.
(not the true Sistine Chapel, but a funny image)We got headsets and got to join in with an assorted group of people to follow and listen to a wonderful older woman who told us loads about the Vatican, about the Sistine Chapel, about Michelangelo's time spent there, about the Pope (a guy asked the ludicrous question of who was in charge of the Vatican-I almost laughed at look our tour guide gave the man, it was obvious she was thinking, "Are you serious?"), about the Catholic faith, about the many art paintings we saw in there, about Raphael and his paintings, and about why the Vatican was made into a country. We walked through long hallways, courtyards, a garden, and multiple rooms filled with paintings. (an image of the Sistine Chapel --->
All of the things we saw in the museum were things that the Pope loved and put up along the area where he went on his daily walk. Some Pope's liked sculpture and put his own collection in the courtyard, some liked geography and so commissioned a group of painters to complete multiple maps to line a hallway (all of the maps were from the viewpoint of Rome, if they were south it was painted as if the people of Rome were looking down on them), some had rooms painted with the stories from the bible (famous one of Raphaels is his painting of St. Peter being released from his prison by the angel), and some had a collection of modern paintings (glanced at these). 
Our tour guide left us near the Sistine Chapel, informed us to not talk in there unless we wanted our heads bitten off, and then went on her way. We went in to the Sistine Chapel to take a look at Michelangelo's prison work, the panels of paintings along the walls that were painted by the teams of top artists, and the mass of people and the guards who were there to quiet them and "stop" them from taking pictures. People talked, and people took pictures. They completely ignored the big, buff man in uniform up at the front who shouted multiple times for people to be silent (he only succeeded in causing a few seconds of silence-just to give him some credit). Once we passed through the screen I saw a huge atrocity, a tour guide was pointing out things and chatting away quite loudly, seemingly oblivious to the silence rule. I decided then and there that that was how you could determine the certified guides with the uncertified/undignified. 
After the Sistine Chapel we walked over to St. Peters Basilica, which is supposedly the model cathedral. Main impression upon entering: vast, and decorated but not all gild. Within this cathedral we saw many memorials dedicated to past Popes, Michelangelo's Mary and Jesus sculpture (the Pieta), 
Bernini's canopy above St. Peters tomb (the Baldacchino), the Dome of St. Peters, and the cherubs of St. Peters. The last ones aren't really that famous, but I liked them and since I was in charge of the camera I took a few pictures of the angels holding the holy water.
St. Peters Basilica didn't hold too much interest with me, maybe it was just too much. The art inside was wonderful, the carvings were all spectacular (if they have one of Michelangelo's they're pretty much set), and nothing seemed to be worn out, but the church didn't hold any real beauty for me. It seemed gawked at, but is it loved?
The dome, the dove stained glass window, the cherubs, and the Baldacchino were my favorite things. Once we left the church we walked out on to the Piazza San Pietro, one of the most famous Piazza's in the world. This Piazza is famous because every time there's a Sunday, religious festival, and/or special occasion the Pope will bless the crowd that gathers in front of St. Peters, meaning, he'll throw holy water on them. Vendors drag their goods into the Piazza and fight with hundreds of other people for space so that they (and everything on them) will be blessed. When we were there we didn't get blessed by the Pope (glad to avoid the crowds), but we did take advantage of something else the Vatican is known for thanks to the Pope: it's postage system. It took us maybe 10 minutes to prepare our 20 someodd postcards. After that we walked through the pillars that surrounded the Piazza and then we left the Vatican to cross the street, grab something to eat, and to feed the pigeons. We then checked out a few things to see if the stores close by had things that had been "blessed by the Pope", I will not say if we found anything or if we got anything for anyone.
After all of this we decided to hop back on the subway and make our way over to the Colosseum. This did not take us very long and soon enough we were inside the Colosseum, guideless and loving it. Ahmee told me about it's history, about what it looked like back when, about how the place had been built to house thousands (and to be able to clear the building in under 10 minutes), about where everyone and everything was held, etc.. I also read in her book what it had to say about it. I found it interesting that the elite sat towards the bottom. 
In the theater the elite always have the box seats that are above everyone else, why would the Roman elite choose to sit on the bottom? Answer: they were watching their enemies get killed? They enjoyed being in the front row seat of the blood and guts? They didn't want to have to walk up the steps? I don't know what their reason was, but I do know that if I were an ancient Roman, I'd want to sit towards the back or not in the Colosseum at all (definitely wouldn't want to have to battle a beast in the arena either). I wonder if in the future people look at our football, our rugby, our soccer, and go, "They did that!?! What!?" Actually, they might not be so surprised at that, they'd probably be more surprised over some of the shows that are on tv nowadays, probably wonder what we find entertaining about that. Boxing, wrestling, etc. those have been around for ages, and now the game isn't loser=death. The Colosseum had battles between lions and barehanded people. I've seen a painting of the arena of the Colosseum where it was filled with Elephants and people battling each other like crazy. It was mass chaos in there! Compared to the Elephants the people and their little spears looked miniscule and pretty hopelessly defeated, but then you'd look at the Elephants and how some of them were in a stage of terror and you realize that the Elephants felt just as threatened. I wouldn't want to sit close to that. Not only would I dislike the blood, guts, and gore, but I'd be worried about whether or not a body would go flying through the air and land in the crowd (elephants can throw.... right?). I also wouldn't want to go for a Gladiator.
As we left the Colosseum all three of us decided we were hungry. Ahmee checked in her book to find a recommended place to eat and we headed out, following her up the steps across the road from the Colosseum. At the top of the steps Ahmee looked around, puzzled about where her cafe was and then I pointed out a corner cafe and we forgot about the other recommended cafe for this cafe that had gelato in it. While inside we ate gelato (killer!!), used the toilet (had a seat!), and talked about the days events and what we were planning on doing.
(another famous Raphael)With the sweet gelato taste still in our mouths we packed up and headed back to the hotel where I spent a fair amount of time working, where we ate in the restaurant, and where we all went to bed at some point (I no longer remember when).
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