Last Day in Rome

Our second day in the city of Rome we headed to the Vatican City.

Admission is free, thank goodness, because we had started to get a little bit sick of the inflated Italian prices. There are also free tours inside. We drifted in and out of one, but mostly we examined the place on our own. Inside we saw glass tombs - at first we thought this might be a repeat of Valencia where we got to see a real withered arm, but on closer examination we realized the bodies of the popes were just realistic figures, made of all sorts of different materials. On the whole the thing is a little bit overdramatic for our tastes - everything draped in gold and silver and expensive marble.

We had started to get a little bit sick of the inflated Italian prices.

Bellow the Vatican are, as usual, more tombs of popes, including the tomb of Jean Paul, the last pope. Still so long after his death there was a crowd of people grieving. Unfortunatly some tourists did not pay heed to the requests of silence. After the Vatican we wandered around a bit, stopping to grab some more pizza for lunch. Hopefully we wont be sick of the stuff by the end of this trip!

Later we checked off some more important (and free) attractions : the Spanish Steps, and later, the Treve Fountain. In Rome the weather is constantly changing - when we first arrived at the Spanish steps it was sunny and hot, and very crowded, but a second later there was a downpour of rain and suddenly we had the whole place to ourselves! Us Vancouverites can handle a bit of rain, no big deal.

Treve Fountain was equally crowded, but we did get the oppertunity to get rid of some of our very useless 1 and 2 cent euro coins. One tossed over your shoulder to ensure your return to Rome, and another over the shoulder to grant a wish. We got some candid photos of the event. And then it was time to haul back to the Hostel. We spent our last night in our favourite resteraunt by the beach, which we have been to every night since we got here. We will miss it a lot, but tomorrow its off to Florence, where we look forward to our Hostels famous "real" breakfast!

Pictures to come when we get to a computer that allows it!