ROME

Rome: The Capital of the World. It all started out with a quick little train ride (11hrs) through Munich, Innsbruck, Bologne, and Florence. I slept most of the time, which worked out really well even though I was scared that I was going to sleep though the stop and end up in Naples. One the night train I took to Vienna, the conductor had to wake me up because it was the last stop. Opps. Everything worked out ok though. It was almost 9 by the time I got to the Vatican City. I was really groggy so I basically hung out in St. Peter's Square for a couple hours. The line to get inside was way too long and the place didn't even open til ten. While I waited for the initial surge of people to go in I drank water from the fountains, which I'm hoping wasn't holy water. One of the things that I'm going to miss about europe is the satisfaction that I get when I find a place to take a leak for free. Take that Vatican City, I owe you 40-80 cents depending on how clean your washroom is, haha. I saw the Vatican Museum (which is ritzy, why do they still need collection) and the Sistine Chapel. No picutes allowed in there though, although that doesn't stop Americans. It is pretty amazing though. I scaled St. Peter's Bresilica, which has some of the most clostrophobic passageways I've ever been in. Sick view of Rome from the top though.
I think I spent about 6 hours in or near the Vatican. I sent a postcard from inside. I didn't expect it to be so fort-like though. But It has been constantly under threats from different groups. The Sistine Chapel was specifically placed in the center of this insane group of buildings to protect it. There was also a Castle nearby with secret passageways leading to it so that the religeous dudes could escape if needed.
By mid-afternoon I was Vatican-ed out and strolled around to some of the famous squares. (or Piazzas) The following is a typical strole along one of Rome's streets:
Walk,
Look, there is a bunch of Nuns,
Walk,
Huge Church with tons of gold inside,
Walk,
No thanks, No Fake Gucci Bag for me today sir, no I don't want a rolex either, No
Walk,
Roman Ruins
Walk
10 Rome Police reading the paper
and Walk.

Above, The Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II on Piazza Venize: which commemorates Italy's Independence as well as the WW1 memorial. It is huge though, and some people don't like it because they built it on ancient Roman ruins, and they made it out of the whitest marble known to man. so it really sticks out and takes away from the ruins right beside it, but its exactly the kind on monument that I would build. I would probably call it something like "The National Monument to Chris's Awesomeness" , haha just kidding. I don't have that much marble anyway.
Yeah, Rome has got to be one of the most densely packed group of Churches in the world. I was actually a fan of the little streets though, some you probably couldn't even fit a Hummer down, and thats not counting the two rows of parked cars. Rome's streets are Dangerous too. It only took me about two life threatening experiences to get a feel for the insane drivers. But still, I really don't think they use lanes, and apparently scooters don't have to stop at red lights, which really makes it fun when they're electric and you can't hear them.
Above, The Pantheon.

The largest Dome in the world for about 1700 years, not bad. The concrete in the Dome varies from 4m thick around the edge to about 1m thick at the top. The hole in the top is also a design feature, they didn't run out of light volcanic rock to build with.

The Trevi Fountain, its a fountain the size of a three story building, on the side of a building. People hang out here all day long, and its a cool spot to chill at night as well, I met a Dutch guy and his wife here one night and talked for about an hour. Good times. Its good luck to throw coins in to the fountain with your right hand, over your left shoulder. I saw a ton of people doing it wrong too, impatient americans never read the fine print in the travel books. There are all kind of theories about how many coins to throw in. I threw One, because it either "brings me good luck" or "means that I will one day return to Rome." and I can live with either. Apparently they pull out about 3000 Euro in coin from the fountain everynight.

The Roman Forum, the center of the Roman Empire. Where it all went down for the greatest civilization in the history of the world. It includes over a dozen buildings, most of which are really just piles of rock. But you can really feel how great it was at one time. The whole area has this "Wow, I'm in Rome" kinda feel to it.

Rome was amazing, But thats all I'm writing for now. I'm tired and I need to go to bed. Two points for the person who guesses which part of Rome I've left out until tomorrow.