Until He Dearly Departacus

Re-living my travels from the last couple of of weeks is a lot more fun than studying for my final exam. So that's what I'm going to do now. Today, let's go to Rome again, even though we were just there with a story about how I ate everyone's breakfast. I didn't actually get to see much of Rome. We were there for less than 24 hours. I didn't even have time to buy a Pope postcard, which was really what I was looking forward to most. We also missed the Pope by about fifteen minutes. But it was ok since we got to see his digs, his band, his guards, and what we decided was his pizza place. (It's just across the street from him, though I'm sure they'd deliver.) While in the Vatican, we also discussed what the Pope would give up for Lent and decided that chocolate was probably a safe bet.


Megan and Lauren fighting for lunch outside of the Colosseum. It was only appropriate that they do this. Just too bad not enough blood was shed.


Rome is ridiculous. Ancient, important, gigantic structures are just everywhere. Everywhere. So many things happened there. Julius Caesar? He was stabbed there. Russell Crowe? He fought there. The Colosseum? Just there. And it really was that big. Solid. Massive. Looking at impressive buildings like this makes me glad that I was not born a Roman slave.


Looking back, I like how I took a picture of the Pantheon from the least impressive angle possible. But I think you all know by now that photographing isn't my strong suit. (Neither is writing. Or math. Or sciences...) In my defense, we were in a rush. And I was getting yelled at for climbing up high and making Lauren nervous to take the picture. And lines from Julius Caesar kept running through my head during my time in Rome, distracting me, especially since I couldn't remember much of it.


St. Peter's Basilica and the immese throngs of people lined up all around and within it.


The Romans like their Fonzie. He was all over the place.


Fuzzy picture because we were in a hurried cab ride to the airport and the cabbie was not in a good mood. (Are we allowed to call cab drivers cabbies?) But this, folks, is Via Appia, or Appian Way. When the cab driver first told us this the night before, when he was in a much better mood, my eyes lit up and I exclaimed, "Spartacus!?" while Lauren and Megan just nodded and feigned interest. It felt odd yet exhilirating that I was in a car that was driving on the oldest and most famous of ancient Roman roads, built in 312 BC., and a road once lined with 6000 crosses.