24.06.08

Last night, the group hung out in the Yellow bar adjacent to the Yellow Hostel. We all talked about our travels, before walking down the street to a corner pizza place. The group told high school football stories as we enjoyed our pizzas. Of course, my stories were the only ones that had not been fabricated.

Today was dedicated to the Vatican. Our goal was to see the Vatican, in its entirety, and then return on Wednesday morning to see the Pope. Bryan, Ryan, John, Joe, and I metro'ed to the Vatican and met our tour group. We opted to pay a little extra for a guided tour which enabled us to bypass the massive entry line and receive additional information about the Vatican's treasures. Our guide, Alex, was full of information and kept it fun at all times.

The Vatican was extremely impressive, in terms of size and content. Like the Louvre, the Vatican Museums were more of a madhouse than a museum. One could spend years in there! After about 1.5 hours in the museums, we made it to the Sistine Chapel. Pretty awesome stuff. I still cannot comprehend the genius of Michelangelo (this was his first painting). There were probably 300-500 people crowded in the chapel all looking straight up at the world's most famous fresco. The next stop was St. Peter's Basilica that can simply be described as massive. Saw Michelangelo's Pieta. Saw the tomb of John Paul II. Saw the dome. Everything about the Vatican was, surprisingly, more awesome than expected.

After the Vatican, the group strolled around the hot city of Rome. Yesterday was certainly hotter, but it was in the upper 80s today. For lunch, we stopped at a small restaurant, and my meal included bread, salad, spaghetti, and a macedona (fruit) salad. It was good but nothing fantastic. The walk back to the Yellow was particularly grueling due to our full stomachs, tired legs, and scorching heat.

Tomorrow morning we are seeing the Pope speak, following will be my private one-on-one session with him, and then we are seeing the Pantheon. It will be a good day.

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Please review Bryan's newest photo albums entitled "Paris" and "Rome." The pictures are found here: http://picasaweb.google.com/rollo.bryan