I hear there's a new Pope in town

June 7 June 8 June 9	Rome, Italy
	Lodging:	We will be staying for three nights at Hotel Nardizzi in Rome.
	June 7	Plan: We will leave the Cinque Terre for Rome, possibly stopping off in Orvieto. What actually happend (per Christine): We got up, packed and got ourselves and our suitcases down the 92 stairs (easier than on the way up, but still tiring). We then hung around Vernazza, shopping and enjoying the fresh air until the restaurants opened for lunch. We ate at one on the main piazza. I got a homemade pasta with pesto and Mike got anchovies with potatoes. I told him that we were by the ocean, those anchovies would be looking at him, but he didn't think so. They almost were (no eyes, but he did have to spit out bones), but Mike said it was pretty good. We finally took the train back to La Spezia and on to Rome. On the train ride to Rome, both Mike and I started feeling a little ill (nauseated), not bad, like food poisoning, but like motion sickness, except neither of us get motion sickness. I don't kinow if we were getting a little cold, or if it was something we ate, but we weren't feeling all that great when we got to Rome. Since our bags were getting heavy with all the souvenirs, we decided to take a taxi to our hotel from the train station (and, of course, immediately got screwed by a crooked taxi driver with no meter). Hotel Nardiazzi was on the fourth floor of this huge building (each floor had really high ceilings and was like 2 normal floors), and a really tiny, old, scary elevator. (not as small as the Hotel Royal Phare's elevator, but close, and scarieer, because it wasn't enclosed and you could see how high up you were.) Our room was huge (by European standards) on the corner, with a window overlooking the Italian Department of Ministry. I still wasn't feeling all that well, so we just watched TV for awhile. Rome does have the most TV stations of anyplace in Europe. We saw an Italian-dubbed show like Baywatch, with scantily clad people shearing sheep (we were speculating that it was Australian) and lots of Italian-dubbed American shows, like the Flinstones, MTV, and WWF wrestling. We eventually went out and got some gellato, fruit and water and then feasted in our room while watching Lord of the Rings on Mike's computer. There was a huge thunderstorm in Rome that night, rattling the windows, so I kept Lord of the Rings on for a very long time.. :-)
	June 8	Plan: We will spend one day touring the Vatican (the Vatican Museum, Sistene Chapel and St. Peter's), either today or tomorrow. What actually happened (per Christine): The plus side of the thunderstorm was that Rome was cool for the next two days, rather than baking. We took lukewarm showers (brrr), grabbed breakfast in the hotel (more red orange juice!) and headed out to see ancient Rome. We planned to take a hop-on, hop-off bus ride of the city, but after waiting for two completely full buses, they told us we had to buy tickets elsewhere (the brochures said to buy them on the bus). So, instead we took the metro to the Colosseum and Forum. We went immediately to Palatine hill to buy our Coloseum tickets (it's a combo ticket and no line at Palatine Hill). We decided to check out Palatine Hill while we were over that way. Palatine Hill was lots of cool Roman ruins, but we had no idea what we were looking at since our guidebook didn't cover it; so our pictures are just of random ruins. We finally decided to head over and see the Coloseum - very cool and big. It was kind of like Busch Stadium, except they killed people in there. Mike and I were thinking maybe sports aren't that bad, if they keep people from having Coloseum-type "sports." We found out that very few Christians were killed at the Coloseum; they were mostly killed over near Nero's racetrack (where Vatican City is today). The Coloseum was mostly a place where poor people could make their way up in the world by becoming stars. We also found out that the Coloseum was free, a way for politicians to curry favor (like the corporate box seats) and to occupy the growing umemployed. Okay, maybe it does sound a lot like modern sports, but the death count was a lot higher back then: 2000 people in the first 100 days of the "opening ceremonies." After the Colosseum, we went to the Forum. We saw bunches of different buildings, in various states of repair. We walked (and probably tripped) on the same stones that the ancient Romans did. After the Forum, we walked several blocks out of our way to the Pantheon. It was really funny how there would be some vacant lot with a ton of Roman ruins in it; no sign, just another bunch of ruins. Off the beaten tourist track, we found a really good little cafe, with very eclectic decoration (a bear skull decorated with a native American face and eagle feathers, little fairy and gnome statues, a Harley Davidson plaque, coca-cola paraphenalia, and a menu in italian, english and french. They served the gamut from pasta, sandwiches, crepes and gellato. Mike and I both had spaghetti pomodoro (basically spaghetti marinara). I had carrotts and Mike got a salad with apples, walnuts and pine nuts (really good). We wanted to use their toilet, because the WCs at Palatine Hill had very long lines. Their bathroom was down the steepest set of spiral steps I've ever seen outside of a playground. I treated it like a ladder and went down backwards. Once downstairs, their was a little fountain bubbling at the entrance to a hall leading to the bathroom. The entire hallway ceiling was decorated with greenery, it was like a little garden. Very cute.
	June 9	Plan: We will spend a second day seeing the Colosseum, Forum, Pantheon, etc. We will also see the Campo de'Fiori, the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. What actually happened (per Christine):
	Pictures:	June 7 June 8 June 9