Catching up!

Sorry to those of you that have been trying to keep up with our adventures. We had some time with either very bad internet, or none at all. It made it very difficult to blog, so I am going to try to catch you up on where we have been and all the fun things we have done. But beware, there are a lot of pictures!

After we left Montepulciano we drove for a few hours into Rome. We stayed at a camping village in a little trailer that consisted of 2 single roll away beds and a very small bathroom. It was ok though, because we were in Rome!!

Our first day was filled with sights and a lot of walking. We decided to try out the public transport. Not the best idea we had. Because we were a little out of the city, the bus we needed to get anywhere was a long time coming. We got on what we thought was the right one, only to find out it took us up the road a little way and then stopped and made us get off. We were then stuck without any idea where we were. This was a little too much for me, and I had a small melt down and decided I didn't want to be there anymore and was sick of being lost. I took a minute but got over myself and decided to just follow Mike and not worry about where we ended up. We wandered around for a while until we finally found a bus that headed in the right direction. It took us to Vatican City, which was not what we had planned to see that day, but we were happy to no longer be lost. We decided it was as good a place as any to start and made our way in, only to find hundreds of people already in there. We thought that it was a little odd considering the weather and the time of year, but after further inspection, we noticed TV cameras and photographers everywhere, interviewing people and setting up their cameras facing the Popes apartments. We realized that the Pope was going to give an address (we thought because of his recent retirement!) and decided that even though we had to wait a little while it was worth it. We only had to wait an hour and we ended up being situated right by the cameras with a perfect view of the pope. There were more than 50,000 people in attendance and it was amazing how quite the crowd became when he finally came to the window to address us. He gave a short sermon and recited a prayer that the crowd eagerly participated in, then addressed people in 4 or 5 different languages about preparing for Lent and thanking them for their support of him and his decision. While I am not Catholic it was a pretty cool experience to be able to see and hear the Pope speak.

While we were lost and walking around we came across this park. It is hard to see but it is like a public free gym. There is a running path all around the park and then you can stop and use these machines. They all use your own body weight.

Mike tried every machine!

Getting off the bus at Vatican City.

We saw people being interviewed fro the news

Inside Vatican City

A little bit of Kaila-ing in front of the Basilica

us on TV! We are standing right next to the spire!

This is a small example of the crowds. It gets better

The Pope!

The Basilica

Close up of the Pope!

After we left the Vatican (the museum was closed since it was Sunday and there was too many people in line to see the Basilica) we walked around looking at plaza's and statues until we found the Pantheon, and the Trevi fountain. We enjoyed some roasted chestnuts and tried to re-create a picture of Mike from the last time he was here.

Then we walked to the Spanish steps and climbed up and down them in the rain, followed by a visit to the Borghese Gallery. This was awesome. It was not something we new anything about, but decided since it was raining, we would take a look inside. It was full of beautiful works of art, some of which I would say are my new favorites by Bernini. If you get a chance to visit Rome, you should take the time to stop at this Gallery. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures in this gallery, and I wasn't able to sneak any!

View from the top of the Spanish steps

View from the bottom

Me in Yellow!

Mike half Kaila-ing

We came across this a lot in Europe. These little electric smart cars would park anywhere they could literally squeeze in.

They are so small they only just stick out past the other small cars.

Back up again, in between the rain

While walking around we came across this random orange tree on the sidewalk. All the oranges near the bottom were either all picked or didn't grow.

Mike tried to shake some loose! They were holding on pretty tight.

A cool old city wall

The park we walked through

The gallery at the end of the park.

We decided that tomorrow we are not going to rely on public transport any more in Italy, when we have a perfectly good Panda sitting at the Camping Village!