Euro 3 - Roma Day Due

Like most (of my) amateur journalism, I ran out of steam cataloging each destination and everything funny about our second and third days in Rome. But here's an attempt, greatly assisted by photos.

With 24 hours of Rome under our belt, Becca and I felt like we knew the transportation system better (which we used to finish day 1 and start day 2). Plus we felt like we had accomplished so much on day 1 that we took a more relaxed pace -- adding to the beauty and feel of the rest of our time in Rome.

Day Two starts with a metro ride northwest to the Vatican Museum and Chapel, with time at St Peter's Basilica and Square. Here are some shots from the Vatican Museum halls...

Since pictures can't be taken inside, I captured this...

Because this shot shows so well the drama of the painting [heaven above, hell below]
Intricate, elaborate, ornate, what else can be said? Oh yeah, the conveyor belt that was the walkway with thousands of tourists...

St Peter's Basilica turned out to be the artistic highlight of the trip for Becca and I, so although I've included pictures below, but they don't do it justice.

Domes everywhere, but the gold trim and amazing light made St Peters' one of a kind...

Simply awesome...

The papal quarters...

After all this awesomeness (and Becca saying she could spend another day entirely here), we tried our best to meet up with my friend Fred and his folks at the Barberini Fountain. Unfortunately I thought he met the Trevi Fountain, so we waited for a while, got annoyed by all these guys...

And then finally sat down for a delicious lunch. Delicious.

Oh and did we enjoy the afternoon/evening! We wandered across the river again (the Vatican was West of the river, the attemped lunch meetup was East) into Trastavere on the West side of town. I laughed inside - and sometimes out loud - when Becca pronounced it Travastere :) Regardless of the name, this section of the city has more of a local feeling, higher hills than the city center, and beautiful stuff. Plus its easy to get a good meal -- which we did. And a short bath in one of the public fountains...

Lastly, we got to enjoy a bit of the nightlife in Piazza Navona, with the fountains, artists, musicians, and tourists...