your reputation precedes you_

we left florence tuesday morning (apr 26th) and arrived in rome about lunchtime. first thing we went to see the colosseum (above), arch of constantine, and roman forum. didnt go inside the colosseum cause we are students and didnt want to spend the 10 euros to get in, but it was still pretty cool from the outside. from there we went to see the trevi fountain (below), the pantheon (above), and the spanish steps. that evening we watched the sunset over the piazza del popolo, which wasnt as good as our sunsets in florence, but still a cool place. the next morning we went to the vatican first thing (below). what do you know, we were there in the crowd for the new pope's first ever wednesday blessing. the place was packed with catholic pilgrims wanting to see their new papa. i would compare the atmoshpere there to a sporting event with only one team. people were chanting all sorts of cheers and what not, in support of their leader. then he came rolling out on the pope-mobile waving to the crowd. he went through the crowd on a predetermined path and actually came about 15 ft away from us. im not catholic, but it was still pretty incredible to be there for that. after sitting 2 hrs in the sun, we made out way to the vatican museums. saw the classics, ie raphael's school of athens, and of course, the sistine chapel and what can i say, michelangelo is amazing. later in the afternoon, we were able to get into st. peters. it is huge. the baldachino over the altar is almost 100ft tall. it also houses another michelangelo masterpiece, the pieta. breathtaking, thats about all i can say. the rest of the day we just wandered around and shopped a little. i bought a pair of pumas. you know what they say, when in rome, spend alot of money on fashion. amazing city, and the weather was amazing as well, some would say too hot, but i liked it compared to the weather in prague the past couple of months. and no one is leaving me comments, so i am going to have a survey for everyone who reads this blog to respond to: which civilization was greater, ancient greece or ancient rome? submit your answers along with a brief explanantion by clicking on "comments".