More Rome

I'm losing track of days but I think it was Saturday we went to The Coliseum (think Gladiator) and all the surrounding remaining buildings/sculptures left from 2000 years ago. We took a guided tour (there are a lot available) to get some idea of what went on there and how it was constructed. There was a lot of very brutal goings on in that arena. Now they have concerts (Paul McCartney was there recently). After a short food break we went on another tour to Palatine Hill where the rulers lived. It's hard to grasp that some of these building are still standing. There are still gigantic pillars and parts of the Roman Senate still left and the public is allowed to walk around and look at all of this. There is a huge amount of antiquities - we spent most of the day there.
On Sunday we left early to gain entrance in to the Vatican Museum. We waited outside in line for 1 1/2 hours, then spent at least 2 1/2 hours inside and didn't see half of what was there. There were ancient and Renaissance(sp?) paintings, thousands of sculptures from B.C. time, then all the paintings on the ceilings and walls. The biggest draw was the Sistine Chapel of course. The scope and sheer number of historical treasures there are beyond anything I can describe.Add to that the thousands of people from every country who are all there at the same time to view these items and it's quite the experience. That was pretty much our day and afterwards we went back to our B&B to eat and rest. There was a nice eating/dining area which gave us a place to eat and rest without being in our room all the time, altho we did nap after each of these outings. It's been about 90 degrees daily.
Today being our last day we checked out at 10 a.m. and went to a street market and went over to the Vatican one more time. There was a very brief scene from some film being made set in the '30's and there were actors dressed in German Nazi uniforms with the Vatican as a backdrop. We kept walking and ended up in a quaint small old neighborhood and they always have these huge ornate churches at every corner and all the streets are narrow and cobblestones. We had lunch at a restaurant outside again. It was good to get away from where all the major tourist draws are located so that we could get a real flavor for the normal neighborhoods. Afterwards we walked thru a beautiful old Botanical Garden from the 1600's.
By then it was time to head back to our B&B where they were holding our bags and we had a taxi pick us up for the 40 minute ride to our hotel at Fiumicino Airport. It's a clean, new, modern hotel (Hilton Garden Inn) which I like after all the B&B's. They are interesting and different, but a little luxury is nice too!
Tomorrow Kristin and I go our separate ways - I will catch my flight from this airport at 8:15 and then fly to London for a 5 hour layover before heading for Seattle. Kristin has to backtrack to a secondary airport to catch her Ryanaire flight to Spain.
This is a our last day in Europe. I'm ready to head for home - my shoes and sandals are worn out - it's been a great trip. I will ask Kristin to publish more pictures when she gets home from Spain. Time to get some sleep because tomorrow will be a long travel day. See you in the States! - Joyce