Last we left off, we had just seen the Colosseo in Roma!

The 21st, we walked and saw the Pantheon, which was huge and impressive! Then we walked to the Piazza Navona, where Mike was approached by an Italian man looking to sell some friendship bracelets... He tied one on Mike's wrist, but Mike refused to pay him (hahahah!), so the guy let him keep the bracelet... although I'm not sure he still wanted Mike as a friend after that.  Rob and I bought some artwork from an artist (one among many) who had stands set up in the piazza. 

We walked back to the hotel and went back to the same restaurant we had eaten at the night before, then headed back to the Colosseo at night to catch some photos. We ran into some German women who were trying to open their wine with a broken corkscrew. I enjoyed watching Mike and Rob test their strength at this impossible task. Amusing to say the least!! 

Then it was back to the hotel and to sleep, as the next morning we woke up early to see the Vatican. When we arrived at 8.15, the line was about 500 people long, but the museum hadn't opened yet. Once the museum opened, the line moved quite quickly and we were off to see the Sistine Chapel and St Peter's Basilica. The Sistine Chapel was nice, but not exactly as impressive as it had been described. The Basilica, however, was totally impressive, and an obvious display of the Catholic Church's deep pockets. 

Next, we went to the train station to catch our train to Florence. We boarded, and approximately 400 m outside the station in Rome, the train broke. We were stuck on the train with some poorly behaved children for about 2 hours. We finally arrived inFlorence at 6:30, and had a heck of a time finding the bus we were supposed to take. We hopped into a cab and got to our 2 star hotel (no hostels available!). The hotel is clean but nothing fancy... and the shower, sink, biday, and toilet are all in one big stall... so in theory, you could shower, brush your teeth, and use the toilet at the same time. Odd.

We spent the evening roaming around the city, which is by far the prettiest we have seen. It really has a Renaissance feel to it. Rob and I rode the carrousel in a Piazza (Mike was too cool for that!). Then we walked around viewing the crazy expensive shops, and caught an impromptu concert on the Ponte Vecchio.

This morning we climbed the huge tower beside the Duomo (400 and some odd stairs!) and the view was amazing. 

We grabbed lunch from the Mercato Centrale, then came to this stupid internet cafe to try and plan the rest of our trip.

Next stops:

Venice

Milan

Interlaken