Gladiator

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.  That's how the famous saying goes but there is one problem.  In Rome, I didn't see any Romans...only tourists.

Throughout Rome there are unidentified ruins along the streets.
One set of these ruins is now a cat sanctuary.

Rome's not-so-famous Leaning Tower of Treesa

I only had a few hours to spend in Rome, and I enjoyed every minute of it.  This is a city where you could spend weeks and not see everything.

My first stop was Vatican City.  St. Peter's Cathedral is as huge as its line-up.  As a result, I did not have the time to wait in the 2 km line of people.

St. Peters in Vatican City.

I did make time to speed-walk through the maze that is the Vatican Museum that ends at the Sistine Chapel.  My jaw dropped before I even got to the Chapel.  The hallway prior to is very long (several hundred meters) and is ornately decorated.  You have to see it to appreciate the size and amount of work.

Breathtaking hallway ceiling in the Vatican Museum.

The Sistine Chapel was worth the visit. There were parts of the ceiling that I could not tell if it was a painting or a sculpture.  They say that Michelangelo lost his eyesight working in the details of the chapel.  There are hundreds of faces and each one has a different detailed expression.

Sistine Chapel (Cappella Sistina).

I took the Rome Metro and was squished like human fettuccine.  Just when I thought we could not squish any more (a.k.a. my face was plastered up against the door), we stopped at the next stop and a very stout, elderly lady dropped her shoulder, took a step back, and charged in.  I am not kidding - I was shocked by her intense desire to become flat like fettuccine.  I figured there is no way this bull of a lady was going to fit, but she managed to squish her way underneath some arms and chests.  It took a lot of willpower to not say "Lady, just wait for the next train!" and thankfully I don't speak Italian.  And here I thought all the bulls were in Spain.

The Metro stopped at the  Spanish Steps and I then walked to the Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, The Pantheon, The Forum and the Coliseum.  Funny, I imagined these places as stand-alone structures with nothing around them (because in photos that is all you see, just the structures).  It turns out they are all in the middle of the city surrounded by buildings, shops and cafes.  I feel like such a sheltered Canadian and am quite embarrassed by this.

Trevi Fountain, made famous by the film "La Dolce Vita".

Water fountain outside the Pantheon.

Oops, someone's big head ruins the photo of the Forum ruins! 

Seeing the Coliseum, I could really imagine the horrors and battles that went on inside.  The structure is still relatively intact, again a great example of quality engineering. 

Coliseum up close.

As I watched all the lady tourists mingle about the Coliseum in their gladiator sandals, I thought to myself:  "How appropriate. "  Like they say, when in Rome...