We arrived in Rome from Florence on a very hot October day. This has been the longest summer we have encountered and I understand that there are people dealing with snow at home but I just want WINTER. So sick of sweating buckets while carrying the packs, let's just hope it is just my extra fat sweating off.
On my previous adventure to Rome with my sister it seemed a little ghetto but still beautiful. Well apparently in the two years I have been gone apparently it has gotten more ghetto. We were warned constantly about pick pockets, beggars and men trying to sell garbage every where. We also had a roommate in Prague that told us about how someone CUT her purse and stole it without her noticing. This just resulted in me giving the shifty eyes to anyone who dared coming near who looked suspicious my arms ready to go in karate mode at a moments notice. There were these men all over the streets who are selling these stupid selfie sticks - a stick device you hold out with your camera or phone attached giving you the best picture. I have a pretty big camera so there is no use for one and I strongly believe you look like an idiot with one I was not their selling audience. Despite my obvious bitch face these men still came right up to your face and try and sell you this stupid stick all the while saying selfie. The worst of it is that you say no to about ten guys and there are still ten more coming towards thinking that you will suddenly change your mind and purchase their more special selfie stick. I have a good idea for the placement of those sticks but it is not somewhere these men would like. Oh they would be lucky all right.
Our first full day in the city we booked a tour to do the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and The Roman Forum. This was an interesting tour that allowed for some historical information on the power that was Ancient Rome but you need to have a great imagination to have the ability to picture everything. The biggest problem in picturing anything is that they built building on top of other buildings. Now you're thinking "so?" right? Well the problem is that all ruins are there for your viewing pleasure with vague descriptions of what is what. So you see Ancient Rome ruins of a social square underneath a church, it makes the brain hurt a little. While on this tour we went to the basement of the colosseum where they held Gladiators, wild animals and props. They used a very intricate system when doing these shows with trapdoors lifting the animals out and underneath tunnels where the men running around by torch light organized all of it. It was undoubtably an inhuman form of entertainment but you got to appreciate their attention to details.
The colosseum was half under scaffolding due to the pollution of passing traffic making it a very dirty black. I didn't even realize that was a possibility but it really obstructed the beauty of the building as a whole. Now if you ever find yourself in Rome I would very highly suggest going on this special colosseum tour if you can get over the tour guide's not so subtle hints for conservation donations. It gives you a different perspective than just regular entrance. I am very disappointed that I missed my chance to recreate The Gladiator scene with Russell Crowe screaming but I am sure I will get a chance another time -- most likely while teaching. 
Our weekend in the city was mostly uneventful mostly just exploring the city. We made plans to see the Trevi fountain, the most famous fountain in the city. The fountain that when you throw coins in determines your return to Rome. Well after making the 25 minute journey there we discovered it was CLOSED!!! It so happens that they are doing restoration work on it and it allows you to walk on this runway to allow you to get a closer look on the picture of the fountain covering the work. The most confusing part is that people were actually lined up to see this picture, hands down the most disappointing point of our trip. The rest of the day we just went through the city exploring different alleyways and different routes of the city. We went to the park called Villa Borghese and it was massively green and quiet. The one thing that I am envious about the European is their idea of leisure. There were dozens of people laying around with picnics, lawn games, family and friends having fun. This is something that you would be hard pressed to find back at home, Sunday Funday meaning something completely different. 
Monday was Vatican day. The best way to do the Vatican is to do a guided tour with the Vatican. This we soon learned that having this guided tour meant that we had priority. We had a very small tour guide when I can remind you of your feistiness grandmother and she maneuvered the crowds like a boss. She even went as far as to tell other tour guides that they were being too loud and that they should move because we were with the Vatican and we had priority. At one point she was an entire hallway length away from us maneuvering the crowd like it was nothing all we could see of her was the her museum flag. Now if you find yourself at the museum make sure you go in the afternoon the morning crowds are just ridiculous. You are trying to appreciate the art and history and the religion in each of the rooms but really you're just trying to not invade someone's personal space. Also be prepared for people who no regards for the rules in the Sistine Chapel where you are supposed to be quiet there are people talking as loud as if they were yelling. The teacher in me was trying really hard not to shush everyone, instead I was giving the judgemental head shake. There is so much to describe the Vatican City it's hard to do in just one post and even then it's really hard to truly get the beauty of the city. As a result I'm not even going to try, is one of those things that you have to see for yourself.
We left rome in an early flight to head off to Athens. The true challenge of Greece will not be the non existence subways that my travel partner is worried about but it will be the Greek alphabet that will be where the real fun is at.
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