Information overload is glorious

We have learned so much interesting stuff the past two days and it will continue on till tomorrow and through greece I am sure.

Yesterday we went to the colloseum and as we approached the hour long line an english speaking gentleman approached us asking us if we wanted to do a tour that was 9 euros more than the ticket price, but we skipped the line and got a guided tour through the colosseum and palatino hill. Being that this was something Tony was really excited about and I found interesting we decided to go for it. The guide taught us so much about the history of the arena and the fighters themselves. Tonys fav tidbit was learnin that the gladiators trained for nine hours a day. It was really cool to have the tour, we would have been a little lost about all the history of this place. Then when we went to Palatino hill it really really helped to have a guide, that place is big! And with our guide we learned all about the birth of Rome from Romulus and Remus, as well as what SPQR means, which is on everything in Rome, even the sewer covers. Its a phrase that I cant remember, only Q: que which means and. But not the typical and, it means one thing cant be itself without the other. So a husband can't be a husband without the wife, a man can be a man, but a husband is only a husband with the wife. Well in this phrase it talks of how The senate of rome cant be a senate without the people and vice versa. It was cool stuff! Also learning about how they gave up their own blood or life for the city, Rome meant everything to them. Anyways, lil bit of history we found really interesting.

After that we went and saw the Pantheon, which was sweet, and a few other areas around Rome. WE had a nice Italian meal at this cute little place for our anniversary. Of course I got fettucine alfredo (had to see if it was legit in Italy) but Tony tried some authentic to only Rome meal that he loved. We also tried a glass of house wine...when in Rome we thought.

Today we headed to the Vatican to meet with the same tour group, we knew we would be absolutely clueless about everything there so we wanted to be told about it and so glad we did! It was three and half hours and man I learned more than I do in a semester! The sistine chapel is really really cool if you know what is going on. Tony and I really liked learning about all the figures in the Last Judgment, super cool stuff! Also learned about Romans idea of Beauty, which is pretty serious stuff. Anyways, it was really good to gain a bit of historical knowledge of this amazing place.

After the tour ended we had time to rome St. peter's basilica, that thing is big! but full of so much beauty and gnarly stuff! We were overwhelmed but really enjoyed ourselves. We eventually headed out to do the climb to the copula which gave us the gorgeous view of Rome. The walk up is so weird! Longest and tightest spiral staircase ever. Then you are walkin on a small platform that is leaned all weird because of the dome you are walking around. If you are clastrophobic, might not be your thing. But if you can handle it, its worth the view of the city, and the weirdness of the halls and stairwells. After that we headed into the tombs of all the popes which was interesting to read. A few we saw only lasted for three days or thirty three days, (if ya didnt know we arent to educated in this stuff, but were trying!). It was pretty cool to see the tomb of Peter. Anyways it was a really awesome past couple of days and tomorrow we head to Pompeii for the day to learn even more!