After a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, we (Rich & I) journeyed by subway to The Trevi Fountain. It is just as beautiful as what I remember from 17 years ago. The weather was incredibly good--sunny & cool, which made us just want to sit & take it all in....so we did! After we'd soaked up the atomosphere, taken numerous photos & had some gelato at a nearby cafe, we struck out for The Pantheon. I had been by it before, but never inside. We were both surprised that there wasn't an admission fee--you can just walk right in. We listened to the travel guide Rick Steve's free audio tour of the place, which gave us a chance to rest & look around. The building truly is a marvel when you consider that it was constructed so long ago & without the aid of modern conveniences.

We then strolled over to the Vatican City, where we met up with Brian & Teena--they had been on a private tour (with a very attractive Priest--according to Teena!) of the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican & St. Peter's Basilica. Rich & I had toured this previously, so we'd opted to skip that. We had booked a private Scavi Tour, which is limited to 15 per group & is an underground tour of the Basilica. We got to see lots of behind-the-scenes stuff; learned a lot of the history of how the Basilica came to be built & even got to see the actual jawbone of St. Peter!! Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable & was cute to boot (see photo). We'd worked up an appetite by this time & journeyed to this restaurant that Brian had read about in the Houston paper for some pizza & wine. Another gelato finished off the meal. Rich & I headed back to the hotel to get ready for our day tomorrow--hitting up the money machine & the liquor store! Brian & Teena went to go visit the sites we'd already seen that morning.

We're all glad that we allocated 2 days before sailing to recover from the jet lag...I'm definitely tired this evening but think I'll be running on all jets tomorrow. Until then....ciao! Oh...one note--all pictures posted so far have been taken & titled by Rich...I can't find the cord to upload photos from my camera to the computer so we're having to use his cell phone. I'm sure this will explain some of the photos from yesterday, especially dinner!! :)