Wow, I know it is hot back home, maybe even hotter than here, but we could not afford to sit back and relax with just 2 and half days in Rome. Anna has been a little overwhelmed with all the people here, and I have been sweating my butt off in the heat (hard to imagine, I know). When we got in we walked straight to the Colleosseum (just 10 minutes from our place) and just into the Roman Forum. Then we caught the metro to the Spanish steps where we met a family from cali. The dad seemed to be in charge of sales for the North Face, so knew the Puget Sound region well (REI, Nordstroms). The metro was closed so we picked up some gelato for a recharge and hoofed it back to our place. The next morning began by heading back to the Collosseum and going inside. It was a sight to see, and you dont have to stretch the imagination too far to see tigers comming out of trap doors ready to pounce. From there we went to the Palantine hill, and lept on to a free promotional tour. It was great to see because nothing is labeled there and we were pretty lost. After the tour we could pick out Cesaer's cemation place and the 25,000 dollar columns in the Roman Forum. We continued Anna's Death March north to the Pantheon and Piazza Novana. Here we picked up another gelato, which helped my developing heat rash, and went to all the churches in Angels and Demons (Anna just finished it) This took us all over Rome. Today we woke up and joined the tour promoted by our Palantine guy for the Vatican. It was 25 Euro plus entrance, but worth it as we would have been lost in St Peters and the museum (including the Sistine Chapel and Raphael Rooms. Then we got some lunch and caught the metro to the Catacombs in the south. These were really cool (literally) as we were 20 feet underground and looking at burial spots for 2nd century Christians (and places where Sts Peter, Paul and Sebastion were at times). Now we are off to Athens (after a day of travel) and to Santorini. Send us your thoughts, as we are almost done. Ciao! Bryan and Anna