The Colosseum

I have no exciting adventures to tell for our touring today. We went to the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. We did use public transportation if you want to call that an adventure. We took the bus for a longer trip than needed, but now we know the system well and won't make the same mistake again. We were packed in like sardines and I thought I might sweat to death. I was holding Kensley smashed up next to a window, standing of course. Kensley fell asleep with her nose pressed up against the window.

Casket in St Peter's Basilica

A dead Pope in St Peter's Basilica. I don't remember which one. I know it probably isn't very reverent to post this picture, but I find it fascinating that they bury their pope's in this way. I am actually looking at a dead person, sort of.

The Vatican

We walked to the Vatican in the pouring rain today. We tried to wait for it to stop raining, but it never did and we realized that if we stayed inside until it stopped raining, we might be inside for the rest of our trip! Especially because it is supposed to rain until Monday. So, we braved the storm and made the trip. This picture didn't turn out so great because it is in the rain and the dark, but you get the idea.

St Peter's Basilica

As you can see, Kensley finally got over her fit!

Kensley and Mom

Kensley threw a major fit while we were touring St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican because she wanted to take pictures with the camera. You can see her tears in this picture.

Saint Stephen's Arch

All Stephen's life his mom has been trying to find references to Saint Stephen the martyr from the Bible. He is one of the reasons that Stephen received his name because it is one of her favorite stories from the Bible. On our drive to Perugia the other day, we drove through a city called Volterra that none of us had ever heard of and knew nothing about. All of the sudden we were driving through beautiful country and climbing a hill to get to the city. It was a very old town with stone walls and buildings. We stopped to take pictures and it turned out to be Saint Stephen's Arch. It was a great find and we drove through the windy streets of the city aggravating all the locals as we hung out the windows and took pictures while in the middle of the road.

Eureka!

Luggage at last!!! We drove to Rome today and had to turn our car in at the rental place at the airport. We decided we would make it a dual purpose trip and pick up our luggage as well. It was an all-day event and a very adventureous experience riding the train back to our apartment with all of our luggage and Kensley in a stroller. There were so many people pushing and shoving at our stop that I almost didn't make it off. I freaked at the thought because I had no idea where I was. Thankfully there were some women on the train helping to push me off the stop. I didn't even have time to say thank you. I barely made it out alive. We have decided that we are definitely going to set up some sort of shuttle or taxi ride for the trip back to the airport when it is time to leave for home. We are total dorks, as most of you probably already know. At the train station, we had to switch to another track and that meant going down some stairs and up another set of stairs on the other side of the station. We had 3 big suitcases and Kensley in a stroller that we laboriously lugged down and up two flights of stairs. Everyone was looking at us that we were total weirdos and it wasn't until we got to where we were supposed to be that we turned around and saw an elevator right by the staircase! Sometimes I don't know how any of us make it a day through life.
While we were driving around Rome trying to find the apartment we would be staying in, Kensley suddenly started throwing up without warning. She was wearing her new, clean outfit and it got everywhere. It was really gross! When we got to the apartment and the guy was showing us around, I had to strip her down to her diaper and let her run around like that. We dudn't have our luggage yet so she had to wear dirty clothes again to the airport. :o(