18 May  Vatican and Colesium
Our day started off early, because there was going to be a demonstration right at Termini station which is just a block from our hotel.  They were expection over 100,000 protestors demonstrating against the high wage taxation and low wage.  According to Mario, our guide, Italians pay 50 percent in taxes.  (Mario is married to a lady who is from Louisville KY, she graduated from UK and now teaches collegiate French at the University of Louisville.  They met when his wife was on a tour in Sorrento.) But I digressed.  Our tour has 39 people on it, about 15 from the USA, and most of the rest from either Australia or New Zealand, plus one Brazilian.  In Roma theres a lot of waiting despite the guides best effort to keep us on schedule.  Our first wait was at the entrance to the Vatican Museum. 

This is the only way tourists can enter the Vatican.  Once through the metal detectors we had a guided meander through the halls of the museum and enventually ended up in another line for the Sisten Chapel.  No pictures allowed in the Sisten Chapel.  The Sistene Chapel is amazing, considering the fact the Micheangelo didnt like to paint.  Best guess is that about 49 percent was painted in a awkward back bend and the rest standing up.  According to our guide, it is a myth that Michangelo painted the ceiling on his back. It took him 2 years complete fresco, which was his first attempt at fresco painting.  Our guide told us that he used his face in several of the men in the painting and that there are over 300 people in the fresco.  After we left the chapel we also saw the Pieta, which Michelangelo scuplted out of a single block of marble.  Mary is holding Jesus, and what got pointed out to us is that ONLY Jesus is polished, Mary was left plain.

There were lots of people inside the Vatican Museum.  The Church was doing a special service at 1300, so the number of people in St Peters square was growing by the time we left.  Our guide told us on a slow day, over 100,000 people get through the Vatican Museum.  Roger and I felt somewhat herded at various times.  Its a good thing that Roger is tall, because he keeps track of me by being able to see over the vast majority of people.  The below picture, shows the balcony from where the Pope blesses the people during Christmas and Easter Mass.

The afternoon at the Colesium was just as crowded, but due to the size of the area, people didnt feel as packed in.  There are 80 entrances into the colesium which made it easy for up to 70,000 people to come and view the events, be it gladiators, christians to lions, or just a beheading.  Romans loved blood sports, sort of like todays rabid football or hocky fan.  We,ve gotten more civilized in that death isn,t the ultimate goal of our contact sport games.

Random thoughts about Rome:

Smart cars are the best car to have, because we saw them parked anywhere a motorcycle can fit.  Lots of people have smart cars.  Gas is 1.7E per liter.  If the weather report say rain, think of it as scattered Spring showers.  Rome has gotten more civilized in its driving, but still think of it in terms of organized chaos.  The best way to get around old Roma is to do it on foot.  We walked a lot yesterday, not so much today as we weve started the organized tour.