Tonight we arrived in Rome at 10:00pm and we were exhausted. I was really concerned about pick pockets and being mugged, etc., but it really wasn't bad at all. When we finally arrived at our apartment we saw that it was pretty cool except that the bottom bunk bed in Maeve's and my room was crazy hard. So I slept on the top. It was really normal otherwise.
We were close to the Colosseum, (or as I like to call it colasseo - you'll find out the reason later) so we had to go tour it on our first full day. As we were walking a man stopped us and said we couldn't go in there with the bags we had with us. He also said it's because of what happened in Paris. I didn't know which time he was talking about. So of course he tried to sell us a private tour and advice. Later we found ourselves in front of the place with an Italian lady who was the tour guide. I thought we would be alone in the structure, but there was another couple on the tour. "So es yo can see dis es da colasseo." After we got in the place and skipped the three hour line it decided to pour rain. When we left and I thought it was finally over, we had to go outside the place and look at some rocks. That was boring but, thank the Roman God of pizza it rained worse and worse so we had to end it. The experience was okay - just what I thought it would be. Don't waste your money on a 'private' tour, and if you really care enough just wait in line.
Three days after the colasseo we spent another hundred dollars and decided to go to the Sistine chapel (or as I like to call it the sixteen chapel) on the day after the Pope preached. So we found ourselves yet again with a bad guide and this time there were 80 people in the group. We had to wait for many others to show up before we began the tour. We got head phones and then we went to the chapel. The place itself was sort of pretty, but it was crowded. Officials said no photos, but that didn't stop anyone. I didn't really understand it at all.
I really liked Rome outside it being a tourist attraction. It doesn't feel too freaky and it has really good food if you look enough. I would be fine with staying there for a few years. But other than the attractions, food and a good cozy feeling there's not much to do although there are a lot of parks to walk a dog.
