Today I set off in the opposite direction and headed for Vatican City, the smallest soverign state in the world. First stop was St. Peter's Basilica, which was huge and beautiful. Someone told me that the line to get in was three hours long, though, so I just admired it from outside.
Then I tried to get in to the Vatican museum, which was a four hour wait. Skipped it as well. I should have listened to my travel agent and purchased in advance!!! At any rate, the Vatican was pretty cool. There were the usual tourist stuff, but you could also buy anything and everything catholic, including the cool smoky thing that the priest waves around as he enters the church.
The university area was nearby, so I walked down river a bit and had lunch there. If I ever return to Rome, this is where I want to stay. The food is great, there weren't too many tourists around, and the architecture was great. I popped into a few churches, checked out a great Mark Rothko exhibit, and spent the rest of the day wandering around until I eventually found my way home.
