not quite sure what Popey means, but I can't seem to get the Pope out of my head...probably because we started the day by seeing the man himself. By the way, he is old and his eyes are crossed a bit..haha (sorry if you're catholic). We woke up and ate buttered bread with nutella (aka delicious hazelnut chocolate spread)--the butter we borrowed, and the nutella we bought yesterday at the grocery. After breakfast, we headed down the street into the Vatican and were greeted by a nice little suprise. We had wanted to hear the Pope speak while in his neighborhood, but had failed to get tickets yesterday, and had lost hope. Never lose hope in the pope. When we entered St. Peter's square, there he he was cruising around in this white mercedes jeep thing that Molly has been calling his chariot. on his way to give one of two blessings a week, this semi-rare appearance was very interesting. People were freaking out (crying, waving, taking pictures, one lady even grabbed Molly's arm and physically moved her) just to be in his presence. We took the opportunity to visit the Vatican museum, since everyone who was anyone was listening to his holiness and we really just wanted to see some art. In the museum, I saw my first mummy, my first michealangelo, and if I can help it, my last completely touristy attraction of Europe (wow people like to push around here!). the Sistine Chapel was awesome, and the fact that Michealangelo could have not only created such an amazing work of art at 33 is astounding, but add that to having to get around a giant turtle shell and an orange mask while doing it, and you see why they make such a big deal about it. Yes, we saw the adam and God touching fingers part! We moved from the chapel to st. Peter's basilica. Our tour book probably said it best by saying ''to call St. Peter's vast is like calling God smart''. It is just a gigantic church with amazing art as its decoration. We were even able to see a statue of peter that was in the original church in the 4th century (complete with worn down feet where thousands of worshippers have kissed and rubbed his callouses away). Although we couldn't find the entrance to the crypt (where peter's tomb lies), we still really enjoyed the beautiful building that was obviously created as an act of worship for our Lord. After the Vatican, we had some Roman pizza (our usual hawaiian, amazing) and then headed for a rest at the hostel. After a bit of a nap we cooked the rest of our pasta from yesterday and added just a bit too much of julio caesar's peruvian spicy stuff (more on that later). We were able to eat with some people from Colorado and Ohio, which was nice, and Molly gave me most of her supper, which was nicer. The spices just about ate the lining of my stomach and I almost threw up after dinner, but at least Molly had fun with what came next--turns out, she gave me her dinner because we had agreed to go get gelato afterwards. We again visited our awesome new favorite ice cream shop (aka gelato)...it was great as usual. As we licked, we walked to the trevi fountain (one of my favorite sights so far). There were these guys trying to trick everyone into accepting their offer to take a picture for them, and then print it on the spot for money. We didn't fall for their scheme, but we had a lot of fun watching the Irish woman who did demand her 10 euros back for the dark polaroid they had printed for her (you couldn't even see the fountain in the pic). We tossed coins in (to ensure our return to Rome), and then walked to another fountain I wanted to see (the one featured in the new movie angels and demons...where the guy almost drowns). Finally, we walked back to our hostel after a long but great day. Love all of you...and really miss you too. Ciao
Ben&Molly
Quote for the day
Anybody can be the Pope. The proof of this is that I have become one. --Pope John XXII
