Day 7: Rome

Ciao from Roma...
We woke up early so that we could fit everything in that we wanted to see. We arrived in Vatican City around 9am, and the line to get into the Vatican museums seemed like it wrapped around the entire country. About 1.5 hours later we made it in. The crowds were intense and the inside of the palace was even more so. It got to a point where we were a little overwhelmed as every room was so spectacular and almost too much. The highlights though were the staples: the Raphael room and of course the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo was quite talented indeed.
Next, we walked around the inside of St. Peter's Basilica, which again was a bit overwhelming. After walking around the whole thing and around the rest of the piazza, we went back to the hostel for a nap. We checked out some of the major clothing shops along Via del Corso, including the popular Diesel and Zara stores. Our travel book said that we could get some good deals at these stores, but it was quite the contrary. It might be me, but 200euros ($250) for an item of clothing is a little much.
This afternoon, we strolled along the old Roman Forum, up to Palatine Hill, and of course we did the Colosseum. Sometimes we forget how spectacular some of these sights are because we are barnstorming Italy at such a fast pace. With this in mind, we sat amongst some ruins and took it all in. Also, today is a special day for us as we celebrate our one year anniversary...we are quite lucky to be in such an incredible place for this occassion!
One more note...we have been sampling the pizza in every town we visit, so far we have: #1 = Milan, #2 = Florence, #3 = Venice, #4 = Rome. With only a few places left we are looking forward to including some more variety in our diet. This is not to say that the food here isn't great, because we have enjoyed it. Tonight we did the low budget meal: foccacia, cheese, salami, fruit and wine.
Anyways, we have to catch a train at 6am tomorrow to Pisa, and then tomorrow afternoon we will be in Cinque Terre and we will finally have some down time to hike a little and relax on the beach, can't wait!

P.S. - In all seriousness, we are at a Internet/Laundromat (quite popular in Rome) and the England/Sweden game is on tv and Joe Cole just scored an amazing goal for England. Hope everyone is watching the World Cup back in the states. (pictures soon)