when in rome...

Despite the shortness of our trip to Rome (2 day stopover), our eyes feasted on some really cool stuff....

....including the Pope!

He has some pretty cool guards too. Lydia wasn't so excited by all the fine art and architecture...
all she really wanted to do was play with the pigeons...the museums were pretty impressive too...
I am trying to figure out if the city we live in is on this ancient map
(yes, all the places I have lived were marked on there!)
And of course, we can't get away from finding some Arabs wherever we go... Well, that's enough talk about Rome.
There is a lot of ground to cover in this blog and I am way behind!

tips and highlights from our time there:
1. If you have a baby, use them and your stroller to skip the lines in the museums and sights!
2. If you stay at a private bed and breakfast, don't let them cheat you by moving you to another hotel because they are "full." By complaining a bit, you can get an upgrade instead of a downgrade. (hence our apartment with a/c, private kitchen and bath and HUGE room).
3. June is HOT there, take advantage of the free water fountains everywhere, they taste great.
4. The catacombs are well worth seeing, and it is refreshing to get out of town a bit too.
5. The Roma Pass is a bit of a 50/50...most of the stuff offered at discount is little italian museums that are hardly worth seeing if you're tight on time.
6. Keep remembering as you walk along and see the beautiful buildings, how much of it was built from indulgences....(st. peters dome, for example). Beautiful, but that money that was given did not save someone's uncle or grandpa by the gift.
7. Don't worry to see everything, your eyes will be tired after a day of seeing ancient stuff around every corner anyway.
8. Watch out, you never know when the pope might show up!
9. The coliseum is cool, but the one in our country is about the same size and much more open to roam around in and check out!

Och nu på svenska...vi hade två dagar i Rom, och fick kolla på mycket grejer...även på påven! Han har roliga väkter, men Lydia uppskatade inte de har stora byggnader och museet...hon vill heller kolla på duvarna. Jag själv vill helst kolla på en gammal karta och ser alla platser jag har bött i. Som vanligt, vi hittade araber att bli kompisar med, typiskt! Då har jag lite tips om vad man ska tänka på om man vill åka ditt....och det var Rom! Nu ska jag skriva om allt annat som har hänt i sommar!