The Sistine Chapel, the Pantheon, and the Great Luigi

Walked through the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museum on Day 2. Lots of beautiful art and relics from the past. Huge crowds, with the line to get in lasting around four hours. Before visiting Rome, get your tickets several weeks in advance and skip the line. This is a must see for anyone visiting here.

The line to get into the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museum. This photo was taken at about the halfway point, around two hours in. Worth the wait, but you don't need to stand in this line. Plan ahead.

It's all Greek to me. For some reason, "Toilets" was usually in English. The language barrier was an occasional issue during this trip. I spent some of my travels in Rome a little confused and wondering if I was heading where I need to go. Thankfully I often found friendly locals who would point me in the right direction and give me instructions in the best English they could. Somehow, I always arrived where I was heading. Often you just need to follow the crowds and hope they are going where you're going.

This piece of art tickled my funny bone once I arrived back at the hotel and had time to take another look. Imagine you had an artist friend who came to you and said, "I have an idea for a new sculpture. What about a naked man laying down with about a dozen babies crawling on him?" You'd likely encourage your friend to come up with a different idea. This is a small part of an art exhibit that draws nearly seven million paid visitors annually.

Trastevere is often called the "cool part of Rome". An interesting neighborhood of narrow roads lined with restaurants, clothing stores and gelato shops, as well as drinking establishments. I ate my first delicious supli there. I wandered the cobblestone stone streets people watching and wondering how many were locals and how many were tourists. I'm glad locals were able to direct me toward the number 3 bus so I could finally arrive here. Highly recommended.

Of course I visited the Pantheon this morning. The oldest non-reinforced concrete dome in the world. This building opened for use in 125 A.D.

My chariot during this visit was the Rome Metro, a three-line train system that connects the city and offers stops close to most of the famous tourist attractions. Here's some onboard entertainment from a man I call the Great Luigi. You can catch him live on the Metro B line. This performance was recorded between Termini Station and San Giovanni earlier today.

Thank you, Rome, for an entertaining visit.

Sending greetings from the Eternal City, Rome

From the Eternal City, Rome, or as they call this place, Roma, I send greetings today.

This city is ancient and beautiful. I think I once called London "a place with a lot of old buildings" after my visit, but you haven't seen old buildings until you've been to Roma. Don't get me wrong, these are elegant old buildings, but this place looks like a history book come to life.

I started this morning at the Trevi Fountain. I came here in October so the crowds would be smaller than the summer months, but if these were smaller crowds I can't imagine what a big one would look like. They were eating ice cream (gelato), throwing money at the water, and taking pictures. Lots of pictures. The fountain is obviously a beautiful work of art and architecture, and I strongly disagree with the travel blogger on Youtube who said she thought the fountain looks like Las Vegas. A true melting pot of cultures and people groups that I was honored to walk among for a few moments today.

Incredible beauty. Incredible history. And Audrey Hepburn once threw an ice cream cone down on those steps and littered right in the middle of all this. The Spanish Steps of Roma. One of my favorite stops from today, and I really can't pinpoint the reason why. This was the moment I thought to myself, Wow, this whole city is really like this. We see something built 75 years ago in America, and we tear it down and reuse the property for something we think will generate a better income. They see something thousands of years old and thank God they didn't destroy all this old stuff. People are literally flying in from all over the world to look at this. And I'm glad I did, too.

What can I say about the Colosseum. It reminds me of the nearly defunct sports stadium in Los Angeles bearing the same name. Will the United States offer tours there in 2,000 years? This place was fantastic, from the rich history, to the stone walls that still stand and defy their age, to the wonderful people of the world wandering in and around this mammoth structure. I opted not to take the tour and go inside. Just knowing that folks were torn to bits by angry animals many years ago was enough fun for me, and I think I've already seen a documentary on the History Channel. A special place and a marvel of the past that every citizen of the world should visit.

An old book once said, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." That same old book spoke of a peace that passes all understanding. I find these old churches (and as of today, this is the oldest I've ever stepped into in my lifetime) fascinating. The artwork is beautiful, the architecture unlike what we see in modern times, but it is the way you feel inside the building that really sets this type of place apart. Peace. This is the Basilica di Santa Francesca Romana, just footsteps from the Colosseum.

The neighborhood around the Colosseum seems like the idyllic romantic Italian location. Buildings date back thousands of years for as far as the eye can see. That's why you need a guy playing Italian restaurant music on a violin in front of everything to set the mood.

All this before 2 p.m. on Day 1. What do I have planned for Day 2? You'll have to check back later to know for sure.