Life Goes On

 This week I still feel like I am adjusting to being a mom and living in real life again. Sometimes I miss our life in Italy. I know vacation life is not a life one can live full time, but man it was a good break from all the things.

On Sunday I thought I would not like being back in Sunday School but it was surprisingly nice to not be in primary anymore. I didn't have to worry about helping any little children stay reverent. I was able to just sit and be. After chuch we had a Zoom Relief Society Presidency Meeting. It was long because there was a lot to cover but in the end, my responsibilities were very manageable. A sign up sheet for a Relief Society Activity, and setting up a facebook page for the Relief Society Sisters. I like being the secretary because I feel like less rests on me. I think I am going to like this calling.

On Monday Julie and Asher came over. It was nice to chat with Julie but Ruby was having a hard time sharing with Asher. Near the end they fought over control of the Toniebox. Typical toddler behavior on both their parts, although I think Ruby was a little more fiesty than Asher. Also on Monday, Ben had his first day back at Dairy Twist. He was really nervous but I think it ended up being a good first day. It wasn't too busy so he was able to easily gain his footing again. They don't pay well but they are very accommodating with his soccer/archery schedule so it feels like a good job for him for now.

Tuesday, while the girls were in school, Ruby and I went to library story time. Ususally she is one of the most well behaved toddlers there but not this time. She kept standing up so others kids couldn't see the book, a group of toddlers went running and she followed and there was a grandma and her grandson sitting off in the corner of the room that she kept bugging. Then when it was done and it was time to go home, she threw a fit. It wasn't the best. 

Tuesday night I went over to Grace's house. We had a good conversation about religion. While I was talking with her, I brought up how I had begun scripture discussions at the dinner table with my family again and she talked about how she missed having those conversations with her family. It was one of the first times in awhile that I had heard her say some positive things about religion and we actually had a pretty positive discussion after that about religion. It was really nice.

Wednesday Penny had her first orthodontist appointment. They took x-rays and pictures and scanned her teeth. In a month she will be getting braces and an expander. I am sure she will be miserable when it actually happens but a lot of her friends have braces already so for now she is excited to be joining them soon. I also set up an appointment there for Ben. He really needs braces and I am hoping we can make it work financially so that they both can get their teeth fixed this year.

Wednesday night we had kids in 3 different places. The boys were at the Hess home for young mens, Lucy had volleyball and Penny needed to be at the church for young womens. I ended up taking Penny to the church, and Ruby came with us. My tummy was bothering me so I had the joy of taking Ruby into the bathroom with me while I died. Thankfully our young women were the only ones at the church so at least no one was around to listen to Ruby talk to me about my poop issues. Besides the issues, Ruby had fun joing in with the yw making bracelets. She liked looking at all the cool beads they had brought.

Thursday morning we hit terrible traffic on our way to the girls' school. Our 20 minute drive took 40 minutes (even with us taking a slightly illegal shortcut) It was awful. The girls still made it to school on time since we leave so early, but we were at the back of the line which stresses the girls out. Afterwards I took Ruby to the Great Lakes Crossing Mall. I was on the hunt for Easter dresses for the girls, a sweater vest for me, and an italy lego postcard. I think that while being away I had forgotten how awful shopping with a toddler is. It was not a fun day like I had imagined in my mind. Mostly it was me wrangling a toddler who did not want to shop- she just wanted to play in the play area. At one point, I was looking at some dresses, and when I looked back at Ruby she was on the ground by her stroller taking off her pants. She had gotten some food on them and had decided she did not want to wear them anymore. When it was finally time to leave, she decided she did not want to leave and I had to throw her into the stroller kicking and crying. I feel too old to deal with toddler tantrums.

On Friday I decided to do some thrift store shopping while Ruby was sleeping because I needed retail therapy after all the retail trauma the day before with Ruby. It was a good choice because I found a few fun things for a good price, including some dresses for the girls (I hadn't had luck finding them at the mall the day before). That night Lucy had another middle school dance. Mostly she goes to these so she can get dressed up and hang out with friends. She also likes the snacks. It seems like she had a good time with her buddies. When I dropped Lucy off, Geli's mom -Cherish- was there as well and chatted with me for a long while. I think she might be lonely and maybe I should invite her and her husband to the game nights we do with Grace. Cherish also talked about how much her girls and her like our church and how they should come more often. I encouraged that line of thinking for sure ;)

Geli came home with Lucy after the dance and spent the night. Geli didn't stay too long the next day. I am not sure if she gets tired of Lucy or just tired of people in general. 

The weather Saturday was nice and warm so we got outside for a bit to splash in the puddles. Lucy did one big splash and was so soaked she decided that it wasn't that fun to splash in puddles, lol. Clearly Lucy is not a toddler anymore.

Rome Part 2 and Home

Sunday we had a little slower of a morning and didn't head out until just after 9. We decided to take a bus to the Porta Portese Market. It's a market full of cheap wares that is only open Sunday mornings. It was a regrettable choice for me. The bus was almost 20 mins late so we basically had the next group of people at the stop too and we barely all fit in the bus. I was literally smooshed against Tyler in the front and had some random ladies butt cheeks smooshed against me in the back. Nobody seemed to ever leave and more people just kept trying to cram on. It was a really uncomfortable half hour ride. 

When we got to the market we started strolling and realized we had messed up. Most of the booths just took cash, that's why the prices were so cheap, and we had spent the last of our cash the day before. I also thought there would be more food booths mixed in but it took awhile to finally get to a booth where I was able to grab a super healthy sugar doughnut for breakfast (thankfully they took credit card). There were so many people there and so many booths- the market just kept going and going. I later found out it is just over 2km long. Most of the booths sold cheap clothes, you could also find booths with books, toys, luggage and housewares. It was very full of Italians- I think many of them do there shopping there. There was a dress I might have bought if we had cash but really not too much else I was inspired to get. Tyler and I did say if we went to Italy again, we should just pack nothing and then go buy our stuff there (most things were under 10euros). 

When we finally had enough strolling, we decided to hop a bus home, but the closest bus was running late again. There was a nearby Trolleybus that Tyler thought would take us back so we ran to catch it since it seemed nice and empty and like a good solution. It did not take us back home, it was the wrong line (It also started with an H like the right line, it was just a different color. Confusing!). Instead it took us the wrong direction and then basically back to our starting point at the market. Fail. We ended up just walking back to our bnb because we were not in the mood to catch another bus and potentially be squished again. It was kind of long and crabby walk for us both. The whole morning had kind of put us both in sour moods.

On our way back to our bnb we grabbed a panini at Fuorinorma. I was trying to eat something safe since my bowels had started acting up again. We took it back to our bnb to eat and then after a short rest it was time to meet up for our golf cart tour. Once again, we had lucked out, and were the only ones to sign up for the group tour. We had Luca all to ourselves. A golf cart tour is really the way to go and we should have probably done it on one of our first nights so we could have gotten an overview of everything. It was so nice to rest from all of the walking we had been doing (roughly 8 miles a day) and Luca was a native to Rome so he had lots of fun facts and information to share with us. Watching him drive though, gave Tyler and I confirmation that we never ever want to drive in Rome. There doesn't seem to be a lot of road rules. Lane lines seem to be a suggestion and there were a few times that he just stopped and was out in a lane and it was just no big deal. He also got uncomfortably close to pedestrians (unless there is a street light, you just have to push your way into a crossing and even when there is a street light, people still go as soon as traffic clears).

One of our first stops on the golf cart tour was the Colosseum. Of course we had already been in it but he gave us some new facts- like how the Christians tried to make over every pagan thing so they added a cross in front of it. He also took a picture of us both so know we have something that is a step up from the selfies we had been taking.

Next he drove us out of the busy city, past the Caracalla Baths and to the Catacombs of St Callixtus. More specifically, he took us to the Catacomb of San Sebastiano. It had been a warm day so I didn't have a jacket and I had regrets when we arrived at the waiting area to go into the Catacomb- it was very chilly. Thankfully once we went down, it was a little warmer. We learned about San Sebastian- he was a soldier for the Emperor and was shot with arrows and then beaten to death when the Emperor found out that he was a Christian. We saw the catacombs which had been robbed so all that was left was really just a bunch of empty holes where bodies had been. We also saw 3 pagan burial rooms that had once been covered by the dirt that was removed to make the Christian catacombs. We were not allowed to take pictures of the catacombs. This tour was all done by a different person than our golf cart driver. He said he would just get lost in the catacombs and so would I if we didn't have her. It is a literal maze down there.

When we finished in the catacombs, we went up to the chapel and then were back on the golf cart. He drove us past some things and then stopped at Apian Way to take a picture of us. It is one of the most oldest and most vital roads because it connects Rome to Brindisi. 

Our next stop was a chapel, Santa Maria in Palmis. Legend has it that at this spot, that St Peter was fleeing Rome to avoid martyrdom and met Jesus walking to the city. He asked Jesus where he was going and Jesus said "I am going to Rome to be crucified again" so Peter turned around to face his fate.

Our last stop was The Orange Trees Garden. This was not part of the tour but we had some extra time so he took us there. It was pretty and it had a nice view of Rome. He also taught Tyler how to properly drink out of the fountains that you can find everywhere in Rome. You plug the hole and it streams out in more of an arc from the top.

That night, after our golf cart tour, we went on a walk to get our last few souvenirs. We went to L'Artigianato so Tyler could get some fun chess pieces. He ended up with a cool set that has Roman and Greek Warrios. I also got a fun ceramic plate that says La Mamma. Then we went back to the journal store, Manufactured in Italy, because we decided we needed to get the boys a journal too. 

When we finished spending our money on cool things, we were hungry, so we decided to have our fancy meal in Rome. We ended up at Osteria dell'Anima. I picked it because they had pear filled pasta and I had loved that so much in Florence. It ended up not being great. We started with some deep fried veggies but they were just greasy and pretty tasteless. Then I had my pear filled pasta but it was not at all like the pasta in Florence. It was pear pieces, not pear puree, and the pasta was tough. Not a fan. Tyler, however, thought that the chicken he had there was magical. I am glad one of us liked the fancy meal. 

On our way back, we stopped by the Trevi Fountain. This fountain is a Lego set so I felt obligated to see it. And now I feel obligated to buy this lego set. It really is a beautiful fountain. For a grand price of $2 each, we were able to get in front of all the crowds and properly see it. Well worth the total $4 we spent. We threw a coin in the fountain and that means we will return there someday. We also drank out of the fountain at the side of it so now Tyler and I will be together for an eternity. Love all these superstitions.

On our way back we also stopped at Captain Candy where we bought some interesting candy (like a few gummies that were spicy (hot!) and a giant banana gummy) and we also stopped to get gelato- we really loved our Italian sweets.

Monday was our last day in Rome and we had no real plans. We had a very lazy morning and then went and grabbed some pastries at Regoli Pasticceria. 

Then we walked to Villa Borghese. We hadn't walked in that direction yet and it was much less peopley and the area looked very nice. It was really nice to see trees and be away from the crowds. There were some nice fountains and "temples". There was also this really fun lake that you could go row boating in but Tyler didn't want to wait in line to take me out. I think it could've been fun. Instead we ended up meeting the "European Forrest Gump" who made me quite uncomfortable. He looked shady and kept telling us about how too many people are worried about time and let it control them. He told us how he doesn't want to stay still but just wants to walk forever. We ended up looking him and he was legit but I still didn't enjoy feeling cornered nby him. He probably wanted us to give him some money or food or something. 

When he finally walked away from us, it was time for us to head back to our bnb. We decided to stop by the Pantheon on our way. We didn't have tickets and I tried to get them online but for some reason my phone was not working so we ended up just waiting in line to buy tickets. The line went quickly and we got to go inside the famous ancient temple. It has the worlds' largest unreinforced dome and an open ceiling oculus. 

When we finished looking around the Pantheon we were both needed to pee and were very hungry. There was a McDonald's nearby so we tried to go to the bathroom there. Tyler had success but I did not. There was a line of like 20 people for 1 stall and it just wasn't moving. I felt like the 35 min walk to our bnb would be faster. I also was feeling indecisive about food so we just started walking home. I felt miserable and crabby and it was not a great walk. I just wanted to cry. When we were about 10 mins away from our bnb, we found a pizza joint- Pizzeria Della Madonna dei Monti- that had good reviews so we stopped. This was a good choice. It had a bathroom and the pizza was really good. It was just what I needed. I was feeling so much better that I decided to get some dessert. I got a strawberry tiramisu because I was sure it was be strawberry flavored and not soaked in coffee but there was coffee on the bottom. So gross. I felt obligated to eat it all because it was very small. I will not be a coffee drinker anytime soon.

After that we pretty much were done with the day and spent the rest of our evening packing up and resting up for travel home the next day.

Tuesday our trip had come to an end, it was time to go home. We left our airbnb and decided to get one last croissant at a bakery we passed by on the way to the train station. This place we randomly stopped at was a total fraud and charged us $20 euros for 2 croissants and a soda. I guess that's what I get for not researching where to eat. After we grabbed our overpriced food, we went to the train station and then waited for our platform to be announced. They waited until the last minute and then we had to rush to our platform. There were no assigned seats on this train but it was pretty empty so we were able to sit in a 4 seater spot and put our bags on the empty seats. That was nice.

We got to the airport 3.5 hours early because I just can't help myself. It was a really nice airport and everything went smoothly, no line to check in our luggage and a very short line for security. It's so nice that you don't have to take your shoes off or liquids out anymore. Then, just like the trains, we found out gate numbers aren't released right away. Ours was not going to be released for another hour and a half so we got to do some more waiting. I got a sandwich and a drink and wandered for a bit at some point but mostly I just sat and waited. Tyler wandered a bit too and came back with a panda bear and giant lollipop for Ruby. She is spoiled.

Once the gate number was released we had a long walk to the gate. On our way there we saw a smoking room which I thought was just crazy, but I wasn't really surprised because a vast majority of the population in Italy seems to smoke or vape. The night before we ended up changing our seats from a row near the back, to row 6 since we didn't have much time to get to our connecting flight. It was a wise choice. The flight was short and went smoothly and they even gave us a sandwich. But when we landed we literally had 15 minutes before our next flight started boarding so we had to book it. Of course our new gate was on the other side of the terminal. It was such a long walk but at least the line for exiting customs was short. The only hiccup was that I tried to go up to the window with Tyler but the guy said to only come one at the time (that was opposite from how things went in Amsterdam, hence my confusion). I was bummed that we didn't get to hang in the Paris airport because they had some fun shops but we just barely made it in time for our flight. I was also bummed that I didn't have time to grab some food for our long flight.

For our last leg from Paris to Detroit, we had changed our seats so that we were behind the divider/wall. This was another wise choice because it really did give us a lot of extra leg room and we could prop our feet up on the wall. That was great. The only bummers for this flight were 1- I had started my period and had to use the claustrophobic bathroom more than I like. And 2- they never fed us! We were on the flight for almost 7 hours before they finally gave us food. We probably could have bought dinner but we didn't, because I figured there would be snacks. Seriously there were no snacks and no food for 7 very long hours. Only drinks. I reminded myself that I have fasted longer with church but when you are just sitting around- it feels like forever. When they finally fed us, they gave us a little bag with a sandwich, muffin, and yogurt drink. It felt like the most amazing meal in the world. Other than those 2 things the flight was fine. I spent most of it binge watching "Shrinking" which makes me cry and laugh in equal parts. It's a good show.

At 7pm we landed in Detroit. We had essentially been up since 1:30 am Detroit time so we were exhausted to say the least. This time, at customs, they wanted us both at that window. He was sassy to me about not coming up with Tyler and so I explained about Paris. He was like, "Well obviously we're not Paris." Super helpful. Anyways, our luggage took a bit to come down but Tyler's parents' timing was perfect. They got there right as we came out. When we got home Ruby gave us a good squeal and ran to us. She was my buddy again. It was nice to feel loved because she gave zero cares about us when we video called while we were away. The other kids seemed glad to have us back too. I think they had taken over a lot of the care for Ruby and she can be exhausting. That night Ruby woke up crying and to be honest. I think she was worried we were going to leave again. She clung so hard to me. 

It has been hard adjusting to real life. Cooking, cleaning and doing laundry for a whole family is not super fun. I had hoped to have my friend clean the house so I could come home to a clean house (I was going to pay her) but Tyler's dad said he would take care of it. His idea of taking care of it was moving all the kids toys to my parents' garage and vacumming. The rest still needed a good cleaning when we got home (and I had to bring the toys back). I am not upset that he didn't do it, just upset that he told me not to have my friend come and clean. I should not have listened to him. 

Jet lag is real and I have been pretty exhausted the last few days but I am finally starting to have more energy. Lucy also decided to take down Ruby's crib and make her toddler bed a couple days ago so that's another fun adjustment. We have to put up a baby gate so Ruby can't get into her sisters' things and another baby gate to keep her in the room. Super fun. But actually fun, Tyler got his company car, a GMC Acadia and it literally has all the trims. It is so fancy! I am so happy that he finally has the nice car in our family- he deserves it! Also fun, I got to hang out with Grace and it was so nice to see her and catch up on all the things. She really seems to care about the things I care about. She is a good friend. And other than that life is just being life. 

Rome Part 1

Wednesday morning we bumped our heads one final time in our hobbit house went down the creaky flights of stairs, passed by the leaning tower of pisa one last time,  grabbed another croissant at Po'sto and then caught our train to Florence and then from Florence to Rome. The first one was a regional train which means first come first serve with seats. We were a little squished with our bags until a few people got off and then we were able to sit in a 4 seater spot and give our bags a chair. We got to the station and had plenty of time to catch our connecting train to Rome. We had seats with a table in between so that made Tyler happy. We also got snacks and drinks. 

Once at Rome we took the 12 min walk to our airbnb. There are lots of hills in Rome, it's not so flat of a walk and there were even some stairs.  Our bnb looked nice but it ended up not being super comfortable- the bed was hard, there was no real space to spread out our things, no comfy place to sit, the heater was noisy and though it had a washer and dryer, they were noisy, and made our clothes smell a bit funny. So we didn't love it but the guy who owns it and came to check us in was very nice. And we were not only close to the train station, but we were only a 15 min walk from the colosseum which was nice. 

After taking a little break, we went and got pizza at Trieste Pizza. We both got pizza with sausages and other things. Tyler's pizza also had potatoes on it. They were both really good. The cashier had a very big personality and asked everyone where they are from and called "Michigan" when our order was ready. We probably should have gotten some more pizza because we were still a little hungry after but we fixed that hunger by getting some gelato at Geletaria SM Maggiore. So good!

Then we took a walk to the colosseum as the sun was going down. We called the kids while we there. It really is something to see in real life. 

Later we walked to Pastificio Guerra for some spaghetti carbonara to go. We had to walk through a very long tunnel and past some fancy shops to get there.  I thought the spaghetti carbonara was delicious (bits of bacon and buttery noodles) but it was not Tyler's thing. The only bummer was there were no tables so we had to eat it while standing in the sidewalk, slightly messy. Afterwards we took a leisurely walk back to our bnb. Literally everywhere you walk, you will see something amazing- a fountain,  a statue, a beautiful church, neat trees, ruins.... it's a beautiful, unique place. 

Thursday morning we were up early to meet out tour group to the see the colosseum under ground tunnels. The ticket said to get there 30 mins early or they might leave you so of course I got us there 45 mins early. That was dumb. They did not leave until the actual ticketed time (9am) so we just sat there waiting for everyone. Then they led us to a spot, gave us a ticket,  pointed out where we should get in line ("behind that van") and told us to find gate 2 to meet our guide. Kind of lame that they didn't actually take us in because the meeting spot was a little tricky and one family got lost for a minute and Tyler had to go help them out.

After a little more waiting, the tour to the underground began. It was nice because it was really just our group down there so it wasn't super peopley, but our guide was hard to understand because she had a thick accent. She showed us how the gladiators would come from their practice field into the tunnels and then take a lift up to the arena. She explained to us that the colosseum was never actually called the colosseum when it was used,  it was more likely called the Flavian Amphitheater or Caesars Amphitheater. We also learned that gladiators didn't typically fight to the death and that the animals were actually more likely used for a hunting show. It was really neat to be in the tunnels them at floor level and then an upper level. We got rained on for a short bit while in the underground (it's not completely covered). Overall it was a cool experience but I wasn't super impressed with the guide. I think we could have read the stuff on the plaques. I think the biggest benefit of a guide was that you got skip the big lines and got to be away from the crowds a bit. 

After that we met back at our original spot and then were taken to the Roman Forum. I honestly forgot that our tour included this. Once again we had a guide with a thick accent and she was a bit abrasive. And once again the biggest perk of having a guide seemed to be that we got to skip the long lines to get in.  When we were in the forum she did a bit of a rush tour with superficial information. We didn't really learn anything too interesting but the ruins were cool to see. During the tour, she lost a family and never did find them.... After the tour we would've liked to stay longer but I had booked us a visit to the crypts so we had to leave so we would have time for lunch. Not too long after we left it started really raining and since it was all outside, it was probably good we left. 

For lunch we grabbed pizza at Trieste again. We thought we were getting the favorite of the 2 we  had got last time but ended up with something totally different, but still good. We ate it back at our bnb so we could get ready for our next outing.

Next we went to the Capuchin Crypt. It was raining heavily at that point so we had our raincoats and umbrellas as we walked the 20 minutes to it. The only thing that got wet on me was the bottom of my wide leg pants. I should've worn my skinny leggings. When we got there we had to wait outside until it opened. Once again, no benefits from being early. And then the doors opened and we waited some more, still outside in the rain. After a bit of time of waiting, someone passed by us with tickets, and we realized we could bypass the line as well since we had tickets. Wish we would've realized this sooner because the rain was bad. 

For the Museum of the Capuchin Crypt we had an audio guide- like a little mp3 player with headphones. There were numbers around the museum and you would just push in the number to hear about the things nearby. I liked this system of a guide. We could go at our own pace, and the voice was clear and easy to understand. The only issue is sometimes my distractable brain wanders. The beginning talked about the order of the Friars and then explained that when they came upon a bunch of bones that were exhumed from somewhere they decided to turn the bones into this sort of art to show that death isn't scary because of the gift our Savior gave us. I personally think someone went a little crazy when presented with a large pile of bones. 

It was still raining when we got out of the museum. We walked back to our bnb and took a bit of a break before we went in search of food. We ended up at Fuorinorma. We were able to sit down at a table and eat which is always a rarity in these small places. I got a panini that actually had crispy bacon and an artichoke sauce on it. It was pretty good. 

Friday was our day to go to Pompeii. I had reserved us a train to Naples first and then we were going to have to figure out how to get from there to Pompeii. It was a tight window to get there in time for our guided tour so of course I was feeling a bit anxious. We picked up breakfast on our way (I got a Maritozzo from Regoli Pasticceria- a cream filled bun so delish). We apparently walked in the back way to the Roma Termini Station and had to weave our way to the center of it so we could find out what platform we would end up at. It was a large station and although we didn't have assigned seats for this train ride, we had no problem finding seats.

The second leg of this trip- from Naples to Pompeii- was a bit of a disaster. We were unsure if we were at the right platform and decided last minute it was probably the wrong one so we rushed to a different one in a totally different area. I am still unsure if the first one would have taken us to where we needed to be but the second one did end up getting us there. The train was crammed (we had to stand the whole ride) and it was running behind schedule, but we made it just in time for our guided tour. I was expecting it to be another group tour since that was what we signed up for and so I headed towards a small group of people that were starting to head inside but before we reached the group there was a woman standing with a sign. I didn't think she was our guide so I just asked her where we were at and she asked me if I was Jennifer. Lucky us, we were the only ones to sign up for the group tour with her so we had her all to ourselves. She was nice and let us grab a snack from a shop and take a bathroom break before we got started (honestly she let us do that because she needed a smoke break). Then we got started. There were no lines so we walked right in and I love that Pompeii is so big (roughly 170 acres) because despite the squished train to get there, it did not feel peopley in Pompeii at all. 

I am glad we had a tour guide because she was full of good information and knew how to get us to all the important spots. Otherwise we might have been lost and we would not have known what we were looking at. She took us to the arena there and talked about how Madonna had done a show there for her close friends.

She showed us how to know if something was a shop (many sold food buffet style) or a house, and explained that all these places used to be colorful inside and out but much of the colors have faded due to being out in the elements. We also learned that blue was the most expensive color to make. She showed us the homes and how they were able to recreate the gardens that were in the center of homes because the holes and seeds for the plants were still there. We saw sleeping rooms where people huddled together to rest and learned that meal time was so special that they would eat a meal, purge, and then eat some more.

She talked about how Pompeii was discovered (a farmer found it under 20 ft of ash) and how it was like a lasagna and they were constantly finding new layers of things. She showed us graffiti from political campaigns and one graffiti that was a rebuttal to a statement about love. We also learned how people would engrave a penis on their house to show power,wealth and posterity. 

We saw a lot of beautiful mosaic floors and saw the terracotta piping system that they used. We saw a large market, many buffet style shops, and the Roman baths.

We even got to see some archeological uncovering being done- that was cool because the colors were still in tact (but you couldn't take pictures there). She told us how they found in one of the ovens, bread that had been being baked and how it was even stamped with the bakers seal.

At one point she let us take a break to eat (since she needed a smoke break). Tyler and I had sandwiches and he fed some of his meat to one of the many cats that roamed Pompeii. They all look very healthy- probably because of people like him. Then the cat looked at me so sadly that I also fed it some of my sandwich.

We also saw the sad plaster castings from the bones that were found in Pompeii. They were not very tall people based on the castings. We learned that after the first explosion of Mt Vesuvius some people left but they expected to be able to come back. No one expected that it would become buried in ash. One man had even hid his coins in a bowl in his restaurant.

After our tour was done we didn't stay too much longer- it really is a tricky place to navigate by yourself and plus we needed to catch a train. It was another very warm and squished train ride from Pompeii to Naples- standing room only. But the train from Naples to Rome was much more comfortable and we were able to sit. 

Tyler was obsessed with getting the pizza we had gotten the first time at Trieste so he insisted we go again for dinner. This time we got the right pizza. And this time it did not settle well with me. This was the first time since we had left to Italy that my bowels gave me issues. To be honset, I felt very lucky that I had done so well for so much of the trip.

Saturday we had an early morning. We had to get to the Vatican Museums by 7:30am. These early morning tours were a little bit of a bummer while being on vacation but totally worth it. Things are way less crowded Our bus ride to the Vatican was nice and empty, and we were able to sit. Once we got to the museum we found the line that appeared to be ours. In the end we had to hop ourselves over one line to the left but that was easily done and our wait time wasn't too bad. Once we were inside we easily found where to go for our tour. I had booked a tour through the Vatican which I think was a good way to go.

Our tour guide was fairly easy to understand and gave us some good information about things but she kind of zoomed through everything- probably because she had limited time to show us all the things. We learned about the Vatican and how hard it was to get citizenship to the Vatican. Then we learned about statues. We learned that if there was a lot of hair on a statue and beard it was probably of a philosopher.  If it had a short hair cut it was probably an Emperor. We also learned how there was an era where private parts were considered inappropriate so many penises were cut off or covered on statues. We also learned that they were stored somewhere and eventually they got glued back on. We even saw a statue that had been hit by lightening so it was considered sacred. It seemed like every inch of the museum was covered in artwork of some kind. Tyler particularly liked when we found dragons in the artwork. The map room was also pretty neat, impressive that they were able to give such detailed and accurate maps without the technology we have today.

The guide did not take us into the Sistine chapel because it is supposed to be quiet in the chapel so she gave us some information before we went in. We learned that it took teams of painters to paint the panels on the walls but Michelangelo worked on his own on the ceiling and that there was a panel he finished in just one day. We also learned again that the color blue is expensive so that any time you see it in a painting you need to keep in mind that special permission was needed to use it. I thought it was cool that many of the women were in blue. Inside the chapel you are not allowed to take pictures but it is amazing to see in person and on a less respectful note, Tyler happened to notice that Michelangelo painted God's bum in the picture of the creation of plants and animals. Something I never noticed before.

After we finished at the Sistine Chapel, we went in search of bathrooms and food. We ended up finding a little cafe in the lower level and I got a sandwich that was just meat and cheese but the bread was so good it made it taste extra special. And after having tummy issues the night before, I needed something plan like that.

When we finished eating we wandered through the gift shops and then headed out. We decided to go check out St. Peter's Basilica since it has free admission but the line was insane and we decided it was not worth the wait. It was cool to see the place where the Pope addresses his peeps though.

We had no other plans for the day so we decided to walk back to our bnb rather than taking the bus again. There was a castle on our way and we decided if there wasn't a big line, we could stop there. In front of the castle there was a man singing opera. That was fun. We got lucky at Castel Sant-angelo because the line for tickets was very short, so we decided to go in. We bought the audio guide because we have found that to be a good deal but the lame thing about this one was it didn't come with headphones. Just a player with a speaker you held by your ear. We probably could have shared it. 

The castle was nothing spectacular but it had really great views at the top so I think it was worth the stop. It also had a giant treasure chest that was pretty awesome. 

After the castle we plugged in some stores into Googlemaps that I was interested in shopping at and hit those on our walk back. We also walked into some random chapels and saw some cool fountains as we walked. It's nice sometimes to have flexibility to just wander. The stores we ended up was a Murano glass store (because I had regretted not getting some things when we were in Venice) and some shops with journals. The lady at the glass shop was very helpful and seemed a little desperate for a buy or was just worried that I might steal something? She ushered me around the whole time. Slightly awkward but luckily for her I planned to buy something. We ended up getting some little glass animals, a glass ornament and a glass ring. She gave us $5 off our order because I gave her good reviews online. The journal shop we ended up loving was called Manufactured in Italy. They had beautiful leather journals with engravings. I was very impressed with all their things and we got the girls journals. I wanted to buy so much more but resisted the temptation.

Our last planned stop on our walk home was Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II. We had seen it from the top of the castle and it looked quite grand so we thought we should see it in person. At this point, Tyler needed to pee so he was not interested in climbing the many steps to find a bathroom. Instead we took some pictures and then finished the walk to our bnb so he could use the bathroom. There are not many public bathrooms to be found in Rome.

For dinner that night, we ended up getting Korean food at Starbaps. Tyler really isn't too into pasta and I needed a break from pizza. I basically got a meat and rice bowl with veggies and it was a really nice change.