ROME! I’m really excited about this excursion, but dreading the heat. We have another early departure, meeting our excursion at 7:20 am. After an hour and a half drive to the city center of Rome, we unload at the Coliseum.

It’s an impressive site, especially when we get inside. The crowds are equally impressive. There are many long lines. Thankfully, we were able to move over to a “fastpass” lane for groups.

After the Coliseum visit, we drove through town and saw some of the important sites, arriving at the Trevi Fountain. We made a short visit to the fountain, as it in the middle of a restoration project. We can see a lot of it, but there is no water.

After the fountain visit, we did a little more sightseeing from the bus enroute to lunch. We had a nice lunch, building our energy for the visit to the Vatican.

We get off the bus and walked in to the Vatican Museum. It’s hot, but our tickets get in us quickly. I don’t know how the people standing in line, outside in the sun, can do it. There are many impressive statues and pieces of art, everywhere. We’ve been hearing a lot about Michelangelo, and there’s lots of his work on display here. The Vatican Museum tour ends in the Sistene Chapel. It’s as impressive as you’ve heard. What a masterpiece of concept and design!

After the chapel, we went into the Basilica. We’ve seen some great cathedrals in the last week, the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, and the Milan Cathedral yesterday. They don’t match up to the sheer size and volume of design and art that is everywhere in this building. For me, the Sistene Chapel, and the Basilica make any hot, sweaty, uncomfortable moments, totally worth it to get to see these buildings.

After the Basilica, we walked to our bus. I was dreading boarding, after the heat we suffered yesterday in Milan on our trip home. YEA!!! The A/C works pretty well. It took a while to cool off, but when it finally did, it was great! Back home, we showered, rested, had a great dinner, and began to prepare for Day 4 of our excursions.