catch up time

hey all. love the comments, but if you are going to make them, please sign your name at the bottom, otherwise i have no idea who it talking.

on to buisness. yesterday we went to the vatican. it was positively breathtaking. it sure puts your tiny life into perspective. the bascillica is huge. in the dome, you can stand an entire football field up end zone to end zone, floor to ceiling. it holds 95,000 people for mass (the Big House in ann arbor holds 100,000, but not for mass). we climbed the 342 steps (plus a 5 minute elevator ride) to the top of the dome. at one point, you are actually climbing over the top of the dome, so the walls curve in. i had to duck. it looked like everyone needed a good dose of v-8. once you got to the top, it was just stunning. that was the point where our batteries in the camera died. so we climbed down and walked around the roof of the bascillica. you know they actually have a gift shop (where we found some batteries) and a coffee shop on the roof of the church? wild.

after the bascillica, we went through the vatican museums. there was a woman in the museums taping everything on a camcorder. she experienced the entire museum through her viewfinder. how sad for her. the raphael frescos were more amazing than they were in my art history class. add to that the sistine chapel, and it could bring tears to your eyes, or at the very least an overwhelming sense of awe. no photos allowed in the chapel, but of course, there were the idiots who took pictures, sat on the steps and talked in their un-church voices. dumb.

well, we blew out of rome this morning. we literally had to run to catch the train. this ride we were not so fortunate to sit in a compartment with others who spoke english. i do not know what happened, but the other lady in our compartment had a misunderstanding with the conductor. we witnessed italian expressions first hand. it got loud, but no one got angry. it was actually pretty funny.

now we are in siena. just a little south of florence. we did not realize, but monday is labor day for the country, so it is very difficult to get hotel reservations this weekend. we are lucky enough to have a room in a small town called lucca. it is supposed to be beautiful. no claim to fame though. it will be nice to slow down. it seems like we are tearing through this country.

we are meeting americans everywhere we go. just today at dinner, a couple sitting behind us came over to our table after they were done eating and asked about our trip. it is like that wherever we go.

well, enough for today. my time on the computer is running out. oh, one more thing--we are idiots. it took forever and a lot of fumbling to realize that you have to keep your room key in the light switch or else it will not stay on.

caio!