thankyou so much for all of the comments. we really appreciate them a lot. we are having such a great time, but both miss our families too. i will try to answer all questions-the weather here is very, very hot. we've been trying to get up pretty early in the morning, see some sites, and return around three o'clock to nap and get out of the heat, and then go back out around 7 or so until bedtime......ten or eleven. today we went to the vatican, it was so big and completely overwhelming. we listened to our tour guide for about 15 minutes and then split from the tour-hahaha. i thought i was long-winded. anyway, we got lost, sorta, in the vatican museums for a very long time. you cannot believe all of the incredible, breathtaking art. also, you cannot believe the crowds-not a good place for a claustrophobic for sure. for example, in the sistine chapel we got to the part with the famous ceiling and if you even moved an inch you would bump into someone. it was very, very hot and stuffy and crowded, yet still amazing. we were glad for the experience, and took a lot of pictures. it was just very different than we expected. next we went to st. peter's square, which was a lot bigger than i expected, having only seen it in movies and on postcards. we didn't go in st. peter's church because the line was very long, and in the sun. beautiful outside though, and again, we took pics.
tomorrow we leave for florence, so i will close with a few thoughts on rome. overall the food is ok, but not fantastic-it is pricey though. the gelato is good, we've had it two or three times. rome is very, very, very crowded all the time, even at 11 o'clock at night. the italians are very expressive, passionate people. they are understanding and helpful to us, and we haven't felt unsafe yet. we've also been very smart about our belongings and how loud we're speaking though. the city is full of amazing famous tourist attractions, which i am very appreciative to have seen. however, i think my favorite experiences have been wandering the streets. our hotel is in a very quiet neighborhood which has been a great blessing. our hotel breakfast has been some of the best food we've had here-eggs, cheese, fruit, cappucino, etc. many things are very american here-taylor swift on tv, coca cola, kit-kat bars, etc. the subway is convenient, but crowded and dirty. overall we have enjoyed our rome experience, but are ready to move on. tomorrow we go to florence for two days....we should be able to use internet in the hotel there.
i am coming home with the red log book, lots of pictures and stories. we miss you all very much. tell kyla she can save the curly ribbons for me. love you all.