Seeing a city at the pace we have seen Rome is the best thing a traveler can do. When we first dreamed this trip, we listed must-see cities and timelines in each one. Obviously, as a newbie traveler, you want to see as much as you can; We did quit our jobs and lives to do this, you know...

So in picking out the countries and cities, we found ourselves pressed with time to see everything before our flight to Asia. If I can make any suggestions to someone backpacking or even taking a few weeks to see a place: TAKE YOUR TIME!! There are so many little stresses with moving each couple of days from financial, physical and logistical. Even if you are seeing these famous cities at lightning speed, you are not really in "vacation" mode....It felt more like work, to be honest. From waiting in lines for trains, mistakes with lodging or hosts, getting up very early, and going to bed very late to see everything, first-timers ( as we are/were) are usually too ambitious to enjoy themselves. Rome with my mom has taught me to take time to slowly enjoy the place.

In any case, this is our 8th day, and I feel we have really seen much of what Rome has to offer. Tomorrow we buck up and brave the 3 + hour line to see the VaticanMuseum and Sistine Chapel....and with that we will have seen all the major sites.

I can't imagine doing the city in our protocol 4 days....

Yesterday, Mom convinced me ( kicking and screaming) to take one of those double-decker open-topped busses that careeens around Roman corners packed to the brim with tourists. I have to admit, I did enjoy it. A lot :-) The weather was picture perfect, not too warm and not too cold. The sun made it quite enjoyable, although both Troy and Mom were upset I decided to listen to Madonna instead of the tour guide :-P Mom was by herself for the first few stops, then a heavyset woman stuffed her brimming booty into the seat next to hers....Can't win them all

Today we are going to do a river ride, and then check out the mouth of truth. The river ride is a bargain 2.5 euro for the whole day!! I think anything to conserve cash at this point is good. Mom has been helpful and generous and we can't imagine Rome without her.

The church you see in the pic is a little known one to foreigners. The Santa Maria Magiore is absolutely incredible with similar elements as St. Paul's in London, and St Peter's in Vatican City. The church was not crowded, and absolutely flawless. We noticed the pyramid with an eye in the center ( for those of you who read the Da Vinci Code ), which was very cool!

The car was a luxury version of the smart car, ( with a custom design on the side; courtesy of the Roman taggers) as you can see from the picture. What you do in a vehicle like this I don't know....

Tomorrow is our last full day before dropping mom at the airport at 5 am ( now I know why the flight was discounted!! ) and then catching our our train to Bari....Then from Bari the ferry to Patras, Greece, which takes 15.5 hours :-/ After that, we take a 3 hour bus ride to Athens, then spend the night before catching a ferry to the Greek Isles. We will be in sore need of chilling on the beach after a travel day like that.

Today is also Wayne's birthday....wanted to wish Wayne ( Dad) a great day!! Enjoy, we love ya!