5:15 p.m. We are sitting outside a wine bar. Beast has grappa, I've got water, and a Kit-Kat bar. :-) We only did the Vatican Museum today because the line took us over 90 minutes to navigate to the front and get inside.

Back up. We got up between 8 & 8:30 again, showered, headed to breakfast in the hotel & then prepped to head to V. City. Surprisingly, it wasn't bad getting moving today -- my feet hurt & we've definitely got sore muscles, but Beast's back & leg were just a little twingy. So yeah, across the Piazza San Pietro & around to the line for the Museums. We stuck out the line in spite of dozens of offers from tour guides. We were behind a group of 16-ish French kids which was fun, and we spent time making sure we didn't get poached in line. By 1:00 we were finally inside the museum & wending our way through various rooms & courtyards. Not much seemed very familiar from '85 (surprise--not). We ended up pouncing on some benches in the map room where we called Beast to see how he was doing. He sounded horrible and said he was achy, but assured us he's "fine" really. We found the thermometer for him -- in our bathroom -- & he hung up to take his temp. Called back in 5 minutes & said it was 99.3 so hardly awful, but I told him if he really is achy too, he should probably stay home from school. Eric concurred. Haven't heard anything since then. So after the map room we ZIPPED thru several more rooms and then went right in to the Sistine Chapel. Which was JAMMED. There were guards trying their best to keep everyone quiet and reverent. It felt a little Lenin's Tomb-ish at first. Then we looked up.

O M F G

Wow! The sybils are SO clear now, the main/center panels, too -- even tho it was hard to get into it w/ all the other people, it was STUNNING. I could have spent an hour sitting in there. There was a ban on cameras but Beast did get some Flip video. He's actually looking at it right now. (Beast finally texted back -- "Not 100% but ok. Thx for checking in")

I think I am going to stop & have a look. BRB. Yes he did get some video but nothing great -- still we can make stills from it! woot OK, anyway that was pretty much it -- we booked to the gift shop where I bought a few tschotskes & then to the cafeteria for another sit-down. Once we had a little more energy we exited & cross the street and had bread & cheese & a rest in a ristorante right by the entrance/exit. This was followed by wandering to the nearest Metro stop to scope out our trip tomorrow a.m. to Termini to catch a train to Florence.

-- Going to break here & relax a bit more.

6:20 p.m. OK, it's chilly outside so we came back across the piazza to the hotel for a nap before dinner. Or at least to chance to lie down. We noticed last night that there is a pub down the road from us. When we went down @5, it wasn't open, so we're hoping it will open tonight & we can have dinner there. ANYWAY! We trucked back from Ottaviano Metro, following a couple of women who had just arrived (suitcases ahoy). We stopped in Piazza S.P. for a few more photos & then came back to the hotel, footsore again. The bar in the hotel is nice, bu PRICEY. I was hoping to find a place for a drink & peanuts -- we found a place like that yesterday. No luck today. Hence the hope for the pub; we never really had lunch (Sparky texted again that his temp is now 100.5 so it's good he stayed home). That's it for now. Time to chill.

10:25 p.m. So we really did chill -- at Happy Cottage, a pseudo-Irish pub staffed by the most amazing 3 people ever. We had gimlets and dinner with a bunch of German teenagers and some random Italians. OK, I'm more than slightly drunk right now so I'm going to sign off, prob till Florence -- or the train -- at this point.

10:30 p.m. Yes, more than a day has passed. We didn't get up till after 8, which meant over 11 hours' sleep. Woot! The shower was great and we headed down to breakfast after checking email & getting a general idea of what to do today. Breakfast spread was plentiful and pretty tasty: cheese, meat, fruit, pastry, cereal, yogurt, juices ... yum.

So we were well-fortified as we set out twoard teh Pantheon via St. Peter's because we got a little turned around. Beast was suitably impressed by the Pantheon, as was I, again. I don't remember there being pews & an altar there last time, but it was a LONG time ago! We wandered there for a bit then went to Trevi fountain where we found hundreds of people crowding around to throw in their pennies. Us too, of course. :-) It is a very impressive fountain but we couldn't wait to get the hell out of the vicinity. We headed further east & stopped at Piazza San Marco -- at which [sic] I thought was the Spanish Steps. It's not: it's the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier & monument to Vittorio Emanuelle II. Oops. However, to backtrack a bit ... Piazza San Marco is still terrifying to cross! After the monument, we traipsed past the forum (actually fori) until we found a restaurant on Via Cavour to eat at. It was mostly outside -- we ate outside anyway -- but had indoor, good bathrooms for customers ... and GREAT food. I have [sic] tortellini, a house special; it came with cream sauce and fresh peas. Hum. Beast had a calzone. While we were there, Beast called Sparky & we [...] chatted for 10 min or so. Several school things had come up, so we dealt w/ those. He has a plugged-up nose, but otherwise seems fine. After our fairly leisurely lunch, we continued on to the Colisseum where there were far more people again. The entrance fee is waived this week -- LUCK! -- and so we just wandered on our own till my legs started sending messages & we headed back around the V. Em. monument & points west, i.e., our hotel. Then, well, just lots of walking, but lots fewer people and lots more traffic. Stopped just over the hill for wine and a break. Snax w/ drinks -- peanuts. YAY! We sat outside and watched traffic (insane) and dozens of ambulances pass by. Then after several wrong attempts we finally found our way back to the hotel & collapsed. In the midst of said collapse, Beast's phone rang w/ calls from Sparky. We figured he'd butt-dialed since it was about 12:30 @ home by then. Nope. He sent a text & we call[ed] because he had spent a couple of hours @ the dr. & ER due to shortness of breath. Looks like he's fine but on an inhaler to curb any more serious issues (we hope). So Eric's presence has proven useful for a reason we did NOT expect. And I got stupid-maudlin for a few minutes. Once we'd settled down again we headed to dinner & accidentally found the nearby tram station that we'll probably use to get to Termini & thence Florence on Saturday. Dinner was good -- pizza again, but this time in a place that reminded me of a pub. Dark-panelled and lots of English posters. Then back to the hotel in the rain where we've been sitting in the bar as I write this. Beast's been chatting w/ some other people, doing work stuff & sending our insurance info to Eric & Sparky. And he's being nosy about what I'm writing because the connection is slow. :-) Once he does that & maybe lets me check Gmail, I think we'll call it a night & go to sleep. Assuming it connects @all. More tomorrow. The current plan is to see St. Peter & then stand in line forever to get into the Vatican Museums. Ugh (line) but yay (Sistine Chapel). 'Night.