It is Tuesday night, the end of our first full day in Rome.  Doug and I awoke very late...12 o'clock noon.  Kate and Mary Lou woke at a normal time.  Doug could not sleep on the plane or fall asleep last night.  I fitfully slept as he got up and down.  Finally when he fell asleep at 3:30 I was wide awake.  This did give me time to set up the wi-fi and post the second day of the blog, finally falling asleep at almost 5:00 am.  I guess we have not adjusted to the time change!

The afternoon started out a little slippery, literally that is.  When Doug was trying to take a shower the drain clogged, and started spilling onto the floor and Doug then fell getting out of the shower.  That certainly was an exciting start to the day.  Luckily he was okay if not wet, but the handle on the bidet did not fair so well.  

We ate a light brunch and then left for the Vatican, stopping at the Visitor's Center  for American Bishops to get our tickets for Mass with the Pope tomorrow morning and tickets to pass through the Holy Doors.  This being a Jubilee year, the Pope is honoring  priests this week.  There are priests every where, speaking all kinds of languages.  Doug rode an electric portable lift into the American Bishop's visitors center where we obtained our tickets.  It was a little scary when he first got on, but once on, it was a beautiful thing. 

We stopped for lunch at a little sidewalk cafe.  There is a cool breeze in the air, it is a warm 75 degrees.  Perfect weather. We were forced to wind our way through a narrow mideval street in search of a an accessible toilet.  Much to our relief we found one in a bakery and Getali shop.  I had a lovely vanilla with Baley's liquor.  Kate had a limoncello with limoncello gelato. Hmmmm! Mary Lou wanted pineapple and gelato, but only got the pineapple, they missed the gelato!  Darn, that was an essential ingredient to miss.

We strolled back to the Vatican, to wonder at the 400 ton columns, the 140 saints surrounding us and the ancient 2000 year old 90 foot, 300 tons of granite obelisk sitting in the center of the square.  We wonder at the meaning.  Rick Steve's says that it was originally erected in Egypt and that it witnessed the fall of the pharaohs to the Greeks and then to the Romans. He goes on to say " Today, it watches over the church, a reminder that each civilization builds on the previous ones. "Let's hope we continue to grow and change and don't keep repeating the mistakes of the past."

We return home, to drink some wine, share some stories and prepare for our audience with the pope tomorrow AND passing though the Holy Doors. Looking forward to all of that!