That cop tried to run me over - in a crosswalk

Our first whole day in Rome thanks to Marius was absolutely packed. Fred - backpacker from California - decided to join us for the day. We started at the Colisseum and the Roman forum. I am still in awe as to how old they were and how well preserved some of the ruins are despite their age. The Romans were genius. From there we continued to roam (hehe) the ancient city see Trajans column, Compiglio, and random other old stuff. While in ancient city we discovered drinking fountains straight from the ground. Who knows how long they have been there, but the water was excellent and actually cold! We grabbed some lunch, at this point I am so unbelievably sick of sandwiches and pizza, but when in Rome. After lunch we were headed to Vatican City. We decided to walk along the Tiber river from ancient city to the vatican. It was a really nice walk on the river side, so it was also much quieter than up on the streets. There was one point with a fall and a great undercurrent that would not let anything get away from the falls, we had to watch twigs and rubbish fall down for about 10 minutes, it was seriously hypnotic. Once we got to Vatican City we walked around Sant Angelo - former fortress and residence of the pope. It was most definitely a fortress with a moat and spiky fences. We walked from there to Piazza San Pietro and marvelled at the basilica from the outside. We then went on to the Vatican museum and looked at some of their collection, surprisingly tons of modern pieces, but mostly the sistine chapel. We then went to the Basilica and walked around in there and in the papal catacombs. At this point the 3 of us were absolutely exhausted, but were amazed at all we had seen. We all went back to the hostel to chill for awhile before having a full blown Roman dinner.

After a couple hours of resting 5 of the 6 of us on our room all decided to go to a nearby restaurant recommended by Marius. Once we figured out what to order we were completely assaulted with food for only €22 each. We got antipasto which we thought was manageable after the first time they came by with food, but 3 trips later we were all stuffed and we hadnt even had our meal yet. All of the antipasto was completely amazing - FRESH mozzarella, fried zucchini, flat bread, mini sandwiches, fresh bread, sliced beef and pork, egg plant parmesan, meatballs, Garlic anchovy cheese bread, and i'm sure some items i cannot remember. From there we got our entrees (pizza or pasta) and following all of that lemon sorbetto. We also were given unlimited wine and after dinner liquor (limencello and some digusting dark brown drink). It had to have been one of the better meals of my life. We all (Jess, Me, Fred, and 2 guys from New Delhi India) had a great time chatting. The lady at the table next to us came over and told us some of her backpacking stories from the 70s and shared some of her wine with us which was very kind. AFter a great day and meal, not to mention a little networking for when I'm in New Delhi this Fall, it was time to go back to the hostel and crash.