Europe--Day two: Rome

Ok people, really sorry but for now we won't be able to upload any more pictures on our trip...you'll just have to wait till we get back! The camera that I brought (we brought two) that I also brought a cord to upload with died yesterday, and it turns out, the little conversion plug we brought to plug things into DOES NOT protect the electronic device being plugged in from being surged with twice as much electricity as it is meant for... this also means I no longer have a hair straightener... haha when I plugged it in to use it, it exploded. literally! exploded with a flash of blue light!!! luckily, I wasn't hurt or electrocuted because it made a sound and I dropped it, but I had a heart attack! Unfortunately, no good hair days for the rest of the trip...After that ordeal we went downstairs to have breakfast and it was so tasty! They had all of these homemade pastries, sliced meat and cheese, fresh fruit, weird italian yogurt, yummy weird juices, and lots and lots of other things that I can't remember. But Matt kept saying "yes! this is the best breakfast ever!" When we were done eating, we got in the Panda and braved the trip to Roma again to return the rental car. This also meant we had NO IDEA how we were going to get all the way back to Pomezia (where we are staying, which is an hour away from the city...), but more on that later. Unfortunately, the night before, I was totally unable to sleep because my body was just so confused about the time. So I was already super tired as we returned the rental car, and I kept saying "uh-oh, I'm in trouble!" There used to be a time when I could stay up all night, drink a caffeinated beverage, and rally through the day. That time left when I got pregnant. So I was not in very good shape. Our first order of business was to walk from where we dropped off the rental car to the Ancient Rome area. We wanted to see the Roman Forum, the Capitoline Hill, the Colosseum, and the Pantheon. It took us about an hour, but we kept getting distracted by the unexpected little sights we found along the way. We walked up the hill to the Capitoline area---which is a square that was designed by Michaelangelo with a bunch of museums around it---and by the time we made it all the way up the hill, I was STARVING. So, we walked back down (because we couldn't find food up there) and got some authentic Italian pizza to refuel. Unfortunately, my body had other plans and the pizza made me really nauseous... which sucked because I haven't really been getting sick anymore! But I couldn't go anywhere...so Matt convinced me to take my anti-nausea pill that my doctor gave me. These things are great--except for the fact that they make me really drowsy! But we decided me being even more tired than I was was better than me being sick because at least we could go somewhere with me being tired! So we started off back toward the Forum. we could not for the life of us find the entrance to the area where you can go down and walk around in the Forum! turns out, you need to pay and we didn't realize it...but we quickly learned when a guard yelled at me for going in at the exit. haha! So we walked to the Colosseum (they're right next to each other) and payed for a tour. This was what Matt was most excited for! Our tour guide really brought the place to life for us--well, mostly she brought the place to life for Matt because I had to go sit down I was so tired! Poor Matt. I feel so bad! I literally couldn't hold my head up! 3 nights in a row of no sleep plus the added drowsiness of the pill I took and I was literally not a functioning human being. I honestly thought I wasn't going to make it!! But Matt dragged me up and we walked to the bus stop to get to the Pantheon. Luckily, I was able to rally through the tired and make it through the rest of the night, which was really fun. The Pantheon is just incredible! The entire structure is original, and it's completely still standing on its own, no reinforcements. That thing isn't going ANYWHERE. And did I mention it's huge!? It was amazing to see. After dinner and gelato (of course) we headed back to the bus stop to try and figure out how we were going to make it to Pomezia. Luckily, we found a bus that took us to a major hub out of the city where we could connect to a bus that took us straight to the hotel. I'm amazed we made it back so smoothly! no missed connections or anything! we were so proud :) ESPECIALLY because once you get out of the tourist areas, NO ONE speaks english. When we got back to the hotel, we both just PASSED OUT. 10 hours of sleep later, and we're feelin good! We're going to Vatican City today. Love you all!! :)