Wow, maybe I figured this blog thing out, but no guarantees. Sheila and I have arrived safely in Europe. In fact we're over a week into our travels. Here's the news. We arrived in Rome after dark on a rainy night after over fifteen hours of travel, and we were exhausted. We were confused and disoriented. We couldn't find the bus station so we paid a cabbie to drive us. We were immediately ripped off. Thirty euro for the ride. Live and learn. After that, everything has gone swimmingly. After checking in, we found this quaint little pizzaria and met these two proprietors, Marco and Mateo. We had good pizza and a bottle of wine for half the price of our cab ride. I knew I was in the right city. On our first full day in Rome, we took a hop on hop off tour bus around the city. That gave us an overview about where things were located. We knew what we wanted to see. Second day, we went to the Colosseum, the Palatinate, and the Forum. This is arguably the most important piece of real estate in Western history. There we were walking in the footsteps of emperors. We ate a lunch of lefttovers from last night's dinner sitting on a fallen granit pillar 2000 years old. How cool is that? We walked all day, and I was sick with a cold. It rained to boot, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Next day, we went out to explore the open air market behind our hotel. We bought fruit, gorganzola, and proschuto for lunch. It was a wonderful experience rubbing elbows with the locals, listening to the calls of the fish mongers, and figuring out the currency. Great fun. That afternoon, we went to the Museo Nazionale Roma the most extensive collection of ancient statuary in Europe. There we were staring into the eyes of Augustus, the original statue that I'd seen pictured in history books. And the bust of Socrates and Caligula, and Nero, but I'm rambling. The bronze statue of the boxer impressed me most. It just spoke to me. No one who has sacrificed as an athlete could fail to see the sacrifice in his bronze eyes. Incredible. That afternoon, Sheila and I returned to the market to get some vegetables for a salad then to the local supermarket for bread. We dined in our room for undre twenty euro. Next day, Sunday 7 Feb, we went to the Borghese Museum. We needed reservations because they theoretically limit the time you can spend in the museum, but we never felt rushed. Nevertheless, we arrived early, picniced on leftovers from dinner as we listed to a local musician play the the sax. It reminded me of Berkeley. Cardinal Borghese was a ruthless art collector threatening people with prison if they didn't fork over their works. The museum is unbelievable--Bernini and Carravagio marble, paint and canvas come to life, and every work has it's own story. But nothing prepared us for the next day--the Vatican Museum and St Peter's Basilica. There are no words to describe this. Corridors 200 meters long not one square centimeter undecorated. Non one square fot of flor space not holding a masterpiece. Yet, even that is no preparation for the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo at the height of his creative power. We were looking up at man's creation and his last judgement. Breathtaking. Beyond words. More later. Love to you all, Michael and Sheila