On Friday evening, we departed from Innsbruck, Austria, and headed to Rome on a night train. The cost of the train all the way to Rome was significant, but neither of us had been there and a single night train to one of Europe’s most celebrated capitals was too great a temptation to pass up. We bought simple reserved seats and barely slept. Jumping ahead a few days, on the night train out of Rome, we got a premium two-person sleeper cabin solely because of the train on the way down. Rome is also hot. Super hot. Rome Day 1 was about 32 Celsius. Day 2 and 3, the temperature was about 38. That’s a little less than 100 degrees Fahrenheit. And it was humid. And hot. Oh, and it was hot. Jason and Jon felt like we were in an oven. On the sleeper cabin out of Rome, we had the A/C cranked to specifically make it a two-person fridge. Prior to Rome, we had been in Seattle-weather, but in Rome, we were soaked the minute we stepped out of the hotel. Oh, and Rome hostels, not a good idea. They were small, hidden, packed, and in sketchy areas. Surprisingly, the hotel was cheaper and it actually had two beds available, unlike the fully booked hostels.

With barely any sleep, and feeling like we ran through a fountain of sweat, we took two quick showers and headed out to find some cheap food. 15 minutes later, we ran into the 1,929 year-old Colosseum. It looks just like it does in the pictures. It was mobbed by tourists but a spectacular sight. The area surrounding the Colosseum was surrounded by tons of people hawking everything from garbage to tours. We avoided them all and headed in with the corny audiotours stuck to our heads. The inside was mostly gutted and clearly aged, but the massive size really conveyed the formidable events that used to take place.

Following a few hours wandering the Colosseum, we walked to the Pantheon. I expected the outside to be grander, but it is quite a plain looking structure on the outside. On the inside, one can’t help but spend the first five minutes staring up at the inside of the dome. We were wondering how the water was accounted for when it rained (if it ever does in the oven known as, Rome), but found a conspicuously placed drain right below the opening at the top. The inside is very peaceful, even with all 9 billion people gawking and pointing up with you.

After the Colosseum and Pantheon, we walked back towards the hotel and Jason got his first real Italian dinner. I cannot recall what he ate, and I’m sure he has no idea, because he eats food as if the world is going to end within 15 seconds and the only way to save it is for him to devour every edible crumb on the table before those 15 seconds expire. I have never seen anyone eat like that. Recalling 9 months ago, I once saw Jason eat a ½ pound burrito in 4 bites in 3 minutes. True story. We passed out within seconds of getting into the hotel room.

1:50 AM here and Jason has been asleep for 2 hours, so time for me to catch up. I’ll go over more of Rome tomorrow. We’ve got 7 more days in Europe and I’m 4 days behind in the blog L. I’ll endeavor to make a massive update tomorrow.