Ok, I found an Internet cafe. A nice cheap one too as compared to the other one we passed this afternoon (2€ an hour). I am going to finish day 1 in Rome. Part 1 was really just getting here...
After we got settled into the apartment, we decided to walk around the corner to take a peak at the Colosseum. We passed Laura on the way. After she got settled we went to the Colosseum. I reallyfrogot how big it is. I also didn't realize that it was built in less than 10 years! I guess all that slave labor from conquering other people helped. We walked right in thanks to our Roma Passes that Teresa bought before we left. They get you into 2 museums for free and then an all you can use metro pass for 3 days. It was 20€ and considering the Coloseum was 11 and each metro ride is 1, after the second museum and a few rides, it has more than paid for itself. After walking around the Colosseum, we went and found a geocache. It didn't take long but we had to wait a while to put it back. First find in Italy!
Next on the agenda was the Roman Forum. This was like the National Mall of Rome. most all of the Roman goverment was here. We had to pay 11€ to get in here (we thought it was free and it was until March, we also now think it was included in the price of our Colosseum ticket too so we paid twice) but it was well worth it I thought. Teresa and Laura were not as thrilled. Most of the Forum is only ruins. There are very few buildings still standing. The best are the 2 arches on each end of the Forum and the senate house. After exploring the Forum and listeing to Rick Steve's slightly confusing audio guide, we headed up to Palentine hill which overlooks the Forum. The view was great!
After all that walking we went to find some dinner. This proved to be more difficult that we thought as it was only about 5:30pm and many places did not even open for dinner until 7! We eventually found a place called W.A.N.T.E.D.. It was ok (and across from this internet cafed). I had a sausage calzone. Teresa and Laura both had pizza (artachoke and salami respectivley).
One thing I still don't like about Europe is the lack of tap water. I really don't want to pay $3-5 for some water. What is worse was Teresa got a can of Coke Light for 4€ ($6.30!!). You really need fluids after walking around all day.
After dinner we headed back to the apartment and took a short nap before doing some planning for the next day, transfering pictures, taking notes, etc. We watched a little TV too. The only channel with English was MTV so we watched some really dumb date show. The TV is really strange too. You can't turn it on with the power button. To turn it on you have to use one of the channel buttons. The power button only turns it off. Also, in Rome there are over 20 over the air broadcast channels. I wonder how many people have cable with that much coming in for free (or thanks to taxes, not sure).
About 10pm I ventured out to take some night pictures of the Colloseum and the Arch of Constantine. They look aweseome! They key with a point and shoot camera is getting the camera steady and using the auto timer to let it settle down after you press the button. No flash either of course! In all I took 181 pictures (532mb on the first day). Not a bad start.
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