Roma and mosquito bites

My poor feet are going to be destroyed at the end of this trip. As I think I mentioned before, European cities are quite walkable, but Rome was the biggest by far. While it wasn't bad doing all the walking that I did, it was hot (and rainy on day 2). Nonetheless, I hit up all the major sites in 2 days, and have a million bug bites from the campsite to prove it.

Day one was all about ancient Rome; Colloseum, Palantine Hill, and the Forum. After that I visited the square Michelangelo designed for the famous statue of Marcus Aurelius on a horse. That real statue is now housed in the museum that surrounds the square, which of course was closed on Mondays (but I made sure to come back the next day to see it, as well as the statue of Romulus, Remus, and the she-wolf and a statue of Medusa's head). From there, I saw the memorial for all soldiers and lucked into seeing the changing of the guard over the eternal flame. Finally, I went to the Pantheon (not the Parthenon, which I keep saying and is incredibly wrong), which has the largest freestanding concrete dome in the world - and it was built by the Romans.

The next day was pouring rain, which I got stuck in while trying to find my way to the Vatican Museums. I eventually worked it out, though I was thoroughly soaked mostly thanks to a floaty skirt I wore that covered my knees (*grumble* Vatican dress code *grumble*). The Sistine Chapel is quite amazing in person, but it is difficult to really appreciate it when you're crammed into it with about 200 other people who are slowly moving toward one little door in a room divider and then out a door. I'm glad I can say I saw it though. From the museums, I picked the right exit because I was funnelled to the entrance to St. Peter's Basilica so I could skip the line for that. It is huge! I was quite surprised. After that, I did all the sites I had missed the day before.

As for the bites, I was staying at a true campsite, and should´ve bought bug spray but didn´t. Instead I have about 30 bug bites on one leg and 20 on the other. The fact that I was staying in a tent and it poured the one day probably didn´t help either. Oops! I immediately bought anti-mosquito cloths (with citronella) in Florence because I was staying in another tent. I don´t think I´ve collected any more, but the original ones were quite itchy for a few days.

An update on Florence will be upcoming, but first I need to get some sleep in Barcelona.