"perceiving life as a perpetual film."

the very first thing upon stepping into rome... a queue! and not something you can cut, either. we waited 2 hours before clearing the customs, and the guy who eventually stamped my passport didn't even glance at me before stamping it.... 5 minutes after receiving my passport. sigh. and this was only the tip of the iceberg.. many many more queues to come, because on weekends everyone throngs to rome.

here's me and the queue - which we very rudely cut - in front of st. peter's basilica, where peter the apostle's relics are supposedly interred. the weather here is very very unpredictable. it can be spaghetti top-hot hot one moment and the next, when a cloud shadows the sun, it's superbly cold when the wind blows.

funny how we managed to capture the little kid's incredulous look *which says it all* and the vatican guard's super sian look. hahahahaa....

in front of the pantheon. by this time i'm quite tired... we walked all the way back from vatican city to our hostel at termini. if you have a map of rome you can see it was a pretty long distance for such an out-of-shape pair as we two. in fact i saw people sitting at the fountain just falling asleep with their heads in their hands. this pantheon was converted from a sanctuary of greek god statues to being a catholic basilica for italy's royalty ... i think.

the trevi fountain, where you're supposed to throw three coins behind your left shoulder into it if you wish to return to rome. i didn't do it because i didn't have three coins and because if you're meant to return you will, just like cas didn't do it and here he is back here.

here is the view from campidoglio, which cas and i stumbled upon after emerging out of the square. this is the ruins of the roman forum and palatino or palatine hill, i think. there is the coliseum in the far distance on the upper right of the photograph. this was taken early today after our tiring trip to porta portese, which had everything from chandeliers to toilet seat covers and clothes going for one euro each. didn't buy anything yet though.. been spending on food alone.

people here are like termites! there's tons of tour groups going around the ruins.. and i fear for the groups of old people because the steps are not only steep but also full of rocks and potholes.

lunch at isidoro's. we had three kinds of pasta - gnocchi with cheese, pasta americana *i think*with bacon, and tagliatelle with artichokes, washed down with house white wine. it was fantastic, worth the 32 euros it cost. this is the end of the second day, posting from freestyle hostel, which is quite clean and provides both breakfast and dinner, but it's quite cramped is all. we'll try to hit the vatican museums tomorrow. till then, ta, and let me rest my tired legs cos' i have to stand up while posting on the laptop on the bar counter. oucch!