its valentines day in rome...there are millions walking around with flowers or heart balloons. makes it look like home almost. anyways, michelle and i went out today and just walked around. she went shopping for stuff and we ate at a self service place which was surprisingly good. we walked over to campo di fiori, then to the wedding cake, then the trevi fountain, the piazza berlini. we caught the metro over to the vatican and were going to go inside until we saw the line that spanned all the way across the square. so we left there and headed to castel sant'angelo. originally, the castel was the tomb of the Roman emperor Hadrian, between 135-139 AD. it was used until 217. most of the artifacts and urns, crypts, etc. were lost when it was converted to a fortress in 401 AD. it later served as the papal residence during attacks on rome and then as a prison. executions were held in the main square. it was transformed in 1901 to a museum, now housing numerous frescos and a beautiful madonna by raffaelo. we walked all through it and saw some really cool stuff and an incredible view of the city from the rooftop.

tonight we're off to piazza navona for a nice valentines day dinner at an amazing restaurant and then back over to the trevi to see it lit up at night.

rome again proves to be an incredible city...