An audience with the Pope

As we arrive in Rome I realised my stomach has settled. I am two hours of flying away from Auschwitz. The hostel was easy to find, but this was one of the few positives. Without the good location this place would be terrible. There is no common area at the place. This to me is a key to a good hostel. C'est la vie.
Having been up since 5am and the day we have had, we decide pizza and gelato is all we need before calling it a night.
First day in Rome and we get up early, it is free to visit the Vatican museums on the last Sunday of the month. But alas, thousands of other tourists share this same plan resulting in the biggest line I have ever seen to get into a place. So a new plan is formulated. I tell Tyler I would like to walk around an entire country in a day. Of course a day is a stretch, is more like an hour. On our journey we approach St. Peter's square. Something is going on, but what.....
It is Sunday, so of course it is mass. So we decide to go to mass although it's in Italian. That's right I went to mass at the home of mass! And what's more, the Pope was home, so he took it. Pretty exciting stuff. After a while, the lack of understanding got to me, so we left to see the other sights Rome has to offer.
So when in Rome where does one head next? How about the Colosseum. So Tyler and I head in that direction taking photos of anything that looked older than our countries. At the Colosseum we book our tour and then head off to Palatino Hill and the roman forum. Like Athens I got pretty excited. Pillars and archways are pretty exciting, and Rome has some sweet archways. Like Athens there are lots of temples to the God's. The same God's but with roman names. And of course the emperors were important, and everything they built had their name on it. So lots of Titus, Augustus, Nero, Caesar, Constantine.
Finally, it is your time which we only just make on time. This is due to cutting time fine to spend more time in the forum and then not finding the way out. We ended up running about a km and arriving just as the tour is leaving. So if I look sweaty in the photos, you will no why...... plus I am a little unfit a present.
The tour was great. We got to go to the third level which others do not get to do. The irony being we paid more to go to seats that were saved for the lower classes of Roman society. It is a very impressive structure, which if made in modern days would most likely have failed to last as long as it has. The saddest part about the Colosseum is that after the fall of the Empire, it was shut down as there was no politician who wished to pay for the events. This lead to looting of marble, stones and metals. The reason for all the holes is the extraction of metal used to help support the structure. The are no seats in the arena anymore as these were usually marble and so used for other purpose, and most of the statues are gone (maybe Skopje took them, haha).
Obviously not another crowning moment for mankind, as this was the home for the killings of man and animals for sport, but the architecture is something to behold.
Another tick off my bucket list, and the ancient part of Rome has not failed to impress. I walk in this area wondering what it would have been like 1700 years ago, the seeming splendour of the Empire. Would it seem impressive, or would I just think it common sight, or would I be more rebellious and just see it a glorification of some emperor who would likely be assassinated.....

Joshua