The first day and night (I think)

All travel went smoothly.  My OCD required we arrive at the airport 3 hours early so once we made it through security (with my one carry-on bag!) we had about two and a half hours to sit and drink coffee, have breakfast, and play gin.   When it came time for boarding we realized we were in two different boarding groups.  Rocky was in group 2 and I was in group 4.    In order to make sure there was room for our carry-ons, we split up and he boarded first.  After he boarded I watched as the American Airline employee turned people away because their carry-ons were too big.  I started pulling stuff out of my fat carry on and stuffing it into my purse in hopes of avoiding a delay.  Palms sweating, I approached with my still puffy carry on and my now 20 pound purse.  Luck was on my side because he didn’t even glance at my bag.  Once on the plane we found we were sitting beside a 2 year old and a 2 month old… and both were seriously cranky.  Two hours later we departed the plane, having postponed having babies for another 10 years, and grabbed some lunch.  The next boarding was a repeat of the first, with Rocky boarding first.  This plane was bigger so we were in the middle row and somehow managed to have the entire 3 seats to ourselves.  This didn’t help with sleeping arrangements, but it was nice to have some extra room.  Neither of us slept much and finally we arrived in Rome at 9:00 AM ( 2AM Texas time).  We managed to find our hotel transfer in the sea of people and set off on the hour ride to Hotel Diana.  Traffic in Rome is about 100 times worse than Houston at rush hour if you can believe it.  Lights and stop signs as well as highway lanes seem to be only suggestions.  Smart cars and motor scooters zip in and out of traffic down streets where cars are double and triple parked on both sides.  Somehow we made it to the hotel in just enough time to change and catch the Metro to Vatican City.  The Vatican museum was huge.  Sculptures, paintings, and artifacts filled its walls.  Some of the most interesting work was on the ceilings of the large rooms.  The tour finished in the Sistine Chapel which is as beautiful and peaceful as you would expect, even when filled with hundreds of people.  We ended our day with pasta and wine at a quaint sidewalk bistro and then turned in early having been up for over 24 hours at that point.