Day 2 (Oct 1): We had to meet Daniela at the Appellate Court for our first set of signatures so we decided to try the metro.  We found that our hotel was really close to a metro station (the Republica).  We learned that you can buy tickets good for about 75 minutes (enough to get to your next location) for only a few thousand lira.  Although we didn't realize that getting on and off was going to be so much fun.  The train came by and it was PACKED!  We decided to all just make a run for it but Amy was the only one who made it on.  Sarah tried to stop the door from closing but she almost lost her hand doing it.  Amy got off at the next stop and waited for everyone else who made the next train.  Luckily we all met up at the next stop and kept going to our destination.  That was our first... and worst... experience on the metro.  We got the hang of it after that.

At the court, we met Daniela for the first time and went and signed the paper work.  We learned that relatives could not be our witnesses, therefore we had a problem.  So Daniela called up a couple friends and they came and were our witnesses... didn't even know them... they couldn't speak English... we couldn't speak Spanish.  But they were our witnesses anyways.

After that we took the metro over to the Vatican.  We went through the museum (in which was the Sistine Chapel).  It was extremely crowded and hot which made for a long tour.  We were happy to have seen it, but were also happy to be out.  After leaving the museum we walked into the Vatican where St. Peter's is.  There is an amazing plaza in front of St. Peters - it is surrounded by huge pillars with a fountain in the middle.

St. Peter's was beautiful.  We were warned that you will not be allowed in with shorts or tank tops so we dressed appropriately (or in Joe's case brought along a pair of pants to change into).

We then went back to the hotel, rested and showered, then headed out for dinner.  After dinner, Joe and Dad were tired so they stayed in the hotel while Mom, Amy, and Sarah went out for a walk.  We walked back towards the Colosseum which we were able to walk around but not go inside.  Then on our way back towards our hotel, we walked past the ruins of the Imperial Court, Santa Maria Nuovo Basilica, and other ruins currently being excavated.

Then we headed for the Embassy and on the way we passed part of the old Roman city wall built in 403 a.d. which was right on the edge of the Borghese Gardens (where the Spanish Steps are located).  We ran out of time so we went to the Embassy for our signing and then came back and walked through the gardens. Here we played around on statues and old racing tracks.  We didn't have too much time because we had to make it across the city for yet another signing at the comune at 11:30.  We pretty much ran to the nearest metro station and got off near the Victor Emmanuel building.  We didn't realize at the time that there were two different subways so we could not find the exit we needed.  Luckily an elderly man who spoke little English helped us.  We were able to catch enough of what he was saying to figure out that we needed to go from the B line to the A line.  He walked us in circles around the metro station but finally we made it to where we needed to go.  He was very nice to spend all that time with us.  Then we started looking for the Comune, which was not very easy to find.  We were about 15 minutes late but we finally found it, just as Daniela was about to leave.  And there we did our last signings and even got to talk to Sharon on the phone - she had called Daniela to make sure everything was going OK.

After that the day was ours so we decided to first see the Colosseum.  We walked all through it - they had made the inside of the Colosseum into a museum of the history of the building.  Just outside of the colosseum we were stopped by some gladiators with whom we got our pictures taken.  From there we started heading back to our hotel when we ran into a man from Scottsdale, AZ.  He was very friendly and even knew where Knowledgenet was (where Joe works).  He started telling us about some churches we needed to see and pointed us in the right direction.

So we were able to see both the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (where the Pope delivers his Easter Mass) and the Basilica of Santa Prassade.

After dinner, we walked down to the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish steps.  We had a small issue with people selling flowers at the Trevi fountain but soon learned that this was no different than anywhere else in Italy and you just say no and walk away. 

We had a small lunch at a little cafe near our hotel.  Wished we would have found this place earlier... it had a great selection of pasta, sandwiches and pizza for lunch and we sat outside in their dining area.

Then it was time to start getting ready.  Joe and Dad were picked up at 3:45 which gave Amy, Mom, and Sarah a little more time to finish up.  Sarah had a small accident with the curling iron unfortunately... with the different voltages in Europe, the curling iron got A LOT hotter than we would normally expect.  She burnt her hair a little bit.  She handled it wonderfully and luckily we were able to hide those hairs by pinning it up and no one even noticed.  We made sure to keep the curling iron on low after that!  Amy, Mom, and Sarah were then picked up around 4:10 pm and arrived at the church just in time for the ceremony to begin.

Since there was only the 5 of us... Dad had to work the video camera and be in the wedding all at the same time.  He did a great job with the video!!  We will have it forever now!  The priest was wonderful - he was very nice and patient and explained the whole ceremony as we went along (we did not have rehearsal so we were just going by his directions).  The priest asked Dad do a couple readings during the ceremony.  Unfortunately Mom did not have her glasses so she was unable to read also.  Sarah was in charge of Amy's train and constantly had to keep straightening it.  We all got a kick out the priest's accent and the way he said our names.  After the ceremony, the priest came down and talked to us for a few minutes and told us a little bit about the church. Click here to see some pictures during the ceremony.

After the ceremony we got back in the limo and headed over to the Colosseum for some pictures.  The photographer was not able to speak much English and we couldn't speak much Italian so Daniela stayed with us to help.  We took all kinds of pictures in front of the colosseum and near some ruins near the colosseum.  Then the photographer left and our limo driver suggested taking us to some gardens that overlook the Vatican.  It was a great suggestion and a beautiful place for pictures.  Click here to see some pictures at the Colosseum and the Gardens.

After pictures we all went back to the hotel to change.  The hotel staff surprised us with a bottle of champagne up on their roof top balcony.  We all had a glass and a toast before going out to dinner.  For dinner we went to an authentic restaurant called Ciceruacchio in Trastevere.  There was a trio playing some music for the tables and we all had a nice dinner.