Well here we are, back in Rome again! This post covers our second day in the city. (Like how I used Roman numerals in the post title? It’s all about the details, folks. )

Of course we couldn’t go to Rome without visiting Vatican City. I’m not very religious (except about watching Mad Men), but I have heard of the Pope before. Mostly because I’m not an idiot. And there are seriously a lot of cool things and gorgeous architecture in that weird, tiny country.

Just as a disclaimer – we did see the Sistine Chapel, and Michelangelo’s ceiling was huge and amazing. But there were no photos allowed. So I strongly suggest that if you have the means, get over to Rome to see it for yourself if you haven’t already. You won’t regret it.

Rosella, our tour guide from the day before, decided she hadn’t quite tired of us yet and graciously agreed to teach us a few things about the Vatican as we walked around and gawked at everything.

And there was a lot to gawk at.

As you can see, my mom (lower left hand corner above) really brought her A game when it came to gawking. Well done, Debbie.

I’m not a perv! He’s wearing a fig leaf.

So I may not have photos of the Sistine Chapel, but I do have photos of St. Peter’s Basilica. And that’s almost just as good.

After the Vatican, we moved onto the Pantheon. We were basically just going from one historical landmark/architectural wonder to another. That’s pretty much what you do when in Rome.

The Pantheon is the oldest building I’ve ever stepped foot in. It’s from ancient Rome. Even before all of that Jesus stuff. Crazy.

After the Pantheon, we wandered around Rome, checked out the Borghese Museum and walked down the Spanish Steps.

There were a lot of huge knockers in Rome. Yeah I just said that.

Thanks to a recommendation from my friend Emily (shout-out to SF!), we ate dinner at a restaurant called Cul de Sac off of the Piazza Navona. Best caprese salad I’ve ever had in my life!

After dinner, we strolled home by way of the Trevi Fountain. And I spectacularly failed at getting a good picture of it.

And that’s it!

The next stop on our trip is Sorrento. Hopefully I’ll have that post up within the next week or so.

You can see my recap of our first day in Rome here if you haven’t checked it out already.