Claudia slept in, that first afternoon in Italy, but Margia and Sid and I went on a walking tour.  I don't know about the others, but on this trip I was determined to overcome jet lag as soon as possible.  My strategy was to remain awake all the first day, and it worked!  I slept soundly that first night, and I adjusted to the new sleep schedule pretty quickly.

That's the Castel Sant'Angelo in the background, just a few blocks from our hotel.  Sid said he'd been told it was the site of Hadrian's tomb, and it turned out he was right.

Here's the view from the ramparts of Castel Sant'Angelo.  That's the Tiber River.

The water level in the Tiber was very low.  Italy was experiencing a drought.

There's St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.  We learned that a Cathedral is a church, and a Basilica is a church where somebody is buried.  At least I think that's what we learned.

Rome.  It wasn't built in a day.

One look at Vatican City, and Sidney broke into a round of applause.  Or something.

We were told that the Romans think the Castel Sant'Angelo is ugly.  Could be they're right.

After our walk we were treated to a dinner at a restaurant just a couple of blocks from the hotel.  The food was unremarkable, and on top of that we were assaulted with guitar/flute music.  Claudia said the flutist looked like Bull from "Night Court."  I thought he looked like Lurch from "The Addams Family."  You decide.

Still, we had a good time.