I arrived in Rome yesterday morning after an overnight flight starting in Atlanta at 4:20pm. All things considered, the flight was not bad. It was fairly smooth - just long. Despite being overnight and pretty well set up for sleep I didn't get much if any, but many people did.
Got to the hotel and had a small hiccup. I couldn't check in until 3pm. I sat around the pool and read a little more, went inside and used the internet for a while, then got lunch and by then my room was ready. I took a short nap, checked on a couple more things, then went to sleep early.
This morning I woke up a little later than normal to a call from my friend who was meeting me here. Cleaned up and got a cab and went to her hotel. We then walked to the stop for the HOHO bus and got on. We did a full circuit to see want was available, then went back to her hotel. Her room was not yet ready so off to a nice lunch. After lunch she checked in and then we went back to the HOHO bus and rode it to the Colosseum.
We walked around that area for a bit before our 2:30 appointment to get into the Colosseum itself. We got there about 15 minutes early to see a line of maybe 150 who also had 2:30 reservations and "skip the line". We paid an additional 15 euros each to get in ahead of that line. Note to self, don't bother with the skip the line tickets again.
We spent a little time inside looking around and it really is terrific and more than I ever saw on small or large screens!.
After we left, we got back on the HOHO bus, but it was taking too long so we got off and got a cab back to the hotels. Nice evening and ready for tomorrow.
Tomorrow morning will start with a call and a cab to pick up my friend then off the the Vatican - where we are also supposed to have "skip the line tickets" - we'll see.

On day 2 of the whirlwind tour of Rome we visited the Vatican.
After some conversation yesterday afternoon, we decided that the best course of action would be for me to grab a cab, then pick up Luh at her hotel, and proceed in that cab to the Vatican. That turned out to be the right choice.
We arrived in the vicinity of the Vatican right about 9am and found where to turn our vouchers into tickets. That went without any trouble. On advice from the people there, we left for the Basilica first. That was the best choice. When we joined it the line was pretty long, by the time we got to the entrance, it had doubled!
Inside, you can see that everything you have seen on Television and in Movies can't do justice to the beauty of the place. Lots of walking, and due to the size of the crowd, a feeling that you have to keep moving. No real time to sit and admire the art.
The Vatican Museaum and Sistine Chapel were next. This is where our purchase of tickets in advance really paid off. The line to purchase tickets was very long but we went right in. Again we had to exchange our vouchers for actual tickets, but no line for that.
That started a lot of walking again - with a great number of stairs. But we made it thru and saw the Chapel and many of the wonderous items held by the Catholic Church. As expected, several places in the museaum had items for sale.
Cab back to the starting point, of the 3 cab drivers I have used outside of Rome Cabs, this one was third best with the one yesterday afternoon being best. Tomorrow, bright and early, will be the 90 minute drive to the ship and boarding.

Day 3 of Rome - going to the port!
I woke up on time and had a good chance to eat breakfast at the hotel. The eggs were reasonable, bacon ok and OJ was good. Then had to finish getting ready to leave.
Rome Cabs was scheduled to pick me up at 9:00 am so I went to the lobby to check out at 8:30. No problems with the check out so I sat for a minute then went outside around 8:45. I barely got outside good before a nice young lady walked up and asked if I was waiting for Rome Cabs. We loaded up and a minute later we were on our way.
Got to Luh's hotel with minimal delay, then on the way to the port. We actually encountered little in the way of traffice and were at the port by 10:30. No line really to check in then sat and waited a few minutes for boarding to begin. We didn't hear the call for 4* but did for first regular group and boarded without incident.