FRIDAY 
ROMA

One of the gates of the old Aurelian Walls at San Giovanni.
The Arcibasilica Papale di San Giovanni in Laterano is the seat of the Bishop of Rome, the pope.
Slightly blurry view of the church interior.
I do love a statue of a guy stepping on a gator.
The bishop's chair. Once elected, a new pope must sit in this chair to officially become the pope. The ceremony usually happens within a month of the election.
Since this was the first Christian church in the city, opened in the early 4th century, this mosaic contained one of the first legal images of Jesus (he's in the circle over the cross) in Rome.
I'd love to play Chopsticks on a big pipe organ.
The upper cage of the baldacchino has statues of Saints Peter and Paul that contain pieces of their heads.
Confess, confess, CONFESS!!!
Rick Steves wrote (and who am I do contradict him?) that tradition says that these bronze columns once stood in pagan Rome's holiest spot, the temple of Jupiter.
This is at the back of...
...this building, which contains...
...the Scala Sancta, or Holy Stairs. These are supposedly the 28 marble steps from the residence of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem. Jesus climbed these steps the day he was sentenced. Nowadays, the faithful (and I mean really faithful) penitents climb the steps on their knees saying a prayer on each step. One guy even brought his own cross to bear. Apparently you get plenary indulgence if you do it. The only thing I know about plenary indulgence was from the movie Dogma.
The rest of us can climb one of the other four stairways.
At the top is this, whatever it is. Photos are supposedly not allowed, but I managed to sneak one.
A statue of St. Francis of Assisi, the guy after whom the new pope is named. I don't know what those other guys are doing.
Across from the basilica is the Parco Carlo Felice and there's the inside of the Aurelian Wall.
There was a card game going on in the park.
It was a game I didn't recognize with cards I've never seen before. All I know is that they played with partners.
There are a lot of little public water fountains like this all around Rome where people can wash their hands, fill their water bottle or whatever else they might need water for.
Rome's Metro has two lines, A and B. They are working on a C.
The satellite television in the room had a lot of foreign channels, most of which weren't that interesting. One of them was ESPN America. The first of the Friday ACC tournament games was on when I got back. The FSU game wouldn't be on until 3:00 a.m.
I could also catch up with the tournament on the computer.
Mmm, yummy cookies. Daniele told me where there was a nearby grocery. I got these abbracci cookies (made by Barilla, the same people who make the pasta), a quart of milk and a bottle of iced tea.
The second of Daniele's restaurant suggestions was Ragno D'Oro.
Italians must eat later than I do. It was around 6:30 on a Friday night and these two at the next table were the only other customers in the place. The staff was still setting up. I had a nice rigatoni in a cheese sauce for first course and meatballs for second.
Yup, the sexy shops are that way. I always seem to find where the adult stores are. No, I didn't go in.

TO FIRENZE