A very full day in Rome.

Only having one FULL day in Rome, we set an ambitious cultural agenda. The Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine hill in the AM and the Vatican in the afternoon. Gelato sampling at a minimum of two recommended gelaterii and pizza "al taglia" (by the slice) were on the separate and at least equally important "food adgenda".
We got up early and headed to the Forum. A funny thing happened on the way as we met our host who was rushing back to the flat to make us breakfast.  We let her know we were fine and wanted a head start on our day. The line was very short at the Forum as we picked up a combination pass that was a big help later at the Colosseum.  The Forum and Palatine hill are a group of temples, arches, columns, churches and ruins that together make up a very large site.  We didn't investigate Palatine hill very much and spent the majority of our time wandering the maze of sites in the Forum.  The Arch of Titus, Temple of Saturn, and Temple of the Vestal Virgins are particularly impressive.
After hitting "Forum overload", we headed over to the Colosseum. It was at this point that our passes were handy as we bypassed the very long line and pretty much walked right in. The place was a bit crowded but not too bad and we managed to take our time exploring the different levels and listening to our audio guide to get a good overview of the history. The most amazing tidbit I learned was that originally they used to fill the arena with water and stage mock sea battles. That must have been quite a spectacle.
Now it was time to shore up our strength by hitting one of the recommend lunch spots Sherrie had researched the night before. (Sherrie is now narrating, given that having seen the antiquities on her last trip, her main goal was exploring the cuisine of Rome!) Pizza was obtained at Antico Forno Roscioli, a well known bakery enjoyed by locals and tourists alike. Imagine Bakery Nouveau on steroids with a louder more raucous vibe and five foot long pizzas they slice to order.Mike ordered his pizza while I went off script, distracted by the artichoke quiche and incredible pastry selection. With essentially no Italian, I utilized my point and order method to purchase my quiche and a couple of pastries for "the road".  Having missed breakfast we were not taking any chances. Mike nabbed a seat and I fumbled with the euros to pay. He made an excellent selection, counter seats with a view of the action as the crazy long pizzas entered and exited the ovens. We really appreciated the heat of the ovens and imagined the health department in the US cringing as we watched the pizza masters spreading the tomato sauce with their fingers. Given the number of satisfied customers we saw filing through, their technique must not cause many problems. The choreography of the two man assembly line was impressive. I could not resist snapping a couple quick pics of them.  It wasn't completely clear what the guys thought as they unofficially modeled while maintaining their nonstop production at the pizza ovens, but they smiled as they became part of the permanent record of our vacation.
We were pretty full from our lunch but you're never too full for gelato, right? We were a obliged to stop at Grom, one of Italy's best known slow food gelateria to try their unique seasonal flavors. Luckily, you nearly always split a scoop between two flavors so we got one edgy selection, persimmon, and one sure thing, stracciatella (chocolate chip).  We enjoyed both as we wound our way through the stalls of the market on Campo de'Fiori where the multicolored produce, flowers and housewares begged to be photographed.
(We now return to Mike as narrator.)
Re-energized with pizza and zuccherro (sugar),  we pulled out the map and wound our way to the Vatican.  Our original intent was to focus on Saint Peter's Basilica.  Unfortunately,  the security line was huge and we decided we would come back the following morning before leaving Rome when it would hopefully be less crowded.  We did manage to walk around the front of the basilica and took some nice shots of the sights in Saint Peter's Square which is very grand on its own.  I have to admit it was a bit surreal looking up at the front of the basilica where the Pope gives his weekly address.
By this time our energy levels were starting to lag a bit so we proceeded to make our way back home. Along the way we stopped for a bite at a bit of tourist trap restaurant in front of the Pantheon. Sherrie, who prefers to avoid these sorts of places, was a good sport as Mike enjoyed a beer and the ambient melodies of an accordian player in the square.
(Back to Sherrie for another food entry) The benefit of only ordering a salad was we saved room for our second gelato stop of the day. It may seem indulgent to have the sweet treat twice in one day but when you only have THAT DAY in Rome, a little excess can be tolerated. Plus, we walked all around the city, must have burned some calories! In an only slightly suspect coincidence, our return route from the Vatican brought us through the lovely Piazza Novona which is just around the corner (there are plenty of corners in Rome) from Piazza della Maddalena home to gelateria San Crispino.  Another proprietor of the slow food inspired flavors. We chose the cinnamon-ginger and another flavor we thought would be a chocolate base but ended up being more like the stracciatella we had earlier. Each flavor rests in its own covered container so we did not realize our assumption that the label which said cioccolato referred not to the dessert's main base but to the bits contained within it, until it was in our dish. We managed to suffer through our inadvertent selection and the cup was empty before we reached the opposite side of the piazza on our way to one more sight to top off our day.  After all the well known sites earlier, we decided to check out a less celebrated cathedral which is known for its attempted grandeur. If it was built in any other city than Rome, the Chiesa di Sant'Ignazio di Loyola would be the talk of the town. Here though its claim to fame is not the gilded alters or marble pillars but the optical illusion of Andrea Pozzo's trompe l'oeil ceiling fresco which embellishes the ceiling creating a central dome where the parishioners would be sitting and most likely to gaze up during worship. Walking further into the church you can easily appreciate the deception.
Satisfied that we had achieved our goals of overindulging in food and culture (when in Rome...) we headed back to our pension and a well deserved rest.