Winding down the trip and winding up with no money :(

The subway trains are absolutely covered with some rather fine grafitti art.

Hanging out by the Colliseum

This morning, Cristina and I headed back into the city for a bit more sightseeing and some real shopping. I bought myself a super cute purse and a few things for the kids. Cristina also had to pick up a birthday present for a friend whose party she'll be attending tonight. I'll be spending the evening with her parents, her sister, and her sister's family.

Cristina in Piazza del Popolo - Isn't she gorgeous?

We went to Piazza del Popolo today and saw the Spanish Steps. I contemplated climbing them for about two seconds before deciding that I really didn't need to do that. Really. My feet had just about had it. Got the picture - good enough!

The Spanish Steps. Yeah. Not climbing those...

We also went to a Carravaggio exhibit in the National Archives. You had to go in on a guided tour which was fine but it was all in Italian, so I just took lots of pictures and Cristina gave me the post-tour version once we'd left.

Now THAT's a library!

David and Goliath

But the bulk of our time was spent trying to get money out of various bank machines. I've been having a considerable amount of difficulty accessing my money here. One bank card says I've exceeded my daily limit - which is ridiculous since I haven't been able to take money out! - and the other one says that it's been frozen and to contact my bank. The banks, meanwhile, are telling me that the cards are fine and I should have no trouble using them and it must be the machine. Yep. Every machine in Rome is messed up today. But not my card - oh, no. Meanwhile, my Visa has also been persnicketty - some sort of pin/chip error. At least I've been able to sort that out (I think), but nothing I've needed to buy since I fixed it has been a Visa type of purchase. Argh!

Well, I'm all pretty much packed up and ready to hop on the plane home tomorrow. Eleven hours direct to Toronto. On one hand, I hope Troy and Kate will be there to pick me up. On the other hand, I'd rather have my parents there to pick me up since (a) of course it would be nice to see them but also (b) if Troy and Kate can't make it, it's because her team made it to the finals of the hockey tournament she's in. Go Dolphins!