The coin I once tossed....

The excitement is palpable as I count down the days to our trip to Roma. I was there once before in 2007, but it seems like a lifetime ago. I was working in Munich for a few weeks for Infineon. Munich was cold and covered with snow. I dont recall with absolute certainty how I got from Munich to Rome, but given that my first memories of Rome were of the Termini stazione, it would be a safe guess that I took the green and dilapidated trenitalia.

I had known little about the city, other than the pop culture reference to Julius Caesar and the catholic church. I had visited the wikipedia / tripadvisor website and prepared a list of places to see. This was, after all, before the airing of ROME on HBO. I spent a day and a half in Rome, staying in a hostel for some 20-25 Euros a night. The hostel, whose name escapes me, was perhaps a few miles north of the Vatican City. I checked into the hotel first, and then with my backpack walked to St. Peter's Square, I remember walking past the door of 'Museo Vaticani', there were no lines, I assumed that it was closed that day. I made my way past busy city squares and turned the corner to behold the Magnificent Piazza San Pietro. There were massive lines to get into the bascilica, so I got in line and waited .