The kitchen of our small Ikea furnished apartment, very close to the Vatican...

and the living room...

Instead of shutters or blinds, the windows sport these retractable metal covers, similar to the type used to lock up store fronts. They block out any potential light and create the atmosphere of a basement.

This tiny ass elevator provides access to our 3rd floor residence.

The toilet's backend gets put way up on the wall...

We barely took any photos, and the need to document every little thing exists... our key. We ended up walking around the vatican after eating dinner at a local restaurant. My first impressions are: The streets are dirtier than any in the US, graffitti is everywhere, the food is good (we had pizza w/ a fried egg and Raviolli) and the buildings are ancient.

We've yet to do much of anything major, The language barrier is HUGE. I don't even say Grazie (thank you) because each time it comes out slightly different. Luckily Susan's sister, Siobhan, has been here for a couple of months and can deal with the locals for us.