Mary Jane and Anna in Europe

For two people as tired and zoned out as Mary Jane and I are getting as we reach the end of three months' travels, it becomes increasingly challenging to get excited about new places and sights. We keep thinking about hot showers, kitchens that we can use as we please, days when we can get up and turn on the tv and do nothing.
Only a place like Rome, then, has the power to shake us from our weariness into wonder. I don't have the words right now to describe it well, so I'll just say one thing that has struck me before I speak more factually.
It's a place with the same mix of architectural beauty and modern sludge that other famous cities in Europe have, but there's more behind it than in other places. More behind the merely perceived beauty and ugliness - something which reveals itself only when sought. I haven't figured it all out yet, and to escape from the risk of rambling on without making much sense, I'll stop here, but I think what I mean has something to do with "let those who have eyes to see see, and those who have ears to hear hear..."
And on a more practical note: We were very lucky to have a tour by private car on our first day in the city, provided by some kind friends. We got an eight-hour, intense whirl through all the major sights - Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, Borghese Villa, Pantheon, Colosseum, and St. Peter's. At some point I pulled out my pocket notebook and started jotting down bits of info from our guide, Alfredo, who never stopped talking. He was fun; he kept complaining about how crazy the scooters are here: "You just have to not have normal brain to ride scooter in this city..." and taking us down Via del Corso, the fashion strip: "My wife is strictly forbidden to bring my credit card here..." It was great to be seated and taken around all day, and made us happy to be on our own the next day to explore what we'd seen. We tried to get to the Colosseum three times last week before we made it during the open hours; it's getting harder to do things before nightfall now that the days are short. We've also haunted the Spanish steps and the three-story McDonalds next to it several times.
Another great thing has been meeting up with people here after not knowing anyone in Italy. It's been our longest stretch of not hanging out with any friends or relatives; now that we're here, I seem to be related to everyone somehow. Have met a number of the Angelicum and Santa Croce people; we find after a few minutes that we have some mutual acquaintance and then go down a list: " Well, if you know so-and-so, then you must also know so-and-so-and-so..." We watched an old movie during a rainy afternoon at one of the girls' apartments yesterday - I had forgotten what that's like.
Highlight: we went to the papal audience on Wednesday and got a blessing for all our family and friends at home, so everyone should be feeling particularly holy for at least a few days.
Tonight is a big mass at the Lateran Basilica in honor of the consistory of cardinals, with a reception at the Irish College afterwards (we met some entertaining Irish seminarians yesterday), so that should be fun. Tomorrow we're going to the Vatican musuems and are sitting in on some classes at the Angelicum.
Two more days in Rome, then to Prague.