When in Rome...

A.M.A.Z.I.N.G

We had such a great time in Rome, despite our super sore legs and feet. Don't expect a map from this trip on our route traveled as we were lost the majority of our time there. We were able to see so much during our four day trip and walk all over the majority of the city. So...get ready for a long post!

Day 1: We arrived in Rome late on Wednesday evening/Early Thursday morning. We made it to bed after 2am because of our long travels (waiting 30-40 minutes on the plane because of "ice" on the wing). Although we were tired, we woke up fairly early to see the town. We were very blessed with an amazing view from the rooftop of our hotel. Jeff and I were the only ones who would brave the birds and eat breakfast out there every morning. It was gorgeous.

 

 

We explored the city and ended up randomly walking right into the Pantheon in just a short distance from our hotel. The Pantheon was built in 118 AD. Pretty amazing how beautiful and well built it is despite the age of the building.

 

The Roman Forum and Palatine Hill were next our adventure. We were there for about 3+ hours just walking around the ruins and of course following our audio guide. Jeff loves the audio guides. I think he would have been content with getting one at each of the places we visited. This area was beautiful, and you truly could have spent all day there. We only got through about half of the audio guide spots before we had to head out to meet a friend for lunch. Jeff has a pledge brother (from his fraternity) that is in the seminary in Rome, so we were very excited to see him and catch up.

 

 

 After lunch we decide to see the Colosseum. We were a little too late for the full tour, so we decide to skip the audio guide/tours altogether and explore ourselves. I was really excited to go inside because my last visit to Rome (when I studied abroad) I didn't have enough time to really explore.

 

 

We stopped in a few of the 900 churches in Rome. Each one was so incredibly beautiful. It was just really hard to believe that they had the resources to create the artwork, sculptures, and architecture of the buildings back then. Dinner was amazing as we loaded up on giant pizzas and wine.

Day 2: We woke up bright and early to beat the crowds to Vatican City. We had a little mishap preparing for our guided tour as we met in the wrong spot and were 15 minutes late. Luckily, they allowed us to go on the 11:00 tour instead. So we walked around the city for a bit more, grabbed a glass of wine, and then headed into the Vatican Museum. The Vatican Museum was powerful, creative, and stunning. There were paintings and mosaics from the ceiling all the way down to the floor. My favorite part was seeing the Sistine Chapel. I am not one that understands paintings and sculptures, but it almost brought tears to my eyes. It was beautiful as no one was allowed to take pictures or speak while in the chapel. The ceiling, which is normally what people think of was great, but I was in awe of the large painting on the main wall.

 

 

We moved our way into Jeff's favorite part of the trip, St. Peter's Basilica. I think he could have stayed in there for hours. All of the artwork were mosaics, not paintings. By looking at the size of them, it would have taken the artist forever to finish. Along with seeing sculptures, the beautiful altar, and the former Popes' tombs we were able to climb to the top of the basilica to see the beautiful sights of Rome.

 

 

 

 

On a lighter note, we headed to buy me a cheap pair of tennis shoes or as I like to call them..my European shoes. My feet were killing me, and I needed something fresh on my feet. We went to the closest H&M and bought some shoes that I'm pretty sure were identical to one's I had as a kid.

We grabbed a cannoli {Jeff deleted his picture of him and the cannoli...lame!) and a bottle of wine to head to the top of our hotel to watch the sunset over St. Peter's Basilica. Breathtaking. We headed to dinner where we watched people pass in the plaza nearby, talked, and enjoyed every minute of it.

 

 

Day 3: We "romed" around the city for most of the morning. We literally stumbled upon the Spanish Steps. We didn't even know we were on them until our friend described it later, and we realized at that moment we climbed them earlier in the day. I took a really poor picture, just thinking I was taking a picture of something famous...little did I know. I'm pretty embarrassed of the picture below as I am snapping a photo as I am huffing and puffing up a bazillion stairs. 

We quickly went through the Trevi Fountain to snap a few photos. Jeff and I were meeting up with his pledge brother (from his fraternity) to hang out for the rest of the afternoon. Our friend, Tucci, was awesome. He showed us his amazing views of the city, took us to a local restaurant that served American food. It was funny to think the most American food we've had in the last couple months was in Italy. It was very yummy though. The three of us walked around the city where there were not very many tourists. We were so lucky to see another side of Rome. He was so knowledgeable about the city, so we learned so many interesting facts. Of course we stopped at his favorite gelato place where we tasted a few flavors! We were so grateful of our time with him, and hope to see him again in the fall.

 

We ended our night with another wonderful sunset and a great pasta dinner. I could not get enough of the ravioli, pesto, spaghetti, pizzas, and more! So yummy! We ended our night with another cannoli. It made us laugh as we visited the same place for cannolis at least 3-4 times while we were there. The owner laughed at us the last day...as we were becoming regulars. Whoops!

 Day 4: We spent our last day in Rome exploring a few more sights. We went to Castel Sant'Angelo which was really neat. It was an old castle, and I know we both wished we could have spent more time there. Jeff wished for another audio guide tour. {hehe} There was an above ground tunnel built to take the Pope from his residences to the castle if he needed protection. It was awesome to see the old cannons, prison cells, and rooms that still had many of the decorated pieces in them. As always, the views from the top were amazing as well.

 

 

 

We moved on and went to St. Peter's Square where it was filled with tens of thousands of people waiting to hear the 15-20 minute speech from the Pope. We were able to hear his speech, although we only understood the words: Spectucular, Economic, and thank you. So as you can tell, we were there for the experience and to see the pope. There were screens so people could see him close up, but you were still able to see him from the window at the top. It was incredible.  I tried to zoom in so you could see him below.