When in Rome

We have just returned from our week long holiday in Rome.  We had a great time even though we were busy every day.  The food was delicious (as it should be in Italy).  We had pizza everyday and several pasta dishes.  And most importantly we had gelato (ice cream) everyday.  My favorite flavour was pistachio...So yummy!  :)  Here is a breakdown of what we did everyday:

Monday

We arrived at 1pm and then we made our way to the hotel via train from the airport.  We had a shock when we got to the hotel.  Matthew booked the hotel incorrectly and we had two twin beds waiting for us.  We pushed the beds together and it all worked out okay.  After a rest in the afternoon we ventured out to have a wonder around the area.  We went to two basilica’s near our hotel and then got our first taste of Italian food.  Then we walked to the Colosseum and waited until it got dark so we could see it at night.  While we waited we HAD to get some gelato so we had some very overpriced but yummy ice cream.  It poured down rain on the walk back to the hotel and then we relaxed the rest of the night.  We enjoyed the night watching Italian TV.  We found a new favorite show that we watched every night while we were in Rome:  Walker, Texas Ranger in Italian.  It was awesome and a major highlight on the trip.

Tuesday

First we went to the Vatican Museum.  Unfortunately we didn’t get a real early start this morning and ended up having to wait in line for two hours before we could enter the museum.  Blah!  Inside it was amazing.  It is a museum/gallery with paintings, statues, and treasures from all the different ages of time and from all over the world.  There is SO much to take in and one could never see everything there in one trip.  My favorite room was the Map Room which had maps on the walls with the most beautiful ceilings I had ever seen.  We even made our way to the Sistine Chapel which was impressive but not the most impressive thing in there.  We were going to try to go into St. Peters Basilica but the line was really long and we did not fancy another two hour wait so decided to come back another day.  After the museum, we went to Castel Sant’Angelo.  This was originally a tomb for Hadrian and become a residence for the Pope and then a castle the Popes could go to for protection.  It was neat to see and provided great views of the city of Rome.  We had another wonder around waiting for it to get dark (and another gelato) and saw Castel Sant’Angelo and The Vatican at night.  Again, beautiful to see at night all lit up.  Matt insisted on a McDonald’s that evening and of course – ended our day with Walker, Texas Ranger.

 The Map Room inside the Vatican Museum

Castel Sant'Angelo

Wednesday

We got up earlier and made it to the Colosseum so we arrived just after they opened.  We were trying to avoid long lines that we experienced the previous day.  I loved the Colosseum.  It was fabulous and it is a massive structure.  It is so impressive they built it in 10 years with the technology they had at that time.  The only disappointment was you could only go to the underground area of the Colosseum with a special tour guide you have to book in advanced.  Oh well...so we just got to see whatever everyone else gets to see but it was still very enjoyable.  After that, we went over to the Roman Forum which was fascinating.  You could really picture how Rome would have looked like and been back in the first century even though mostly ruins are just left.  Again it gave great views of Rome and was just an enjoyable day of sight-seeing overall.  Plus the weather was fabulous.  Then we made our way to the Baths of Caracalla.  This was magnificent to see as they were massive and again could really picture what they would have been like in their day.  These Baths were Matthews favorite part of the trip.  It was really interesting and I’m glad we got to see them.  We went back for a siesta in the afternoon for a rest after a long day of walking around.  In the evening, we went out to Piazza de Popolo and watched the sun set over the Vatican (very romantic).  Then we made our way to the famous Spanish Steps.  Pretty but I thought they were a bit overrated.  We found a wonderful restraurant between the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain and had a lovely meal.  Unfortunately my tomato sauce did not agree with my white sweater I was wearing.  After a long battle, I think the tomato sauce won and my white sweater was the only victim of the trip.  We made our way to the Trevi Fountain.  The fountain itself was beautiful and fabulous.  The location of the fountain wasn’t what I was expecting in a small square rather than a big piazza.  Again, beautiful to see at night and I even made a wish and through my coin in the fountain (with my back to the fountain).  Another busy but great day – and of course, ended our day with Walker, Texas Ranger.

 Inside the Colosseum

Beautiful sunset over the Vatican

Trevi Fountain at night

Thursday

We got up earlier again today and went to St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.  Instead of a long wait we only had to wait 10 minutes.  First we went inside the church and goodness, what a building.  It is beautiful inside with everything being marble or gold.  It is a truly beautiful building and very impressive but not really a church.  We went to the Tomb of the Popes where a LOT of the Popes are buried.  We found it quite sad as we can up to Pope John Paul II tomb as people were crying and praying to him by it.  Then we made our way up the 551 steps to the top of the basilica.  It was quite the workout but worth it because of the glorious views.  Then we made our way to the old quarter of Rome.  We saw Piazza Navona, Pantheon, more massive churches, Tiber Island, Jewish Ghetto, and the Capitoline Hill. When walking around Rome there are just beautiful buildings and old ruins everywhere.  It was just nice walking together and admiring the old town....just beautiful.  We walked our way to the Roman Forum and then to our hotel.  We had a small rest in the late afternoon and then went out for dinner around our hotel area.  Of course – we ended our day with not just Walker, Texas Ranger but CSI: Miami in Italian...hilarious!!

 Overlooking the Vatican

 Old Capitol Hill

Friday

Our last day in Rome.  We made our way to the Catacombs which are just outside of the city walls surrounding Rome.  It was quite the trek from the metro (subway) to the catacombs but it was worth it.  We went to two catacombs which had very different feels and styles.  The first catacomb was the largest covering over twenty miles with 500,000 tombs.  The tour was very Catholic but still very interested to see the history.  The second tomb was a very interesting tour with lots of history.  It was wonderful to see where early Christians would have been buried and where some would have hidden to avoid the Romans.  A really interested part was three Roman graves.  It was like a miniature city underneath a church.  It was really fascinating and really enjoyable.  It wasn’t the easiest place to get to but it was well worth the trip.  The walk back to the Metro was enjoyable as we got a real feel for Rome and Italians.  We even saw a massive traffic jams with cars honking and people out of their cars shouting at each other.  We got our last bit of gelato in which the ice cream was so heavy that it broke both of our cones.  :(  Very sad!  Since we had some time to kill before heading to the train station we found this little church and thought we would check it out.  We were very glad that we did.  The church was MASSIVE.  It was St. Paul’s church, the location with the apostle Paul was beheaded and buried.  It was beautiful inside and the front was just massive.  It was a real hidden gem and glad we were part of it.  But we had to return and we made it back safe and sound to London.  There was a bit of a delay once we arrived in London and made it home just before midnight.

 The church where St. Paul was beheaded and buried

 Matthew tired from our whirlwind trip to Rome.

We had a great trip and got to see a lot of things.  I feel very blessed to have seen what we did and it was a great trip.  I think Matthew is ready for another vacation as this wasn’t exactly a restful one.  I hope you enjoyed reading and seeing pictures of our trip.  :)  Until next time...