Rome

Favorite place ever!

Ahh Rome! For me it was one of those places that took me a little time to settle in and enjoy. The problem was, we got here at a really bad time. Our first morning, we try to go to the Vatican, but it was on the other side of the city and the Italians decided to go on strike and the buses and metros were shut down! It was ridiculous - that would never happen at home, or even in most of Europe. At the bus station we met four guys from Florida, and after waiting for ages for a bus that never came, we decided to split a taxi.

Roman Forum

At the Vatican, there were mobs of people everywhere and it took forever to get through security to get in. The square outside St Peter's Basilica was really nice but the basilica itself wasn't really my taste at all. It was absolutely massive though! Then we had to walk all the way around the Vatican to get into the museum and Sistine Chapel because you have to have a visa to get in to the actual Vatican. I really liked the museum. They had a huge collection of ancient Greek and Roman sculptures which was really great. There was also a room that used to be the Pope's office that Raphael painted, and the one wall was the School of Athens fresco which is one of my favorites from art history! It was beautiful. The Sistine Chapel of course has the famous fresco of Adam and God almost touching fingers painted by Michelangelo. The ceiling of that chapel was spectacular.

Inside the Colosseum with the fish eye lens

We walked over to the Trevi fountain in the evening and that was so gorgeous! The problem with Rome is they have so many amazing gorgeous things, everyone wants to see them, so its crowded where ever you go. I really love that fountain though... we made sure we tossed a coin in.

Palentine Hill

The next day we went to the Colosseum, Palentine Hill, and the Roman Forum. It was for sure the highlight of Rome for me! So much ancient architecture! I loved it so much. It was really great that G, our new English friend, was along because he could appreciate the Colosseum with me, being a mechanical engineer and stuff. I think Sarah really liked it too, but architecture isn't as much of a thing for her. Palentine Hill was really cool as well with all the ruins and it had an amazing view of the Colosseum and the area around. By this time G and Sarah were pretty ready to be done, but we walked through the Roman Forum, which is basically an architectural graveyard. I absolutely loved it there. I would have stayed for a couple hours but we were quite hungry and needed more gelato haha. That day we also stopped by the Pantheon, which was so cool. Its massive! All the ancient Roman architecture we saw was of such a huge scale that I can't even imagine how people felt being there 2000 years ago, when today the ruins make me feel so small - today we are used to sky scrapers and colossal buildings!

Our last day in Rome was a half day, and we basically just walked around a gorgeous park in the north end of the city and sat by a fountain. It was so peaceful with the sun shining, the sound of the fountain, and a guy playing really great classical songs on an accordion off in the distance!
I have decided that it would be so amazing to go to Rome for a class on architecture for a week or two in the summer. I'm adding this to my bucket list!

Really amazing pasta with tons of clams. So good!!