Oh, how I love Rome!! I had the most amazing time! Where to start?... I left for Rome on Friday right after Italian class with two of my friends from my program. We arrived there by 15:00 (3pm) and took the Metro (underground) to the Rei di Roma stop and after consulting our map several times (thank goodness we bought one!), we found the hostel that we had booked online. Upon attempting to check in we found out that the hostel was over-booked and there was no room for us even though we had already made a reservation and down payment! So, they paid for a taxi to take us to another hostel that wasn't full and that was the same price. The two women who run this hostel are both very friendly and spoke excellent English, so they made us feel at home when we got there, then showed us to our private room. It was actually quite a bit closer to everything than our original hostel and right by a metro stop, so it worked out really well. We dropped our bags in the room and took off right away towards the Piazza dell Popolo, Trevi Fountain, and Spanish Steps. The Piazza del Popolo (literally, The People's Square) is a beautiful square with a series of fountains starting low then working up a hillside. Like many things in Rome, it was especially beautiful at night because it is strategically lit to hi-light its beauty. We had dinner there at a quaint little caffe where you sit outside under awnings and outdoor heaters. It was relatively warm at this point and muggy, so it almost felt to me like I was somewhere tropical, especially because there were palm trees everywhere.
After we were done eating, we started walking towards the Spanish steps. The area between where we were and the Spanish steps is full of all of the most expensive stores in Rome. To be absolutely honest, the Spanish steps were not that spectacular, especially compared to everything else. Of course, we still visited them, and I imagined that I was Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday while walking down them.
Then the three of us kept walking until we hit the Trevi Fountain, which is so beautiful at night. Even though it is winter and therefore off-season, there were a ton of people there and all over Rome. Rome is just so popular that it is always busy and terms like "off-season" are only relative. I took 3 coins in my right hand and threw them over my left shoulder into the fountain, which supposedly ensures that I will someday return to Rome.
At this point, it was late and we were really tired, so we walked back to the metro and took it to our hostel. The next morning, we visited the Vatican, starting with the Vatican Museums & the Sistine Chapel. The below pictures are of all of the beautiful ceilings of the Vatican.
As I entered the Sistine Chapel, I automatically took my camera out and started snapping photos and then the Vatican security guard behind me shouted "NO PHOTO!!" Like several other Vatican security guards that I saw that day, he then continued to talk on his cell phone. These are the pictures I took before I realized that you aren't supposed to take pictures, and trust me when I say that they don't do this spectacular work of art justice.
We then exited the Vatican Museum and walked along the wall that encompasses the Vatican until we reached St. Peter's Square and St. Peter's Basilica stood in front of us in all its glory. Even though it was a dark, rainy day St. Peter's seemed to shine in its own light, it was so beautiful. Then, after standing in a long line to go through security, we got in line to climb it! Even if you take the elevator, which we did, there are still over 300 steps to climb!
I was so excited that I nearly sprinted up most of these steps as my two friends lagged behind! The view from the top was so spectacular; it speaks for itself.
Above: Michelangelo's Pieta which is viewed from behind bulletproof with guards looking on. In the past, it was attacked by a mentally ill man who took a geologist's hammer to it, so now it's very well protectected.
Above: Piazza Navona in the rain
After getting some gelato near St. Peter's Square, we walked past the Castel Sant'Angelo and over the Ponte Sant'Angelo bridge en route to the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. It was raining really hard at this point and my camera had died, so we just walked through Piazza Navona quickly to get to the Pantheon.
Luckily for me, my camera battery revived itself and I was able to take a few pictures in the Pantheon. The next day, we checked out of our hostel early and carried our backpacks to the metro where we took the Colosseo (that's how you say it in Italian) stop. As we came up out of the station, the enormous Colosseum (or the Vespasian Amphitheater, as it was known in ancient roman times) was right in front of us! It was a sunny day and warm in the sun, so it was especially impressive against the deep blue sky and with sunlight shinning on it.
Sadly, we did not go inside because there wasn't enough time if we were to make our bus in the afternoon. The next time I come to Rome, which will probably be while I'm still here studying abroad, I am DEFINITELY going inside the colosseum! It was so depressing to walk around it and look in through the bars that close it off without being able to go inside. I did stick my camera through the bars and took pictures of the arches leading into the arena (see the above picture). Around the entrance to the Colosseum there were crowds and crowds of tourists. There were also flocks of men dressed as Gladiators near the entrance. They would stick their fake swords out in front of us as if to stop us, then would ask if we wanted a picture with them (for a price of course; several guidebooks I've read say that they let you take the picture and then demand a very high amount of money for the privilege, so I steered clear). For the unwitting tourists that took the bait, these "Gladiators" would grudgingly put down their cigarettes and then assume one of several hilariously over-rehearsed poses. Let's just say it was very entertaining to watch them, Birkenstocks and all!
The Roman Forum is right next to the Colosseum, along with other Roman ruins. The area contained by all of these ruins was huge, and in the center of Rome no less. The ruins are fascinating! We didn't have enough time to go inside (plus it was quite expensive) so we only got to see them from street level. They are actually quite well displayed, even if you don't go inside. There are lookout points all around the ruins and you can walk the entire way around it.
I'm definitely adding the Roman Forum to my list of things to do next time I come to Rome, because it would be so cool to walk amongst the ruins, rather than just viewing them from above (since the modern city is built on top of older versions of the city). I could only imagine what this formidable area was like back in Roman times when it was in its prime. It is so mind-blowing to think of how old Rome is and what this modern, bustling city looked like so many thousands of years ago when Caesars walked these streets....
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