Our time in Rome was jam packed!!
The first day we arrived in the afternoon and got settled in our hostel.
We had our own room and shared a bathroom.
The hostel was cool and the staff was really nice!
Then we went and just explored some!
We walked around the Coliseum and asked each other,
“Are we really here?”
We were.
Then we ate some dinner and headed back to the hostel to get some rest.
Unfortunately the half a chicken I had for dinner did not agree with me
and left me with an uncertain stomach for the remainder of our trip.
The next morning, Wednesday the 20th,
we got an early start to try and avoid excessive crowds at the Vatican.
We had bought tickets online and boy were we glad we did!
Oh man those 4 extra euros were certainly worth it!
We walked right in!
Right past the mile long line.
It was awesome!!
I definitely recommend it!
But I would suggest buying them directly from the Vatican website,
and not from another tourist company
because the others are much more expensive because you have to buy a tour with the ticket.
I have mixed feelings about the Vatican.
It was definitely cool to go to such a famous and well-known place…
and the smallest country in the world.
But I kind of felt like I was being herded everywhere I went.
We never really knew where we were or where we were going.
We just followed the crowds in front and were pushed along by the crowds behind.
There were some AMAZING frescos and paintings,
and everything was just SO GRAND.
The Sistine Chapel was as incredible as I imagined.
I wasn’t supposed to take a picture in there…but I couldn’t help myself!
We still felt like cattle in there,
but cultured cattle.
There was a missiological anthropology museum that I felt was REALLY cool!
Other than the Sistine Chapel I really can’t tell you what all we saw,
partly because of the whole cattle mentality,
and partly because I was not feeling well at all…
still recovering from that lousy half a chicken.
Around mid-afternoon I was pretty much done for the day so we went back to the hostel
and I chilled out and slept,
while Anna did some exploring.
The next day, Thursday the 21st,
we had a big day planned…basically seeing all of Rome!
A friend of mine in Nice had written us up a fabulous walking tour of Rome that took us all over the city!
We started at Campidoglio,
an elevated piazza designed by Michelangeo
and then moved to the Roman Forum.
The Forum was cool,
but ENORMOUS so we often felt a little lost.
If you’re planning a visit and are interested in history or architecture
I would definitely recommend getting a tour of the Roman Forum…
or just following a tour around would work too.
Next, we moved to the Coliseum.
We had purchased a city pass, called the Roma Pass,
which I would HIGHLY recommend!
It gave us free use of all public transportation which was a big convenience,
AND free entrance into the first two museums or archeological sights like the Forum or the Coliseum, AND free or reduced entrance into tons of other museums and events!
But it’s a 72 hour pass so if you’re not going to be there for that long I don’t know if it’s worth it because you can buy day passes for the metro and buses.
However,
it is totally worth the 36 euros when it let us walk DIRECTLY into the Coliseum,
no lines, nothing!
There is a special turnstile for Roma Pass users and everything!
The Coliseum was really cool,
but also really crowded.
A tour or an audio guide would be helpful just to know what you’re looking at,
or you can just find a guide you like and stalk the group they are with…
that’s what we did.
From there we walked to the Pantheon.
The Pantheon was pretty,
but underwhelming.
It was free to get in,
but that means that it was crowded and a popular spot for pickpockets.
We did a quick walk around and then left to make our way to the Trevi Fountain.
I was really looking forward to the Trevi Fountain!
I had my 20¢ piece in my pocket just waiting to be wished upon!
I was prepared to channel my inner Lizzie McGuire,
close my eyes,
make a wish
and open them to see a handsome Italian man smiling at me
in a completely uncreepy way
(and I was hoping to avoid the whole part where he lies about being a singer
and then tries to humiliate me on live TV while wearing the most ridiculous ice blue dress ever).
But alas,
Rome had other plans because the Trevi Fountain was under construction…
I think they were cleaning it.
It was completely covered in scaffolding and...
DIDN’T EVEN HAVE WATER IN IT.
Not cool Rome!
From there we took our disappointed selves over to the Spanish steps to maybe hope for a less disappointing outcome…nope.
The Spanish steps were under construction too!
So we picked up our dismayed selves and continued on to Villa Borghese.
Oh this place was absolutely beautiful!
If you’re ever in Rome and want a break from the crazy city or to have a nice peaceful afternoon…this is the place!
It’s huge and gorgeous park!
You don’t even feel like you’re in the city anymore!
There’s lots of different things to do there,
there’s an area with busts of famous artists,
a cafe,
a Globe Theater
(they built a replica of the Globe in London and have Shakespearean plays there…strange I know), and a museum.
I’ve been told the museum is very nice
but if you want to go check online first because sometimes it’s only open to people who have preordered tickets…like the day we went.
By this time in the day we were getting pretty tired
but only had a few more stops on our tour.
We walked through Piazza del Popolo.
It was lovely and much larger than I expected.
After that our last and only goal was dinner and gelato.
We went to a restaurant that my friend had recommended,
Il Corallo,
it was WONDERFUL!
I definitely recommend it to anyone in Rome!
The food was good, authentic and fresh,
the service was nice and friendly.
You could tell this was where the locals ate!
After that it was on to gelato.
We went to a place that was recommended by a couple people so we were hopeful,
and Gelato del Teatro delivered…or so Anna told me.
I was still not feeling well…and dinner was delicious,
but rich so I opted out…
and that was one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made.
Friday was our last full day in Rome so we were playing catch-up on all the things we missed.
We got an early start to get to St. Peter’s Basilica before it got too crazy.
If you’re wanting to visit…arrive early…like as soon as it opens,
otherwise the lines will be wrapped all the way around the square.
Also, make sure to dress appropriately,
men no shorts,
women no shorts or tank tops…
you can always cover up with a scarf if needed.
St. Peter’s was absolutely STUNNING.
The amount of detail that went into even the smallest things was incredible…
I just kept asking “how long did it take to build this place?!”
It was an incredible place to be!
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| St. Peter's tomb |
My constant thought was awe at what man had created,
and overwhelming excitement to one day be able to see the beauty of the creator of man.
I mean if this kind of immense beauty is present on earth…
what will be present in heaven?
The thought was almost too much for me and I started to tear up…
but I was afraid of getting strange looks from the nuns…
so I stopped.
Once I contained all of my emotions we journeyed to the dome!
Oh it was so cool!
But let me warn you…
it’s no fun getting up there!
We payed the extra 3 euros to ride the elevator,
but the elevator only gets you like a 3rd of the way up.
Once the elevator drops you off you still have almost 400 stairs to go!
And these aren’t nice, large, spacious stairs.
You literally walk in-between the inner and outer walls of the dome…
so there’s like 4 feet of space between.
If you have bad knees,
are excessively tall
or struggle with claustrophobia
I would recommend just taking the stairs or the elevator to the inner dome and skipping the rest.
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| View of the inside from the inner dome. |
But if you can take on those Quasimodo stairs DO IT!
It’s an amazing view of the entire city and the Vatican!
And it’s just really cool to be up there!
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| View from the top of St. Peter's Basilica |
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| St. Peter's Dome |
After St. Peter’s we went back towards the Coliseum to visit a museum we had seen at the Campidoglio, The Capitoline Museums.
It was a cool museum.
If you are into sculpture this is the place for you!
They had tons!
The museum was cool…but large so we didn’t get to see everything in there.
Then we headed back towards our hostel to visit St. Paul’s Basilica.
It was really cool!
It had the same level of beauty as St. Peter’s
but not many people go and visit it so it was not crowded at all!
It’s also believed that St. Paul’s remains are there.
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| St. Paul's tomb |
We ended our last day in Rome with the best meal of the entire trip!
There was a restaurant just downstairs from our hostel and it was AMAZING!
The service was incredible and the food was DELICIOUS!
It was called Pomodoro & Mozzarella and they did all the work for you!
They had three menu options,
each had appetizers,
a main course,
a dessert
and drinks.
The option we chose included a before dinner drink,
a tasting of 5 different appetizers,
3 pastas,
2 meats
and a dessert!
And the best part is that all of the food is just what is prepared for the day so they just start bringing you food and you don’t even have to think!
It was AWESOME!
And it really was a good price for that amount and quality of food!
I definitely recommend it!!
So Saturday we began our trip back to the States and let me say I was excited!
I was ready to be in one place for longer than 3 days,
and for that place to be HOME!
However, getting home proved more difficult than we had expected.
We had it all planned out to take the metro,
then the train and get to the airport just in time to check in for our flight.
We had a morning flight so we were going to take the first metro
to get us to the train station for one of the earliest trains.
We didn’t want to shell out 50 euros for a taxi when the train would cost us under 10 euros.
Well we definitely should have taken the hit and gotten the taxi!
The metro was late so we missed the train we wanted
so we had to take one that left a few minutes later…
no biggie we still had plenty of time.
We got on the train and got going.
We went one stop
and the train stops and didn't start again.
So we ended up waiting at the train station for around 45 minutes not sure what to do
and unable to get a cab.
So by it’s now 7:00am and our flight is at 7:45am…
and it’s a 30 minute drive to the airport.
We finally got a cab and were able to get to the airport,
but we completely missed our flight since we arrived at the airport at 7:40am.
We went from counter to counter trying to get someone to help us rebook our flights
and everyone kept sending us to someone else.
Finally around 9:00 a.m. American Airlines was able to help
and they rebooked Anna’s ticket and everything for around $200…
which was more than we wanted to spend
but not as much as we could have spent.
Unfortunately, American Airlines could not rebook my ticket,
so I had to go back to the terminal we were just in to visit British Airways again
(they sent us to American Airlines in the first place).
At this point in the day I lost it and was legitimately afraid I was trapped in Italy FOREVER.
Anna and I parted ways and I returned to BA.
Even more unfortunately,
I did not have a flexible ticket like Anna,
so I couldn’t just reroute and be fine.
I had to completely rebook my ticket.
And to add to the fun,
there was no way I could get back to Lake Charles that day,
so I would have to wait and fly out the next day.
NOPE NOT HAPPENING.
I was able to get a ticket to Mobile, AL
(which is just about an hour away from where my parents were staying in Orange Beach).
So I was able to leave Rome,
with a roundtrip ticket to Mobile, AL,
for around $3000.
Thanks for the parting gift Italy!
So I hustled my way back to the American Airlines terminal to check in
and board my 11:20 a.m. flight…
it’s around 10 a.m. now.
Needless to say,
it was a stressful and emotional morning,
but I got on all my flights and they were smooth and easy,
AND I got to meet Troy from Swamp People.
So here’s the moral of the story…JUST SPEND THE 50 AND TAKE THE TAXI!
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