Rome

As I mentioned in my first post I decided to start this blog on a trip to Europe. The first stop (and my favorite of the trip) was in Rome. Let me start by saying, I took Latin in high school. Anyone who also took Latin knows how much I am saying in that sentence without actually saying it. I hated every single second. My teacher, Mrs. Timpano, had to be the most patient woman I have ever met because she used to stay for hours after school with me while I desperately tried to learn enough to pass the Regents exam (NY state test). I got an 85 in case you were wondering. But back to the point, the only part about class I enjoyed was the history. I used to dream about the pictures of Rome and Pompeii that were in the textbook. It has been on my bucket list to go there since I was 13. While I was there I wanted to just soak in as much as I possibly could. This proved to be very difficult considering the MASS amount of amazing sites there, but here are the highlights.
Day 1 & 2:
We started the trip from DFW, to Philly (where I of course had a Philly Cheesesteak), and then headed on an overnight flight to Rome. I magically slept like a baby and woke up 8 hours later ready to go. No jet-lag to be had. We hurried to our hotel, dropped off our luggage, had lunch (fresh mozzarella, prosciutto, and tomatoes, YUM) and immediately headed to the Vatican.

Museum Entrance

Vatican Courtyard

St. Peter's Square

We spent about 3 hours here and it was more then I could have ever imagined. The massive amounts of sculptures, art, mosaics, tapestries, and other historical items was overwhelming. One of my favorite rooms was to the left of the courtyard showed in the picture above. There were tons of statues from all different time periods and you could get right next to them, and even touch some. It was incredible to see the detail up close. The biggest disappointment at the Vatican was the Sistine Chapel. It is not very big, in case you've never been, and we were squished in like sardines. The ceiling was beautiful no doubt, but the restoration in my opinion has almost made it look fake. I just didn't have as much of a reaction too it as I thought I would. The walls however are magnificent. I could have looked at them for hours, but by that time I was exhausted and my feet were killing me so we kind of rushed out. That night we went to dinner down the street from our hotel and had a salad, pasta, and some delicious roasted chicken. It was at this dinner I started my quest to drink as much wine as possible during our trip :-)

Day 3:

Finally a day that was all about exploring! After a wonderful full night's sleep under our belts we took the subway to our first destination. The Colosseum, one of the sights I was looking forward too the most. It is such a feat of engineering and I could have stayed there all day wandering around and imaging all the fights and performances that happened there. We could not have imagined such amazing weather, and it made for some great pictures all day.

A view of where the floor used to be, with all the animal cages now exposed

Linda and I

We took a quick walk after leaving and ended up right down the road at the Roman Forum, another site that I had been dying to see. It was rough terrain in there, and massive amounts of hills, and stairs. I definitely got my workout.

Roman Forum

One of Julius Cesar's palaces

A place near the forum where it is rumored Julius Cesar was murdered

After another mile or so of walking I turned the corner and was face to face with this:

The Pantheon

Our tour guide was so amazing that he planning for us to arrive here exactly at noon so when we walked in we could see the oculus in all it's glory.

Inside the Pantheon at noon



After this we had some free time to roam around on our own. I ended up sticking with our guide to have lunch at a great little place off the beaten trail a ways. It was one of my favorite meals in Europe. Gorgonzola and Walnut Risotto. So yummy! I walked around Piazza Navona where the Fountain of the Four rivers is, and where the scene from Angels and Demons was filmed. (The fountain where they tried to drown the last priest). I did some shopping there for a few people (like Katy Hayes!) and then the group rallied and headed to dinner. We had good old fashioned pizza that night, I got one that had salami, prosciutto, artichokes, olives, and mushrooms. We then headed out for our last adventure in Rome. The Pantheon at night and the Trevi Fountain!

Trevi Fountain

Making a wish

Before we went to bed we made a stop and climbed the Spanish Steps. Most of the group stayed at the bottom, but me and most of the kids decided to climb to the top.

 Great group of kids to travel with

Looking over Rome from the top of the Spanish Steps

And just like that, we had to say good-bye to Rome. I had wonderful rest of the trip (more entries to come) but Rome was by far my favorite. I want to go back as soon as possible!