On Thursday we really explored Rome. We started with breakfast in a cafe near our hostel. Then we headed in the direction of the Trevi Fountain. On the way we ran into the Quirinal Palace, which is the official residence of the President of the Italian Republic. There were a lot of guards and security, but a pretty nice Palace. It seemed like every block in Rome had some piece of history to admire. We never had to walk to far before we spotted something interesting. Next, we discovered the very impressive Trevi Fountain. The Fontana de Trevi, as it is called in Rome, is the most famous and largest fountain in Rome. It is claimed to be filled with Rome's sweetest waters because the fountain was first supplied water by one of the ancient aqueducts. It is a traditional legend that if visitors throw a coin into the fountain they are sure to return. Of course, Elliot and I threw a coin in and got some pictures. I was surprised by how busy the fountain was. There were tourists everywhere. Below pictures at the fountain.
After the fountain we continued on to the Spanish Steps. Yet another amazing sight to see, also loaded with visitors. We found most of Rome was packed with tourists from all over the world; it is a very popular and exciting city. The Spanish Steps are the longest and widest staircase in Europe. Despite the name, the steps were built by the French to connect the Spanish Square, at the base of the hill, to the French-owned church, Trinita dei Monti, at the top of the hill. At the time the staircase was built, the Spanish Square was home to the Spanish Embassy, headquarters of the Spanish ambassador to the Holy See, hence the name of the steps and square. Now that I gave you a little history lesson, on with our day! Elliot and I climbed to the top of the steps for a legendary view of Rome. Below picture at the Spanish Steps.
Our next stop was Pincian Hill, which overlooks the Piazza del Popolo. The Piazza del Popolo is a large square that literally means the People's Square. There were some nice statues and fountains in the square. We enjoyed the view of the square from Pincian Hill before going to check it out. Italy is famous for all their piazzas or squares. They are always grand areas with impressive statues and fountains. We browsed around this area for awhile until we found a sandwich store for lunch. Below picture of Piazza dei Popolo.
The weather in Rome was incredible. I wore jeans and short sleeves most days; Elliot even wore shorts a couple times. The weather in London is just downright cold, which is probably why Britons are a culture known to complain about the weather. It is most always overcast and hasn't gotten too far above 50 degrees yet. So I was really enjoying the Italian sunshine. Later that afternoon we walked down to the Pantheon, which is the greatest surviving complete Roman structure. Previously a temple, then a church; it is now a shrine to Italy's immortals. The Pantheon was free to enter and a lot more impressive on the interior. We then walked about a block to the Piazza Navona. This square used to be an arena that held athletic competitions and games, which is why it is rectangular shaped. Today there is a prominent statue in the center and fountains on either side. The whole square is surrounded by Italian restaurants. There were tons of vendors in the square selling their artwork, which was interesting to look at. From here we walked to the Piazza Campo de Fiori, which literally means field of flowers. This square obtains this name because it used to actually be a meadow. Today the square holds a large fruit, vegetable and fish market. Normally I am all about the markets, but by this time it was about 3:00 and the market was pretty much over except for smelly fish scraps, so we got out of there pretty quick. Below pictures of the Pantheon and Piazza Navona.
Next we walked down to the Ancient City of Rome. The very first thing we ran into was a large impressive museum. Here the Colosseum came into view. Seeing it for the first time was very impressive and exciting. I have seen hundreds of pictures of the Colosseum, but it was completely different to be standing next to it. We walked all the way around the Colosseum taking pictures and admiring its pure size and history, the whole time marveling in the fact that we were actually there. We decided to try to buy tickets for the next day because I had read in my Rome travel book that lines can be horrendous at this sight. Since it was later in the day the line only took us about 15 minutes and we were able to buy next day tickets. Then we walked up a small little street where a guy suckered us into eating at his restaurant. Since we had been eating sandwiches or pizza by the slice to go the whole trip we decided some Italian pasta would be tasteful. Eating at a sit down restaurant in Italy can be expensive because they charge you just to sit down. Most people were having wine with their meals, which didn't really appeal to us, but even water cost too. Elliot and I both ordered pasta. It was very good, as was the bread we got with it. We headed on our long journey home with full bellies. We got a little lost and ended up walking the wrong way for a little bit. However, we ran into a great cathedral. We also found some gelato for dessert. It ended up taking us an hour and a half to get home from the restaurant by the Colosseum, but we were getting some excellent Rome culture and sight seeing in. Finally we ran into the train station from the night before. I stopped into a little shop to get some Cokes. The clerk asked me where I was from when I was checking out. I told him the States and he then told me he was from Bangladesh. What interesting people you meet traveling! Speaking of getting Cokes. Coke is the cola brand of Europe. Pepsi is hardly sold anywhere. I have yet to see a mountain dew here either. It is all Coke or Diet Coke, which is fine with me because I like Coke the best anyways. Sorry Grandma Debbie! Below pictures of us at the Colosseum.
After making our way home, Elliot and I were pretty worn out and sunburned from walking all over for the entire day. Elliot estimated we walked 6 miles. Wow. We both crashed at 10:00. Another good thing about traveling with Elliot is that we both aren't into the party or nightlife scene. I don't think we would have been able to get up early every day and see all the sights if we would have been out late partying every night.
On Friday we got a Metro pass, which is Rome's underground train transportation system. I wasn't overly impressed with this system as it only had two lines, but it was better than walking all over since we were going to further sights this day. The pass only cost 4 euros too. We started off at the Colosseum, which is a huge, ancient stadium where arched combat went on for 500 years. Criminals, slaves and gladiators fought each other or wild animals, often to death. Since we had gotten tickets the night before we just walked straight past the huge line of people. The inside of the Colosseum was interesting. There were a ton of posters with tidbits of ancient Roman history all over. We spent a good deal of time reading about the history. I learned that some 5,000 animals were slaughtered in a day for 100 days in a continuous gala in 72 AD. By the end of this gala many animals around the area were nearly extinct. We then walked all around the inside of the Colosseum on the top level and bottom level. The Colosseum felt a lot smaller from the inside and I was pretty surprised how much of it had deteriorated. After the Colosseum we visited the Roman Forum, which was the political and civic heart of the empire with the biggest and most important forums in the world. Today it is basically a mishmash of old pillars and jumbled stones which don't make much sense. Elliot and I didn't spend much time here. However we did enjoy the orange trees, cypresses, wild flowers that grew within the remains. More pictures of the Colosseum below.
After some pizza for lunch, we were of to the Vatican City! The Vatican City is a separate sovereign state within Rome, and home to the great basilica of St. Peter's and a series of museums with some of the world's richest and most varied collection of art and objects. St Peter's basilica was by far the most impressive thing we saw on the entire trip. It was absolutely massive with an overwhelming sense of scale and decorative glory. The basilica is located in St. Peter's square with 284 large white columns surrounding it. You can't get a better historic sight either, the basilica was actually built on the site where St. Peter was buried after his crucifixion. Not to mention this is home to the one and only Pope. We had to wait in a long line to get in and go through security first. The first thing we saw were the Swiss Guards. The official guards in charge of protecting the Pope are recruited from Switzerland's four predominantly Catholic schools. Each must be between 19 and 25, at least 5ft 8in. tall and remain unmarried during their tour of duty. Their distinctive red, yellow and blue uniforms that they still wear today were designed by Michelangelo. The interior of the basilica was quite astonishing. Elliot and I spent a good deal of time in the basilica and outside around St. Peter's Square. Pictures below of St. Peter's Square, St. Peter's Basilica, and the Pope's Guards.
Next we saw the Vatican Museums. There were huge gated walls all around the Vatican Museum. After this we got some great Gelato at a really popular gelateria. They gave you the biggest scoops; it was delicious! After our gelato break we headed to Castel Sant'Angelo. This used to be a fortress and castle, but today it is another museum. We didn't go inside the museum, but the area around it was quite nice to explore. The castle sat right on the river and featured two main bridges with statues lined across them. We actually ran into my roommate here, who was also visiting Rome. Small world. After this we headed home for a little rest before supper. Below pictures of the Catel Sant'Angelo and bridge.
That night we went out to a nice little restaurant in our area. The food was great! We had some really good bruschetta. Elliot order some kind of pasta and encouraged me to try something new. I got this dish that had sausage rolled up inside big noodles with cheese. A little surprising because I didn't realize the dish even contained meat, but it was good. We went to the Trevi Fountain after supper as we had heard it was nice to see this site at night too. The water all lit up, flowing down the statue was pretty cool. However, the fountain was more packed with people at night then in the daylight. I couldn't believe it. Below the Trevi Fountain at night.
Saturday was our last day in Rome. We had pretty much seen everything we wanted to already so we had just planned on hitting up some markets and getting some souvenirs. While we were walking around shopping we saw a scooter rental place. Elliot was intrigued to say the least. We checked into the prices and ended up renting a scooter for a few hours. When in Rome... It was only 35 euros for 3 hours, which is about 50 dollars. I didn't really feel comfortable driving one by myself around the crazy city of Rome, so we just got one and I hopped on the back. The guy gave us helmets and a quick lesson and we were off! It was a pretty crazy, exciting adventure. We started just cruising, but by the end of our time Elliot was driving like a Roman. It was a great way to see all the sights one last time. We went all over. It is amazing how quick we could get around on the little motorized thing! Actually Elliot did a pretty good job driving the entire time and I just sat on the back taking pictures and giving directions. We only had one moment when I freaked out because Elliot went under a tunnel going pretty fast. There were no other scooters in the tunnel, just really fast cars; I thought we were for sure bound for the freeway or something. Ha ha good times. After 3 hours on the scooter we were starving and grabbed our last meal of pizza. We also had some last gelato. By then it was time to get our suitcase and get to the airport. Below pictures of us on the scooter and a picture I got while riding around.
The flight from Rome to London was really nice. It took a little over 2 hours. British Airways treats their passengers just lovely. We got chicken salad sandwiches and drinks. Food and drink on airplanes is a luxury after flying budget airlines that give you nothing at all. Elliot ordered just a bloody mary mix and got a little tiny bottle of vodka to go with it for free. We really couldn't believe that! We got into London at about 10:00 and just had to take the tube journey home.
Overall I really enjoyed Rome. There was so much to see there. I had been warned that it was a pretty dangerous city with a lot of pickpockets and creepy men. I didn't have trouble with either. The men would look at you and didn't care who noticed, but they never said anything or made me feel in danger. However, it probably helped I was with Elliot the whole trip! Hopefully, the fountain legend holds true and I go back some day. The whole Spring Break trip was wonderful. It was a life changing experience that really made me realize how big the world is. I can't wait to return to all of the wonderful places I visited.
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