Rome, Italy

So you're going to Italy? Or you want to go to Italy? Following are the blogs I wrote after my trip to Italy and Switzerland in the summer of 2009.

We land in Rome, get our bags, and then...totally don't know what to do. We wander until we find an information counter. We ask her to help us find our hotel but she hasn't heard of it and following Murphy's Law, we don't have an address on our confirmation sheet...or a phone number. (It's like we'd never traveled before huh?) So we find another counter, this one for reserving hotels. The girl there is able to tell us which subway to get on, and which stop to get off of. Okey dokey, here we go. At least until we get on the subway going the wrong way. It only took us one stop to figure it out though, at least we were thinking somewhat cleary. Okey, dokey, here we go...again. So we get to our stop, and everyone else in Rome wants to get off at the same stop. Kristen makes it...I don't. So as the train leaves with me still on it I look through the window at Kristen on the platform and wave goodbye. I got off at the next stop, got back on going the other way, got off the train, and naturally now Kristen and I are on oppisite sides of the train tracks. After a few minutes we find each other on the street above and are now stuck again...we don't know how to get to the hotel from there. We stand on the street for a couple minutes going "English? Anyone? English?" and finally get a response, although it's in choppy English. Don't care, we'll take it. We get directions to our hotel, find it with no problem, and crash for about two hours.

So the first real Rome sight was the Trevi Fountain.. We wandered around for awhile just taking everything in and finally located the Fountain. Much bigger and more amazing then the one in Las Vegas (yes, really). Throw a coin in for good luck! Before that we kept it all American though and ate dinner at the Hard Rock. This became our American Embassy because they gave free refills. No where else in that country did. And at nearly $4.50 a pop free refills on coke was a commodity. We also found our way to the Spanish Steps that night. Crowded. I tried to get everyone to move off the steps so I could take a nice picture, but it didn't work. So we wrapped up our first evening in Rome and headed back to the hotel.

The Trevi Fountain

The (always crowded) Spanish Steps

We had breakfast at the hotel the next morning. Apparently we didn't understand how the whole breakfast thing worked cause everyone else in there had all this food and all we could find was bread and a slice of salami and cheese. Regardless, we headed out to see...something Roman. Can't remember what. Oh yeah (after several minutes of thinking) we went to St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. We actually just kind of went to Vatican City and wound up there. The line for the Vactican Museum was outrageous so we just kept walking until we came to the Bascilica. The line to get in here was long too, but moving fast. So we sucked it up. Inside we were able to see all the artwork, "mummified" Popes, and the confessionals, and Michaelangelo's Pieta. It took forever to get out because as soon as we walked out the doors the entire square was packed with people and at a standstill. Being Sunday morning there was some sort of service going on outside. Our mistake #1. Vatican on a Sunday. Later on that day we walked down to the Pantheon. One of the largest free standing domes. Of course, in no picture from the ground can you even see the dome. Still neat and significant to see and learn about.

*Some areas of the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica are off limits for a woman if you do not have your shoulders and knees covered. A scarf or shawl over your shoulders is sufficient.

Outside St. Peter's

The Pieta

Inside the Basilica

The Pantheon

Then the Colosseum!!! We had no plans when we got there, but we were quickly approached by a guide offering us a tour. It was cheap, and it allowed us to skip the line, so we jumped on board (VERY well worth it). The tour guide was hilarious, and I guess cause we walked up late proceeded to pick on us the rest of the day. Learned lots of neat stuff, which we never would have known except for the tour. As we left the Colusseum to head to the Forum we were handed off to a different tour guide, Ian. He told the best stories, and gave us so much great information, and I married him. Yes, yes I did. While demonstrating the Roman wedding practices he asked for my hand. Literally. And in Rome all they did to become officially married was shake hands. So, half an hour after meeting, and a hand shake later, I found myself a hubby. And all in less than two days in Rome. Go me!!! During this tour we found out the Vatican Museum was closed on Monday, which was when we planned to return. So we decided to change our train tickets to Florence and stay in Rome Tuesday morning for Ian's tour of the Vatican. We had dinner on a rooftop terrace overlooking the Colusseum and then took pictures at night after all the lights had come on. We both could have just sat there forever I'm sure. It was one of the most amazing, beautiful things I have ever seen.

Inside the Colosseum

Down in the Forum

Colosseum at night

Monday found us with nothing planned to do. So we went to the large park in Rome, rented this bike thingy and rode through the park. Only, we got the hoopdie of all the bikes and when we got to a certain speed it made this horrible clanking sound. We were really disrupting the serene park setting. We made our way to the zoo, Bioparco. Why not see some Roman animals while we're at it. Or at least some African and North American animals being kept in Rome. It was exactly like our zoos, only the signs were in Italian. Obviously. We had dinner at the Hard Rock again, free coke refills people. We probably did some shopping, I think that might have been the day we actually walked up the Spanish Steps. It's a tough little hike, but one you just gotta make.

Tuesday morning we packed up and took the subway (or the underground tube as we affectionately referred to it) back to Vatican City to meet up with Ian. After doing his best impression of Moses to part the traffic we started the treck to the Vatican. It was a long haul with the luggage to the Museum entrance, but luckily once we got there we were able to check our bags. Hitting the highlights of the Museum...well it was a lot of art and sculptures. A remake of the Last Supper, some other Michaelangelo, Raphael, various other Ninja Turtles. Nero's big purple stone bathtub. And of course, the Sistine Chapel. No photos of that, they aren't allowed. And even though everyone else was taking pictures, I didn't want to get our guide in trouble. Ian told us stories about Michaelangelo and what all the panels represented. There are some things in those paintings that should not be in a chapel. But Michaelangelo was resentful about having to paint it, and about being decked by the Pope of the time, so he had his fun, knowing no one could do anything about it. And the panel with the creation of man, you know it, the two hands nearly touching fingers...not nearly as big as it seems whenever you see it. Tiny, tiny. It is 45 meters up in the air, but without someone pointing it out to you, it'd take you awhile to find it. So after that amazing tour it was time for us to rush to the train station, hop a train, and head to Florence.