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Rome was a blast! I got to see so much stuff. We got there around 10:30AM Saturday and dropped our bags off at the hostel. By the time we got to the hostel and got everything taken care of it was about 11:30. We headed off to Palatine hill which is where the old roman forum is and where Romulus and remus were said to have been raised and founded rome. There were lots of old ruins dating back several thousand years. It was very impressive and possibly one of my favorite places to visit. It was truly amazing what they could build without engines or electricity! After that we trucked off to the Coliseum! It was just down the street from palatine hill. Again it was truly amazing what they could build 2000 years ago! After that we grabbed some panninis from a street vendor and walked to the circus maximus where they used to have chariot races. Kind of weird because this was just a park now with people running and sunbathing, still a few ruins left though. After that we trucked off to one of the top 5 gelato places (we got to visit all 5 at least once over the 2.5 day trip). From there we took a tram to the Pantheon which was stupendous!! The dome in the top was incredible! After the Pantheon we got some more gelato and walked through the shopping district with all those fancy stores (I don’t know what ones were there I didn’t pay attention) and to the Spanish steps, why they are called the Spanish steps I don’t know really… I guess they were built in the Spanish style or something. After that we walked up to the Bourghese Art Gallery where we bought tickets to see it on Sunday (you have to buy tickets 24 hours in advance). After that we went back to the hostel to clean up a little bit. After cleaning up we went to a cool pizza place and got some tasty pizza. After pizza we went to the trevi fountain and hung around that area for awhile (there are tons of bars, and gelato places there) after awhile though we decided to walk to Saint Peters Basilica (about 2 miles away but you could see it from the fountain) We walked all the way there and saw some cool things along the way, like a neat street festival and the Roman TV awards… We were then told (incorrectly) that the Metro was closed by the Police so we ran to find a bus and got on the first one we saw, not really knowing where it went, it went to the train station and from there we caught the metro to our hostel… go figure.
The next morning was a little more relaxed than the other days had been. We went and saw the Capitoline museum (lots of really cool sculptures). After that we went to the Piazza Navano which is a famous square in Rome and where 2 of the top 5 gelato places are located. So we had some gelato and lunch and then headed off to the Bourghese museum and the park that it is in. We walked around the park for a long time and dipped our feet in a huge refreshing fountain. Then we went to the museum. It was incredible, there were so many paintings and sculptures in this little museum, it was very impressive!! After that it was dinner time and the guide book recommended an Indian restaurant only a few metro stops away so we did that, the food was amazing!! Some of the best I have had and cheap too!! (A huge plate of curry, rice, naan, beer and 2 samosas was 10 bucks!) Top notch! After that we went back to Trevi fountain and got more gelato and then headed back for the night.
Monday there was a little miscommunication in wake up times got a little confused (I was in charge of making sure everybody was awake at 7 but I thought it was 7:30…) Needless to say we got to the Vatican a little late… And paid the price. We waited nearly 2.5 hours in line!!! But the wait was worth it! The Vatican Museum was amazing!! Think of all the paintings that could be bought by one of the richest groups in the world (the catholic church) over a span of roughly 2000 years! It was amazing! At the end of the journey was the Sistine chapel. It was truly something else! We spent almost 1.5 hours in the room looking at the paintings. We had a great book that explained each one in detail. After the Sistine chapel it was off to Saint Peter’s! I had seen it on TV plenty of times but it is just soooo huge and soooo amazing!!! There aren’t even words to describe it. We went up into the dome and then on top of the dome and had the most amazing view of the city!! After that we went and grabbed our bags and headed to the train station. It was really cool, in our couchette were two teenage aussi girls and their dad and a guy from Wisconsin and then us so we all spoke English and had a blast on the way back!!