When in Rome...
On June 1st, we woke up bright and early and were ready to start our world travels. After a short flight to Philadelphia and a 5 hour layover (which we spent at the airport bar), we were Rome bound! The flight was about 8.5 hours but unfortunately, neither of us fell asleep. I did, however, watch "Dear John" and "When in Rome". When we finally arrived in Rome, it was 9:00 am Italy time. We had the whole day ahead of us!
Mistake/Lesson #1- We left the airport and were ready to start our adventure. We were approached by a taxi driver who said he could take us to our hotel. Great. We get to his car and notice that he doesn't have a taxi sign on top of it. Of course, we question him and he speaks in broken English that he is a taxi driver and points to some sticker on the back of his car. He says that he charges the same amount as the other taxi drivers. Lies. Playing the roles of stupid Americans very well already, we get into his car. He proceeds to drive 180 km/hr on the highway...that is 112 mph. I thought we were going to die. Crazy thoughts start going through my mind. We are going to die on our first day in Italy. Our families don't even know that we have landed safely. We are going to die. We didn't die but we did end up paying about $100 for our ride from the airport to the hotel. Bright side (other than still being alive) is that we got there in about 25 minutes!
We couldn't check into our hotel because it wasn't noon, so we dropped off our bags with the concierge, changed clothes, and hit the streets. On Day 1, we literally walked all over Rome. We saw the Spanish Steps, Colosseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon, and a lot of the major piazzas. We walked and walked and walked, and about 6 hours later, headed back to the hotel. We experienced our first dinner in Italy and it set the pace for 2 weeks of wonderful dining experiences. Back at the hotel, we enjoyed the happy hour in the lobby bar and crashed into bed a bottle of wine later.
A few day one pictures!
Day 2 in Rome started off in Vatican City! I loved Vatican City...definitely my favorite thing in Rome.
Mistake/Lesson #2- Look at the map of Vatican City before you walk through the walls. We were supposed to be at the Vatican Museum at 10. (We pre-brought tickets to the museum through Select Italy. It was awesome not to have to stand in the long line!) We got off of the subway, followed all of the people through the walls of Vatican and realized that we were totally in the wrong place. The entrance to the museum is not within the walls...of course. So with about 10 minutes to spare, we ran back through the walls, around Vatican City until we finally found the entrance to the museum. Wish I would have looked at that before we left.
The Vatican Museum was really cool. Mike took many art history classes in college so he was really excited about seeing all of these amazing pieces of art. We practically ran straight to the Sistine Chapel and it was definitely a highlight of the day.
Mistake/Lesson #3- You can't take pictures inside the Sistine Chapel. We didn't know this. The moment we walk in, Mike puts the camera up to his face, backs up, and slams into a plexi-glass sheet that is protecting the walls. Of course, everyone in the chapel turns and stares at us, while guards scream "NO FOTOS!!!" at the top of their lungs. Embarrassing. We did get a few pics on the iPhone though.
Mistake/Lesson #4- I wish we would have known that we could have downloaded Rick Steve's audio tours before we left. I can't believe that I didn't know about this. This would have helped us through almost every church and museum that we visited in Italy. Grrr. Hopefully this helps someone!
After the museum, we headed back into Vatican City to go to St. Peter's Basilica. Massive just doesn't describe this place. It is INCREDIBLE. Even this Jewish girl and Greek Orthodox guy felt holy in this place. We started off by climbing the dome to the top. What an amazing view of St. Peter's Square!
Hint to anyone visiting Vatican City, make sure your knees and shoulders are covered!
That evening, we headed back to the Colosseum to get some pictures of it at night. Good call. It was just stunning.
Day 3 in Rome started at the Borghese Gardens. This area is like the Central Park of Rome. You have to walk through the beautiful gardens to get to the Borghese Gallery. (We pre-bought tickets for this gallery through Select Italy too!)
The Borghese Gallery has some amazing Bernini sculptures. Even as a person that doesn't like museums or have an artistic bone in my body, I was in awe at these sculptures. Of course, they didn't allow photos but my favorite was The Rape of Persephone by Bernini. I die.
After the gallery, we walked around town, stopped for lunch in the Piazza del Popolo, and headed to the Trevi Fountain.
That evening, we celebrated our final night in Rome. It was by far the best thing we did and I recommend this fun evening to anyone who visits Rome. In Rick Steve's book, he talks about The Night Walk Across Rome. It starts in Campo di' Fiore, where we ate a lovely dinner and visited a wine bar. This is where of the Italian youth come at night. We loved it here!
The Night Walk takes you into Piazza Navona, past the Pantheon and Trevi, and it ends in front of the Spanish Steps. Make sure to stop and enjoy wine along the way. We LOVED this part of our trip!
We loved out hotel in Rome. We stayed at the Best Western Hotel Canada. Our room was lovely, the continental breakfast was great, we were located right by the train and subway stations, and we loved Edwin, the hotel bartender. So sweet!
Here is our Rome itinerary for anyone interested:
Wednesday, June 2nd
-"Caesar Shuffle"- Colosseum, Forum, Capitol Hill, Pantheon, Palantine Hill
Thursday, June 3rd
-Vatican City
-Museum at 10 (Sistine Chapel)
-lunch around Vatican
- St. Peter's Square/Basillica (climb the dome)
-Colosseum at night
Friday, June 4th
-Borghese Gallery and Gardens at 11
-Lunch at Piazza del Popolo
-Trevi Fountain
-"Night Walk Across Rome"
-Dinner at Campo de' Fiori
-walk through Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Trevi, Spanish Steps
For more Rome photos, see Mike's blog posts here! Up next...Florence (Siena and Pisa too)!!!
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