Rome - Day 8

Monday...we slept in a little bit and woke to a bright, sunny day.  So, we headed back to the Spagna station for another try at the night walk without all of the rain.  The Spanish Steps were less crowded and we headed to the Trevi fountain first.  It was much nicer than Sunday, and we took several pictures and even took a little video of ourselves in front of the Trevi fountain for Tyanne - Brett's step-sister - since it was her 30th birthday.

After this, we headed on the the Pantheon.  There is a big square just in front of the Pantheon.  Brett DID actually eat at McDonald's this time because Rick Steves suggested that it was the best seat in the square - directly across from the Pantheon.  We ventured into the Pantheon and took the Rick Steves' audioguide tour.  We saw the tomb of Queen Margherita and I thanked her for creating one of my favorite pizzas :-)  We then found a really cute little jewelry store and I found some garnet earrings to go with a ring that Brett got me for our 2nd anniversary.  They were perfect.  I had been looking for some all over the place without success.  Little did I know that all I had to do was go to Rome to find them!

Since I didn't want to eat at McDonalds, we found a little sandwich shop while we were walking back to the metro station.  I got a really good panini and ate it as we walked.  There was a scary homeless lady screaming at everyone when we walked by the Spanish Steps...weird!  So, we scurried through there and headed to the Octtivanio metro stop to try our luck again at the Vatican.  Sunday there was a 2 hour line.  But at 12:30 Monday, we walked straight into the place with only a short stop at a security checkpoint.  

The Vatican Museum is quite impressive.  It was similar to the Louvre because there were halls and halls and halls of paintings, sculptures, statues, tapestries, mummies...pretty much anything you can imagine.  Here are some of our pictures from the museum:

We then headed into the Sistine Chapel...this was BREATHTAKING!  One thing I would suggest to people who are thinking about going there...BINOCULARS!  The ceiling is VERY high and you will seriously hurt your neck looking at it.  Photos are forbidden here and you're not even supposed to talk, but it was REALLY difficult not to spot something amazing and want to point it out to Brett.  After listening to Rick Steves' description of the ceiling, we took his advice and snook out the back door of the chapel which is usually only for group tours.  We were really supposed to leave out of another door and walk to another security line, but everyone says that sneaking in with a group is the way to go.  So, we felt like rebels, but it worked!!  

We lined up to go to the cupola of St. Peter's Bascilica.  We had two options - elevator or stairs.  I had read on several websites and in the holy Rick Steve's guidebook that the stairs are intense, but we decided to take the stairs anyway.  So we climbed, and climbed, and climbed for about 10 minutes straight.  But, it was worth it!  We got to the top of the dome on the inside and the people on the ground looked like ants!!!  Truly amazing...I really can't even describe it, so I'm not going to try.  I think it's just something you have to experience.  Here are some pictures from inside the cupola looking down into the basilica:

After looking over the inside, we headed to the top of the dome on the outside for a birds-eye view of the city...lots more stairs in tiny, unlevel hallways.  You probably shouldn't do this if you're claustrophobic.   This is the highest point in all of Rome by law.  No building can be built higher than St. Peter's dome. These are pictures from the top of the dome:

We went back down and stopped in a little shop ran by some nuns.  We made a few purchases and got some water, then headed back down the stairs.  Down was much easier, but somewhat dizzing.  Here are some pictures of all of the different stairwells we had to go through:

After the trek back down the stairs, we headed to St. Peter's Square.  This is the circular atrium that you see in the pictures we took from the top of the cupola.  We did have to go through another security line and actually happened to see some of the Swiss Guard, which was very exciting!!  We then headed into the most breathtaking place of the whole trip...St. Peter's Basilica.  When we were standing at the top of the cupola taking pictures downward, I was amazing, but when we walked in the front door, my jaw literally dropped.  I was speechless for at least 5 minutes straight.  Everywhere you look, there is total beauty and on a GRAND scale!  The floors, walls, columns, statues, sculptures, stained glass, etc. were the most beautiful that you can imagine.  The altar is 7 stories high and sculpted out of pure bronze.  We roamed around the basilica as we listened to Rick Steves give a detailed description of when and how all of the beautiful things were created.  This is where the Pope leads his services.  It was truly the highlight of our trip.  I can't even begin to describe how awestruck Brett and I were while we were standing in there!  I can't wait to go back!!!

After leaving St. Peter's, we stopped in a chocolate shop and grabbed a large back to take back to the apartment.  Brett grabbed another pizza sandwich and we headed back to the apartment.  I took a nap and then we headed out for some groceries.  We ate dinner at the apartment and went to sleep...a great end to an amazing and exhausting day in Roma.

Rome - Day 7

It's Sunday and international time change day, so we lost an hour of sleep.  We knew, however, that the Vatican museum has free entry on the last Sunday of the months, so we went there first.  At 0900, the line was approximately 2 hours long...PLAN B!!!

We headed to the National Museum of Rome, one of the places we could get into for free with our Roma Passes.  We took the subway to the main (scary) train station, Termini, and started roaming around guided by Rick Steves' map of the area.  We took some pics of a old, cool bascilica (church) and this is one of my favorite pictures of Rome:

We continued onto the museum, which was full of mostly statues.  Some of our favorites were the disc thrower, Casear, The Boxer and Aphrodite (seen below).  

After the museum, we headed back to the apartment for a quick lunch and nap.  That afternoon, we decided to do one of Rick Steves' suggested walks through Rome.  This one was actually called the night walk, but we wanted to see everything in the sunlight!  We took the metro to the Spagna station and stopped in at one of the most elaborate McDondald's in the whole world.  It was so cute!  They made it look like a Italian bistro with little nooks with small tables and live plants, etc.  We DID NOT eat there!!!  But, I DID forget to take pictures.  We went to the Spanish Steps and it was raining lightly.  There was a large group of teenagers on the steps singing very loudly and it was really annoying, so we continued on the "night walk" to the Trevi fountain.

SPANISH STEPS

So, imagine yourself just walking down narrow streets with businesses, shops, restaurants and apartments.  All of the sudden you can hear what sounds like a waterfall or huge gush of water...and you see this:

the most beautiful and elaborate fountain you've ever seen is built into the back of one of the buildings and hundreds of people are gathered around awed by it's glory....amazing!  Then...POURING RAIN.  Rain so thick it starts dripping through your umbrella and seeps through our rain jacket onto your shoulders...miserable rain!!!  We weren't far from the metro, so we headed back there for some shelter.  We were soaking wet by now :-(

We returned to our neighborhood, where the rain was steady, but not pouring and stopped into a little shop for a couple of pizza sandwiches.  We went back to the apartment to dry off and ventured out later that night for our first GELATO!!!  Yummy...I got one called Millenium which was chocolate and caramel and Brett got cookies and cream!  Why haven't we had one of these after every meal so far????

Rome - Day 6

SATURDAY!!  I love Saturdays and it was our first full day in Rome.  I was a little nervous about things being really busy, so we got up early and ate Frosted Flakes (didn't expect to get those in an Italian grocery store) before heading out the door.  We found the metro station easily and bought a few tickets.  We were headed to the Colosseum by 0830.  We read the information that was printed on the backs of the subway tickets and we thought that one ticket was good for 45 minutes from the time it is first used...in a sense, this is correct.  However, we found out the hard way that it does not count if you exit the subway and then return.  I had read in the Rick Steve's guidebook that we could find Roma Passes in the Termini train station, so we exited here.  We asked around at several different stores and then tried to re-enter the subway, but couldn't.  So, we purchased two more tickets and continued onto the Colosseo subway stop.  As we were exiting, I just happened to spot a very small sign in the window of a tabachhi that said "Roma Pass."  We purchased two for 32 euros each.  These are good for unlimited metro trips for 3 days and free entry into two museums or attractions...very good deal if you plan on being there 3 days or more!

The Colosseum....ahhh.  Words cannot describe how awesome it is!  So historical, so famous, so...HUGE!  We went through security quickly and, with our handy-dandy Roma Passes, skipped the ticket-buying line and headed straight into the arena.  We turned on our Rick Steves' free audiotours on our iPods and strolled through this monstrous landmark in awe.  W took lots of pictures.  Unfortunately, we have our earphones in our ears in most of the shots...oh well.  After exploring the site and gift shop, we headed toward the Roman Forum...avoiding the annoying Gladiators along the way.  They stand in the middle of the road and offer to let you take your picture with them, then tell you to hand over 5 euros...no thanks.  Brett pointed out that most of them were "like 80 years old" and didn't look like "real" gladiators.  Which was true...they 

looked pretty weak.

The Roman Forum is basically the ruins remaining of Rome's center city 

and government buildings.  Julius Caesar ruled these streets some 2,000 years ago and his body was burned here as well.  We used our Roma Passes again for free entry (included with Colosseum) and walked in without waiting in line and roamed around the ancient, cobblestone streets.  There were churches, government buildings, apartments, etc.  Parts of the buildings were still standing, but for the most part, it was just random columns and foundations lying around and you would just have to imagine the buildings that once stood there.  Your feet can only take so much of cobblestone streets, so we sat down on a 2000 year old column and just people watched for a while before heading out for some lunch.

Rick Steves never let us down.  We found a inexpensive cafe that he suggested just about 

2 blocks from the Colosseum.  I was called Cafe de Studente; thus named because it's a popular eatery for students at the nearby university.  It was great...far enough away from the crowds and noise, but still with a view of the Colosseum.  As promised, the owner greeted us joyfully when we showed her our Rick Steves' guidebook and showered us with free appetizers and dessert :)  For the meal, I had a Margherita pizza (named after Queen Margherita) and Brett had a "pizza sandwich" which is pretty much a pizza folded in half that you eat with your hands.  He chose salami...and it had mozzarella and spinach...yes, Brett ate spinach.  Well, he picked off about 75% of it, but I was proud of him for not picking off all of it!!  It was a great find and a great way to rest our feet for a while.  Also, we got to sit at an outside table for no extra charge just for having Rick Steves' book!  You see, in Italy, they usually charge you to sit at 

one of their tables and they charge you even more if it's outside.

After lunch, we were off to see more of Rome.  We headed to Palatine Hill...basically more ruins of the ancient Roman capital.  It was neat, but we were extremely tired by this time and we walked through it very quickly...and sat a few times since our dogs were barking.  Palatine Hill was a huge palace at one point, but all that remains are a few crumbling walls and foundations.  The audiotour kept saying "imagine a beautiful fountain" or "picture a gigantic atrium."  After about 15 minutes of this, Brett said "I'm 

tired of imagining things."  And, that was the end of our audiotour.  After Palatine Hill, we headed back to the apartment via the Metro and took a little nap...much needed after those 3 huge sites.  We ate dinner at the apartment, watched a movie on the iPod and went to bed.  We had intentions of going out to eat and/or getting some gellato, but we were just too tired...