April 9
Finally, we got to see the Rome that everyone talks about. And yes, it is amazing.
Colosseum: HUGE! I really want to see Gladiator now. It was pretty amazing. Our guide told us about the elevator systems and methods and exotic animals brought in when the arena was used. I can't believe this enormous structure is still standing and able to hold people.
Roman Forum: One of the most beautiful settings for ruins on a hill in the city surrounded by flowers and fields and trees. Pillars and statues resisting weather and time stand defiantly among magnificently crumbling walls. I loved seeing this part of Rome that exists within the confines of an old yet modern city. Amanda, Kathy and I bought some sweet old school sunglasses in stoplight colors...look forward to an excellent photo shoot.
Wedding Cake: I need to find its real name...but I loved this building. One word...epic. (Actually that applies to everything on this list.)
Pantheon: Enormous and a very popular tourist spot. However I thought it was more impressive outside than in. The pillars in front were imposing.
Piazza Navona: A bustling square filled with artists selling their work, including a man frozen like he was running and an amazing spray paint artist. The 8 of us girls enjoyed a famous dessert at a restaurant along the square called "death by chocolate," a tartuffo of chocolate gelato covered in flakes of hard chocolate, filled with fudge all around a cherry...lived up to the name. After another glance at the awesome Colosseum lit up at night we headed back to end our last night in Rome!
Showing posts with label rome. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rome. Show all posts
Friday, April 10
Thursday, April 9
when in rome...
Thursday, April 9
April 8
As we were staying in a Bed and Breakfast we woke up Wednesday morning to pastries and a delicious cappuccino. Seriously I am going to look like a European snob when I get back home because I am going to drink cappuccinos all the time.
Our plan for the day was to basically scope out the pope. His Holiness would speak at 11 in Vatican City so we joined the huge crowd and basically turned to mush on the metro from being squished by so many people. Following the crowd to the Vatican we entered the huge square. While there were a TON of people I actually was surprised that it wasn't completely full. We scored a seat near the back of the audience and joined in the cheering when the pope drove through the crowds in a car. He spoke in Italian but translated some messages and a blessing in English, Spanish, German, French, and I think Russian. Enormous groups of students were there from Spain and they were so excited it made the pope smile. He blessed us and our families and sent us on our way.
Next stop, St. Peter's, the massive church of the Vatican. Somehow we got in line way before everyone else and were able to enter when the pope was done blessing various "religious artifacts" brought by pilgrims. It was pretty enormous, and overwhelming. I can't say I would consider it to be the most ornate or beautiful church I have seen but it did have the most statues, including the Pieta, and was by far the largest.
After this we entered the Vatican Museum which houses the Sistine Chapel. Let me tell you, it is a BEAST. To get to the Sistine Chapel you have to literally walk through a labyrinth of rooms for hours and it is at the very end, right after a display of modern religious art that disconnected the chapel from the themes and styles of the rest of the works in the museum. We saw some amazing statues and intricate ceiling artwork, but it was a little distracting since we wanted to go to the Chapel first and then enjoy the rest without worrying about crowds. However this was impossible so I am sad that we had to rush through some of the museum. When we finally got to the Chapel, it was honestly a little anticlimactic. The ceiling is towering, and difficult to see when you are smushed up against a ton of other people bumping into you and being noisy because they are squinting upward and can't see where they are walking. That being said, since I feel like I am complaining, it was a beautiful work of art. I am really glad I got to see it, but I think the masses of people made the whole museum a little...less than spiritually focused.
After this we did a little souvenir shopping (signed pictures of the pope, rosaries, cheap sunglasses, anyone?) and grabbed some sandwiches to head to the Spanish Steps. After tales of torturous climbs I was relieved to see that they weren't as massive as feared. We all relaxed at the top for a while inside the church and then headed over to Trevi Fountain to see it in the daylight. We grabbed some dinner (I tried spicy penne all'arrabbiata, yum, and Kaitlyn and Amanda tried the traditional veal saltimbocca) and then headed back to our favorite gelato place where yet again I had the best gelato of my life. No really this time it was my favorite: amaretto flavor. It tasted like the way I make ice cream at home...vanilla with cherry juice and chocolate sauce, mixed together, only better. Ahhhhh yes. Anyway we took our gelato back over to Trevi and enjoyed the night sounds and sights.
You may be wondering why I am writing this in the afternoon when we were planning on tackling all of the major sights in Rome today. Well, we are having some trouble booking tickets from Spain to Maastricht at the end of our trip (apparently they are all full) so we are looking up train schedules and alternate routes. I'm sure it will all work out but we are just trying to figure it out first and then we are heading first to the Colosseum! Ciao!
As we were staying in a Bed and Breakfast we woke up Wednesday morning to pastries and a delicious cappuccino. Seriously I am going to look like a European snob when I get back home because I am going to drink cappuccinos all the time.
Our plan for the day was to basically scope out the pope. His Holiness would speak at 11 in Vatican City so we joined the huge crowd and basically turned to mush on the metro from being squished by so many people. Following the crowd to the Vatican we entered the huge square. While there were a TON of people I actually was surprised that it wasn't completely full. We scored a seat near the back of the audience and joined in the cheering when the pope drove through the crowds in a car. He spoke in Italian but translated some messages and a blessing in English, Spanish, German, French, and I think Russian. Enormous groups of students were there from Spain and they were so excited it made the pope smile. He blessed us and our families and sent us on our way.
Next stop, St. Peter's, the massive church of the Vatican. Somehow we got in line way before everyone else and were able to enter when the pope was done blessing various "religious artifacts" brought by pilgrims. It was pretty enormous, and overwhelming. I can't say I would consider it to be the most ornate or beautiful church I have seen but it did have the most statues, including the Pieta, and was by far the largest.
After this we entered the Vatican Museum which houses the Sistine Chapel. Let me tell you, it is a BEAST. To get to the Sistine Chapel you have to literally walk through a labyrinth of rooms for hours and it is at the very end, right after a display of modern religious art that disconnected the chapel from the themes and styles of the rest of the works in the museum. We saw some amazing statues and intricate ceiling artwork, but it was a little distracting since we wanted to go to the Chapel first and then enjoy the rest without worrying about crowds. However this was impossible so I am sad that we had to rush through some of the museum. When we finally got to the Chapel, it was honestly a little anticlimactic. The ceiling is towering, and difficult to see when you are smushed up against a ton of other people bumping into you and being noisy because they are squinting upward and can't see where they are walking. That being said, since I feel like I am complaining, it was a beautiful work of art. I am really glad I got to see it, but I think the masses of people made the whole museum a little...less than spiritually focused.
After this we did a little souvenir shopping (signed pictures of the pope, rosaries, cheap sunglasses, anyone?) and grabbed some sandwiches to head to the Spanish Steps. After tales of torturous climbs I was relieved to see that they weren't as massive as feared. We all relaxed at the top for a while inside the church and then headed over to Trevi Fountain to see it in the daylight. We grabbed some dinner (I tried spicy penne all'arrabbiata, yum, and Kaitlyn and Amanda tried the traditional veal saltimbocca) and then headed back to our favorite gelato place where yet again I had the best gelato of my life. No really this time it was my favorite: amaretto flavor. It tasted like the way I make ice cream at home...vanilla with cherry juice and chocolate sauce, mixed together, only better. Ahhhhh yes. Anyway we took our gelato back over to Trevi and enjoyed the night sounds and sights.
You may be wondering why I am writing this in the afternoon when we were planning on tackling all of the major sights in Rome today. Well, we are having some trouble booking tickets from Spain to Maastricht at the end of our trip (apparently they are all full) so we are looking up train schedules and alternate routes. I'm sure it will all work out but we are just trying to figure it out first and then we are heading first to the Colosseum! Ciao!
Wednesday, April 8
to roma
Wednesday, April 8
April 6
Back in Athens, we heard about the horrible earthquake in central Italy over breakfast as we prepared to leave. We did some quick emailing and internet research and decided to go ahead as planned. We did some quick shopping downtown and then journeyed back to Patras to take the 15 hour (turned 19 hour with delays and confusion around 3 am) ferry. Then it was a few hours on a busy train to Rome.
April 7
We didn't do much sightseeing our first night (the train arrived at night) but Lexie was waiting for us at the station and so a glorious reunion of the girls of our travel family, aka "the nine" ensued. She had been traveling with her mom in Berlin and Prague. Chris was on a different train to Rome and met up with us the next morning. (That's Amanda, Brittany, Caroline, Chris, Joanna, Kaitlyn, Kathy, Lexie, and Rachel.) Our first night consisted of extreme laundry action...having worn only the clothes in my backpack for the whole travel time this far!! The people at the laundromat did our laundry for us while we ate ravioli and chilled in a nearby restaurant...so nice.
Smelling fresh and clean we headed to the Trevi fountain to see it at night...I had no idea it was part of a building! It's massive and surrounded by people and sellers but was a pretty huge, grand sight. We grabbed some gelato from a really nice man and it was basically the BEST we've had. I had banana and it was heavenly. We promised to come back...we did the next night. We took the metro there (our hostel was right near the main train station) but had to take a bus back as it was past midnight. On the way, our bus packed with passengers blew a tire with extreme force (luckily we were almost to our stop) and was tilted over on one side, I have a picture. Then it was off to bed to rest and prepare to tackle Vatican City the next morning!
Back in Athens, we heard about the horrible earthquake in central Italy over breakfast as we prepared to leave. We did some quick emailing and internet research and decided to go ahead as planned. We did some quick shopping downtown and then journeyed back to Patras to take the 15 hour (turned 19 hour with delays and confusion around 3 am) ferry. Then it was a few hours on a busy train to Rome.
April 7
We didn't do much sightseeing our first night (the train arrived at night) but Lexie was waiting for us at the station and so a glorious reunion of the girls of our travel family, aka "the nine" ensued. She had been traveling with her mom in Berlin and Prague. Chris was on a different train to Rome and met up with us the next morning. (That's Amanda, Brittany, Caroline, Chris, Joanna, Kaitlyn, Kathy, Lexie, and Rachel.) Our first night consisted of extreme laundry action...having worn only the clothes in my backpack for the whole travel time this far!! The people at the laundromat did our laundry for us while we ate ravioli and chilled in a nearby restaurant...so nice.
Smelling fresh and clean we headed to the Trevi fountain to see it at night...I had no idea it was part of a building! It's massive and surrounded by people and sellers but was a pretty huge, grand sight. We grabbed some gelato from a really nice man and it was basically the BEST we've had. I had banana and it was heavenly. We promised to come back...we did the next night. We took the metro there (our hostel was right near the main train station) but had to take a bus back as it was past midnight. On the way, our bus packed with passengers blew a tire with extreme force (luckily we were almost to our stop) and was tilted over on one side, I have a picture. Then it was off to bed to rest and prepare to tackle Vatican City the next morning!
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