For the sake of not having one MASSIVE blog post – I’ve broken this into three!

• Our Italy Trip: Part 1  – Flying to Italy & Tuscany
• Our Italy Trip: Part 2 – Rome (that’s where you are now)
• Our Italy Trip: Part 3 – Florence, Lake Como, Bellagio and Flying Home

Day 3: Roma!

Although it wasn’t part of our trip itenerary, we decided while we were in Italy we had to see Rome. Before we even went I booked a hotel for one night, and we planned on taking the train.

We woke up early this morning and planned to eat a quick breakfast and then catch an 8:00am train to Rome that connected through Florence.

When we got to the train station in Montecatini, there was a train already in the station, which we thought was ours, and we hopped on only to realize that we were going toward Pisa and not Florence. We had to get off at the next stop to buy another ticket and change our transfer, which unfortunately set us back about an hour and a half. Eventually, we made it to Rome around noon!

Side Note: The frecciarossa or “fast trains” in Italy were really amazing to me! The drive there from our hotel  would have taken us around 5 hours, and the train was relatively inexpensive, and got us there in just under three, including the transfer and all of the other stops we made. I really wish there was something more like this in the U.S.! I would love to make day trips to OBX or to New York from Richmond!

Anyway, when we got to the city, we were a bit paranoid just because of the sheer size of everything and by being completely out of our element. We didn’t want to pull out our maps too much or do anything that would make us stand out as tourists. We were more uncomfortable because we had to carry our backpacks with most all of our important belongings because we had planned on staying in a hotel in Rome for just that night. So, we decided to pick a place to eat to look at our maps at the table and make a plan of action.

We happened to stop in this really cute little pizzeria right before a crowd of people got there, and enjoyed some of the best weather we had during the whole trip! The sun was out and it was about 65 degrees outside!

Afterward, we planned to stop by a street vendor and buy a ticket for one of the hop-on hop-off tourist busses to be able to see the city and choose what we really wanted to see. Rome is somewhat small, but there are so many things that we wanted to see and we didn’t know if we could fit in everything we wanted during the day and half that we would be there. It was also way less expensive to get a “tour guide” from the bus because they gave us headphones to plug in that would tell us about the sites we were seeing as we passed them. To me this was the same thing as taking a go-cart up the Appalachian trail instead of hiking it. But given the time we had, I felt no shame.

We hopped off of the tour near where our hotel was located – Vatican City. We got lost on the way to our hotel. This is probably because we literally only had a printed Expedia reservation of the address (so a street name) and a tourist map that didn’t show all of the Vatican area where our hotel was (go figure). Next time we travel to Europe, I’m looking into an international phone plan.

Anyway, we had to stop into a coffee shop to ask for help. A barista helped us out by speaking Spanish with Goodman – turned out we were very close the whole time but just needed to make one more turn.😆  We got to the room and settled in and then made our way back out for a sunset visit to a great cafe, some window shopping, a visit to the Pantheon, Piazza Novana, a walk through some empty roman streets, and an empty St. Peter’s Square with a great night time view of the Vatican. My feet hurt so bad because I decided to wear my Converses (don’t wear Converse on cobblestone streets) and I actually got a little bit sunburnt from the lunch outside, but it was well worth it!

 

 

Day 4: Rome Part 2

The next morning, we checked out of our one-night hotel around 9. Then we walked down to the same cafe where the barista helped us and efficiently ordered our breakfast in Italian (it only took 4 days haha!) Then we kicked off the day’s activities at the Vatican because it was closest to our hotel. We stood in line for about an hour, but got to see the overwhelmingly enormous and beautiful buildings within the Vatican and it was definitely worth it. We kneeled and prayed in one of the chapels and it was really moving!

Having taken an awesome art history class in undergrad at JMU that focused on Renaissance and Baroque, I was seriously in awe of seeing the sculptures and frescos that I had studied come to life. I wish I had brushed up on these with my old textbooks (that I will never throw away btw) before we went! St. Peter’s Basilica was amazing. I don’t actually think you are supposed to take pictures in the Vatican, which I learned later, but I did manage to get a couple. I wish they truly demonstrated the gigantic size of everything – it’s impossible to capture in a picture!  I’m really happy I got a picture of Bernini’s Baldachin (3rd photo down) which marks the center of the dome in the church and is above St. Peter’s tomb in the grottoes below. Look how big it is compared to the people in front of it!

We also learned that the Vatican or Vatican City is technically it’s own country! And is therefore also the smallest foreign nation in the world! I wish we’d gotten another stamp in the passport!

 

After the Vatican, we jumped on the bus and found our way across the city to the colosseum and roman forum. Because it was the off season, we easily got in and were able to see the inside. I have to admit, it wasn’t as magnificent as I expected. Seeing as this is the top tourist destination in all of Italy, I guess I just expected it to be more intricate or something. Not that it wasn’t super cool, but I was much more impressed with the Roman forum that we saw later. (P.s. – please excuse my crazy hair, it was super windy!)

Then we walked over to the Roman Forum. It was such a surreal experience to see ruins and columns that were around in the BC years – so hard to believe those places are still around to see and touch! I’m honestly really surprised that they aren’t more carefully preserved or off limits to touch. You really can go in and walk through, touch and feel most everything! Very little ropes and barriers guard the ruins. I wish we took more photos! 

Afterward we walked to the Spanish Steps and the other major sightseeing stops in Rome and finished the day off at the Trevi Fountain. It’s kind of crazy how magnificent it is, and it’s just sitting in between several old buildings that look like regular houses in the middle of Rome. We were following signs to find it and thought we may have taken a wrong turn, and then we heard lots of people talking and the sound of flowing water. We turned the corner and sure enough stumbled upon the huge fountain. I will say, although it’s GORGEOUS, it’s also very very crowded! More than anything else we visited. I can’t imagine what it’s like in the summer! 

 

After the fountain we decided to head back toward the train station. Having walked well over 10 miles, we didn’t feel guilty whatsoever that we decided on another delicious lasagna and spaghetti dinner before catching a train back to Florence.