Italy Post 3: Rome Take One

Rome

Take One

Rome, what a beautiful city, full of history and full of life. Modern butted up against ancient.  History around every corner, even under the modern, bustling streets.   It is such an amazing place, you really have to be there to experience its charm and fully understand how breathtaking it is.  

For now,  you can bear with me as I try to share with you some of what James and I experienced during our 7 days in the "eternal city".  I am not going to be able to cover even half of what we saw or did but I will share the highlights and encourage you (if you haven't already) to go sometime and experience it for yourself.

Our trip began on a Monday.  We said "arrividerci" to Venice and boarded a train bound for Rome.  After a 3 hour train ride we arrived in Roma, grabbed our lightly packed luggage, and walked to our bed and breakfast.  Once we arrived and got checked in, we unpacked and got settled in.  Then we checked out our map and decided to spend the rest of the late afternoon and evening walking around the heart of the city.  Luckily, our bed and breakfast was within walking distance to most of Rome's largest attractions.

Some of the Pretty sites of Rome :)

We headed straight down to the Colosseum.  We walked through a park and saw the Colosseum for the first time from a great vantage point.  We stopped, took pictures, and then walked closer to check it out.  We decided not to go ahead and go inside that day because it was only going to be open for another 30 minutes, and we didn't want to rush.  So we headed on.

Our first view of the Colosseum

From the Colosseum, we walked by the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill.  Then we just continued wandering for a while.   Once our feet were pretty much exhausted,  we stopped and grabbed some dinner and then headed back to our hotel to rest up for a full day of sightseeing the next day.

The Colosseum and the Roman Forum 

The next day, we grabbed some cappuccino's and pastries from a place just down the street from our bed and breakfast, and then we headed straight for the Colosseum.  We decided to go ahead and pay a little extra for a guided tour and it was well worth it.  We got a great well-informed tour guide (originally from Boston)  and had a relatively small group to wander  with.   We started in the Roman Forum and I've got to say I was never so grateful to have someone with me who knew what we were looking at.  

My morning cappuccino! 

The Roman Forum is basically now what appears to be the ruins of a bunch of old buildings.  However, this area was once the most powerful seat of government in the world.  Think Julius Ceaser, Augustus, Mark Antony, and Constantine and you've got a small idea of some of the powerful men who lived and worked near the Roman Forum many years ago.  

Part of the Roman Forum

Without a guide, I would not have known which buildings were which and why they were so important.  I basically would have said, "Oh, that's a nice pile of rocks...wonder what that used to be?" With the guide, I learned what everything was and used to be. I also heard many stories of things that transpired hundreds of years ago right on or near the spot where I currently stood.  

Temple of Antoninus and Faustina

Temple of Saturn

After we spent a good amount of time in the Forum, we headed for the Colosseum.  Now, there is something surreal about being at the Colosseum.  You've learned about it in school, you've seen the photo's, its intrigued and mesmerized you...and now you are there.  It is a pretty neat feeling. 

I am assuming most of you know at least a basic history of the Colosseum and have heard of the gladiators. But.... here is my little history lesson in case you didn't know.  The Colosseum was started by the Emperor Vespasian in 72 AD.  It was completed by his son Domitian sometime in the 80's AD. It was originally capable of seating 50,000 spectators for viewing such events as animal fights, gladiatorial combats,battle re-enactments, and public executions. It ceased being used for such practices in the beginning of the medieval period.  The Colosseum you see today has been destroyed over the years by fire, earthquakes, and pillaging for its marble, statues, and other precious stones. Our tour guide told us that parts of the Colosseum are actually sinking down now and out of fear for it being destroyed they are planning on starting restoration on a very large scale sometime this year. We were glad we were there to see and experience it before all the scaffolding and mayhem of working on such an old gigantic building began.  

There are numerous other fascinating details about the Colosseum, including how big it is, how the different classes of people were arranged different seating, how the animals and gladiators were brought up from below onto the stage, how many people died there, etc.  If you feel like learning more...google it!!  It is fascinating...to me anyway!

Vatican City

Well, since I just told you so much about a tour that was totally wonderful and worth every penny, I will now tell you about a tour that was pretty much the opposite of that.  On our 3rd day in Rome, we decided to head to Vatican City.  We had heard wonderful things about the Vatican and well...not Catholic...were excited to see it.  

When we got closer we looked for a tour group to join. We found one.  It was relatively small but unbeknownst to us, they would drag us around (somewhat aimlessly) for the better part of 2 hours while more and more people joined our group.  When it was all said and done I believe we had 60 people in our group.   Finally, after 2 hours of being in the hot sun, squashed and fighting our way through the ridiculous crowds at the Vatican we began our tour of the Vatican Museum.  

Our tour guide was very short, and spoke English but...was rather hard to understand.  As we made our way through the impressive Vatican Museum it was a struggle to make it through the crowds of people and keep an eye on where she was going.  I felt so very much like a cow being herded to my death.  It was pretty awful.  The most amusing part of this whole experience was watching other people in our group react to how bad it was.  Man, some people get really rude and mean when they are in a bad situation :).  

Anyways, the Vatican Museum was large and had many interesting things but unfortunately I missed most of it.  I was rewarded when we got to the end and saw Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel.  Talk about breathtaking.  You really could stay there all day and see new details the entire time.  It lived right up to the hype for me.  I have no pictures of the Sistine Chapel because they are super strict about not taking them so...just go one day...see for yourself. 

Vatican Museum

Vatican Museum

After we left our tour group, James and I quickly headed to St. Peter's Basilica to stroll through that.  Well, it was huge and gorgeous and impressive!  However, it was also packed and after having fought crowds for so long we didn't stay for too much longer.  But we were impressed by it. 

Inside St. Peter's Basilica

Inside St. Peter's Basilica

St. Peter's Basilica

Now, if I scared anyone with my horror story of Vatican City, I apologize.  It is definitely worth going to.  I have heard some wonderful stories of people visiting and thinking it was the best part of being in Rome...so try it.  You will miss out if you don't.  Just maybe research the tour groups first oh...and don't go on a day where the Pope has given an audience earlier in the day.... we didn't realize that we were doing that but I don't think that helped it be any less busy.  

View of the Forum and Colosseum

One of Rome's busy busy streets :)

Ahh....Roma!! 

Well, I have tons more to share on Rome but it's really late right now so I think I'm going to leave you with just our experiences arriving in Rome, and visiting the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Vatican City.  I will try to continue our Italy trip with more on Rome soon! Enjoy!