Last weekend I went to Rome (first of all, who gets to go on a weekend trip to Rome?!) and by last weekend I mean I’ve been home for a week and somehow haven’t gotten around to writing this. Rome was absolutely amazing, so much to do and see, and somehow I think the group of us managed to squeeze a good chunk of it into about 2 days.
We got there at around 2pm on Friday and immediately went to our hostel, The Yellow, to drop off our stuff and get to sightseeing. The Hostel was only about 5 blocks from the Termini, which made getting around the city by metro really easy. We decided to explore as much as we could the first night we were there, and went past The Piazza della Repubblica and Le Quattre Fontane and the Quirinale building (where Giorgio Napolitano, the President of the Republic, lives) on our search for the Trevi Fountain.
When we got the to Quirinale we couldn’t quite figure out where to go next, so we had to ask directions from one of the guards. I think its safe to say that law enforcement in every country is extremely intimidating, and somehow 3 semesters of Italian seemed to fail us as Gina asked, “Excuse me, dov’� la Fontana Trevi?” Hello American tourists.
When we finally found the Trevi it was so much more amazing than I could have imagined. Pictures really don’t do it justice. We stood around in awe and took tons of pictures and threw coins into the fountain. Well everyone else threw coins into the fountain but I missed. How you miss the entire Trevi fountain is a mystery to me, yet somehow I did it, good thing its not bad luck to miss…I don’t think.
Eventually we decided to explore around the fountain a little. There were all of your typical souvenir shops that you find near all the tourist attractions. Selling ITALIA t-shirts and jackets, snow globes, postcards, and every other dust collector you could think of. Once we got a little off of the beaten path, however, there were a bunch of really small shops that had authentic Italian made products. Eventually we got to the Spanish Steps, and of course took way to many pictures and then ran to the top, where there was a beautiful view of the city at night.
Saturday morning we woke up early in order to get to Vatican City to beat the crowds. On the walk to the Vatican there were tons of people trying to sell you tickets to a guided tour of St. Peters Basilica and the Vatican Museum for about 40 Euro a person because there was a “hour and thirty minute line, and this was such a good deal”. Good thing we didn’t buy into that, cause it took us about 15 minutes to get into St. Peters and the Museum. I think the fact that it was a rainy day really worked to our advantage. On the way into the Basilica you walk through the part of the Vatican where all of the past Popes have been buried. All together this was not all that interesting to be honest, but when you got to Pop John Paul II’s that was a different story. They had a separate section roped off where people could pray, and it was packed with religious people from around the world.
The Sistine Chapel was breathtaking. I really do not know how to describe it enough to do it justice. But I managed to sneak a few pictures of it for everyone to see. If you are ever in Rome and only have time to see one thing, go see the Sistine Chapel.
On Saturday we also managed to see the Pantheon, and the Colosseum , by the end of the day I was completely exhausted, and our feet were killing us but it was totally worth it. Rome was such an amazing city, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to going home to Perugia by Sunday.
Location: Rome, Italy