Roma

Considering everything going on, I have enjoyed my time in Rome. We agreed that the best way to see the city is to walk and we haven't been shy about it; averaging 20 miles a day... I brought my pedometer :-)

Sunday evening I was pretty emotional and exhausted so we had dinner and went to bed, not making it to the Vatican on Easter like we wanted. Monday we walked all around Vatican city then down the main street leading to the river, winding through random streets (on purpose) to the Pantheon. We continued to the Piazza Venezia and Campidoglio which is the beginning of the Roman forum. We didn't want to fight the crowds or pay for tour guides, who walk really slow, so we saw everything on our own. Some of the time, we didn't really know what we were looking at, but we pulled our Roman history knowledge together, read little placard signs and could figure out a lot. If we didn't know what something was, or what it represented, we sort of made up our own stories. Some stories were logical explanations and some were purely for our own entertainment! haha We walked down to the Colosseum but didn't go in because it was closing soon. From there, we walked all the way back to our room which took about 1 1/2 hours. It felt great to walk until it began to rain and we FROZE the rest of the way.

We are staying at an adorable Bed & Breakfast that is a 2 minute walk to the Vatican! It's in an older building and has 4 bedrooms. We were the only people here for most of the week so it was really nice, it feels like home! The lady that owns it is incredibly nice and has been extremely helpful. Every morning we have toast, sliced ham and provolone, yogurt, sometimes fruit, little cookies, cake, fresh OJ, and coffee. When the owner is here she makes us a pot of coffee... american style!!!! but other days we had espresso. We were blown away with our breakfast and how adorable this place is (much different than Paris haha). Of course, I took pictures!

Tuesday we decided to spend the day seeing ancient Rome, beginning with the Colossuem. It was amazing. We were kind of confused over what was the original part of the structure and what was created during its reconstruction. Its was incredible to see how large and detailed the ampetheater once was! (When we got home that night we googled all of our questions! haha) We also saw the Fontana di Trevi which is a big, beautiful fountain with a lot of white sculptures which is literally on the side of a building. Then we walked along the main road that leads to and from the Colosseum all the way up to a huge plaza and (what we think) was the city entrance at one time.

Wednesday we walked though a beautiful park called Villa Borghese attempting to find the Galleria Borghese. By the time we found it, it had been sold out for the day. The park has multiple galleries, museums, sculptures, a zoo and ponds so we decided to wonder around. We went through the Modern Art Gallery and found a really cute pond with little row boats and ducks. It was cute to watch the little kids and older adults feed the ducks! Even the ducks in Rome are prettier than any I have seen in the states, their colors were very vibrant! The modern art gallery had maybe 3 rooms of actual modern art and the rest was random eras of Italian art. It wasn't what we were expecting but it was still nice. (I forgot to mention, apparently it is "cultural awareness week" so all of the museums and galleries have been free :-) We had no idea, but were pretty excited about it! After the park we walked all the way across town to a street that we heard was "a great place to hang out" but didn't find much. Deciding to head home, instead of walking the main streets downtown, we took a random street on our map that went through (what we thought would be) a park. It ended up being an amazing walk! It was uphill most of the way but we got to see amazing panaramic views of the city and random monuments we never knew about! It wasn't crowded with tourists but quiet and serene with amazing views! Great detour!

We wanted to save the Vatican museum for a day it rained, which ended up being today (Thursday), so it worked out perfectly! We spent a long time waiting in line to get it, continuously being crowded and pushed around... as if the Sistine Chapel was going to run away! The Chapel was as beautiful as I thought it would be though. There are so many different images I could have stayed in there for hours; minus the smelly foreigners, loud teenages sneaking pictures and constant pushing from all sides. We also saw the roman, modern religious and egyptian art. There is a real mummy in its sarcophagus, kind of eerie, but awesome! Aside from the Sistine Chapel, the modern religious art was my favorite. The depictions of Christ are different than traditional religious art and the warm, vibrant Italian colors are beautiful!

It's been nice having 5 days to see Rome. We have been able to see the sights and wander around and enjoy ourselves without being in a big hurry. The food has been so delicious too, I dread returning to Spain. It has been SO good to hang out with Margaret too. We've been great friends since high school but are both so busy and are rarely home at the same time, she lives in San Diego now, so it's hard to spend time together. It's been GREAT to catch up, especially in an amazing place like Rome!

Well, that was my trip to Rome! If I think of funny little stories or new things to share once I load my pictures, I'll write again. Caio!