Note to self.. don't get behind on blogging, because it takes forever to catch up. After we went through the Vatican Museum, we went back around to take more pictures and we went into St. Peter's Basilica. This was one of the most amazing experiences I've had. There were beautiful monuments everywhere, people kneeling and praying in different areas, and mass and confession were going on. I think this meant so much to me because this is my faith and it was almost like I was at home. I was just in awe the whole time. Here are some of the many pictures I took!
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| I was excited that we were actually going inside! |
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| Swiss Guard! |
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| Mass was going on behind that altar. |
After this, we decided to reward all of our walking around with some tasty gelato. There is literally a gelato shop every five feet in Rome. For those of you who don't know, I have a huge sweet tooth, so I was in heaven. Also, a wonderful thing about Rome is that they have these fountains all along the streets that you can drink out of/ fill your water bottles. At first, we were a little skeptical, but it ended up being the best water. We headed back to our hostel, where we could finally check in and asked for a cheap Italian place to eat dinner. Luckily, there was a cute little Italian place where we got a discount. Authentic Italian food is just amazing..sorry Olive Garden. We finished the night playing card games and drinking wine at our hostel.
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| Obviously I did, too! |
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| Stanley loves gelato! |
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| They were everywhere! |
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| 92 Steps to our room..but at least it was a nice hostel! |
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| She was losing the game..if you can't tell by that face! |
The next day was going to be a busy one because we had so much that we wanted to see. First stop..the Colosseum. The Colosseum is
huge. I think the first time I got close to it, I just stood there, amazed at how big it was..and the fact that I was actually standing next to the
Colosseum! We got some tips from a friend at the hostel to go to the Roman Forum first, because the line was much shorter. All of this was just amazing to see! These places were built thousands of years ago and here we are just walking around them snapping pictures. I hate to compare it to a movie, but I think watching "Gladiator" helped me get a mental image of what went on in the Colosseum.
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| The Roman Forum..plus other ruins! |
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There used to be a wooden floor there and all of those walls
that were below it were where the animals
were kept during gladiator fights until they were released. |
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| We loved the Colosseum! |
After the Colosseum and Forum, we headed to meet up with my good friend David! He is studying abroad in Rome and it was so fun getting to see him. He knew a tad bit more about the city and so he walked around with us. We walked down one street and found pizza, gelato, and.. the Trevi Fountain! It was so pretty. And super crowded, but don't worry, we still got to get up close and throw our coins in.
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| Stanley is so lucky..don't you wish you could fit in my pocket? |
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| It was so good to see David! |
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| Making my wish. |
After some souvenir shopping, we headed to the Vittoriano, which is a monument dedicated to the first king of Italy, Vittorio Emmanuele II. We went to the top, where you could get a great view of the city.
Okay, I think this post is getting too long, so I'll sum up the rest of the trip. David had to leave us and so we headed to the Pantheon. Then we went to eat at another Italian restaurant, saw the Spanish Steps, got some gelato, and headed back to the hostel. It was a very fun weekend in Rome. I would definitely come back in the future to spend a little more time at each place. I think we walked about 40 miles the whole weekend..I would recommend wearing tennis shoes, not boots!
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| The Spanish Steps |
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This picture is for Laura Lee. I wanted to bring
it home, but it couldn't fit in my suitcase. |
These pictures are out of order..
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| We are so good at reading maps! |
