The train from Florence to Rome was amazing! We had such beautiful views of the countryside!! Getting to the hotel in Rome was easy and when we arrived Jason's bag was waiting for us!!! The Daphne Veneto was another great hotel - highly recommend!
Once we got settled we walked around and ended up at the Spanish Steps, which was close to our hotel.
It was great "people watching" again. I had to stop and find a hair straightener because mine stopped working with our converter. So, luckily, there was a place right by the steps. We ended up stopping for dinner at a place right by our hotel and sat outside. This was our best dinner!! The pasta was homemade and the wine was wonderful!! We had such a great first night in Rome!
Wednesday we got up and jumped on the Metro to get over to the Colossseum, Roman Forum and Palantine Hill. We started at the Palantine Hill because the lines are not long there and the same ticket can be used at the Colosseum, which meant we could skip those lines. The Palantine Hill goes on forever! It is basically an archaeological garden full of ruins of imperial palaces. It was pretty amazing to see.
At the end of our walk through Palantine Hill we got to see some amazing views over the Roman Forum and Colosseum.
Next we went down to the Roman Forum, which was one of my favorite places the entire trip. It is hard to appreciate the Forum in pictures but it was so awesome to stand in this area and think about who stood there before us. We were just steps away from where Julius Caesar's funeral pyre burned for 7 days in 44 B.C. Pretty neat!
After the Forum we ended at the Colosseum. For Jason and I, these monuments were our favorite part. We enjoyed the art but these historical places are so interesting to see in person! Here are some pictures - we took a lot!!
After the Colosseum I was exhausted but Jason wanted to walk to see the Circus Maximus, which turned out to be nothing much to see! Haaa!
We then walked and walked until we came upon the Victor Emmanuel Monument and the tomb of the unknown soldier, which was HUGE! It was incredible to see though!
We went back to the hotel after that to rinse off and relax for a bit before dinner. At dinner Jason ordered fettuccine alfredo, which was so good! He was nice enough to share with me. Then we stopped on the way home for some more gelato!!!
Thursday - day 7 of our trip! We started at the Pantheon. This was a Roman temple dedicated to all of the gods. The original temple was built in 27 B.C. but after a couple of fires the structure that stands today was rebuilt around A.D. 120. It looks pretty simple on the outside (simple for Italy standards) but inside is beautiful!
Inside you see such a beautiful dome and amazing tombs. There is the Tomb of Victor Emmanuel II and Umberto I - the first two kings of Italy. Also, you can find the tomb of Raphael. Here is a picture of his tomb:
From the Pantheon we walked over to the famous Piazza Navona. It wasn't too busy but has great cafes and shops on the outer edges plus great fountains in the middle. We stopped and had some pizza for lunch and watched all the people!
We also walked over to Campo de'Fiori, which a wonderful outdoor market for anything really! They had fresh fruits and veggies, fish, shoes, plates and clothes!
Then, we started toward the Vatican and St. Peter's Basiilica. It wasn't a long walk and we got to see the Tiber River.
Walking up the street and seeing St. Peter's is such an amazing view!!!
We decided to start at the Vatican Museum and then come back to St. Peter's. We had NO line at the Vatican, which was shocking since we heard so many stories of people standing in line for hours! The layout was a tad bit confusing but we got to see everything we wanted. The hallways leading up to the Sistine Chapel are breathtaking!!!
They did build up the suspense though....we kept walking and walking and every room said "This way to Sistine Chapel." It was hard to sit and really appreciate the Sistine since it wasn't a huge room and there were so many people in there. We were surprised at how small the Creation of Adam was. But, it was still wonderful to see it in person.
We then went back to St. Peter's and the line to get in was so incredibly long we decided not to go in. We will always be back!! We took the Metro back over by our hotel and walked to the Trevi Fountain so we could see it during the day. Such an amazing fountain!
We went back to our hotel to rinse off - we were walking so much and the weather was so warm we were getting a workout every day! We decided to go back to our new favorite place - the restaurant we went to our first night in Rome. We ended up sitting next to a man eating alone so of course a conversation got started when he found out we were from the states and it was our 5-year anniversary. His name was George and he worked for the U.S. Embassy, which is always a nice connection to have. He was very nice and even gave us his cell phone # if we needed anything. Special Agent George was a great guy to meet!
After dinner we decided to walk over to a cafe and have a drink to wind down. Then we figured we should go and experience a pub in Italy! We walked a few blocks and found Old Bell Pub.
We went in and there weren't any people there so we had one beer and called it a night.
Friday, our last full day in Rome we decided to take it easy and just walk around - no schedule, no lines, no fuss! We went and walked through the gardens by the Borghese Museum. It was so quiet, relaxing and beautiful!
We finally realized we were back at the top of the Spanish Steps and found this wonderful area that had great views over the city!
We finished with some shopping at the bottom of the Spanish Steps and then walked back to get ready for dinner. We had reservations at Il Chianti, which was suggested by some friends who visited in March. The crostini wasn't that good but the soup and pasta was delicious!! We were so full! The restaurant was around the corner from the Trevi Fountain so we went back and tossed our coins in and made our wish to visit again!
Overall, we had such a wonderful vacation! It was so hard to come home!! The food was excellent, the sights were incredible and we hope to return sooner rather than later!!
