We flew into the Rome airport on Thursday a little after lunchtime. The airport was pretty far outside the city, so we took a train to the center of the city, which conveniently was on the same block as our hostel. That's the best, when you don't have to search high and low for the place you are staying!
We checked into the hostel, and then spent the evening walking around the city. We got our first Italian pizza (delicious...) and saw the Colosseum, many Roman ruins, Trevi Fountain, and the Steps of España. The city was beautiful at night, and it was amazing to actually be in Rome and seeing the ancient buildings!
Friday we took the metro out to the Vatican City and walked through St. Peter's Basilica, which was absolutely beautiful. We didn't get to see the Pope, but just being there was good enough. :) We also tried to visit the Vatican Museum so we could see the Sistine Chapel, but sadly it was closed for the day...
After our visit to the Vatican, we went back over to the Colosseum to take a tour of the inside. We had a hilarious Italian tour guide and the tour was a lot of fun. It is an amazing place to visit, especially when we were able to learn more about the history of it.
Afterward, we took another tour of the Roman Ruins nearby, but then were exhausted so we stopped for some lasagna for a very late lunch. I definitely enjoyed all the delicious Italian food all week! It was amazing...
We did lots of souvenir shopping that evening, enjoyed more of the sights and, of course, gelato and pizza. :)
Our last day in Rome, we made it back to the Vatican Museum to see the Sistine Chapel. Since it had been closed the day before and would be closed the next day because it was Sunday, the line was INSANE! We waited amongst the hundreds or thousands for 3 hours before we made our way into the museum. It was a very interesting place, but it was absolutely exhausting for me to make my way through the crowds. I'm normally not very claustrophobic, but this was a bit much, even for me!
We also made our way to the Pantheon before our train left for Florence. I really enjoyed Rome, but loved Florence even more. It was a beautiful, picturesque town with MUCH less chaos! We spent our first evening at our hostel enjoying our free pasta dinner and chatting with other people staying in the hostel. It was a very social place, and we had a great time.
The next day, we explored the city with a Spaniard named Marta who was also staying at the hostel that we had gotten to know the night before. She was very sweet and we had a great time. My favorite sights were the Cathedral, the bridges along the river, and a lookout point over the city. The lookout point also had the most beautiful garden that I think I have ever seen...the flowers were huge and so pretty.
We had a great trip, that unfortunately had to end with a full day of traveling back to Granada. We made it back pretty late Monday night, and I had a number of assignments and presentations awaiting me back at school. Thankfully, I'm done with most of them now, with only a paper left for tomorrow.
Tomorrow night, my friends and I are looking forward to another visit to the Arab Baths in Granada (YAY!) and a trip to the beach for Friday and Saturday. With all my traveling, I've lost a bit of my tan...better get that back before I leave in NINETEEN DAYS!!
Well, better get out and enjoy the beautiful weather...Here are my pictures of Italy. Enjoy!
Just an interesting fact, Rick and I visited Rome and Florence too. For us, Florence was much more crowded than Rome! But we were there on Easter Sunday and Monday so that probably had something to do with it. I loved looking at your pictures! It was like I was visiting again!
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