Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Rome-Day 2
Our second morning in Rome we were pleasantly greeted by staff members bringing breakfast into our room. We ate and got ready for the morning shortly after since my mom and I had a culinary tour to go on. We met up with our tour guide, a young Swedish staff member from the Daphne Inn, who would be taking us around Rome with just the three of us. We left and began our journey around all of the great foods of Rome. We took the metro to the opposite side of town to go first to the fresh produce market. The market was quite large and was full of small vendors selling fresh chicken, beef, fish, fruit and vegetables. It was pretty surprising to see chicken legs sprawled out in boxes just out in the open air, but apparently there is not a huge concern with letting meat sit out for long periods of time (something I have learned being in Spain as well). Past all of the meats there was endless fresh fish, clams, and shrimp. Fresh fruit was to fallow and colorful vegetables were just down the aisle. It was fun to check out all the different kinds of food they had there. From the market, we made our way to a pastry store to get some famous Sicilian pastry and from there to bread shop. On the way in-between we also went and checked out a small flower stand. The bread store had some great fresh baked bread that the Daphnee Inn actually uses for their breakfasts. We ate a bit of bread and pizza and then moved on to a wine store to look at the abundant selections of wines from all over Italy and around the world. After the wine store, we went to check out some Italian cheeses. Although I am not a huge fan of aged cheeses, the kind that we sampled was made with wine and was actually quite good. After getting our fair share of tastes of each store, we came back to the Inn to meet up with my dad. My mom and I really enjoyed the tour and it was a nice break to do something with just the two of us. Our tour guide was really sweet and it was fun to hear about her experiences of moving from Sweden to Rome as well.
My parents and I had previously decided that this day would be our time to check out the ruins side of Rome with both the coliseum and roman ruins. We took the metro to the Coliseum since it was on the other side of town, and walked from there to the entry. We were bombarded by people wanting to take us on a tour, but we just wanted to tour it on our own so we made our way to the gates and waited for about 20 minutes to get in. As you can imagine, the coliseum is amazing. It was a lot bigger than I had expected, and took us over an hour just to walk through it. The way that the coliseum was structured was quite impressive as well. From the way that the seating is done (something that my dad pointed out of course) was genius, as well as the chambers below the main floor where they kept the animals and people before they came out to fight. We spent a good chunk of the morning enjoying the sunshine and taking in the entirety of the coliseum and its beauty. After the coliseum, we grabbed a bite to eat and then waited to meet up with Ginny and her mom. They came and met us at the front of the coliseum and we had the opportunity to introduce my parents to Ginny's mom as well as catch up on our trip had been thus far. We decided to meet up for dinner and then went our separate ways. My parents and I went to check out the old roman city ruins and spent the rest of the afternoon walking through there. At first I didn't think it would take very long, but with so much to see, we ended spending a few hours just wandering through the old city. All of the old rooms, gardens and columns were really neat to look at and I enjoyed that part of our visit very much. After we finished our time at the ruins, we made our way back to the Inn and waited for Ginny and her mom to come. When they arrived, we sat around in the hotel for an hour drinking wine and talking about our past travels. We came to later find out that during that time there had been some more after shocks from the earthquake that were felt in Rome, but luckily we were not alarmed by any of them. From the Inn, we went to find an authentic Italian meal for supper. We were told to head to a certain restaurant and decided to take the advice and eat there. The dinner was a more authentic Italian restaurant and wasn't anything too fancy, but the food was still good. It was a lot to fun to just sit with Ginny and her mom and get caught up on everything since Ginny and I had been away from each other for a week. After dinner, we went our separate ways and came back to the Inn for a good nights rest.
Rome day 3
Our last day in Rome was one full of plenty of things to see. We got up bright and early to meet Ginny and her mom at the Vatican in order to attend mass with the Pope. We had previously ordered tickets for the event and were excited to see the Pope live. We got there around 9:00 so we could get a good seat considering there were thousands of people waiting to see him. The mass began at 10:30 when the Pope came in and went through the crowds waving and then resided in his big chair at the front of the crowd. From there, he began mass, in 5 different languages mind you. It was neat to see the actual Pope as well as experience a mass during holy week. I was impressed by his ability to speak 5 different languages and by all the people who came from all over the world to see him. It was a long ceremony, but was well worth it. After mass, we got lunch and then made our to go to the Sistine Chapel. It took us a little while to get there since we kept getting talked to by tour people, but we eventually made it in and bought our tickets. Ginny and her mom were in a hurry since they flew out for Paris that afternoon, so we split ways from there and said our goodbyes. My parents and I walked through the Vatican museum and made our way towards the Sistine chapel. Although I am sure that it is very busy year round, the museum was packed with people who were visiting for Holy Week. I tried my best to ignore the crowds and really take in my surroundings, but it does become hard when there are so many people around you all the time. The Vatican museum was beautiful and the artwork that lined the hallways leading into the Sistine chapel were amazing as well. We had to wait a half an hour to finally get into the Sistine Chapel, but it was well worth the time. You are not allowed to talk or take pictures in the chapel, and I think that really helps to keep it more of a sacred place. Apparently, Michael Angelo had originally turned down the offer to paint the Sistine chapel since the original place had been a horse stables for the Pope, but eventually decided to do it. The ceiling itself is breathtaking. You can see the progress of biblical stories that line the walls, the mural of a depiction of heaven and hell, and of course the infamous central ceiling painting of Adam and God reaching towards one another. We stood with our necks cranked back for about a half an hour taking in the awe of the Sistine chapel, and then eventually left to exit the museum. It was late in the afternoon by the time that we left the Vatican, so we decided to go back to our hotel to get cleaned up before dinner. I took a nap and showered while my parents got ready for dinner as well. We walked around town for a bit and then finally settled on a Scottish pub. It was a little hard at first since not only was the place really loud, but our waitress didn't know any Spanish or English, so ordering food was a bit of chore but we made it through without any big problems. We enjoyed a more normal meal and sat around and talked well into the evening. After dinner we came back to the hotel and began packing to leave for Sorrento in the morning. It was an amazing three days in Rome and we were so thankful for all that we got to see!
- comments