ROMA:
Where we stayed: The Welcome Residents Hotel. This was not actually a hotel, it was an apartment building. While we had all of the comforts and services of a hotel, the room we stayed in was like a very small studio apartment. It was nice to have stayed in a place so close to Termini Station (where you can find cheap food). It was clean and the staff was very friendly--they spoke English very well and weren't completely insulted by our broken Italian.
What we did/saw: I am convinced that Jon and I walked about 340689743068 miles--all entirely worth it for what we were able to see and experience:) First and foremost, we saw the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. After taking the advice of a 2006 tour book, we arrived outside the Vatican around 7am with the expectation that the doors opened at 8:45am. Were it not for a native that was kind enough to inform us that 1) we were in the tour group line and 2) that the doors didn't open to guests without reservations until 10am, we would have had a problem on our hands... So we killed some time at a cafe (where I had the BEST caffe con latte EVER) until we saw some tourists start to queue up. As it turns out, we were let in a little after nine since there weren't as many tour groups. Nice. The Vatican Museums were beautiful, but the coup-de-gras had to be the Sistine Chapel. Jon and I sat agape for quite a while staring up at the ceiling. It was absolutely breath-taking. We paused only to rest our necks and talk about how unbelievable it was that we were sitting IN THE SISTINE CHAPEL marveling at priceless beauty.
We also self-guided our way through St. Peter's Basilica, where we saw the Pieta.... It was enough to draw the breath out of both of our lungs. The Pieta is probably the most beautiful sculpture the world has ever known. And we saw it. And photographed it. Although that proved to be a little difficult since it was encased in its own private room--dimly lit behind several inches of bullet-proof glass. None-the-less, we stood for as long as we could in front of it, then wandered around the rest of the interior. We also happened to meet some people from the states in our efforts to find english speaking tourists to take our picture. Very nice women from Tenessee.
Other sights included the Coloseum, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain. We'll post pictures as soon as we can. We also decided that a trip to Rome wouldn't be complete without going to the Opera! Bravo!!! We sat in a box with two other women from London, and while we had no idea what the actors were saying, we had a great time watching the plot unfold and clapping enthusiastically with the rest of the audience at the encouragement of the Maestro. SO FUN!!!
How we got around: The subway system in Rome turned out to be a very convenient mode of transportation for us. The ticket machines were English-friendly, and it was fairly inexpensive to get around. Short of the metro, we walked everywhere. Great exercise, and probably one of the better ways to see Italy.
Favorite Quotes:
Jon: "Nobody sculpts anymore. Nobody takes a slab of marbel, a hammer and chisel, and makes it look like Jesus."
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