Roma!

We spent the past weekend in Rome. THE Rome. The eternal city Rome. The Ancient Roman Rome. The Lizzie McGuire Movie Rome (I can’t be the only one who remembers that movie).



Did it live up to the expectations placed upon it?



Yes. Yes it did.



Rome was absolutely beautiful. Our hotel was next to the train station, and since train stations are notoriously dirty no matter what city they are in, the place we stayed at was not nearly as gorgeous as the rest of the city. However, a 15 minute walk got us to the central part of Rome, where it truly deserves every celebratory title ever received.

We arrived in Rome on our first day around noon. After an hour break for lunch and relaxing (riding buses are exhausting, don't ask me how or why!) we embarked on a walking tour of the city. One of the first major sites we came to was the Pantheon. We took fifteen minutes to walk around inside, visit the grave site of Raphael, and marvel at the size of the building itself.

outside the Pantheon

During our walking tour, we stopped and got some gelato - probably the best I've had in Europe thus far. Gelato is the perfect snack for a hot day of walking! We eventually came to a bridge offering beautiful views of the Tiber River that runs through Rome.

the Tiber River from Ponte Sisto

There were people playing music (busking) on the bridge, and some friends and I took our time taking pictures and enjoying the general scenery. We got separated from the group for a short amount of time, but it allowed us to take some pictures of the beautiful streets in the area!

For anyone traveling to Rome, I highly recommend the area surrounding Santa Maria in Trastevere. A visit to the basilica is a must, as the mosaics inside are breath-taking. There are several restaurants and shops to see, and it felt less tourist-y and the pace of life was a lot slower than in central Rome. Naturally we decided to stay in this area after our tour ended. We did some exploring, got some drinks, and had dinner on a covered back porch of a restaurant.

mosiacs in Santa Maria

The next day, we were up early again for a trip to the Vatican. The museum was one of the coolest museums I've ever been to. In my mind, the building itself could constitute an entire exhibit all on it's own.

view outside the museum

ceiling in the map room

a map in the map room

My personal favorite room in the Vatican Museum was a room that contained several large tapestries. The detailing on them was simply amazing! Picture do not do it justice, but here's on anyways so you get an idea of just how amazing these artists were.

 

 and I can't even stitch a straight line!

After lunch, we walked around the outside of the Vatican to St. Peter's Square. The view of the Cathedral is, in a word, intimidating. It is so large (the largest Catholic Church in the world!) and so magnificent.

St. Peter's Square

Five of us decided to wait in line to go inside. After 45 minutes of standing in line, we were finally inside. Was the wait worth it? Yes. I would've waited two hours if it meant getting to see the inside of St. Peter's Basilica. The inside was stunning. Everything was larger than life, yet done with incredible detailing. Pictures and words could never capture how beautiful the inside is.

inside St. Peter's

Since the Vatican took up the larger part of the day, that night was uneventful - we got dinner at a small restaurant near our hotel, split some wine between four of us in honor of our last night in Rome, and I went to bed early.

The next day we visited the Roman forum. We stopped by the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine on our way there. The Roman forum was the birthplace of Ancient Roman civilization, and thus the birthplace of Rome itself. One of the coolest points on our tour of the Roman forum was seeing where Marc Antony gave the famous "Friends, Romans, countrymen" speech - in 10th grade English class I was the designated Marc Antony while reading Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," and I had to recite the speech in front of all my classmates.

 

 panorama of the Roman Forum

a little lizard I found sunbathing 

After our tour, we decided to visit the inside of the Colosseum, which did not disappoint.

 

waiting outside the Colosseum

inside the Colosseum

After our three days in Rome, I was exhausted - we definitely had a full itinerary - yet it was one of the best trips I've ever made. Rome lived up to every expectation I had of it, often even surpassing said expectations. I've already made plans in my head to visit Rome again in my lifetime.