rome wasn’t built in a day, [i’m sure you’ve never heard that before] but i do feel as if i conquered it in one.
my day started bright and early at the roman colosseum. it’s breathtaking and fascinating all at once. i once again turned to trusty rick steves and took his advice to get there in the morning before the lines backed up. rick is quite the genius. we walked right in. well, waited in line for maybe 3 minutes, then walked right in. the first thing that caught our eye [aside from the massive structure itself] was the prominent cross easily seen from the entryway. from afar it’s all you can see. everything else is shadowed by the long hallway. it’s a pretty incredible sight.
we continued to give ourselves our very own walking tour as we were taken aback by our surroundings. it’s incredible to think our modern day arenas [of course we use the arena to play football and other sports, no one is fighting to their death in a literal sense these days] are so similar to this structure that started in 70 ad. pretty amazing. we walked through the stadium seating and everywhere we could until we unanimously decided we wanted to take the underground tour. unfortunately you have to pay extra for access to the underground area and you have to take the guided tour. even more unfortunate, by the time we finished our self-guided tour and headed to the counter to purchase tickets, the english version was sold out. we were so determined to take the tour and explore the underground area, we paid for it in spanish. side note* neither of us speak spanish.
so i am by no means fluent in spanish, but can comprehend basic conversational spanish. “dónde está el baño? cuánto cuesta este?” see, nailed it. however, when it comes to comprehending an entire history lesson in spanish? i’m a deer in headlights. so we faked it.
we just had fun with it. we laughed a little when others laughed, smiled when others smiled and threw the occasional nod in to show our understanding. it worked and we got away with it. we missed out on all the history being explained by the guide [we read about it prior] but got to see everything which was well worth it and made our colosseum experience that much better.
after the colosseum and our spanish lesson, we headed over to the roman forum. this place is incredible. there was so much history in these ancient governmental ruins. here we took the rick steve’s walking tour which was just perfect. given the opportunity, we probably would have spent the entire day in the forum. there’s so much to see and learn. do make sure you wear your walking shoes, it’s a very large area.
our next roman adventure was visiting the vatican and sistene chapel. women do need to have their shoulders covered and pants or skirts extending to the knee to enter. i carried a light sweater with me and bought a scarf to wrap about my waist as a skirt. [it was too hot to run around in pants all day!]
the vatican has some stunning visuals. in fact, you have to keep your head on a constant 360 swivel to see everything. every inch of everything is glimmering in gold or painted with an incredible masterpiece. it’s a lot to take in.
as many heavily tourist locations are, the vatican was crowded. there were many people trying to see the same things and push their way to the front to get the best view. this is something you just have to get used to as a tourist.
we toured the vatican for about 1-2 hours before making it into the sistene chapel where i spent the entire time with my head tilted back just staring in pure admiration at michelangelo’s creation. it’s incredible. the word incredible doesn’t even do it justice. what a true talent he had. the images which are not images but biblical stories give the illusion of a 3d image. it’s just incredible. i could have stared up at that amazing ceiling for hours just watching the stories unfold.
as we left the vatican and all it’s beauty behind we [very tiredly] made our way to a delicious italian dinner and ate every bite put in front of us. after all the walking around rome, we worked up quite the appetite. once our fuel was restored, we strolled around the beautiful streets of rome and stumbled upon the pantheon and toured inside. from there we made our way to trevi fountain. the fountain was being worked on and unfortunately was not running. you could still see the amazing structure and awe at its’ beauty, but it was a bummer.
i dug around for a coin in my purse because water or no water, i was going to have my mary-kate and ashley moment and make a wish in that fountain [kids of the 90s– you get me, right!?]. i couldn’t find anything so i sadly let me dream go and just took in the sights instead. not moments later, my sweet and charming boyfriend shows up with chocolate and coins. my mary-kate and ashley moment happened after all 🙂
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tips for rome
- wear comfortable walking shoes, you will do a lot of walking
- dress appropriately or plan ahead for the vatican. they will deny you entrance to the sistene chapel if your shoulders are not covered and your jeans/shorts/dress do not cover your knees.
- carry a water bottle around. rome has free water spouts all around the city. with all the walking you do it’s important to stay hydrated.
- see it all, it’s incredible.
