Quando A Roma...

O when in Rome...so I decided before I left that I would probably make Rome my last major stop in Italy! I knew that I definitely wanted to make it to the large and impressive city, and I decided to add it on to the end since I was heading south to Siena anyway! I am glad for many reasons that I saved it for the end because since this was my 4th week in Italy, I was getting a little tired traveling around so much (especially when I went to 4 places the week before), but Rome was just so different that the trip kinda refreshed me making it extremely exciting! I was there for 3 days, but I could easily go back for a week or so! The city is big, and is so full of ancient history! I mean, when I got off the metro I literally came head to head with the magnificent Colosseum.





































Okay, so as for the trip itself if this says anything I took over 400 pictures in 3 days...kinda ridiculous! After the 3hour train ride, I got on the metro to reach my hotel, which was in the ancient Rome area. As I said before, my metro stop opened up onto the colosseum! After dropping my stuff at the hotel, I peeled off my layers since Rome was pretty warm (in the upper 70s and really sunny) and then headed to get my combo ticket for the Colosseum,








Palatine Hill,








and the Roman Forum.








The whole experience was so cool! I met some crazy gladiators all throughout this area who all wanted tourists to take pictures with them for a steep price of anywhere from 6-15euros... I decided it was more economical to take pictures of them from afar!








The interior and exterior of the Colosseum was incredible, and it doesn't begin to look the way it did back when it was built! They had full scale models on the inside of how exactly they moved the animals into the arena, as well as, helpful descriptions of exactly where the different groups of spectators would've sat. Everything in Rome seemed to be on such a grand scale that it was almost overwhelming!























I then moved from the Colosseum (where I decided btw that I should become a gladiator), to climbing Palatine Hill.





























I again was blessed with such beautiful weather, that it made walking around outside easy! The hill was really interesting because a lot of the ancient remnants I was not sure what they once were, but just to think that people like Caesar once walked throughout these areas is pretty mind blowing. From Palatine Hill, I went down to the Roman Forum,


























which was equally incredible! I feel like my pictures will explain more than my actual descriptions.

On my second day, I went to the Vatican basically all day! Many people suggested I take a guided tour through the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, and St Peters because the whole endeavor can be incredibly overwhelming. After being there for almost six hours I completely agree. I booked my tour through Through Eternity, which was great because the group is limited to 15 people. Our guide, Tyson, was from Illinois originally, but studied in Italy and then decided to stay after college. He has lived in Italy for almost 11 years! He was excellent and very knowledgeable!









I learned so much more than I would've just going on my own (to be honest I think I would've been burned out after 2 hours on my own, but he made it so interesting that he kept us going). I managed the Uffizi on my own, but the Vatican was just so gigantic that it was helpful to have someone give you the history and background! I would highly recommend taking a guided tour through this area, and if you are a student or still have your student ID;) they have great discounts!





























































My experience was incredible, and I met some really fascinating people as well. In fact, three of us after the tour, decided to find this fantastic gelato place where I tried the rice gelato (sounds really strange, but it was definitely my favorite so far)!

On my third and final day, I decided to make kinda a grand tour of some of the other major sights. I went to the church that had a famous Bernini I studied and loved in class,







I walked down the Spanish steps and grabbed a hot panini,







walked around the Trevi fountain,








walked inside the spectacular Pantheon,






















some other churches, and ended on the Navona Piazza








before catching the train to head back for my last day in Florence:(

This post is short for the three days and does not begin to do justice for all that I saw and loved about Rome, but for the rest of the story I'd be happy to talk about in person when I get back to the states tomorrow!

Ciao Roma,
Rachel