Rome {Part 1}

When Matthew and I were planning our trip and looking at things that we wanted to do in each city, our list for Rome was huge. So we planned on a full week there. It was a great decision on our part. We took the fast rail train from Venice. Our taxi driver in Rome took us to the wrong hotel at first. I'm not sure if it was a communication issue or he didn't know where our hotel was. He ended up pulling out an old mapquest book to look it up and we eventually got to the right place.

Day 1

Our hotel room for the week. It was perfect for us. A cute little desk area so we could plan our days out and also doubled as our dinning table.

Our hotel was classified as a bed n' breakfast, but due to the laws there they couldn't prepare anything on site so everything had to be purchased prepackaged. This was a typical breakfast for us. We asked for the chocolate cookies every morning and we would save them and eat them in the afternoon with our tea.

Day 2

First stop, laundry! We packed enough clothes in our carry on bags for one week knowing that we would do laundry one day in Rome. Only having one carry on size bag each made it a lot easier getting around Europe.

Once we got our clean clothes put away, we headed out for the fun stuff! Walking down the avenue to the Colosseum. 

But after a busy morning trying to find a laundromat and lugging dirty and then clean clothes all over Rome, it was time for a late lunch. Though, it ended up being an early dinner for us since Europeans eat dinner so late and Matthew and I like to eat dinner early and go to bed early. Especially when traveling so we can get up early and go do all the exploring.

And some wine...

Our first glimpse at the Colosseum! I was very excited.

But first, ruins! So many ruins!

Some of the feral cats that populate Rome.

The Colosseum at night! Such a gorgeous sight.

The Arch of Constantine

Next stop that evening was Trevi Fountain, which left me very disappointed. I didn't know that it was closed for renovations.

Plus side to the fountain being closed, we got to walk over the fountain and see the statues up close and the renovation work being done.

We got a little lost heading back to the hotel, but we got to see the Pantheon.

Day 3

Vatican City!

Before heading into the museum we must get some Vatican City water to sustain ourselves.

The Egyptian Room.

So many busts

The first century Bronze Pine-cone in the courtyard that originally was near the Pantheon in Rome.

Lions of Nectanebo, dated to the reign of Pharoah Nactanebo II (360-343 B.C.).

Huge bust of Caesar Augustus.

There was so much to look at. I didn't know where to start half the time.

Matthew listening to our audio tour guide.

I remember seeing this statue in one of my history books in school. Pretty amazing getting to see this stuff in person.

Hall of tapestries.

Onto the Popes rooms, painted by Raphael. Also known as Raphael Rooms.

Painting by Vincent van Gogh

Heading into the Sistine Chapel.

You're not supposed to take photos in the Chapel, but I guess my camera accidentally went off while I was holding it...

The dome of St. Peter's Basilica. We intended to visit the top of the dome the same day that we went to the museum, but there was so much to see in the museum that we spent the entire day there and were too tired to climb the stairs to the top. So we decided to come back and see the dome another day.

Time to head back to the hotel.

We happened to get the best gelato on our way back to the hotel. It was this hole in the wall that was in the basement of a building, and oh man was it good! I tried to remember where it was when we went back to see St. Peter's Basilica but couldn't find it again.

See the rest of our trip, London, Paris, Venice, Rome {part two, part three}