Rome

The past week has been filled with culture...and gelato. We spent four full days in Rome. The first day, finally having our own room with our own bathroom and unlimited hot water, I wanted nothing more than to take my clothes to a laundromat so that I could put on something clean (meaning not washed in a sink) after a hot shower. So, the morning was spent relaxing and watching Italian television, while our clothes were washed.

In the afternoon, we ventured to the Borghese Gallery to reserve tickets, then began to explore the city. Since it was Sunday, the park surrounding the Villa Borghese was full of people out for walks, cycling, rollerblading, and lounging. It was a gorgeous day. Following the recommendation of good friends, we headed to the Gelateria del Teatro, which took us on a nice walk along the Tiber. We found the Gelateria tucked away in a residential area and I wondered, "Could the gelato here really be any better than the gelato at the numerous shops we've already passed?" The answer: yes. I still haven't had any gelato as tasty as that first cone from Gelateria del Teatro.

After thoroughly enjoying every last bit of our gelato, we browsed our handy tourist map and found that we were close to the Piazza Navona. Then we discovered that we were only a short walk from the Pantheon. From there, it was not far to the Trevi Fountain. Finally, with the wind blowing and the rain starting to come down, we made our way back to our hotel. On our first day, which started with laundry, and was planned to consist of only a short walk around the city and some gelato, we ended up seeing several of the major sites.

On our second day, we did the obligatory tour around the ancient sites: the Forum, the Colosseum, and Palatine Hill. It took a bit of imagination to picture the ruins as they once were but I thoroughly enjoyed walking the paths of the ancient Romans, especially with my handy Rick Steves audio guide telling me exactly what I was looking at.

The highlight of our trip to Rome was probably Vatican City. We had heard that the only time there is any chance of seeing St. Peter's without tons of people and hideously long lines was first thing in the morning. So, we set our alarm and arrived in Vatican City by 7:15am. There was hardly anyone in the square and we walked inside without waiting in any line at all. The majority of the people inside were worshippers. It was incredible to experience the church this way. There was so much to see inside that we didn't leave until it was time to get in line for the Vatican Museums at about 8:30am. We definitely could have stayed longer and if the wait wasn't about two hours long when we came back by around noon, we probably would have gone in a second time. When we reached the Vatican Museums there was already quite a long line to get in, but as soon as it opened at 9am, the line began to move quickly and we were inside (having checked our bags and purchased tickets) within ten minutes. By passing through the other museums quickly, we were able to make it to the Sistine Chapel before any tour groups and had about twenty peaceful minutes there as well. I was taken back to my art history days and the hours spent pouring over every detail of the Sistine Chapel. No matter how many times I've seen it in pictures, there is just nothing like seeing the real thing. After taking in the Sistine Chapel, we started over and went through all of the museums again to have a look at the incredible art collection that we had quickly walked by before.

On our final day in Rome, we visited the Borghese Gallery...yet another incredible art collection. We toured a few more churches and of course, had more gelato.