Rome

Well, this is certainly taking me long enough to finish this epic vacation but nonetheless here it is.  Where do I even begin with Rome?  I got there on a Thursday afternoon and had the rest of Thursday and then all of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to explore.  I really didn't have a plan when I first got there, so I decided to be the classic tourist and buy a 48 hour pass for one of those on-off bus tours.  It was totally worth it because it the 2 hours it took to make the circuit, I already kind of knew my way around and had seen where some of the big sites were.

That night, I met up with Vanessa who I had met in the Cinque Terre.  She was going to get pictures of the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain at night so I gladly joined up with her for this little adventure.

loved this fountain

fountain by dusk

gorgeous

tomb of the unknown solider

colosseum

loving rome already!

The next day, we agreed to meet at the Colosseum to take a tour of the inside.  My roommate in my hostel, Alana, came with me to go meet up with Vanessa and some of the girls from her hostel as well. The inside of the Colosseum was amazing.  It had a very interesting history and I just couldn't believe how old the structure was.  We took an audio guide tour and it was very informative.  Not to mention that I bought my ticket after Alana and got the same EU passport holder discount, whoo hoo!  After the Colosseum we went inside the Roman Forum to see more Roman ruins.  I couldn't believe there are still structures standing from 2,000 years ago!  Then, we went back to the Trevi Fountain because we hadn't yet thrown in our coins, ensuring that we will one day return to Rome.  After that, it was the Pantheon, and the famous Piazza Navona.  A good day with a lot of famous Roman sites.

interior of the colosseum

colosseum

walkways in the colosseum

roman forum

throwing a coin in trevi fountain

pantheon

interior of patheon

piazza navona

yummy gelato! 

   

The next day was my designated day for Vatican City.  I organized a tour to go with because I didn't want to wait in the lines, and I really wanted to know what I was looking at instead of just glancing at everything.  We started by going in the Vatican museum and spent about an hour there.  After that, we made our way to the Sistine Chapel.  This was probably what I was most excited to see and with good reason.  I couldn't believe the amazing ceiling or the beautiful scene on the front wall.  It was even more mind-boggling to think about how Michaelangelo would have had to work on that, lying upside, so high off the ground for years.  I found it very moving.  We then moved on to St. Peter's Basilica which was also spectacular.  I was very happy to finally be inside this magnificent church.  Predictably, there were tons of people there, and it was actually quite distracting.  But then again, I was in Rome on a Saturday in high season; there was no way around it.  Very happy with my experience in Vatican City this day.  I got to see a lot, and it was simply beautiful. 

overlooking the Vatican gardens

marble lobster from the 1st century

pinecone courtyad in the Vatican

stairs coming from the Sistine Chapel

St. Peter's square behind me

interior of St. Peter's basilica

close-up on the architecture

michaelangelo's Pieta

Pope John Paul II's burial place inside St. Peter's

closeup of the main altar

St. Peter's Basilica

fountain with the Papal Apartments in the background

Then came my last day in Rome.  I was by myself this day, Alana had left and so had Vanessa.  I went to Vatican city again in the morning because the Pope gives a blessing over the square every Sunday at noon.  I met a very nice older couple who I talked to and stood with while we were waiting in the square.  After that, I walked about to find the Spanish Steps, just as it started raining.  After taking a quick picture of the steps, I went back to the hostel for a nap and to pack up my things.  When I went back out for dinner, of course I naturally ventured over to the Trevi fountain area.  I had a great dinner, and then had one last gelato by the fountain.  I met another couple when I offered to take their picture by the fountain.  They were from Scotland and probably two of the nicest people I have ever met.  As we were parting they said, "Well, we will say a prayer for you, that's what we do."  They were so sweet.  I'm always fascinated by the people I meet when I'm alone, and even if it's just meant for those couple of minutes, I go home with another great memory. 

Sapnish Steps, not particularly spectacular on this day

last view of my favorite site in Rome

pretty colors on my walk home

And with that, I was on my walk back to my hostel where I woke up at 3:45 am to get to my bus to get to my flight. I made it back to Caen around 2 pm and did not move from my bed for days!  After all of that walking, my feet were happy to finally be taking a break.  And now I have been back for a week, I have uploading all of my photos, this blog, and I made one last trip to Paris yesterday to say goodbye to one of my favorite cities in the world.  I am off in a week (that is if the volcano in Iceland is being nice) and back to the states.  I don't know how to cope with the end of this wonderful adventure.  I'm ready to come home, but not ready to accept that this year is over already.  One week left to live it up in France! 

C'est la belle vie! :)