Rome

Rome! Wow! I don’t even know where to start with this city. It is so full of history and beauty. Our first day there I managed to drag Cole out nice and early so we were some of the only people on some of the little side streets. It was also a Sunday and lots of places were closed so this made it even better. We took in lots of statues and fountains basically undisturbed. My favorite was the Trevi Fountain, so cool! The afternoon we made our way to the Coliseum but got distracted along the way…First, there was the ‘gladiator’ man that accosted us on the bridge, put a helmet and sword in our hands, took our picture, and then demanded 10 euro’s. Second, we were mesmerized by the ruins of the forum and the old Roma city centre. Next, we (ok, I) realized we didn’t have enough cash for the Coliseum so the hunt was on for a bank machine. Finally, with some fresh water, we got in line. Luckily for us, all of our ‘lolly-gagging’ made it possible for us to run into a couple of Calgarians that we had met in Munich. We ended up joining there tour and it was a great time! The second part of the tour (yep, we were still tagging along for free) led us to Palentine Hill where Roma was created all those thousands of years ago and where the worlds first Palace sat, in ruins. At this point it was probably plus 38 and we were dying but it was totally worth it.

The next day was dedicated to the Vatican Museum. Luckily we packed a lunch because we were there for hours! The paintings and statues were pretty great but when you make your way into the Raphael rooms, the Map rooms, and finally the Sistine Chapel it is breathtaking. The pictures we took just do not do it justice. This was definitely a highlight of our trip.

Rome: crazy history, hot weather, pushy hawkers (“you buy! you buy!”), crazy church