Rome, Italy
/After Florence, Sam and I drove the couple hours south to Rome. It rained our last night in Florence which meant that it had finally cooled down a little bit. We booked and Airbnb geared towards "lovers" which we thought was strange at first, but made perfect sense when we arrived. Everything was red and almost everything had a heart on it. The bed had satin sheets and a satin bed spread. It was weird. But the location was incredible and it had an enormous patio furnished with a big table for dinners. We were a short walk, about five minutes, from Vatican City, and maybe 30 minutes to central Rome.
On our first day, we followed a Rick Steve's walking tour, beginning at the Campo di Fiore and ending at the Spanish Steps. In between we walked through the Church of St. Louis of the French (home to some incredible Caravaggio paintings), saw the Pantheon, and the Trevi Fountain. It was incredible to see so many of the world famous sights Rome has to offer, especially with Rick explaining the history as we explored. After the walking tour, we walked to the Colosseum. As we walked we weighed paying extra for a tour to skip the lines, not wanting to stand in line as it was about 90 degrees and humid. We decided against it, and lucked out! We only waited in line for about five minutes. This meant that after we explored there, we still had time to walk through the Forum, which is just across from the Colosseum. It was pretty surreal seeing all of this in one day, nearly the entire history of the city - from republic to empire to the fall.
The next day, we had a scheduled entrance into the Vatican museum right when it opened. Originally the private collection of the Pope, the museum houses all the art acquired by the Catholic Church over the centuries. It is a MASSIVE collection, and though we spent about 3.5 hours exploring we didn't come close to seeing everything. The highlights were the frescoes by Raphael in the Pope's quarters, as well as some truly impressive tapestries and sculptures. The museum tour ends at the Cistine Chapel which is impossible to describe. Definitely one of the most remarkable things I have seen. After a brief siesta, we took a tour through St. Peter's Basilica. This is also hard to describe, other than to say it surpassed all expectations. An unbelievable display of architecture, art work, and faith.
On our last full day in Rome, we headed out of the City to the ruins of Ostia Antica. This small town, now a bit inland, was the original port city serving Rome. Located at the mouth of the Tiber, it was perfectly situated to supply the city with everything it needed. The ruins are set up like an open air museum, and we spent several hours just wandering around and taking it all in. After returning to Rome we walked around two other areas of Rome, the Jewish Ghetto and Trastevere. While not as well known as some of the other sites in the city, these two neighborhoods were very cool to wander around in. They don't feel as touristy as the rest of the city, and it was nice to see the slow pace of life Rome is known for.
After a very full week of sightseeing in both Florence and Rome, Samantha and I decided it would be good to slow things down for a bit. Upon leaving Rome we headed further south, towards Sorrento. More on that soon! Enjoy the photos!
