Ah, Roma! After an early morning flight from Budapest, we landed in beautiful Rome and reunited with the rest of the crew! This is the third year in a row that we have gotten together for an annual adventure (previously Peru and Asia), and I love being able to spend time with these lovely friends!
After grabbing some cappuccinos and checking into our AirBnb, we headed out to see one of the highlights of Rome - the Vatican! We booked a private tour in order to avoid the line, and our guide Tomasso explained that since the Sistine Chapel was closing early that day (there was some sort of holiday in Rome that weekend), we needed to push through all the crowds to get there first!
As we raced through the main part of the museum, I tried to snap as many photos as I could while still keeping up with our guide as we weaved through SO many people. The one place that wasn't crowded - the ceiling - had the most beautiful artwork!
No photos were allowed inside the Sistine Chapel, and even though there were tons of people breaking the rules, I didn't want to be one of them. Personally, I was a bit shocked and offended by how many visitors to such a meaningful place could be so utterly rude and disrespectful. And I'm not even Catholic!
We spent some time just looking at the artwork, and Tomasso told us some funny stories about some of the scenes depicted on the ceiling. It really is incredible how every single character has a story and serves a purpose. After we had had our fill of Michelangelo, we headed back towards the Vatican Museum to actually be able to look at the exhibits!
We were SO incredibly fortunate during our second time through the museum. It seemed that most people had just gone home after the early closing of the chapel, so we were basically alone in the Vatican Museum. It was incredible to see so much magnificent stuff without all the other tourists. One thing I've definitely noticed in Europe is that a lot of the more famous tourist sites are SO much more crowded than the ones in Asia. I think it is part due to popularity, proximity, and just geography (the Great Wall is hard to be crowded because it is so massive), but it is really apparent to me, so this was such a nice change!
The next day, we spent the morning exploring the city by foot! We hit a lot of the major sites and sweated like crazy in the summertime heat!
In the afternoon, we had a guided tour to see the Roman Forum, Palantine Hill, and the Colosseum!
After a long day in the sun, we took our first gelato break on our way back to the apartment! This certainly was not the best gelato we had, but it was just the thing we needed to cool off. We ended the day hanging out in the Piazza Campo de Fiori for dinner and drinks.
Me, Michael, and Jill got up early the next day to go to St. Peter's Basilica, which normally opens at 7:00 am! We wanted to get there early so that we wouldn't have to wait very long since we hadn't booked a "skip the line tour" in advance.
As we waited in line, I started looking around and saw that a lot of people were dressed much more nicely than we were. Like, we had our knees and shoulders covered, but there were a lot of people wearing their Sunday finest, even though it was a Monday. We had heard that there was some sort of holiday in Rome that weekend, but it wasn't very clear to me what was happening. As it turns out, the Pope was giving a Mass that morning at the Basilica! That's why everyone was wearing their church clothes - they were actually going to church! As you might imagine, you can't just show up for Mass with the Pope, and we didn't have tickets, so we snapped some photos and then left. Interestingly, we learned that the Mass wasn't actually starting until 9:30 am - and there was still a massive line to get in hours ahead of time!!
I had actually woken up that morning not feeling great, and it just got progressively worse. I actually spent most of the day in bed while everyone else explored Rome. As it turned out, the crew dubbed this last day in Rome "good food day" because everything that they ate and drank was delicious. I was absolutely gutted that I didn't get to partake in any of it! I think I ate a slice of bread over the course of the entire day while my friends feasted on cheese, pasta, gelato, wine, and more. Wahhhh.
The only bright side to being sick on our last day in Rome was not eating for an entire day meant that I was a little slimmer by the next day - when we headed to the Amalfi Coast!! More about that in the next post.. ciao!
After grabbing some cappuccinos and checking into our AirBnb, we headed out to see one of the highlights of Rome - the Vatican! We booked a private tour in order to avoid the line, and our guide Tomasso explained that since the Sistine Chapel was closing early that day (there was some sort of holiday in Rome that weekend), we needed to push through all the crowds to get there first!
As we raced through the main part of the museum, I tried to snap as many photos as I could while still keeping up with our guide as we weaved through SO many people. The one place that wasn't crowded - the ceiling - had the most beautiful artwork!
You can see here that some of the hallways were still being restored.
No photos were allowed inside the Sistine Chapel, and even though there were tons of people breaking the rules, I didn't want to be one of them. Personally, I was a bit shocked and offended by how many visitors to such a meaningful place could be so utterly rude and disrespectful. And I'm not even Catholic!
We spent some time just looking at the artwork, and Tomasso told us some funny stories about some of the scenes depicted on the ceiling. It really is incredible how every single character has a story and serves a purpose. After we had had our fill of Michelangelo, we headed back towards the Vatican Museum to actually be able to look at the exhibits!
St. Peter's peeking at us!
We were SO incredibly fortunate during our second time through the museum. It seemed that most people had just gone home after the early closing of the chapel, so we were basically alone in the Vatican Museum. It was incredible to see so much magnificent stuff without all the other tourists. One thing I've definitely noticed in Europe is that a lot of the more famous tourist sites are SO much more crowded than the ones in Asia. I think it is part due to popularity, proximity, and just geography (the Great Wall is hard to be crowded because it is so massive), but it is really apparent to me, so this was such a nice change!
Tapestry of the Resurrection
Raphael's most famous!
We ended our first day with dinner and limoncello!
The next day, we spent the morning exploring the city by foot! We hit a lot of the major sites and sweated like crazy in the summertime heat!
Pantheon
Raphael's grave
For some reason, I thought the Trevi Fountain would be round?
Spanish Steps
Hi friends!
We went through some back doors to enter the school
To find this fresco!
The only time I ate salad on this trip.. or at least, that's what it felt like.
In the afternoon, we had a guided tour to see the Roman Forum, Palantine Hill, and the Colosseum!
Yes, we had to wear those audio packs and follow a guide with a flag!
After a long day in the sun, we took our first gelato break on our way back to the apartment! This certainly was not the best gelato we had, but it was just the thing we needed to cool off. We ended the day hanging out in the Piazza Campo de Fiori for dinner and drinks.
Me, Michael, and Jill got up early the next day to go to St. Peter's Basilica, which normally opens at 7:00 am! We wanted to get there early so that we wouldn't have to wait very long since we hadn't booked a "skip the line tour" in advance.
This was the line about ten minutes (6:50 am) before they opened.
As we waited in line, I started looking around and saw that a lot of people were dressed much more nicely than we were. Like, we had our knees and shoulders covered, but there were a lot of people wearing their Sunday finest, even though it was a Monday. We had heard that there was some sort of holiday in Rome that weekend, but it wasn't very clear to me what was happening. As it turns out, the Pope was giving a Mass that morning at the Basilica! That's why everyone was wearing their church clothes - they were actually going to church! As you might imagine, you can't just show up for Mass with the Pope, and we didn't have tickets, so we snapped some photos and then left. Interestingly, we learned that the Mass wasn't actually starting until 9:30 am - and there was still a massive line to get in hours ahead of time!!
The only bright side to being sick on our last day in Rome was not eating for an entire day meant that I was a little slimmer by the next day - when we headed to the Amalfi Coast!! More about that in the next post.. ciao!
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