Rome, a lifetime is not enough.

We got to Rome the afternoon of the 25th after a super fun time with Greek airports. We got to the Santorini airport very late by my standards, but it all worked out.  And Athens is just another great airport for connections.  Luggage arrived in Rome though, and so did we, so I guess that’s what matters.  

We took the train from the airport to the station in Rome, which to me felt like a €14.50 sneak preview of hell.  It was unbelievably hot, I thought I might pass out or die.  And again, we made it.  A little bit of running around to find our hotel which was right next to the station, and we got settled in.  Many of you will be surprised to know that we stayed in the “dorm” style room at this hotel, and I survived.  We shared with 6 other people, and we were in bunk beds with shared bathrooms.  But it was clean, safe, and quiet, and so very cheap for Rome.  They even had organic homemade breakfast which was delicious.

Once settled, we went out to see some sites before the sun went down.  We did the Trevi Fountain and had our first taste of some of Rome’s best gelato at San Crispino’s, then on to the Spanish Steps.  From there we went to the Piazza Popolo, then to Piazza Navona.  Then it was time for dinner, where Alex got a giant pizza and I got some ravioli.  I still think there’s nowhere better for food than Italy, but I have yet to go to Paris, so jury’s still technically out.

It was then back to the hotel to rest up for a BIG next day.  We got up early and went to see the good old Colosseum.  I’m such a good traveler by now that I had done some proper studying up, and we were able to skip about a 3 hour line at the Colosseum by going to the entrance at Palatine Hill instead.  We checked out Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum before heading into the Colosseum.

By the time we got in there it was boiling hot, but the Colosseum was really cool.  There was some sort of exhibition, but I was more into just seeing the monument.  Definitely one of my two favorite things (the second being St Peter’s Basilica, stay tuned).

Once through with that, we made our way towards Vatican City via a stop in the Piazza Navona area for lunch.  We went to get some pizza al taglio (pizza by the slice) at one of the best places in Rome, and it was amazing.  A big slice and a coke in the shade on a quiet piazza?  Perfection.  Due to the heat, of course we wanted some Gelato after that, and there was another San Crispino gelato shop on the way to the Vatican.  Done.  Had some Zabaione which was amazing.  Such a unique flavor.

Onwards to Vatican City.  Hot hot hot.  Boiling hot.  About a 20 minute walk in the 99ºF sun to St Peter’s Basilica.  About a 10 minute stand in said temperature and sun to get through security.  And then to be turned away because of myknees!  My book said no MINI skirts or shorts, and to make sure your shoulders are covered!  I wore my graduation dress, which covers my shoulders and is NOT SHORT!  And no issues with how low cut it was, just my knees.  Catholics, man.

I was pissed, and hot, which only equals extra irritated and annoyed.  The owners of our hotel had written a nice recommendation book and so we walked toward their favorite gelato shop to check it out.  This was by far the best we had, bar none.  I don’t remember the name, and I gave back the recommendation book, but it was on Via del Gracchi, about 15-20 minutes walk from St Peter’s.  Some dark chocolate, pistachio, and zabaione gelato helped my mental state greatly, as did sitting in its air conditioned glory for about 20 minutes.

So then we decided that rather than getting up super early just to come back to the Vatican with my skank knees covered in the morning, that we’d go find me a scarf or something to tie around my waist and cover me up.  Ended up finding a cute little shop full of cute clothes, and they were obviously obsessed with America by the amount of American cities they had on their shirts, and the American music playing.  It was great.  Found me some capri leggings and we were good to go.

Once we were finally inside the Basilica, it was pretty amazing.  It lives up to being the big Catholic house, it’s super beautiful and super huge and imposing.  After checking out most/all of the inside, we decided to go up to the Cupola to see Rome from above.  We took the elevator up part of the way (no need to die of heat stroke, I say), which spit us out close to the inside of the dome, for an up-close view of the mosaics that line it.  Very cool.  And then about 300 stairs up to the top.  Hope you’re not claustrophobic and that you don’t get vertigo very easily, because it’s crazy weird.  But not NEARLY as tough as the climb to the top of the Duomo in Florence.  Gorgeous views of Rome from there as well.

We came out from our cupola visit around 5pm, which is when the last mass of the day starts.  I am not religious in the least, but I thought it would be cool to hear mass in Italian, and I also wasn’t opposed to sitting for about 45 minutes - my feet hurt so bad.

After that we went back to the city center to find some dinner.  It took longer than expected, but we found a nice place and it was delicious.  Some Bucatini Amatriciana and my night was made.  And of course tiramisu.  Then back to the hotel to rest our aching feet.  12 hours of walking will make you wish for a wheelchair.

That night it was decided that we would go back to Vatican City early the next morning to beat the crowds to the Vatican Museums, which house the Sistine Chapel.  So off we went again in the morning, and we got into the museum fairly quickly.  But boy do they make you work for that Sistine Chapel!  I breezed through everything, and eventually we made it.  And I was a little bit unimpressed by it, I expected the David touching god thing to be much more prominent, but it’s the same size as everything else.  It was cool, I just expected to be blown away.

After that we decided to go see the Pantheon, which is another church.  This one is like a giant dome, and the only lighting is through a 9m wide hole in the ceiling.  It was so cool looking.  Then we went to another church nearby to see some Baroque art and stuff, and then…  guess…  more gelato!  Another contender for best gelato in Rome, but I was really unimpressed by their service and their gelato to be honest.  It was Giolotti, which is apparently featured in Roman Holiday, but they seem to rest strongly on that film connection rather than on good gelato.  More pizza for lunch after that, and we decided to try for a museum with air conditioning.

We went to the Capitoline Museums which have some cool sculptures, a lot of religious art, and even a creepy hall full of creepy figurines.  It was a cool museum as museums go, but only the section with paintings was really air conditioned, which was upsetting.  And not nearly enough benches.

One more church after the museums, and then our 4th and final best-gelato contender.  This one was firmly tied with San Crispino’s for 2nd place, it was called Palazzo de Freddo di Giovanni Fassi.  Delicious.  Then back to the hotel to rest up before dinner.

Dinner was near the Trevi Fountain at another recommendation from the hotel, and it might have been some of the best we had.  I got huuuuge ravioli covered in a creamy truffle sauce, and of course some tiramisu to finish.  Best tiramisu of the trip too, though it still doesn’t compare to the tiramisu I had in Venice many years ago.

So that was Rome!  I can’t wait to go back someday.  I’ve seen all the major sights now, but there’s so much more to do there.  And so much more to eat.  So rest assured, I’ll be back.