We arrived on Saturday at 9am. Luckily the nice people at the hotel let us check in early. After a long nap we decided to head out for a walk, which ended up at the Trevi Fountain. It's amazing how in Rome you can just head out without a plan and stumble onto famous sites. Since it was our first day in Italy, we had some pizza and gelato at a couple of little shops near the Trevi.
On Sunday we kicked off our tour of ancient Rome with visits to the Colosseum, the Forum and the Palatine Hill. Then we headed to the Capitoline Museum. In the evening, we found a theater showing an English language version of Angels & Demons (which is set in Rome). The neat thing about Italian movie theaters is that you have assigned seating. Well, we had good seats, so that helped. I suppose if you have bad seats then you're not so keen on it.
On Monday we went to St. Peter's Basilica. After exploring the Basilica we went on a tour of the Necropolis underneath. We had to write to the Vatican to get permission to tour the Necropolis, but it was well worth the effort. It was neat to see what was on that site thousands of years ago. It's mostly ancient mausoleums, but we did get to see the spot where they believe St. Peter was originally buried and we got to see the bones believed to be St. Peter's. We ended the day with dinner at the rooftop restaurant of our hotel, overlooking the city.
On Tuesday we started off our day at Castel Sant'Angelo (Hadrian's mausoleum). In hindsight we should have gotten the audio tour because there was a lot to see and no descriptions on what things were where. But it was fun anyway, and the view from the roof was great. Afterward we headed over to Villa Borghese for our reservation to tour the Borghese Gallery (beautiful art and sculptures - but you have to book a reservation in advance to get in). Despite the hour and a half walk, getting a little bit lost in the vast parkland of the Villa, and having to walk by some scary looking homeless people (who appeared to live in the woods just off the road) we got to the museum in one piece and enjoyed our tour. We capped off our day with a visit to the Spanish Steps.
Wednesday was our day trip to Florence. We took the train up there in the morning and headed straight for the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. That's the one with the famous dome that you see in pretty much every picture of Florence. We climbed to the top of the dome, which was exhausting but the burning quads were worth it. The view was fantastic. After that we went to the Galleria dell'Accademia to see Michelangelo's David, which was much bigger in person than I expected. We also went to the Uffizi Gallery, which is a "must-see" on the lists of things to do in Florence, but I wasn't particularly impressed. There wasn't much artwork that I found interesting. We went to the Uffizi instead of touring the Basilica of Santa Croce (which houses the tombs of Galileo, Macchiavelli and Michelangelo). If we had it to do over, we'd go there instead.
On Thursday we didn't have a set plan, we just walked around (a lot). We started of at Santa Maria della Vittoria (which is a gorgeous little church that houses the Ecstasy of St. Teresa statue by Bernini). Then we headed over to the Pantheon. We continued on to Piazza Navona (not much going on there except for the Bernini fountains) and Campo di Fiore (another "must see" place, but it was basically just a big farmers market). We headed for the Protestant Cemetery passing Circus Maximus on the way. The Protestant Cemetery has the graves of John Keats and Percy Shelley. It was gorgeous there and so peaceful. I could have stayed there all day.
Finally, on Friday we headed back to the Vatican to go to the Vatican Museum and to climb to the top of the dome at St. Peter's. The Vatican Museum ends in the Sistine Chapel, which would normally be breath-taking, but after a week in Rome it's really just another fancy room with a decorated ceiling. The dome climb was great though. I never get tired of being up high and looking down. (Maybe that's why no matter where I live I'm always on the top floor.) It was fun to be able to see the full sweep of Rome and to look down on Vatican City. It was also nice that an elevator took us part of the way up. We still had to climb about 300 stairs though.
After a wonderful dinner of lasagna and ravioli, we headed back to the hotel for dessert. Little did we know that the dessert at the hotel restaurant was 11 euros each. Meaning that we spent about $30 on a piece of cheesecake and some berry pie. A small unintentional splurge. But it was a delicious way to cap off a fantastic trip.
**************************On Monday we went to St. Peter's Basilica. After exploring the Basilica we went on a tour of the Necropolis underneath. We had to write to the Vatican to get permission to tour the Necropolis, but it was well worth the effort. It was neat to see what was on that site thousands of years ago. It's mostly ancient mausoleums, but we did get to see the spot where they believe St. Peter was originally buried and we got to see the bones believed to be St. Peter's. We ended the day with dinner at the rooftop restaurant of our hotel, overlooking the city.
On Tuesday we started off our day at Castel Sant'Angelo (Hadrian's mausoleum). In hindsight we should have gotten the audio tour because there was a lot to see and no descriptions on what things were where. But it was fun anyway, and the view from the roof was great. Afterward we headed over to Villa Borghese for our reservation to tour the Borghese Gallery (beautiful art and sculptures - but you have to book a reservation in advance to get in). Despite the hour and a half walk, getting a little bit lost in the vast parkland of the Villa, and having to walk by some scary looking homeless people (who appeared to live in the woods just off the road) we got to the museum in one piece and enjoyed our tour. We capped off our day with a visit to the Spanish Steps.
Wednesday was our day trip to Florence. We took the train up there in the morning and headed straight for the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. That's the one with the famous dome that you see in pretty much every picture of Florence. We climbed to the top of the dome, which was exhausting but the burning quads were worth it. The view was fantastic. After that we went to the Galleria dell'Accademia to see Michelangelo's David, which was much bigger in person than I expected. We also went to the Uffizi Gallery, which is a "must-see" on the lists of things to do in Florence, but I wasn't particularly impressed. There wasn't much artwork that I found interesting. We went to the Uffizi instead of touring the Basilica of Santa Croce (which houses the tombs of Galileo, Macchiavelli and Michelangelo). If we had it to do over, we'd go there instead.
On Thursday we didn't have a set plan, we just walked around (a lot). We started of at Santa Maria della Vittoria (which is a gorgeous little church that houses the Ecstasy of St. Teresa statue by Bernini). Then we headed over to the Pantheon. We continued on to Piazza Navona (not much going on there except for the Bernini fountains) and Campo di Fiore (another "must see" place, but it was basically just a big farmers market). We headed for the Protestant Cemetery passing Circus Maximus on the way. The Protestant Cemetery has the graves of John Keats and Percy Shelley. It was gorgeous there and so peaceful. I could have stayed there all day.
Finally, on Friday we headed back to the Vatican to go to the Vatican Museum and to climb to the top of the dome at St. Peter's. The Vatican Museum ends in the Sistine Chapel, which would normally be breath-taking, but after a week in Rome it's really just another fancy room with a decorated ceiling. The dome climb was great though. I never get tired of being up high and looking down. (Maybe that's why no matter where I live I'm always on the top floor.) It was fun to be able to see the full sweep of Rome and to look down on Vatican City. It was also nice that an elevator took us part of the way up. We still had to climb about 300 stairs though.
After a wonderful dinner of lasagna and ravioli, we headed back to the hotel for dessert. Little did we know that the dessert at the hotel restaurant was 11 euros each. Meaning that we spent about $30 on a piece of cheesecake and some berry pie. A small unintentional splurge. But it was a delicious way to cap off a fantastic trip.
Here are some pictures of our trip!
To open the slideshow in Picasa so that you can see larger pictures, hover over the lower right hand corner of the slideshow and click on the Picasa icon. Then click on the link to the album.
1 comment:
Beautiful! I guess I'll have to vacation vicariously through you. Hope it was a good time!
Post a Comment