Day one:
We woke up to a knock on our door from the Hotel Touring doorman/receptionist/room service attendant/maid bringing us our breakfast a half hour earlier than we requested. Our two star breakfast of champions: two questionable croissants, one water with a hint of OJ, two extra strong cappuccinos and one most probably lethal coffee. Thankfully we chose Hotel Touring for it’s college friendly price and proximity to the train station, not it’s accommodations :)
We bought a “Roma Pass” that gave us line-cutting privileges and free entrance to two museums. First stop via Roma Pass: The Coliseum and Forum. I won’t bore you with details but I will say that I was overwhelmed by the beauty, the views and the history our first two visits.
We spent a good portion of our morning touring the Coliseum, and the rest of the afternoon hunting for other well known tourist spots and the best photo opts:
Spanish Steps
I was really excited to visit the Spanish Steps (I get excited about most things “Spanish”)
Trevi Fountain
The Trevi Fountain was PACKED with tourists taking pictures, throwing coins, making wishes and taking pictures of others throwing coins while making wishes. It was beautiful!! I threw three monedas over my shoulder, and made three different wishes.
Pantheon
I heard the Pantheon was a must-see attraction, so I dragged everyone across town (after our first pizza experience in Rome) to see the city’s oldest church. It is amazing to me how so many years BC such a magnificent building could be constructed. While the famous open dome meant as the Gods’ exit at night is the Pantheon’s claim to fame, I couldn’t help but remain awestricken by the floor; tiny holes in the tile drilled precisely to form one of the world’s most impressive irrigation systems. I would think a huge non-retractable sun roof atop any building would be asking for a flood, let alone atop one constructed in ancient times.
Day two:
Sunday we woke up and dressed in our Sunday’s best and headed to St. Clemente’s Basilica to experience an Italian mass. I only caught about every 60th word, but I enjoyed admiring the beautiful church while listening to the Italian service. Photography was prohibited, otherwise I would have taken a ton of pictures - this church is definitely one of Rome’s hidden gems. The church itself is built on top of two other ancient churches discovered during relatively recent excavations. The first pagan church is two floors underground, built in the 1st century BC. The second, a Catholic church, was constructed on top of the pagan church in the 4th century AD. It was amazing to walk through the old churches’ ruins and admire the remnants of altars, artworks, and even running spring water!
The rest of Sunday was spent leisurely walking around, simply getting lost in the city. I can’t find another word to describe how I felt about Sunday other than “perfect.” Mallory was on a mission to find two restaurants: Monte Carlo for their famous pizza and Giolitti for their renown gelati. We walked forever trying to find these restaurants, but the fact that I would walk ten times as much to have it again is an understatement! The atmosphere in Monte Carlo’s was friendly and familiar; eating amongst the locals made the pizza even tastier. Giolitti was packed with tourists and locals alike, as I imagine it must always be; it was love at first bite with my hazelnut and baccio cone. Mmmmm <3
All of us girls walked endlessly through cute local squares, finding random cafes and shops in which to visit. My favorite square was Navona; I felt like I was actually in the scene of one of the pictures being painted by one of the dozens of artists working in the square. These pictures speak a thousand words:
For dinner we got dressed up and found a Trattoria in Trastavere for pizza, pasta, bruschetta, and to top it all of, a Bellini. Perfecto!
Day Three:
On our final day in Roma we scheduled a tour through the Vatican. Being a huge “DaVinci Code” and “Angels and Demons” fan, I was anticipating an interesting tour filled with history and ancient symbology, something I was truly looking forward to. However, the tour was nothing like what I was expecting - It was way, way more. Although, I couldn’t help but wish Robert Langdon was by my side the whole time...
A slight sense of gloom accompanied me on my trudge to class this morning; according to Lauren I was fighting a “Rome Hangover.” Apparently when I left the Rome airport I brought back souvenirs, a couple extra pizza pounds, and a mini form of Roman-sentimentality-induced depression. Luckily a day swimming and sunning at Barcelona’s Olympic pool and a delicious dinner alla Rafaela brought me out of my misery and I’m ready to enjoy the last few days I have left in Barca!
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