Roma

Today was a busy day in Rome as we were trying to cover all the major sights in one day as we wanted to go to Pompeii tomorrow (Eleni's 'Rome in a day' tour).


We started with a visit to the Colosseum first thing (8:30 opening). Having watched Gladiator yesterday on the bus, the Colosseum is a very different sight today. It's a lot more ruined that both of us were expecting it to be, but still an impressive structure, though nothing like it would have been in its time. It seems a shame that so much of it was destroyed and the marble taken to build other structures (like St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City).


We then went on a guided walking tour with our group which included around the Colosseum on the outside, a walk through the Roman Forum and then to the Pantheon. Our guide was very knowledgeable, and told us so much more about the Colloseum in 10 minutes than we learnt actually going inside for an hour. We've learnt a lot of history on this holiday!






The front of the Pantheon.






After grabbing a quick bite of lunch (pizza, sold by weight!), we hopped on a bus to the Vatican City. We entered the Vatican Museum for another dose of art and the Sistine chapel. At first it was great but after a while it became tiring. We were ready for the Sistine Chapel but it just never came. Near the end it was like a maze, ducking between rooms, small doorways, like they were really testing us. Finally we came to the Sistine Chapel which was full of people and a few guards telling people to be quiet and stop taking photos.




One of the halls in the museum.









It was amazing to be surrounded by all the paintings (no photos sorry!). I thought about how long it takes to paint a large room, then multiply that by thousands to think how long it would take to paint a room in this way.

We followed Eleni's advice and took the "group exit" from the Sistine Chapel which takes you straight to St Peter's. The "normal" exit takes you out of the Vatican altogether and you have to walk around to St Peter's Square and go through security checks again to enter the Basilica.

We first went through the basement with tombs under St Peter's. This was interesting on it's own. We then walked around the front entrance and into St Peter's and Wow! What an awesome sight. I no longer cared that they took so much of the Colloseum apart, it was worth it. No question the most amazing and beautiful building we have seen (and will see) on this trip.




Our tired feet couldn't take us any further so we caught a taxi to the Spanish steps to pose in front of prospective fashion designers (that's what models did in the old days). Unfortunately no one approached us :-( Maybe next time? The steps were a bit of a let down (just some boring old steps!). They may hold historical significance but held little attraction for us.

From there we walked to the Trevi Fountain, a large fountain with sculptures of men and horses. Huge crowds of people too, but we managed to get a good view.




After a long tiring day we met up with a couple of friends who had just finished a Contiki Tour and were staying a few nights in Rome. It was great to catch up and share stories with them, and to see familiar faces after being away for a while.