For the past four days I have been in Rome, Italy. The capital city of Italy, being both the largest in size and number of people. We left Florence on Thursday about 10 am and it took us about 4-5 hours by bus to get to Rome.
The first day we were there we got assigned a hotel and suite mates. I was staying in Hotel Tiziano (very nice accommodations and great location to the city center and to all major tourist sites) and my suite mates were Amy, Jessica, and Anna. We were given about an hour once we arrived into Rome to relax and refresh before going on our first three hour walking tour of the city. We were split up again into ten tour groups of about 10-15 people. Our tour guide was an older woman named Christiana Tetillini (probably not how it is actually spelled) and she had so much knowledge about the city. Born and raised in Rome, she gave us so much information about everything we saw. Our tour consisted of multiple Baroque churches, the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, various shipping avenues (Rome only has the best - Armani, Burberry, Valentino, Gucci, you name it they got it), and the tour ended with a huge group dinner with everyone, all 150 of us. We went to this restaurant called Cavona. As much as I want to tell you all about the food at this dinner and everything about Italian food customs, it really does deserve its on blog post which I will be uploading soon! After the first day I was just exhausted so me and some of the other girls just went back to our hotel and crashed! But overall fantastic first day in Rome.
The second day we had two three hour tours we had to do. The first tour was of the Roman Forum and the Colosseum! Honestly, this was probably my favorite part of the whole entire weekend! The Roman Forum used to be the central district of ancient Rome. The ruins were leftover evidence of marketplaces, temples, Senate meeting places, and so much more! The view was absolutely stunning and you felt as if you could understand the story of Roman history a little better there! The Colosseum surpassed every expectation I had for it! This ancient amphitheater served as the main entertainment hub for gladiators and public executions and the layout of the facility is so advance especially at that time. To see the kind of engineering that took place in constructing and designing this massive wonder is unbelievable. Underneath the entire floor of the Colosseum are tunnels and trap doors designed to lift up the wild animals and gladiators. It's crazy! I promise I will post pictures after this post! Although pictures truly do not do the city any justice!
The third day was dedicated to Stato della Citta del Vaticano or more commonly known as The Vatican. Woah, craziness. I think since I do not identify myself as Catholic or any branch of Christianity for that matter, the Vatican did not have much of an effect on me, I didn't really feel any religious or spiritual enlightening or fulfillment, but it was something cool to look at. We then went to the Vatican Museum, where we saw both ancient and contemporary art. At the end of the museum is the Sistine Chapel painted in 1508 by the famous painter Michelangelo. It is absolutely breathtaking! Definitely something worth seeing at some point in your life. In the chapel you get to see the famous ceiling, the painting of "The Last Supper" and so many more! Did you know that Michelangelo actually did not want to paint the Sistine Chapel and did so when he was forced to by Pope Julius II. Mikey was actually living in Florence at the time and was forced to move to Rome.
Wow sorry I know this post is super long and props to you for reading this far, but lemme just finish up with our Sunday morning getting to see Pope Francis speak at St. Peters Square. It was awesome and we went to his Sunday blessing. Although he was speaking all in Italian and I could not understand a single word, it was still cool to be one among the crowd getting to see him speak outside his apartment window. It was too legit to quit!
Well so that basically sums up my Roman Holiday, but let me just end with a few final thoughts. Rome is a very beautiful city with so much history and culture and delicious food. Although it is very busy, and crossing the street is almost a near death experience every time, and things are almost ten times more expensive here than in Florence, I still loved it. It was nice coming back to Florence after Rome and it made me realize just how homey Florence is beginning to feel. I can't wait for more adventures like these and I will be sure to upload pictures of Rome soon! Hope all is well back home and everyone is staying warm. Sending all my love from Italia and talk to you guys soon! Ciao for now!
The first day we were there we got assigned a hotel and suite mates. I was staying in Hotel Tiziano (very nice accommodations and great location to the city center and to all major tourist sites) and my suite mates were Amy, Jessica, and Anna. We were given about an hour once we arrived into Rome to relax and refresh before going on our first three hour walking tour of the city. We were split up again into ten tour groups of about 10-15 people. Our tour guide was an older woman named Christiana Tetillini (probably not how it is actually spelled) and she had so much knowledge about the city. Born and raised in Rome, she gave us so much information about everything we saw. Our tour consisted of multiple Baroque churches, the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, various shipping avenues (Rome only has the best - Armani, Burberry, Valentino, Gucci, you name it they got it), and the tour ended with a huge group dinner with everyone, all 150 of us. We went to this restaurant called Cavona. As much as I want to tell you all about the food at this dinner and everything about Italian food customs, it really does deserve its on blog post which I will be uploading soon! After the first day I was just exhausted so me and some of the other girls just went back to our hotel and crashed! But overall fantastic first day in Rome.
The second day we had two three hour tours we had to do. The first tour was of the Roman Forum and the Colosseum! Honestly, this was probably my favorite part of the whole entire weekend! The Roman Forum used to be the central district of ancient Rome. The ruins were leftover evidence of marketplaces, temples, Senate meeting places, and so much more! The view was absolutely stunning and you felt as if you could understand the story of Roman history a little better there! The Colosseum surpassed every expectation I had for it! This ancient amphitheater served as the main entertainment hub for gladiators and public executions and the layout of the facility is so advance especially at that time. To see the kind of engineering that took place in constructing and designing this massive wonder is unbelievable. Underneath the entire floor of the Colosseum are tunnels and trap doors designed to lift up the wild animals and gladiators. It's crazy! I promise I will post pictures after this post! Although pictures truly do not do the city any justice!
The third day was dedicated to Stato della Citta del Vaticano or more commonly known as The Vatican. Woah, craziness. I think since I do not identify myself as Catholic or any branch of Christianity for that matter, the Vatican did not have much of an effect on me, I didn't really feel any religious or spiritual enlightening or fulfillment, but it was something cool to look at. We then went to the Vatican Museum, where we saw both ancient and contemporary art. At the end of the museum is the Sistine Chapel painted in 1508 by the famous painter Michelangelo. It is absolutely breathtaking! Definitely something worth seeing at some point in your life. In the chapel you get to see the famous ceiling, the painting of "The Last Supper" and so many more! Did you know that Michelangelo actually did not want to paint the Sistine Chapel and did so when he was forced to by Pope Julius II. Mikey was actually living in Florence at the time and was forced to move to Rome.
Wow sorry I know this post is super long and props to you for reading this far, but lemme just finish up with our Sunday morning getting to see Pope Francis speak at St. Peters Square. It was awesome and we went to his Sunday blessing. Although he was speaking all in Italian and I could not understand a single word, it was still cool to be one among the crowd getting to see him speak outside his apartment window. It was too legit to quit!
Well so that basically sums up my Roman Holiday, but let me just end with a few final thoughts. Rome is a very beautiful city with so much history and culture and delicious food. Although it is very busy, and crossing the street is almost a near death experience every time, and things are almost ten times more expensive here than in Florence, I still loved it. It was nice coming back to Florence after Rome and it made me realize just how homey Florence is beginning to feel. I can't wait for more adventures like these and I will be sure to upload pictures of Rome soon! Hope all is well back home and everyone is staying warm. Sending all my love from Italia and talk to you guys soon! Ciao for now!
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