So many cities, so little time! My friends and I spent the second half of the week in Rome, and I wish we'd spent the whole week there. It's one of my favorite places I've ever visited.
We started out our Roman holiday at the Vatican, figuring it would be busier and busier the closer it got to Easter, which was a correct assumption. We got tickets online in advance for the Vatican Museum (always get tickets in advance in Rome) and it was fascinating. We strolled right into that little country and spent three hours exploring the various palaces-turned-museums that make it up. The Vatican Museum has an amazing collection of artifacts, ranging from Ancient Egyptian to Ancient Roman to Papal. We also saw a huge number of frescoes by Raphael, the infamous Borgia apartments, and the Sistine Chapel. The Sistine Chapel was the most interesting part for me. I was expecting it to be much more dramatic, considering how famous it is, but really you just walk through a modern art collection that opens up into a big, bright, empty room, and that's the Sistine Chapel. The art was truly breathtaking, though. I wish taking photos had been allowed. It was a little unbelievable to see the real Creation of Adam, an image that's so often reproduced.
After the Sistine Chapel, we grabbed lunch in the Vatican Museum cafeteria and went to St. Peter's Square. We took plenty of photos and panoramas in front of the Vatican Obelisk and St. Peter's Basilica. One thing I noticed about the Vatican (and Rome in general) is how much the popes prior to the last two or three centuries loved to take credit for various monuments. Nearly every significant building in Rome has a giant label (or several) on it that reads "[INSERT NAME] PONTIFICUS MAXIMUS ANNO [INSERT YEAR]". Some recognize the pope that ordered the building of a certain monument, and some are just like, "Yo, I want my name on that thing forever."
After marvelling at St. Peter's Square for a good long while, we walked back down the main road to the Castel Sant'Angelo. It was originally Hadrian's Mausoleum, later converted into a fortress for holding the papal treasury (and the pope, whenever the peasants revolted) and is now a museum. It was pretty crowded so we didn't get to go in, but we got some great photos from the bridge that leads to the castle.
We went wandering for a little while in the afternoon. Rome is a beautiful city with surprises hidden around ever corner and beautiful architecture as far as the eye can see. There is a metro system, but it only has two lines that run to the major monuments. The bus system is much more extensive. We got a three-day tourist ticket that gave us unlimited rides on the bus, metro, and train (including airport train), and I highly recommend it. We strolled down the little side streets to a gelato shop I found on Pinterest called Gelateria del Teatro. If you're in Rome, you have to try it. They have some incredible flavors, like honey basil, chocolate red wine, and almond fennel, all made fresh right there in the back of the shop. My favorite was Sicilian white wine cream, and the ricotta almond fig was pretty excellent too.
After enjoying the best gelato of our lives, we kept on walking down through Piazza Navona to the Pantheon. We finally got to the Trevi Fountain, only to find that it was undergoing extensive restorations and was completely covered in scaffolding. While I''m glad they're working to keep this monument beautiful, it's just not the same when you drop in a penny and it bounces right back up off the dry marble. Afterwards we walked to Piazza di Spagna and the famous Spanish Steps, which were incredibly crowded but lovely nevertheless, before taking the metro back to the hotel to nap.
For dinner, we headed back out into the city to a restaurant called L'Archetto. It was the best pasta I've ever had. The restaurant's specialty is spaghetti, and they have dozens of varieties, including an all-fruit spaghetti. I had the salmon and Parmesan cream sauce spaghetti, which was delightful. I highly highly HIGHLY recommend L'Archetto.
Our second day was a little less busy but just as adventurous. We spent most of the day in the cities Roman ruins -- the Forum, the Palatine Hill, and the Colosseum. It's amazing the see the way the city has grown up around the Ancient Roman ruins. They sit deep into the ground, the rest of the city built up in layer upon layer beside them. It was almost surreal to stand there on the grass, three stories below the streets of Rome, with my hand on a piece of carved stone that had been part of the roof of the Temple of Saturn 2600 years ago.
The Colosseum was one of our favorite parts of the entire trip by far. We climbed all the way up the steep stairs to the top and worked our way down. We spent quite a while there just marveling at the ingenuity of the ancient architecture. Afterwards we went out exploring again, this time headed from Rome's oldest gelato shop, Giolitti, that we were told is a favorite of the Pope, the Obamas, and other celebrities. The gelato was pretty good, but not really worth the effort. The famous shop was so crowded that getting in and out with our food (and sanity) intact was a real struggle. We also weren't allowed to sit in the cafe with our cones -- only people ordering meals can sit inside or in front of Giolitti. We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering, watching street artists spray paint galaxy scenes, and shopping for souvenirs before heading back for a much-needed nap. It was a long and busy week. For dinner, we strolled out near our hotel and found a little restaurant called Il Nipotano which had absolutely amazing pizza. I recommend the prosciutto one. It's reasonably priced, cozy, and delicious, and the portions are quite generous. It was a great way to end our trip to Rome. All I can say is that I can't wait to go back someday!