City Trip: Rome, Italy
From my hotel, I took the #60 bus with the intention to disembark at Colosseo station. However, there was a ceremony taking place along the route, so I was unexpectedly dropped off at the Vittorio Emanuele II Monument. Luckily the center of Rome is very walk-able (as my entire trip is a testament too) and it did not take long for me to walk to my first stop, the Colosseum. After the Colosseum, past the Arc, I entered the Roman Forums through the less traversed Palatine Hill entrance. After the Roman Forums I made my way back to the Vittorio Emanuele II Monument, which I now took the time to fully explore. At the top of all those stairs at the back of the monument, you can take an elevator to the roof, and get a great view of the city of Rome. I had left my student ID in the hotel room safe, so I paid the full 7 euro fee for the elevator ride to the top. The view of ancient Rome was excellent, however, the pillars that crawl up either end of the monument reach just above the roof, and prevent a view of the Triaton Forum, and the Vatican.
After the Vittorio Emanuele II Monument, I walked up the center street and left to the Pantheon. It was a lot smaller than I had pictured it, but that’s not to say it was small. After the Pantheon, I back tracked my way across the main road again, and reached Trevi Fountain. This was one of my favourite spots. The fountain is beautiful, and a great place to take a well deserved Gelato break. I took a long break to enjoy the fountain after buying an extremely self indulgent Gelato ice cream (which I venerated in many photo’s). After the fountain, I made my way up the shopping streets to the Spanish Steps, then down another long road to the Triton Fountain. Then, I walked some more to the Republic area. This was the end of the itinerary I had planned for the day, but I found myself with lots of time, so I decided to be ambitious, and cap the day with a trip to the Vatican. I am really glad I did. I took the metro from Republic station to octavio station, and walked to St. Peter’s Square, Vatican. When I arrived, the line to get into St. Peter’s Basilica was non-existent, so I decided to tour this site early (I had planned it for the following day). I was completely awe-struck when I entered the Basilica; the building is longer than 2 football fields, and covered from front to back with marble and gold.
After the Vatican, I had a pasta dinner at a small cafe on my way back to octavio station, and then took the metro and bus back to my hotel.
I started the second day really early at the Vatican Museums. There, I encountered my first (and only) line. I arrived at 8:35, and the museum opens at 8:45, though they did not open the doors until 9. Though I had waited in line technically for about 25 minutes, once they opened the doors, it took less than 5 to get in, buy my tickets and start strolling the museum. When I left the museum, the line was non-existent to get in.
I strolled back in to St. Peter’s square, and the line to get into St. Peter’s Basilica was INSANE! I am really glad I went when I did. After the Vatican, I headed to Castel Sant’Angelo. After that, I had officially finished all the site seeing I was anxious to get too. I spent the rest of the day strolling back through various piazza’s and re-visiting some of the sites I saw the day before. I ended back where it all began, the Colosseum, went home early, had some pizza and watched some Italian TV.
I had a great time in Rome, and if the Trevi Fountain is any indicator, I will be back.
Things on my trip that were useful:
Roma Pass – absolutely useful. If you use transit and go to more than one attraction, it pays for itself.
Rick Steve’s Audio Tours – these tours exponentially increased the quality of my trip. Invaluable.
Rome Metro/Bus site: buses are a great way to travel the city, and this site will help you coordinate your trips.
Rome Maps – Mappery has a number of great maps of Rome.