So we flew out to Rome on a sort of, Midday flight I think (this was 4 months ago or so) from Bristol airport, I'm not a massive fan of flying mostly because of an awful flight I had back from Florida a few years ago (which is worthy of its own blogpost so stay tuned) so I was rather scared however my housemates did a great job at distracting me including keeping me amused with a game of travel Ludo whilst in mid-air. To be fair the flight wasn't that awful, slightly bumpy when taking off and slightly bumpy when coming into land but that is simply the norm and I survived it by hugging the chair in front of me (literally) the best part of the flight was getting to see The French Alps as we flew past them.
Once we arrived we took a taxi to the apartment that we had chosen to rent for the week as it meant we could be self-catered and it worked out a lot cheaper than a hotel. Our apartment was absolutely stunning! A small classic marble floored apartment with beautiful views of St Peters Basilica from every window which was still visible when I was sat in bed. That evening, after chilling for a bit and getting changed as it was really hot; we ventured out into Rome and walked the 20minute almost direct walk to St Peters Square which we found was being lit up more and more as the sunset so we sat in the square on the warm cobbles and watched the sun set over the city.
Okay so this is where everything becomes a bit of a blur and merges together (baring in mind it was 5 months ago and I didn't think to keep a diary!) so I'm just going to give you some of the highlights...
The next day we had originally intended to go to The Colosseum using the aid of the hop on, hop off tour bus that travelled around to all of the main tourist destinations in Rome, it would also give us a chance to get our bearings.
Once hopping off of the tour bus, the first thing we did was get our hands on our first Italian gelato and it was sensational! Now looking back it wasn't the best one that we had found on the trip but it certainly did the job of helping with the intense heat that we were experiencing. The queue for The Colosseum was beyond insane (It was around lunchtime) so we decided to not go round it and to perhaps return later on in the week. Instead we took some photos posing outside of it and then decided that we may as well make the most of being in that area and explore The Roman Forums, again it looked like a long queue but by the time we had joined it and sent someone off to get the tickets it moved pretty quickly.
The Roman Forums were absolutely amazing, getting to see the temples and the remains of other buildings was very surreal. Hearing all about these things in a year 6 history class, it isn't until you actually see it for yourself that it becomes so real, making you wish you had actually paid attention to what you were being told all those years ago. In a weird way it reminded me of Jurassic Park, the tall trees and the ruins, as if a dinosaur had charged through the area knocking everything in its path down to the ground.
We spent the entire day out in the sun and we had all started to feel tired and slightly dehydrated (slap on the wrist, bad Sammy yes I know!) so headed back early.
The next day we had a lazy morning and then headed out to explore the shopping area of the city as well as a visit to The Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps. Unknown to us until we arrived, the Trevi Fountain was covered in scaffolding as it was being renovated however the parts of it that was uncovered was still stunning even if it was a shame that we didn't get to see it in full swing.
Being typical us, we found another gelato shop and brought some more gelato to walk through the small streets of Rome to discover the city away from the touristy areas. We eventually found the Spanish Steps which, to be fair I didn't exactly understand the hype behind them and ended up in Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. The best part of the day however was getting to explore the shops and getting to just take in the beauty of the city and the culture, we found some adorable tourist souvenirs off the beaten track including some beautifully handcrafted notebooks.
Oh and we became rather close with a couple of budgies...
One of the best parts of the trip was the experience of sitting outside in the warmth for dinner every night. There is something about Italian culture that makes sitting outside literally on the side of the road eating pasta and pizza perfectly acceptable and really enjoyable...I could happily do it every night, if only it was that warm in the UK!!!
The next day, one of the people in our group fell ill with a combination of food poisoning and potential sun stroke so the rest of us decided to return to The Colosseum, this time first thing in the morning when the queue was longish but not to the extreme that it had been on our previous visit. We got to the front of the line to find that it was free entry because of the day of the month that it was (or something like that) which was even better! Inside the Colosseum was incredible, from the outside I don't feel like I was truly able to appreciate what it looked like inside and you could very clearly see all 3/4 levels of the arena including what would have been under the arena as we had learnt there had been a massive storm one year which pulled a large part of The Colosseum to pieces.
I also found it really interesting to actually see proper Roman mosaics...I've seen them before in the UK at a couple of random museums and they talked about them in school but it never fully sinks in that these things really exist!!!
There were ALOT of steep steps!
The following day we decided to spend discovering The Vatican, we had heard you needed to get there early in order to save time queuing in the lines which is what we did and even when we arrived we joined the line halfway across the square...I think we must have queued for 30 minutes or so, we managed to pre-occupy ourselves by playing Spot the Nun amongst the crowds, winning triple points for 6 nuns that are together and all of a different race. But when you were stood in the middle of the square with no shade for a large part of it you started to question if it would really be worth it and I can honestly say that it really was.
I'm not religious in the slightest bit, I don't go to church or anything like that but when we walked into St Peters Basilica it was absolutely beautiful! I don't have much to say about it other than that so I shall leave some images below for you to admire...
One place that I was unable to take any photos was when we went to The Sistine Chapel, now imagine walking through a museum that is full of beautiful art work, ending up in a big crowd all heading in one direction and then being squeezed down a narrow, claustrophobic staircase and ending up in a large(ish) with every inch of the walls and ceilings covered in beautiful artwork. I can honestly say that I was left speechless and we all spent a good amount of time staring up at the ceiling and turning in circles to a point where we felt dizzy in awe at what was on them. Now I had seen images of 'The Creation of Adam' and 'The Last Judgement' (google them) in poster format on relatives walls and things like that but as I have previously mentioned in this post a number of times, to see the real thing is just mesmerising.
If you've made it this far down my post then thanks for reading and I hope it didn't get too rambly but I could talk for hours about my trip to Rome. I can honestly say it was one of my favourite holidays and I would recommend a visit to Rome to anyone!!! I'm off but I shall post a few more shots from the trip down below :-)
- Sammy
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