Buongiorno Roma

Rome was… HOT.

Day 8

We originally planned on taking the first train from Firenze to Roma but we didn’t want to wake up too early. We took the high speed train AVI from Firenze SMN to Roma Termini which cost a 10€ reservation fee and took 1:45 hours.

The first in our list was to see the Musei Vaticani.  We didn’t have any reservation so we were worried about seeing a long queue again. It didn’t help that on our way to the Vatican, we came across some people asking us if we wanted to join a tour group that can skip the very long line at the Vatican. And when we arrived at the Vatican, the queue was … short (yay!). A regular ticket for 1 day costs 15€.

Inside Museo Vaticani

Swiss Guards

Although I studied in Roman Catholic schools for 14 years, most of what I know about the Vatican is from what I’ve read in the novels of Dan Brown and from watching the movie Angels and Demons (I know, I know... you can roll your eyes). I knew it was a long shot but I was hoping to get a glimpse of the archives of the Vatican.  But hey, the Swiss Guards and the people in robes (priests? nuns?) were an interesting sight. 






The highlight of the visit to the Vatican is the Capella Sistina (Sistine Chapel). Despite the vastness of the Musei Vaticani, tourists will have no problem going around the Vatican since the tour layout pretty much goes in just one direction. Before arriving at the Sistine Chapel, we found ourselves passing through hall after hall of hundreds of collections from several centuries.  I couldn’t stop taking pictures of everything that we saw.

View of Basilica di San Pietro from Museo Vaticani

I knew that the Mona Lisa painting at the Louvre was small but what I didn’t realize was how small Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam painting was! Call me ignorant but I’ve always thought that it covered the entire ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. I learned that it was just one--not even the biggest--of the many paintings that covers the ceiling. As a popular tourist destination, the Sistine Chapel is flooded with tourists and you can feel the low murmurs of the crowd inside this sacred historic building. And when you look up, it is striking to find the numerous paintings of different sizes on the ceiling.

Inside Basilica di San Pietro

After hours at the Vatican Museum, we found ourselves at Piazza San Pietro, surrounded by angels and saints. Then we entered Basilica di San Pietro (St. Peter’s Basilica), where Saint Peter, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus is said to have been buried.

Piazza San Pietro

As part of my checklist, I wanted to take a photo of the Colosseo at night. In heels, we got lost quite a few times figuring out the Roman metro (which seemed to be under construction) before we finally arrived at the Colosseo. Near the Colosseo, was also Arco di Constantino.

A night view of the Colosseo

Our hostel, Ma Hostel, is ideally situated near the train/metro station Termini. Rome has two metro lines: A (red) and B (blue).  A single ticket costs only 1€ but it is not very well connected so we did a lot of walking.   We arrived at our hostel at around 10 PM and finally, we ended our day by doing laundry before saying buona notte!

Arco di Constantino

Day 9

Our second day in Rome started with the Colosseo. I learned that the Colosseo used to be marbled, so you can just imagine the grandeur it used to be. Aside from gladiators and games, it was also used for political gatherings before. The Palatino was just across the Colosseo but we got lost on our way there (thanks to following other tourists who were just as disoriented as we were). Our 12€ admission ticket to the Colosseo includes the Palatino and Foro Romano. The sun was blazing but the air was cool. If you’re not on a shaded area, it can get pretty hot. Many Westerners were enjoying the sun but I’m an Asian who is already used to the sun.  We walked along the ancient roman ruins towards the Foro Romano.

Colosseo

Trinità Dei Monti

From the Foro Romano, we found our way to Fontana di Trevi, thanks to the GPS. We wanted to take a photo of Fontana di Trevi when it lights up in the dark so we walked around and had another pizza and gelato and even a mozzarella burger at McDonald’s. We went to Trinità Dei Monti (the Spanish Steps) at Piazza di Spagna, to the Pantheon at Piazza della Rotonda, and to the big Piazza Navona As expected, they were all crowded with tourists.  

The Patheon

Soon, it was already 8PM and although Fontana di Trevi was already lit up, it wasn’t dark yet. Since we had to wake up early the next morning, we headed back to the hostel before dark. Anyway, we tossed a coin at the Trevi Fountain, so we will be back again… someday. But for now, our journey in Rome ends here.

Fontana di Trevi