Sunday, October 25, 2015

When in Rome...



We celebrated our 5th anniversary in Rome, and it was amazing! We packed all of the sites into three very busy days and were EXHAUSTED by the time we got home!

Our favorite part of the trip was visiting the Colosseum on Friday morning.  It was cool to see such a famous landmark with so much history behind it.  We took a tour that starting at the Colosseum, then we went to Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum.  We thought it was crazy that so much of an ancient city and culture still exists!


Wednesday:
On Wednesday we had an early morning flight.  We woke up at 3:30am! Mason did great, as usual
After checking into our Airbnb, our first stop was Largo di Torre Argentino.  This is where Julius Caesar was killed on the Ides of March. Also, it is now a cat sanctuary...weird
Our second stop was Piazza Navona, which is also where Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers is located.  Piazza Navona is full of restaurants, tourists, and lots of "aspiring artists" selling paintings

After stopping at a small Italian Pizza place for lunch, we went to the Pantheon and were again amazed

Our next stop was the Sant'Ignazio Church.  The painted ceiling was beautiful! In the bottom picture here you can see that it looks 3D
We then went to the Trevi Fountain and were sad that it was blocked off for construction so there was no water in it.  But, it was still cool!
Next we stopped at the Spanish Steps 
On our way to Villa Borghese, we had a great view of Rome with St. Peter's Basilica in the background 
After a lot of walking it was nice to relax for a little bit at Villa Borghese
After getting lost for a while, we came across the Altar of the Fatherland on our way back to our apartment
We loved this view of St. Peter's Basilica that we got every time we left our apartment
Thursday:

Thursday morning we didn't have any plans, other than just "roaming in Rome":).  We walked along the Tiber River 
Our tour of the Vatican Museum started at the Court of the Pigna (the pinecone is a symbol of the Vatican)
One of my favorite parts of the Vatican Museum tour was the ceiling in this gallery.  Also, Mason slept the entire time we were in the Vatican Museum (Woohoo!)
Our absolute favorite part of the Vatican Museum was seeing the Sistine Chapel (specifically this famous painting of the Creation of Adam).  Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures, so we just found this one on the internet.  It's even better in person!
Another cool painting that Steve liked was this one of the School of Athens.  Our guide talked us through all of the hidden portraits that Raphael painted in this picture
Inside St. Peter's Basilica, this is a picture of the St. Peter's "Baldachin," an alter marking the spot of St. Peter's tomb underneath

Our last stop in our tour was St. Peter's Square 
Friday:
The first stop on our tour Friday morning was the Colosseum.  The lighting was perfect!





After the Colosseum, we went to Palatine Hill where Emperors and important people lived

The last part of our Friday tour was the Roman Forum

Friday afternoon we just walked around, taking in Rome while waiting for our flight









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