The Travel Buggers: Roaming in Rome, Italy

After touring Venice for two days, we headed to Rome on the Eurostar high speed train. It took us four hours to reach Rome, and as soon as we stepped out into Rome's bustling Termini train station, we knew Rome would be very different from Venice. Rome is one of the largest cities in Europe (population 2.7 million) and like most large cities, it is diverse, loud, gritty, busy, and crawling with tourists and people trying to scam them. We made sure our belongings were secure and walked to our hotel, Hotel Montreal, which was just a few blocks west of the train station on a calm, quiet residential street. We spent our first evening in Rome eating pizza, spaghetti, and salad at a nearby restaraunt named La Gallina Bianco. The next morning we took the metro to Vatican City and the Vatican Museum to see the Sistine Chapel. We waited in line, in the rain, for about 45 minutes before we finally entered the crowded museum. The museum was filled with paintings and tapestries and lead us along like mice in a maze to the Sistine Chapel at the end of the museum. Along the way we spotted Raphael's famous painting, "The School of Athens". Like the rest of the museum, the inside the the Chapel was suprisingly crowded, and the paintings on the ceiling were much smaller than we imagined. But, it was still beautiful, and amazing to see what we had only read about in school textbooks. After the museum, we walked to Vatican City to view St. Peter's Bacilica and St. Mark's Square. At the time, thousands of chairs were set up outside the cathedral, where the Pope has been addressing his flock amid all of the controversy regarding the Roman Catholic Church. We later treked back to our hotel for a rest before heading back out to the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps. We entered the steps from the top and saw that it was lined with beautiful pink flowers, so we stopped for a photo opp. Even though it was raining a bit and many people had umbrellas out, it was still a sight to see overlooking the streets of Rome. After some window shopping, we made our way to the Trevi Fountain. Legend has it that if you toss a coin into the fountain over your right shoulder, you will come back to Rome. When we visted Rome in 2008, we both did just that, and here we are again. No reason to stop tradition now, so we both made the toss again to insure our return. While we hung around the Trevi fountain to see it light up at dusk, we took the opportunity to try a few new gelato flavors at a nearby gelateria. The next day we toured the ancient Roman highlights: the Coliseum, the Forum (the economic and political center of the Roman Republic), and the Pantheon (an ancient Roman temple). Before leaving Rome, we also explored the Borghese Gardens, a huge park with great views of the city of Rome, walking paths, bike rentals, snack stands, and people picnicking. The gardens reminded us of Central Park in New York and were a peaceful getaway from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the city. Finally and fittingly, on our last night in Rome we discovered a delicious gelateria directly across from our hotel and we strolled around the streets of Rome enjoying our Italian treats.