Rob’s European Vacation 2009

This morning on Day 3, I got up and had four things I had to see before my stay in Rome was done.  1. The Forum, 2. The Mouth of Truth, 3. the AS Roma store and 4. Castle di Angello.  Consider the mission accomplished.  I headed out this morning and got to the Forum…the seat of power for ancient Rome.  I again listened to my Rick Steves audioguide (man that guy saved me a ton of money) and checked out the sites.  The tomb of Julius Cesear was there, the old Senate building and all of Capitol and Paletine Hills….sooo amazing.  You’re literally walking on thousands and thousands of years of history.  I walked around for a few hours and then headed out to make my way to the Boca Della Vitras or the Mouth of Truth.  I remember the carving from the movie Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn and had to see it.  While I was in line waiting for my turn to take a picture, I noticed there was a guy there taking everyone’s pictures for a 50 euro cent donation.  So I donated and got two great pictures!  It’s so rare for me to be in a picture on this trip that I’m stoked that I not only got into a picture but also it was a really good one of me! yay. After the Mouth, I made my way up the Via Corso to hit up the AS Roma store to get some memorabilia from my favorite football team in the city they play in!  I was soo looking forward to getting some tshirts and maybe even a jersey.  But once I got there, I was amazed at the prices.  Just for a little old tshirt it was 40 Euros.  That’s over 50 USD for a tshirt!!  A jersey was 90 euros!  that’s just insane prices….and people were buying stuff right and left.  I did see some baby clothes (they had everything for a baby) and wanted to grab something for my future son, but I figured that was a little weird, especially for a guy, lol.  So I took off and headed for my last stop, the Castle of the Angel next to the Vatican.

The Castle isn’t that special inside…but it looks amazing from the outside and the roof.  You can get a grand view of Rome from the roof and of course it has an amazing history too, from Hadrian’s tomb to a fortress and a prison it has an interesting past.  After the Castle I decided to go see the inside of SPB again and I’m glad I did because today the sun was shining and you could see the rays of sun coming in from the dome which reminds you of God looking in.  Of course God wasn’t there the day before because it was overcast but hey, whatever…everyone needs a day off right?  So I took a whole bunch of pictures inside and headed for the cupola.

So I was told by my roommate Carly that I should climb the dome of SPB and check out the view from there.  For five euros, I did just that…and climbed some 551 steps!  It was tough for a bit but really not anything as bad as St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.  For some reason that dome REALLY killed me…but it may have something to do with being so much more in shape now than I was then since this is at the end of my trip and I’ve been walking miles and miles everyday for the past month?  Anyways I got to the top and wow..views galore of Rome, Vatican City and beyond.  I didn’t realize but Vatican City has some really pretty gardens in the back that are immaculately groomed.  I took some pictures and headed back down.  As I headed down I slipped on the slippery marble stairs and caught myself with my arm over the railing.  But thanks to my klutziness I got a nasty bruise now on my inner tricep, hot!  I took off from the Vatican and knew this would be my last chance to see the most of Rome so I made one big sweep through the city.  I started off going across the Tiber to see the Piazza Navona, then off to the Pantheon and the Trevi.  After the Trevi I headed back to the Spanish Steps.  I sat there for a bit and then headed for the Metro back to the Termini.  I headed back to my hostel and began to pack for my flight tomorrow.  I gotta get up early and catch a bus at 7 to get to Ciampino airport by 8.  Since RyanAir likes you to be super early, I gotta make sure I’m there nice and early to get checked in and make sure there’s no problems.  So I’m gonna finish up my packing but in the meantime, here are my pics from the last two days…again THANKS FOR READING!!

Day 2 in Rome started out good.  I was the first one to wake up so I grabbed my stuff and took a shower.  After the shower I packed up all my things and headed out for the day.  First up, the Vatican.

The Vatican Museums are huge.  Not what you’d think considering it’s supposed to be the center of Christendom and everything.  There’s a lot of pagan statues and stuff from really all over the place.  There is also tons of something else…PEOPLE.  It was INCREDIBLY crowded and I just hate crowds like that.  I hate being in them and just want to get out.  So I actually zoomed through most of the Vatican museums in about 2 hours…which is short considering my roommate went at the same time I did and she left seven hours later!!  So I zoomed through and made my way to the Sistine Chapel.
The Sistine Chapel, the Pope’s personal chapel and the place where they elect the new popes…I’ve heard that people were underwhelmed by it and how small it was but man oh man, it was amazing.  There are frescoes from floor to ceiling and of course the famous ones by Michalengo including the finger of God giving the spark of live to man.  Regardless of your religous beliefs, this work of art is the defining piece of work by one man.  Amazing…I stood there with my head upwards for about an hour, awestruck at the magnificance of Michalengo’s work.

After the Sistine I snaked my way around to the the Vatican’s crypts.  I saw where many of the pope’s were buried, including Pope John Paul II and the original Pope, Peter!!  Very cool and Peter’s crypt is extremely ornate.  Very beautiful.

After the crypts I headed up into St. Peter’s Basilica.   The center of Catholicism.  The seat of the Pope.   AMAZING.  I don’t think you can truly appreciate SPB unless you’ve been there.  It is so gorgeous inside.  It was built to show the glory of Catholicism versus the Protestants and wow, it really impresses.  I walked around and took an audioguide from Rick Steves for about an hour.  As I was leaving my camera battery died on me and I decided to hit up the hostel and charge the battery since I’m a photographer and have to take pics of all the places I go!  So I went back and started charging the battery and decided the best way to make use of the time would be…to watch LOST!!!  haha.  I love that show so much.  I still haven’t finished the final episode but wow oh wow..was it good so far! (oh crap, I just finished it!!!  WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

So anyways after the camera battery charged, I went back out to the Colosseum and was going to go to the Forum but it was closed.  So I decided to go back to the Pantheon and the Trevi.  I love the Trevi so much. I took some more pictures and got some more gelato and headed back to the hostel for a good nights rest.

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