Rome in a Day!!!

August 9-10, 2009

The wonderful Chianti wine tasting tour left us with only 1 full day to explore Rome!!! Rome in a day is practically impossible/crazy to do. We were determined to get it all done. How could we miss the Colosseum, Vatican, St. Peters, the Spanish Steps, Pantheon, or Trevi Fountain?!?! WE COULDN’T!

We started our day off bright and early. It was off to the Colosseum first. The Colosseum is a 2,000 year old building (a great example of Roman engineering). The Colosseum represents Rome at its grandest, and let me tell you it is spectacular! It was built when killing became a spectator sport (gladiators, criminals and wild animals fought to their death). It would fill about 50,000 people. They say that all the people were in their seats within 15 minutes of the gates opening. They way they got this done was with whips! Scary. So, the lines to enter the Colosseum are hours long. We thought it would be a great idea to go with a “tour group” to speed up the process. They offered for 10 extra Euro to give us a guided tour and not wait in line. Since we were trying to do Rome in a day we decided to take their offer. 1 hour and 30 minutes later we finally entered the Colosseum. Needless to say we got totally ripped off. After we gave the guide our money she disappeared and didn’t come back until 45 minutes later. They we talked outside of the Colosseum for 20 more minutes and then had to still wait in a line to get in! We were furious. As soon as we got in we ditched the group, took some great pictures, and then tracked down the tour coordinator to get our money back. At the time we were frustrated, but looking back it is kind of funny. After touring the Colosseum we walked through the Roman Forum. This is ancient Rome’s birthplace and civic center. It is a huge park with a bunch of ruins and statues.

After the Colosseum we were off to Vatican City. This is a tiny independent country of more then 100 acres and the religious capital of over 1.1 billion Roman Catholics. We went to the Vatican Museum first. The museum contains Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. The walk to the Sistine Chapel is about 4 miles. It was really crazy how BIG the museum is. The even more amazing part is that every single inch (walls, floors, doors) is covered with the most beautiful elaborate art I have ever seen. The Vatican Museum is by far my favorite museum on the trip. At the end of the 4 mile walk through thousands of works of art you are rewarded by entering the Sistine Chapel. This is the personal chapel of the Pope and also where a new pope is elected. It was beautiful.

Next we were off to St. Peters Basilica. This is known as the richest and most impressive church on earth, and it was. We ran into a little problem before entering the church though. OUR SHOULDERS AND LEGS HAD TO BE COVERED. In the 100+ degree weather this was the last thing we expected (should have paid more attention to what Rick Steves’ had to say) . We had to run across the street, buy a few scarves and hope to get let in. When we got to the front of the line we were still showing too much skin. So I pulled my skirt way down low to my knees, and Ashley gave Christine her scarf (she made a skirt with the extra) and we went in. After Christine and I were finished we went out to get Ashley, she took Christine’s scarf made a skirt and we went in again. The basilica was beautiful and enormous.

With no time to waste we were off to the Pantheon. This is the best restored building in Rome. The interior was almost flawless with a gigantic skylight. The Pantheon comes with a funny story. When we entered it we didn’t really see any signs that said “Pantheon” so we were not 100% sure we were in the right place. Ashley took it upon her self to go ask the reception desk where the Pantheon is. As she was walking over Christine and I saw a sign that said Pantheon. We were in the right place we turned to tell Ashley not to ask but she was already talking to the lady. The expression on Ashley’s face was priceless when the lady told her “ You are IN it.” HAHAHAHA. It was one of the best laughs I have had all trip.

Next we went to Trevi Fountain. It was super gorgeous and very crowded. We went to the base of it, look our pennies (yes AMERICAN pennies), tossed them over our shoulder and made a wish. Now Trevi Fountain will have a little bit of the states in it. Finally about 10 hours later we were off to our last stop. We didn’t plan our trip very well because after walking around all day we saved the STEPS for last. We decided to climb them in a figure 8 to make them interesting. It consisted of 2 circular staircases. On top was a great view of the city.

Our most exciting fact of the day is what Christine’s PEDOMETER said. She wears one for a contest that she has at her work. All the employees count their steps and get entered into raffles depending on how many steps they get. At the end of our day in Rome we walked an astounding 15 miles!!!

Off to Mykonos.