When in Rome

Waking up at 4:30 am wasn't the worst part of our journey on Saturday. I think it was the 16 miles we walked...or the 100 degree weather? Honestly, I am still deciding haha. Rome was beautiful, but it was also the longest and hottest day ever and I am still recovering haha.

After waking up, we went to the train station to ride a train for 2 hours to Rome from Florence. The vibe of the day was already chaotic because we realized half way through on our 30 min walk to the station that we were late so we had to sprint the 2nd half there and made it to the train with a minute to spare. I told myself that I would never run again after high school and unfortunately I had to break that on Saturday morning😂. Reminder that this was at like 5 am, and we were carrying bags and wearing nice outfits.

After riding/taking a nap on the train, we arrived in Rome! We grabbed our coffee from a cafe and made a game plan of all we were doing that day. Our first stop was at the Trevi Fountain (which personally was my favorite part of the Rome Trip). We threw in our coins (1 to wish to go back to Rome, 1 to wish for true love, and 1 to wish that you will get married).

2nd stop was the Colosseum and the Roman Forums. The Colosseum is the largest amphitheater in the world and is listed as one of the 7 Wonders of the World. The Roman Forum was a little difficult to locate because it is in ruins and is also surrounded by other ruins. It was really neat to try to picture how life was back when these buildings were in full glory and being built.

3rd stop was the Pantheon, not to be confused with the Parthenon which is in Greece. I think we were confused by the names also because when we got to the Pantheon, it was a little disappointing because it was a lot smaller and it was squeezed into a square surrounded by buildings. The history behind it was more interesting than the building itself, and it supposed to be the most preserved monument in Rome after the fall of the Roman Empire and all of the earthquakes Rome survived.

4th stop was to the Vatican City, and in specific the Saint Peter's Basilica which was built around the 1500s and is the largest church in the world and also famous for the Sistine Chapel where Michelangelo's famous works are on the ceiling. Unfortunately we were unable to see the Sistine Chapel, due to the expenses of the tickets and how you need to book them weeks in advance. That is one thing that I wish I would have done.

The Basilica is surrounded by this huge courtyard and sits up high in the air. Ceremonies still occur here and we could see chairs sitting outside the Basilica for Sunday's service where the Pope comes to bless the crowds.

After that we had to walk around 3/4 miles back towards the train station from the Vatican City and take the train home.