When in Rome

Rome wasnt built in a day but we seen it all in a day! 

Arriving in Rome at 5:30am and it already being 24 degrees I knew it was going to be a hot one! After being waved through customs without as much as a look at our passports we were off to get the train to Rome!

Stepping out of the train station we both almost get hit by a car looking left instead of right... It's at about this point we decide the roads in Rome are far to dangerous to hire scooters and ride the streets of Rome! We were both amazed by Rome as we were taken by taxi to our hotel. Winding through back cobble stone streets past beautiful monuments and ancient ruins! 

As we are early we can't check in so instead get changed and head out to explore Rome... Stopping firstly at a little cafe I had my first Italian coffee (delicious!) and a chocolate crossant (even more delicious!) We area both amazed by the grandature of everything they build in Rome! We walk towards the Colloseum and pass many amazing buildings and ruins along the way. The Colloseum is showing it's age but is still amazing to think about men fighting such animals as bears, lions and cheetahs inside this amphitheater! A hot and sweaty walk through Colloseum looking and imagining many different things before we head for the Trevi Fountana. A small but amazingly busy square filled by a beautiful sculpture of male gods and horses around the running water. My favorite man/god would have to be the the one blowing really hard into the sea shell... Then there is this loud screeching, looking around we see what we have labeled "the fountain police" blowing their whistles stopping people getting to close to the fountain. I throw 3 coins in and make 3 wishes for my future, I'm hoping the Trevi will bring me luck!! 

Continuing our stroll through Rome we wind through street and get back to our hotel to shower, after all it had been now about 40 hrs without one! Fresh and changed I definantly feel like a new women as we walk towards the Vatican stopping along the way at the Pantheon (which we soon realize is only a block over from our hotel!) the first thing we notice is how big and grand the pillars are - mind u everything in Rome is huge! I try to wrap my arms around it and don't even reach a third of the way round and they are at least 10 x my hight, of not more! Neither of us were even remotely prepared for what laid within! As we enter my eyes were drawn up to this massive dome which is the roof. In the center of the dome is a hole shining a stream of light within the building - breathtaking is the only word I can think that describes this! It os 45 meters in diameter to give u a rough idea! I have never seen anything as grand or beautiful in my life! It seems like it would almost work as a sun dial... The rest of the room was pretty with alters around the edges but this dome - OMG! I still think is was my favorite thing in Rome! 

As we leave we stroll the back streets past beautiful old buildings and through many character filled squares! The beauty of Rome and the taste of their gelato will be etched in my mind forever! (gelato is consumed about once every 2 hrs - the brother wonders why his belly has grown!) we stop at a little cafe and eat lunch - bruscetta, antipasto, pizza and gnocchi! Pizza in Rome is Sooo much better the Australia but 1 thing we cant figure out: why dont they cut it for you?? 

After stuffing ourselves we jump in a taxi (by this point we are far to full and hot to continue walking) and head to the smallest country in the world - The Vatican! 

The piazza is buzzin with a line up of about a bagillion people, we get convinced by a girl to take a guided tour through the Vatican so we can avoid the one hour line up in the direct sunlight! Taking in so much infomation as we pass though cortyards, museums, across marble and mosaic floors, looking at sculptures and learning about how Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel! Inside the chapel they have a silence rule as the vibrations from our voices damage the art... Also no photography as it's all copyright but I got a cheeky few before being told by the guard to put my camera away! The chapel was soo full and it was beautiful but after all of the talk up I was left a tad dissapointed! Then there was the dome above St Peters Cathedral and it's 320 stairs to the top with very little windows or air on the way up or down... The stairwells tightening and resembling something from Alice in wonderland as the walls begin to curve as we climb higher up the tower! Then fresh air and thigh burn as we reach the top and look out from the highest point in Rome overlooking this amazing city!  The trip back down was much easier the the hike up! 

As we exit the stairs from the tower we try to enter St Peters cathedral but as I'm in a singlet and shorts I'm not allowed to enter and I'm ushered out - what we did see of it was also quiet breathtaking! 

Leaving the Vatican exhausted and hot we can't help but send some post cards for the Vatican post office before catching a cab back to the hotel for roof top beers and dinner (oh and more gelato) before hitting the sack and sleeping heavily throughout the night.... BEEP BEEP BEEP - it's 4:30am and time to catch a taxi back to the airport to fly to Split, Croatia to board an 8 day boat cruise on the Adriatic Sea... Very exciting but TIRED! 

NOTE: to drive in Rome means that the lines of the road should be either driven on or runnin down he 
Idle of ur car! For some reason nobody sticks to lanes, the roads there are MENTAL! 

** please excuse spelling and grammar, I'm writing this on my iPhone - much more difficult then I expected!