Rome!!

Next we flew to Rome! I admit, I love Rome. However, it is overpopulated with tourists who make it harder to get a true Italian experience of the city. But the history of the place is unsurpassed. We were there for probably longer than we needed to be to see everything. You can only see so many cathedrals and museums before they all look the same. But we did have fun and I hope you enjoy the pictures!

At the Colosseum (Italian spelling):









Across the street...The Arch of Titus.


This was near the Colosseum (you can even see it in the background in the first photo). It's on the hill where the first palace(s) of Rome were built, and mansions of the rich during the height of Roman power. They are all in ruins now, but the history of the place is breathtaking.














Legend says that the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, were abandoned and raised by wolves. This statue is all across the city to perpetuate this legend.


The Bocca della Verita, made famous by Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck's movie "Roman Holiday". I love that movie! As you can see, Mom and I aren't liars.




Inside the church at Bocca della Verita. So rustic and pretty.


A cathedral in the back and the tall column details a war in pictures, spiraled from the bottom to the top. This is near the Foro Traiano.


This was once the palace of the second king of Italy, Emanuele II, but is now a museum.


First trip to the Trevi Fountain...


Pantheon. Over 2,000 years old...






Piazza Navona. It's where artists try to sell you their not-so-genuine work, accosted by strange Italian men wanting your pinkie finger, and where writers come to for an epiphany...










The best gelato ice-cream in Italy. It's made like a truffle, with a cherry at the center of the gelato ball, with whipped cream on top...It was delicious and it got us out of the rain.


This struck me as odd for some reason. You don't see many priests moonlighting as construction workers very often these days.


Vatican Museum:


















Sistine Chapel:
I was able to sneak in a few photos, even though it's technically not allowed. If they guards catch you, they will walk up to you and demand you put your camera away. And, there was seating on the sides of the chapel, so it was nice to rest a bit after a long walk through the museum. That was after I had to wait forever for someone to get up and leave. Mom was lucky and got a seat right away.





The museum's exit strategy...


The Vatican, St. Peters:
We went on a Wednesday, which would have been bad if we had plans to go inside. Wednesdays are when the Pope holds mass, so the line to get in was insanely long. We're not Catholic, so it seems almost wrong to take the place of someone who is and really wants to see the Pope for religious reasons. But it was pretty just the same.









Dungeon/Prison that I can't remember the name to..


The Spanish Steps:
It's much prettier in the summer when it's filled with flowers. It was raining really heavily, and we ended up with two 5 euro umbrellas. To escape the rain, we went into the Keats & Shelley Museum to the right of the steps. Highly recommended to anyone going to Rome.



This fountain at the foot of the Steps was inspired by a sinking ship. Cool, right?



Mom (and random Asian tourists posing behind her)


The next day it was very sunny and we travelled a little bit outside Rome's walls to the Catacombe di San Callisto. It has more saints and pope's buried there than you can count.

This is a beautiful valley, underneath are the catacombs.


Here is a statue of a saint (I think she was a patron saint of musicians). She was buried in this same position. Her face is turned away and covered because her head was cut off and you can even see a line across her neck. She is holding one finger out, as if telling everyone she believes in only one God.




Another old-school motorcycle...


People drive crazy in Italy, and I was surprised not to see more accidents like this. But this was a messy collision, and I have no idea if the people involved are okay. All I know is that it looks very bad and the smell was even worse.


Last day, and tossing our coins into the Trevi Fountain.