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Published: July 21st 2006
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Buongiorno ROMA! oh my ... there's just so much to write aboue Rome Im not sure where to start! What a beautiful and breathtaking city, full of history. We spent the most time there out of all the cities we've been to during our EUROPE SUMMER 06 trip and believe me.. it wasnt enough. I could have stayed in Rome for weeks and weeks. Everything about it was amazing. Of course everyone has their own views and preferences but me, Karla, I LOVED it!!!!
We were very fortunate as we were able to stay at the monistery in the centre of the city. First off ... We'd like to THANK all the priests at the monistery for letting us stay there for 4 nights.
A BIG THANK YOU to our tour guide and the one that made our stay at the monistery possible.... THANKS TIAGO! it was so amazing to spend time with you and you taking us around Rome to see all the sights was amazing! Thanks again to our ITALIAN tour guide! 😊
OK.. when we got to Rome and after we got settled we went for a little walk around the city. We started walking
Karla ... for good luck!
karla thowing a coin into TREVI FOUNTAIN! and before i knew it.. all of a sudden I saw the COLOSSEUM. It was night time and there were lights that lit up the huge monument. It felt like a dream. It looked so nice at night and felt competly unreal that I was there starring up at the Colosseum. After walking by we ended up at an outdoor festival that was held by the river. We had an Italian pizza and beers and just relaxed. It was a perfect Italian night.
The next day we got up early ready to explore Rome. WOW did we ever explore the city .. by foot. I dont think I ever walked so much in a day ... but honestly I didnt even mind .. i was ROME! (well maybe i did mind a little when we walked up hill .... hahah ) It was so hot and humid out. We saw so many sights and i made sure to take MANY pictures! Note to Everyone ... See the movie ROMAN HOLIDAY ... me and my mom watched that movie before i came and it made my trip even better becasue I was doing everything that AUDREY HEPBURNS character (who is
coinsidently a princess in the movie) did. We went to many famous locations: SPANISH STEPS, PEOPLES SQUARE, TREVI FOUNTAIN -- made sure to throw a coin in the fountain, the PANTHEON, PIAZZA NAVONA, ST. PETERS BASILICA, THE MOUTH OF TRUTH. and we also went to many not so famous but thats what makes it soooo beautiful locations. For example we went to one place, I forget what its called. It was just a door with a key hole. Its not a big major tourist attraction as it still is someones home. You look through the key hole and what you see is just breathtaking. on each side there is a green hegde (garden) and right in the middle it looks like its a cliff and all you see it the dome of St. Peters Basilica. SOOOOO BEAUTIFUL! Tiago took us to many places where you can see the whole city . . . wow what a city! When we went to St. Peter's I was wearinga tank top .. note to anyone wanting to go there inthe future .. my tank top wasnt a small tank but, i thought, respectable to wear in the church. NO ... i was denied
entry into the Basilica (along with many other women who were very upset) so Ian went into the Vatican gift shop and bought me a scarf so I was able to go in .. you have to have your shoulders and knees covered. It was so amazing though. As soon as we walked into Vatican City it felt like an outer body experience. Its just too bad that the Pope was on holidays .. hahah ... oh well maybe next time ill get to see him!
the next day we went to the Vatican Museum and the Colosseum and Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. Just amazing. We got to the Vatican at 8:30 in the morning and the line was already over 2 blocks long. We got in around 10- 10:30. There was just so much to see in the museum. Such a great collection of art. the painters were just beautiful. Especially Raphael's masterpieces. There were alot of ancient egyptian, greek and roman art and sculpters . The Sistine Chapel was the big ending .. and it was just gorgeous! Funny how alot of things arent as you picture them ... this was one of them .... Im not sure what exactly I was picturing ... but it doesnt matter ... it was incredible being in there. there were so many people in the Chapel .. the walls and cielings were full of the most beautiful and astonishing artwork Ive ever seen. While walking through the museam there were windows facing outside and wow.. the gardens were so nice! Everything was so nicely kept (of course) .. it was really nice to see!
After spending the morning in the museam we went over to the Colosseum.. we got a deal that we paid a price and got tours of the Colosseum and Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. What a good idea! We learnt so much and had so much fun! The Colosseum was incredible and we left the building with an urge to see the movie Gladiator (which they said was not far off from the truth, well except for little hisorical facts of the real ppl the movie portrayed) Seeing the ruins for the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill was unreal. We just couldnt grasp the fact that where we were standing was where ppl lived more than 2000 yrs ago. We saw where slaves were said to have slept and the Senet. just unbelievable!
Our last day in Rome we saw alot of churches. We saw one church where St. Peter actually prayed which was pretty cool becasue it wasnt a big church or cathedral. It was just a small little brown house that is a temple. We also saw Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore and Basilica di San Giovanni to name a couple. They were so nice. Again ... I was not allowed to go in with my shoulders being shown... this time i had a tshirt though 😊
so there it is... ROMA = AMOR ( see its backwards! hahaha)
OUT OF TIME..... MORE PICS TO COME ... LOTS MORE
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