Rome & Athens

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Four days in Rome & Athens

Arriving in Rome we instantly felt at home. The city was so clean and the weather was perfect. Not too cold or hot. Pulling up to our hotel we were in awe. The giant old building we were pulling up to did not look like a hotel but more of a tourist attraction as the building was huge and all in marble. We found our room and then explored. Our hotel was an old monastery and the church inside still exists. We were blown away by the beauty and really enjoyed looking around the property. We walked around the streets some and then returned to our hotel to get a good nights sleep.

In the morning we made our way to the Coliseum and met up with the tour group on which we were booked. We then went on a really interesting tour of the Coliseum where to learned a lot- like how usually Gladiator's lives were spared and they did not in fact fight 'til death. After touring the Coliseum we made our way to the Roman Forum and walked around there. It was really beautiful and we learned a lot about how the Romans lived long ago.

After our morning tour we headed to Spagna- or more commonly known as the Spanish Steps. We found a great place to eat where we enjoyed local beer, pizza and pasta. After lunch we walked around the shopping area. However the shopping area was insane. The shops were all extremely high end and many stores had prices starting in the thousands. I obviously did not buy anything but enjoyed walking around the old streets and admiring the architecture. We met up with our afternoon tour and toured the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and an old Church and had a great afternoon walking around.

While touring an old church I decided to observe a service that was being given by a priest. Although I had no clue what he was saying I decided to watch. During his service the Priests cell phone began ringing super loud. He had to excuse himself from the service and go answer the phone but couldn't help laughing to myself and wondering if he was answering a call from God.

We decided to head back to our hotel to change before dinner. Tyler got us lost while walking to the train station and was trying to take us to a train station that was a few stops away. I should have learned from Tylers sense of directions in Montreal (when he lead us several kilometres through houses away from the Oratory despite my objections) to never follow him but once again we walked several kilometres in the wrong direction due to his lack of being able to read a map.

After changing at our hotel we went out for dinner at this great little place that had a cute terrace. We sat and ate and enjoyed a bottle of wine- which by the way is cheaper than Coca Cola. After the wine and food we headed back to the hotel.

In the morning we woke up and headed out for the Vatican. Luckily the Metro in Italy is extremely easy to use as we were able to take the Metro really close by the Vatican. After being body scanned and our bags being checked we were able to enter the Vatican. It was beautiful. There were not many people around and we deided to visit St. Peter's Basilica. Tyler has become rather frugal after spending a few weeksin Africa and everything being cheaper there, as he decided to buy us the cheap tickets. The cheap tickets meant we had to take the stairs all the way to the top instead of taking the elevator. We are in shape so we figured it would not be a big deal. It however was not a big deal but as shoulders and knees need to remain covered in this holy place I had to hike up all of the stairs in pants and my jacket. Half way up I started to curse at Tyler as the heat began to take over (we thought of you Danielle and Bryan while doing this climb as it reminded us of our stair run to the top of the Calgary tower last year at City Chase). Once we reached the top and I was officially covered in sweat, we got to enjoy a beautiful view of the city. Then we walked back down all the stairs to the bottom where we got to look around St. Peters Basilica which was breathtaking. After exiting the Basilica we immediately noiced how busy it had gotten. It was packed and there was a two hour line to get into the Basilica. Luckily due to always waking up early we were able to beat this rush.

We made our way over to the Museum Vatica and the Sistine Chapel. We were not so lucky here and had to wait 1.5 hours to get in. Luckily we met some nice folks from Florida who kept us company and we swapped travel stories.

Upon entering the museum it was so packed. We felt like cattle being herded towards the chapel. We entered the chapel and were able to enjoy the beautiful work of Michael Angelo. The crowd had gotten to us so we left and went for lunch on the street. Lunch was great and afterwards we had to rush back to our hotel and grab our bags and make our way to the airport.

The flight over to Athens was nice and easy. We continued to feel at home here and had an amazing dinner (possibly our best meal yet). As we arrived late we went to bed after our late dinner and woke up to explore Athens.

For breakfast we found a small bakery. I fully indulged, by not only having a cappucino made with cream but also having a donut for breakfast. I love being able to enjoy the food while people watching from the terrace that almost every restaurant has.

We walked around Athens and found some shops to look around in and the morning breezed by.

For the afternoon we made our way to our tour. However upon arriving we were told the tour was cancelled.... shitty. So we made our way to the Acropolis on our own and toured the ruins and climbed to the top to see the Parthenon. The view was incredible and the weather was perfect.

After touring the ruins we made our way back to the streets where we shopped a little more and stopped for ice cream. The owner here was so nice and offered us free cold melted chocolate. This was amazing. I have never heard of cold melted chocolate before and it was so thick that it must have been mixed with a little bit of cream but it was so good. We were also treated to free churros. The people in Greece are so nice and friendly. We love it here. It has been such a nice change from Africa where everyone wanted money for everything and even from Rome where I am sure they get sooooo many tourists that they are all jaded by it. Tyler even found a nice gentleman in one store today that had two Harley's and told him stories about how he got his hands on a 1945 Harley from the War. They swapped stories and shared pictures.

We had another great dinner in Athens on a rooftop patio overlooking the city where we could see a view of the Acropolis and Parthenon.

Tomorrow morning we are off on a boat towards Santorini. Can't wait to explore the islands!

Until next time.

Jill

See more pics below.

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Coliseum
An excellent shot!