Italy: Part Three

This is the third and final part of my Italy trip, and this was probably my favorite part of the trip.  This experience was a life-changing experience because the things I saw really made me fall in love with culture and archaeology, and made me pick anthropology as my major. Plus, it all became extra-special knowing that this was going to be our last stop on this beautiful trip!

We went to Rome and spent about three days there.  We got there at night and rode out to the Vatican to see St. Peter’s all lit up at night, and then we got dropped off at the Spanish Steps (which was one of many magical moments for me because I LOVE the movie Roman Holiday).  We sat on the steps for a while people watching and listening to all the twenty-somethings playing their guitars and singing.  We ventured on to a lot of really awesome sites like the Trevi Fountain, which I’m still waiting for that coin to bring me back, we ate gelato and listened to the water and watched a guy purpose to his girlfriend.  It was a magical Trevi experience!

 Then we went to the Pantheon which was beautiful!  Rome at night is seriously purer magic!  We drove past the Colosseum on the way back to the hotel which was so cool.  I remember just getting this HUGE smile on my face the minute I saw it!

The next day we got on the subway and headed into Rome.  We started at the Spanish Steps and made a day of sightseeing.  We bought one of those bus passes that take you around town and we used the crap out of those  things!  You feel really touristy jumping on and off those bad boys, but they take you just about everywhere that a normal bus would, but you get to actually learn a little more about the things you’re seeing instead of just zooming past them thinking, ‘Wow,  what a pretty building’.

We did do a lot of just sightseeing things, but we also spent some time in a park, ate too much gelato and did a lot of walking and just meandering with people.  Some of our highlights of sightseeing that day were The Mouth of Truth (So Audrey Hepburn), back to the Trevi and Pantheon, Going to the Little Island across the walking bridge (there is a darling church and our favorite gelato was there!) and we enjoyed just walking down streets and looking at the fountains and watching people.

The next day we went to the Colosseum and did the tour of the inside.  It was so awesome!  The technology that went into these huge monuments stop me dead in my tracks every time, and I always get this sense of euphoria when I get to touch these things and feel like I’m a part of it.  We walked down the Old Roman Road to the Forum, which was the coolest thing to walk through.  We saw the tomb of Caesar, the remains of the old marketplaces, and temples.  Yet another piece of history that I’d only read about in books.

We ended the day at the Vatican.  We went to the Vatican Museum, which had some of the most beautiful things!  There were amazing sculptures, this amazing hall with maps on it, impeccable marble designs on the floor, and, of course, the Sistine Chapel!  I was really excited about the Sistine Chapel, but the atmosphere in the Chapel was very disappointing.  You’re herded into this room where you can’t move and you aren’t allowed to speak or you’re shooshed by the Swiss Guard, and you can’t truly appreciate the art.  It’s really sad, because it is such a spectacular work of art, and you don’t really get to take it all in.

We truly had an amazing time together in Italy, and I cannot wait to go back! It will be its own unique experience the next time I make it back, but I will always look back at this trip with the two most amazing women in my life and have amazing memories.

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