Mama Mia!

Rome Day #1

This morning Anna and I woke up and went to breakfast which is complementary at the hotel we are staying at (Piram Hotel).

We had ticket reservations for the Vatican and St. Peter’s basilica at 10am so we had a very nice morning to get ready for our day. The metro in Rome is very easy to navigate though so we bought a day pass.

We Arrived at Vatican right on time to see the longest line of people waiting to get inside. Thankfully we bought tickets online and skipped 3 hours of waiting and got in immediately.

Anna has a tour through Rome book which basically was our little tour guide through the Vatican. The winding halls and rooms led us to the great man made creation I have ever laid my eyes on.

The Sistine Chapel.

It was very crowded and we felt like we were getting herded around by fellow tourist, but we did find places to stop and consume the magnitude of Michelangelo’s masterpiece. He hesitated to comply with the pope when asked to paint the chapel, saying we was a sculptor and not a painter. He ended up accepting the popes plea and created his perception of the bible on every ounce of the walls.

I wish I could describe the beauty; to share what I have seen with you. The first five minutes I was so in awe I couldn’t help but cry. Maybe that was my gift to hold onto…

After Anna and I got out of the Sistine chapel we wanted to go straight to St. Peter’s basilica. A security guard whistled to us to pointed his finger, motioning it to his right down a flight of stairs. We walked down the stairs and found ourselves skipping a two hour line to get into the beautiful building.

After spending 4 hours in the Vatican and St. Peter’s basilica we decided to walk through the north side of Rome called the Villa Borghese. It was a big park with beautiful fountains, places to rent bicycles to ride around the park with friends, gelato stands for an afternoon snack, and the best view of Rome. We took many pictures, got Anna gelato for her birthday, and found ourselves walking up to the Spanish steps. That was a very crowded area as well, but roaming around was manageable without feeling too congested. We walked up and down the steps. Bought a small water color painting and took a lot of pictures of people and the sights. Anna and I sat for a little while next to three girls from South Africa. We talked for almost a half an hour. They were very nice.

After the Spanish steps Anna and I decided to go back to our hotel to freshen up for a night out to dinner. The food was delicious!

By the end of our evening it was 9:30pm. We both barely made it to our room. The night is for rebuilding, but I predict our bones will be sore the next morning.

Ciao for now!