Spring Break 2011 - Rome

March 1- March 5

If I had to describe our time in Rome in one word it would be: Rain! Every day we were in Rome with the exception of the last day, it rained, but that did not stop us from making the most of our time in Rome. After we flew into Rome and checked into our hostel, we ventured out into the pouring rain and walked to the Santa Maria Maggiore, Teatro deli Opera, Plazza della Republica, and the Maria degli Angeli (a beautiful basillica). We even went to the Trevi Fountain in the pouring rain, but it was totally worth it because it is by far my favorite spot in Rome. After walking around the city for a while, we met up with other girls from Aquinas who were staying in the same hostel as us and all went out for dinner. The food in Italy is delicious (but by the end of a week in Italy I was tired of pasta, pizza and gelato).

The next morning we woke up and went to Vatican City hoping that we would see the pope, but unfortunately our source was faulty and the pope was not making an appearance that day. Not wanting to waste a trip to the Vatican, we all climbed to the top of St. Peter’s Basilica and had an amazing view of the city. As you climb to the top, you are literally walking at the angle of the dome so the stairs are slanted and you are walking sideways. I felt like I was in a fun house for the majority of the climb up. After spending some time at the top, we climbed back down and spent some time walking around St. Peters. I was so overwhelmed by all that is inside, I feel like I could have spent every day I was in Rome inside St. Peters and still not seen everything. As a group, we also went down into the catacombs and saw Pope John Paul II’s tomb. We stopped for lunch and then made our way to the Coliseum. At the Coliseum, we had a guided tour by a woman who was craazy! She was explaining how the gladiators walked into the Coliseum and told us “Look here, now imagine this, 35 Russell Crowes walk in here...” The tour was so worth it because I learned a lot I would not have known otherwise.

The next morning we woke up and there was sun shine so in taking full advantage of the nice weather we went to: The Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain (again :-)), Pantheon, Piazza Navona and Camp di Fiori. They all were so beautiful and the nice weather made it all the better. After our whirlwind tour of Rome in the morning, we went back to the Coliseum and went to the Roman Forum for the second part of our tour. The Roman Forum was very interesting and at one point, we were walking on the original floor of the palace that was built there! After our tour our group split up and I went shopping with a couple of the girls and we ended up getting cannolis and eating them in St. Peter’s Square.   After dinner we did something that was long overdue: laundry. When you are living out of a backpack for two and a half weeks, you run out of clothes pretty fast!

The next day, we went to the Piazza del Popolo and went up to Villa Borghese and rode segways around the park. It was so much fun, but kind of scary at first because it is all about balance, but once you get the hang of it, it is amazing! After our segway excursion, we went to the Vatican Museum and saw the Sistine Chapel which is absolutely gorgeous and also The School of Athens. Since we purchased a Roma Pass, we had free entrance into  two museums and after using one of the passes at the Coliseum, we decided to use our last pass and go to the Castel Sant’ Angelo. It has papal apartments and was used as a fortress during times of conflict. After dinner we went back to the Trevi Fountain one last time and enjoyed gelato before heading home to pack for Florence! 

I did not fall into the Trevi Fountain..even though that is what it looks like.