Roaming in Roma

Well I made an executive decision – I was still very sick so I decided to skip Venice and meet my friends in Rome. I am feeling better (so much pasta and gelato must cure anything) and all the trees in Paris now have leaves so it is hard to feel sickly and just want to stay indoors.

The food in Italy (yes, I am starting with the food) was wonderful. The tomatoes were super fresh and all of the restaurants we ate at were much more reasonably priced than Paris. The gelato was fantastic (twice a day) and it is strawberry season so that flavor was amazing. Now that you are all rolling your eyes in disdain I’ll move on to some old stuff.

So the Colosseum was rather colossal (pun intended). It was neat to go inside and see it from that angle. It also happened to be cultural week in Rome so all of the entrances to monuments and museums were free!

We also bumped into Julius Caesar and his friends. They still hang around the Colosseum.

We then walked around the Roman Forum and saw more ancient things.

When exciting the Forum we were on Via Imperial where we also saw some impressive monuments.

The weather was nice and our hostel was super nice. We were actually in a separate apartment which included a kitchen and bathroom. It was called Freedom Traveler. Being in Rome meant we had to pay the Pope a visit. So one morning we headed to Popeland.

The Vatican museums are spectacular and everything is so ornate (Catholics aren’t exactly into minimalism). By the time we reached the Sistine Chapel I was a bit underwhelmed mainly because everything before that had been so over the top. We then went out and went to see St. Peter’s which was the craziest church I have ever been into. It was more ridiculous monument than place of worship.

After the whole religious pilgrimage we decided to relax the next day so we went to the Travestere neighborhood. I loved this area it was less touristy and I got the impression that people lived in this area (there was a lot of laundry hanging out of windows). We sat in the main square for several hours and listened to a cello player and then we saw a wedding procession (if I ever get married I think I would pull up in a Rolls Royce too).

We also climbed up above the city and got a nice view of down below:

The Spanish steps were in full bloom (lots of potted plants) and we also saw the Trevi Fountain but this area was tourist packed so we didn’t have a La Dolce Vita swim.

And of course I must mention Vespas. They were everywhere. Thus I leave you with a few photos of the famous bike and of Tigrou’s rival. Enjoy your week I will be writing papers like there is no tomorrow. Ciao!