ROME!
So after a 24hr flying process we landed in Rome, Italy on Monday July 4th, 10:00am. I can never sleep on planes so I had no sleep, but all the others, Mark, Carol and Jon had some sleep and we were all rearing to go! Our day started right away. It was so fun to go through the customs line and have my passport stamped for the very first time! So we got with our shuttle driver and he took us to our apartment that we rented to the 2 days whilst we were in Rome. First thoughts on Rome, WOW! can't believe I am here! There are only two lanes of traffic? Mark points out that I will find no SUV's nor trucks, and hardly any sedans. A ton of graffiti and a bunch of traffic. But I am in ROME! So we get to our apartment, settle in, I take a 2 hour nap and the boys go get their bearings on the city and the bus system. I wake up to Mark bringing me home some DELICIOUS pizza, getting me excited for all the Italian eating we'll be having! So we head out and grab our bus and metro to take us to the Colosseum! We barely make it in time! Whew it's crazy figuring out how to get around in a large city.
First thoughts on the colosseum, WOW! can't believe I'm here, (ha, you'll get this reaction a lot the first days) 2nd, this ancient building is right in the midst of a bustling city, I can't imagine living there and driving right by the these ancient ruins every day!
Carol and Jon getting their picture taken in front, so.... sad news... I am lame and left our camera on the train from Rome to Florence. SHOOT! So all these pictures are from Jon and Anne and Tanner. Thank you guys for letting us use these pics!
The Colosseum was built over 2,000 yrs ago and used for the entertainment of the emperor and the Romans. Most of you have seen "Gladiator" so you know what kind of entertainment they enjoyed... eek!!
The colosseum has gone through a lot of structural damage, the seats and stairs, the floor, the side of the building, most have been destroyed, but there obviously is a lot still there! SO cool!!
This is an arch that another emperor built... ha! Not too sure on this one:P
This is the Forum where the Romans lived! It was very cool to pretend to be a Roman and walk around, all Roman like...
My nose, after a long day of walking, and very, very little sleep.
This is the Roman capital building as it stands today. It is SO beautiful! All white and shiny! So, another thought on Rome, There are more Scooters than cars by far!! If I live there I am for sure buying a scooter!
Mark and I's most favorite thing was the Pantheon! It was amazing! It is the oldest standing church in the world. Imagine walking down a tight street with cobble stone, and nowadays buildings and then all of a sudden walking into a marketplace and BAM!! This huge ancient church right in the middle! WOWZA!
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So after a 24hr flying process we landed in Rome, Italy on Monday July 4th, 10:00am. I can never sleep on planes so I had no sleep, but all the others, Mark, Carol and Jon had some sleep and we were all rearing to go! Our day started right away. It was so fun to go through the customs line and have my passport stamped for the very first time! So we got with our shuttle driver and he took us to our apartment that we rented to the 2 days whilst we were in Rome. First thoughts on Rome, WOW! can't believe I am here! There are only two lanes of traffic? Mark points out that I will find no SUV's nor trucks, and hardly any sedans. A ton of graffiti and a bunch of traffic. But I am in ROME! So we get to our apartment, settle in, I take a 2 hour nap and the boys go get their bearings on the city and the bus system. I wake up to Mark bringing me home some DELICIOUS pizza, getting me excited for all the Italian eating we'll be having! So we head out and grab our bus and metro to take us to the Colosseum! We barely make it in time! Whew it's crazy figuring out how to get around in a large city.
First thoughts on the colosseum, WOW! can't believe I'm here, (ha, you'll get this reaction a lot the first days) 2nd, this ancient building is right in the midst of a bustling city, I can't imagine living there and driving right by the these ancient ruins every day!
Carol and Jon getting their picture taken in front, so.... sad news... I am lame and left our camera on the train from Rome to Florence. SHOOT! So all these pictures are from Jon and Anne and Tanner. Thank you guys for letting us use these pics!
The Colosseum was built over 2,000 yrs ago and used for the entertainment of the emperor and the Romans. Most of you have seen "Gladiator" so you know what kind of entertainment they enjoyed... eek!!
The colosseum has gone through a lot of structural damage, the seats and stairs, the floor, the side of the building, most have been destroyed, but there obviously is a lot still there! SO cool!!
This is an arch that another emperor built... ha! Not too sure on this one:P
This is the Forum where the Romans lived! It was very cool to pretend to be a Roman and walk around, all Roman like...
My nose, after a long day of walking, and very, very little sleep.
This is the Roman capital building as it stands today. It is SO beautiful! All white and shiny! So, another thought on Rome, There are more Scooters than cars by far!! If I live there I am for sure buying a scooter!
Mark and I's most favorite thing was the Pantheon! It was amazing! It is the oldest standing church in the world. Imagine walking down a tight street with cobble stone, and nowadays buildings and then all of a sudden walking into a marketplace and BAM!! This huge ancient church right in the middle! WOWZA!
.And this is the Fountain of Four Rivers you may recognize this from "Angels and Demons" It is a very beautiful fountain.
And here is the Trevi Fountain we loved this place, it was so much larger than I thought it would be, like fills a whole market area! And we saw it at night (obviously shown in the picture) The lights and the water, and the statues! Ahhh!! So beautiful!
After a very long day of walking and seeing amazing things we were grateful to get back to the metro and on our way home, but guess what!? The metro had stopped running for the night! AH! So we walked forever to the bus station, found a bus that stopped close to our apartment, got on it and wait a minute... was not dropped off close to our apartment. So we walked, and walked, and prayed we were going in the right direction, and sure enough after 45 minutes we made it home! I have never sleep so well!!
And here is the Trevi Fountain we loved this place, it was so much larger than I thought it would be, like fills a whole market area! And we saw it at night (obviously shown in the picture) The lights and the water, and the statues! Ahhh!! So beautiful!
After a very long day of walking and seeing amazing things we were grateful to get back to the metro and on our way home, but guess what!? The metro had stopped running for the night! AH! So we walked forever to the bus station, found a bus that stopped close to our apartment, got on it and wait a minute... was not dropped off close to our apartment. So we walked, and walked, and prayed we were going in the right direction, and sure enough after 45 minutes we made it home! I have never sleep so well!!The next day we had scheduled a tour through the Vatican. So we got up and ready, saw that there were pretty fierce clouds in the sky, thought, hmmm maybe we are should take umbrellas, and guess what, the apartment had umbrellas! So we take the umbrellas hoping that we don't need to use them, and sure enough, it POURS!!! We were soaked, even though we had umbrellas, the rain seemed like it was coming up from the ground too! which it was, cause it was SO hard! The roads were covered with inches in minutes! We had a funny little run in with a rat. We were standing in a little coverlet and this rat ran in and was jumping and running around our little cove, where there was very little space! ahh! But so funny! And then we ran to the Vatican, hoping to catch our tour guide before she left us. And we made it just in time!
This is the swiss guard, they are actually Swiss and they are in charge of taking care of the Pope.
These are the Vatican's gardens, the Pope walks through here everyday.
They are mighty beautiful!
This is St. Peters Square. It's crazy to be some where that is so publicized like this. It was way cool being here.
And this is the front of St. Peters Basilica. It is a beautiful building. And has amazing things inside.
This is the dome that Michelangelo created. It is gorgeous!
And this is the alter
And this is the Pieta. Michelangelo created this, it is so beautiful. It is of Mary holding Jesus after he was let off the cross.
Rome was amazing! We ate a lot of gelato, pizza, and pasta. All in all I am not super impressed with the cuisine, I think us Americans have really improved on the food. But it still was delicious. Thank you Rome!
These are the Vatican's gardens, the Pope walks through here everyday.They are mighty beautiful!
This is St. Peters Square. It's crazy to be some where that is so publicized like this. It was way cool being here.
And this is the front of St. Peters Basilica. It is a beautiful building. And has amazing things inside.
This is the dome that Michelangelo created. It is gorgeous!
And this is the alter
And this is the Pieta. Michelangelo created this, it is so beautiful. It is of Mary holding Jesus after he was let off the cross.
Rome was amazing! We ate a lot of gelato, pizza, and pasta. All in all I am not super impressed with the cuisine, I think us Americans have really improved on the food. But it still was delicious. Thank you Rome!