We arrived in Rome around 9pm and were collected by a driver who took us directly to our accommodation - the very lovely Suites Piazza Del Popolo, a 3 room B&B in central Rome run by 2 guys named Marco. We were met by Marco (I) who showed us our room and then, after asking us if we were hungry, quickly escorted us down the street to a restaurant he recommended so we could get our order in before they closed. After a quick pizza, it was back to our room to get some sleep.
The next morning we woke early for breakfast and Marco (I) was there to serve and give us any advice we needed. We decided to start at the Vatican - we figured that it would be less busy on a Friday than on the weekend. We arrived just before 10am and fortunately didn't have to queue for too long, as already it was starting to get hot. We looked into a guided tour and although you normally need to book, we were lucky to get a few free spaces on a tour due to leave at 10.30.
The dome of St. Peter's Basilica from the windows where the tour began -
The Vatican is huge and there are seemingly hundreds of rooms and miles of hallways, all completely covered by extraordinary frescoes -
The end of the above hallway -
One of the many rooms we toured through -
A stained glass window from the modern part of the Vatican collection -
Finally after much walking we arrived at the Sistine Chapel, home to Michelangelo's very famous Hand of God, just one of the 300+ biblical scenes he painted from 1508-1512 (he painted the altar wall featuring The Last Judgment later, from 1536-1541). Unfortunately you can't take pictures in the Sistine Chapel, so click here to see images and read more. The overall effect is completely overwhelming and in a room full of people it's impossible to truly appreciate the significance of the artwork.
From the Sistine Chapel we headed into St. Peter's Basilica, also incredibly overwhelming and extremely grand -
Nick in St. Peter's Square with 2 guards in their traditional (and somewhat comical) dress -
St. Peter's Basilica -
From Vatican City we headed to a restaurant close by which Marco (I) had recommended (something he had done on our map for all the major sites in Rome - very handy when major tourist sites tend to be surrounded by dodgy and expensive food). Dino's was a tiny restaurant with no real menu, instead we got a note pad on our table with the choices of the day. The food was fantastic and clearly everyone in there was a regular - they all greeted Dino and the waitresses like personal friends.
From Dino's we walked back to the B&B for an afternoon nap - usually I don't sleep during the day at all, but all the walking and heat had made me exhausted so Nicky and I both grabbed a few hours. The temperature was around 32 degrees the 3 days we were there, but everyone says that Rome feels much hotter anyway. To me, it felt about 42 degrees and I really struggled with it! After a few hours, we got up and headed out for a late dinner close by.
The next day we were greeted at breakfast by Marco (II). The other guests had checked out so we had the whole place to ourselves! Marco (II) was also extremely helpful and helped us book for the Borghese Gallery the next day. After breakfast we planned to go to the Colosseum, but stopped at the main train station en route to get a Roma Pass for 20 Euro. As we planned to go to the Colosseum and Borghese Gallery, 2 of the sites included free with the Roma Pass, it not only covered those admission prices but also gave us free travel and best of all allowed us to skip the massive queues at the Colosseum and the Palatine!
We took an audio tour for the Colosseum (completed in 80AD and used for the next 500 or so years) and wandered around trying to visualise 50,000 Romans watching gladiator battles and amazing spectacles like an enormous whale rising up from beneath the arena floor from which 80 bears emerged. Seriously!
The uncovered floor of the arena showing the rooms used for animals and storage below -
Nicky looking quite imperial -
Nicky doing a hero making his entry on to the main arena -
Colosseum from outside -
From the Colosseum we walked through the vast Palatine, the center-most of the 7 hills of Rome and according to legend, where Romulus killed Remus and thus how Rome got it's name. We intended to leave via the south-west corner to go to the La Bocca della Verita, but got a bit lost and ended up leaving via the north-west corner. Instead of taking the long walk back, we found a bus that would take us to the Pantheon, originally a temple to the gods of Ancient Rome until the 7th century when it became a Christian church -
After some lunch and a look around the inside of the Pantheon we headed towards the Trevi Fountain. A church - not even a famous one! - on the way -
Me at the Trevi Fountain -
Nicky -
From the Trevi Fountain, it was on to the Spanish Steps, apparently the longest and widest steps in Europe which lead up to the Trinita dei Monti church -
After all that, we were far too exhausted to do any more, so went back to the B&B for our afternoon nap. Again, we slept for a few hours, then woke up for a late dinner.
The next morning we went to La Bocca della Verita to put our hand in the famous 'mouth of truth'. Nicky looking a bit more nervous than I am -
From there we took the metro back to Piazza Barberini and walked up the famous Via Veneto, made famous in Fellini's film, La Dolce Vita. Nicky having an espresso -
We then went to the Villa Borghese (the park) where we had some lunch before making our 1pm booked time for the Borghese Gallery, home to Borghese family collection - another amazingly overwhelming collection of sculpture, artwork and frescoes.
From there it was back to the B&B where Marco (I) had generously given us a very late checkout so we could have a quick nap and shower before our driver collected us to take us back to the airport.
