Ahhh! We’re finally getting to the craziest, busiest, most exciting parts of the trip! Germany was super relaxing and we spent a lot of time with family and friends just enjoying the rare moments we get to spend together. When we packed our bags back up and flew to Rome, that changed!!! We visited our good friends, the Dibert family, who graciously opened up their apartment to the five of us… after six of them were already sleeping there! Only one person had to sleep on the floor (thanks Christian)!! ;) We arrived late in the evening on Monday, December 29th and the first thing I noticed when we were landing was how close we were to the ocean. I had no idea Rome was that close to the coast! After a few mishaps getting from the tarmac to the gate, waiting 30 minutes for our bags, and thinking our rental car was broken because it was a super fancy Audi that we had no idea how to work, we finally made it to the Dibert’s home. We didn’t get much sleep that first night because we got up so early the next morning! First stop, Vatican City!!
SURREAL. I always think of the Vatican as the building that collapses in all the end-of-the-world movies. It actually looked much smaller in person!!
Annnnd this time, we had some friends from home to explore with!! SO FUN!
Then we walked over to Castel San Angelo… (probably wrong on the name but I can’t remember, too many places!)
This city is much flatter than I imagined, but beautiful!
Christian and Justin decided it was time to make fun of me and my poses…
Rome = statues. Just tons and tons of statues.
The view from the top of the fotress!
This place was really old… everything in Rome was really old. That’s what made it fascinating!
Anni with St. Peter’s Basilica in the back!
This bird was so funny!
The castle from another view…
My favorite part of Rome was the alleys for sure!
THE PIZZZAAAA…. it can’t even be called pizza in my opinion… it’s nothing at all like what we consider pizza in America!!! I think it should be an entirely different food group!
Then it was off to the Pantheon! I know very little about Roman history besides their persecution of the Christians… but apparently this place was pretty important at one point in time ;)
So cool!!! Actually reminds me a lot of the inside of our monuments here in DC!
Lots of street vendors in Rome…
And then… the Trevi Fountain!!!! LOL.
It was clearly not in working order… but we threw coins anyway ;)
We got to see it closer than most people ever do. #Brightside
More statues. Seriously every courtyard, every little nook and cranny… there’s a statue.
These streets….
GELATOOOO! I had nutella… so good!
Did I mention the fountains? Statues and fountains. Rome in a nutshell.
The Spanish Steps!! We seriously did so much in one day. Haha! The steps were in really dark light. The light was super… directional (?) in Rome… it was either blindingly bright or in a really dark, cold shadow with the background completely blown out. Haha. I’d love to see it in summer!
We ended the day at Paul’s Outside the Walls. This was REALLY cool because it’s believed to be the site of the Apostle Paul’s remains!!! WHAT?! I’ve never come so close to Biblical history… it was really, really cool.
The little chapels that branch out of this church were really pretty, too! Rome has got its church game down to a science…
These are supposedly the chains that Paul was bound by when he was executed. SO. COOL.
And on the right is where Paul is buried (down in the little cove). They actually dated the bones and they date back to the time he would have been alive. CRAZY.
And that was the end of our first day in Rome! It actually reminded me a little bit of Florida with the way the trees looked and the architecture of the buildings… just the overall style of the city… it was pretty neat. Next post: The Colosseum and the Roman Forum!!!
