So we walked from the hotel towards the shopping street called Via del Corso which was recommended to us by our land lady. It was a parade of expensive looking boutiques but the prices weren't actually that much. We wondered whether anyone actually shops in those. We stopped at a lovely little ice cream place where the selection took our breath away. It was stunning, different colours, flavours, all topped up and decorated by real fruit, chocolates or other treats. We had to have some ice cream, so I chose Rum and raisins and strawberry and it was simply divine. The best ice cream that I had ever had but couldn't finish it for it was so rich.
We carried on down the road and came accross a massive palace called Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele ||.
Loads of colorful Italian ties
The monument is built of pure white marble and features majestic stairways, tall Corinthian columns, fountains, a huge equestrian statue of Victor Emmanuel and two statues of goddess Victoria riding on quadrigas. The monument holds the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with an eternal flame, built under the statue of Italy after World War |. The base of the structure also houses the museum of Italian Reunification. It was enormous. From the top of the stairs, we were able to see The Colosseum in the distance. We used our feet to get there again (so much walking, ouch) and signed up for a tour. It was 21 euros for The Colosseum as well as the Palatine Gardens.
Vittariano
Ticket itself just for The Colosseum was 10 euros so we thought that it was worth it. The tour was pretty interesting but I think that our tour guy thought that he was perhaps missunderstood by us so he kept repeating himself all the time but overall it was a pretty interesting tour. The guide told us about the history of The Colosseum and then we moved to the Palatine gardens, which were amazing and we saw the ruins of the Castle as well as Mussolini's holiday house, which was a rather ugly looking house. We had to finish early but that was ok because by then, we were exhausted, having been up since 3 am. So we took the metro back to our hotel and fell back on the bed totally shattered.
Best pizza ever!
So we crashed onto the bed and chilled out for a bit full of mixed feelings.
Best ice cream in the world
Really tired, excited about being in Rome and shocked about the history that we learned about the Colosseum. The many killings and blood baths that it held in the past were a lot to take in, especially when you are standing in the middle of it and your imagination is going crazy. Anyhow, we were starving so decided to go round the corner to a nice looking little restaurant that we had pasted on our way from the station. It was non smoking inside and because they had chairs outside together with heaters, all sheltered, we sat out there. It was lovely, the rain falling down slowly, us sitting there all happy, reflecting on our day. We ordered a classic bruschetta (with tomatoes, olive oil and salt on it) which was absolutely divine. Together with that we had a cold beer and as a main course, we ordered 2 massive pizzas. The whole dinner cost 37 euros and it was the most delicious food that I had eaten in a long time.
After dinner, we went to a local shop to search for playing cards as our room didn't have any tv and we didn't bring any magazines or books.
Interior of St. Peter's Basilica
In the shop, we spotted JD which cost only 16 euros for a big bottles so we bought that and went back to the hotel, all fed and satisfied. We couldn't wait for the next day to come.
Visiting the smallest state in the world
Our second day in Rome. Yesterday, we had learned that the Pope appears at his window every Sunday at noon so we decided to go to visit Vatican City. Simon acquired a lot of blisters yesterday, so we needed to buy him new trainers. We left quite late and with hunting for shoes and having a lovely breakfast at one of the cafes in the area, I was worried that we would miss the Pope. We finally found a shop with loads of shoes so we ended up both buying a pair of Nike's for only 39 euros. A great buy :)
We caught the metro, which was jam packed due to many other people heading to visit St.
I don't think I had ever walked on so much marble before
Peter's Square. We got there at about 12.01, just as the Pope appeared at his window and everyone started going crazy and clapped and cheered. It was strange. We couldn't see him at first but could definitely hear him as he was talking into a microfone and there were giant speakers surrounding the whole square. He greated us in seven different languages, said a few prayers in Italian and it was overall an amazing experience. I felt really happy to be there. It all took only about 15 minutes and after that we had joined about a mile long queue to St. Peter's Basilica.
You had to go through metal detector check to get in so it took a while. Firstly, we saw all the tombs of previous Popes icluding John Paul || whose tomb was guarded by a guard dressed in Swiss army uniforms. We also saw a board with all the names of all the Popes that there ever were, there was a fair few of them, about 150.
St. Peter's Square from the Cupola
I am not too sure. After that, we had gone inside the Basilica which was breath taking. All the walls and ceilings were covered in beautiful paintings, there was a huge number of statues, including The Pieta sculpted by Michelangelo Buonarroti. And on the top of all that, it was enormous and very grant. We decided to walk up the 250 stairs to the Cupola so we could get a good view of The Vatican City. So we joined another queue (seems like all we did was queing) and the stairs was really narrow and neverending. When we got to the top, it was pouring down with rain but the views were spectacular. Especially the one down the basilica and the other overlooking St. Peter's Square.
We were very hungry and imapatient, so stupidly, went to a local cafe for lunch which was totally not worth it. Too expensive, the latte itself was 6 euros. Insane. I didn't like it there, the whole lunch cost as much as the dinner the previous night and we got nowhere near as much food.
The Pope
That ruined our day a little but nevertheless, we compensated with buying 2 lovely books and cakes to enjoy back in the hotel.
We had our last dinner in Rome at Cafe Piave again and this time, had pasta, which again, was super-dooper delicious.
