Rome - Day 3

Our third and final day in Rome started off a beautiful day. The sun was shining, there was hardly a cloud in sight, and we were off to see the Colosseum by 9 that morning. There was going to be city-wide union strikes that day, so public transport was going to close down for a couple of hours. Luckily it didn't really affect us. Here are a few pictures of us outside the Colosseum:

 

Arch of Constantine:

Inside the Colosseum:

These girls crack me up! They totally keep score. And while we're traveling they are obsessed with maps. We have to make sure we have extra maps - one for each of them! After exploring the Colosseum we headed to Saint Peter in Chains basilica. Here we were able to see Michelangelo's famous Moses statue. And yes, he has horns, a slight misinterpretation of the Bible.
We also saw the chains that are believed to have held Peter in Rome and Jerusalem:
We then went on a search for some much needed lunch. Unfortunately we didn't do too well on our lunch choice this day, but oh well... We ended up walking right alongside the union strike march. Pretty exciting stuff! After lunch we headed to see some of the Roman ruins. Unfortunately the clouds quickly rolled in and we got poured on while trying to explore the ruins. We missed a lot and could have spent quite a bit more time there. But such is life... Trying to stay dry underneath a tree. We weren't that successful! It was pouring and of course we didn't haul all our rain gear because the day had started out absolutely beautiful...
Right before we left the ruins - can you tell we're a bit wet???
A picture of the Colosseum once we exited the ruins:We then headed somewhere. I honestly can't remember what we were trying to accomplish. This statue and the hole-in-the-wall grocery store with cheap drinks and yummy snacks was the most exciting thing about that adventure! :) We then visited a pretty amazing basilica. We just kind of happened upon it and were glad we did. It was quite plain on the outside, but the inside was amazing:

We then grabbed our last yummy Italian meal and enjoyed some gelato at our favorite gelateria. We definitely enjoyed our Italian adventure with our friends. The only thing I would have changed was less rain and warmer weather. But hey, you never have control over the weather. If I ever make it back to Italy I'd do the Amalfi Coast. It was definitely my favorite part about our trip. It would be nice to just have a week of relaxation near the beautiful ocean when the weather's a bit warmer.

Rome - Day 2

On our second day in Rome we had 9 AM reservations to tour the Vatican. Our hotel was fairly close to the Vatican, so we figured if we left by 8:30, we'd be able to walk there in plenty of time. Well, that would be the case if we walked the right direction! We ended up at Piazza Del Popolo (my bad!) before we realized we had gone the wrong way. So, instead of a 20-minute walk, it was about a 45-minute walk and 25 minutes of that was a very brisk walk. We were worried about missing yet another museum reservation. Luckily when we got there there was absolutely no line, so it turned out we didn't need reservations anyways. But better safe than sorry. So, we were able to get in just fine and enjoyed spending the morning touring the Vatican museums, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, and the Tombs of the Popes.

Pictures of us in the Vatican Gardens:

Pictures inside the Vatican museums:

An against-the-rules picture of Rachel inside the Sistine Chapel. Notice how I had to totally lighten it up because we didn't use our flash... It was in the Sistine Chapel that we actually ran into some of our friends who had an earlier reservation at the Vatican. Good timing!

Inside St. Peter's Basilica:

After touring around the inside we found out you could go up to the top of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica. So, we rode an elevator half way up and then had to climb 320 steps on our own. Definitely worth the views we enjoyed - St. Peter's Square from above:

A group shot in front of St. Peter's Square:
After visiting the Vatican we walked down the street, grabbed some lunch, and then headed to Castel Sant'Angelo. Right as we got to Castel SantAngelo it started to rain. Everyone got a good laugh at me as I attempted to wear a poncho while wearing Audrey as well. Doesn't quite work...
The kids just being kids...
A view of the Ponte Sant'Angelo (bridge with angels) from the Castel:
Rachel in one of the prison cells???:

For some reason we didn't take many pictures of our tour inside and around the castle. From there we headed to Piazza Navona.

Roman-style drinking fountain - Andy's right in there with the kids!
We then walked to the Pantheon just in time for it to start pouring rain.

So, we ducked inside and rested on the benches for awhile. See the ropes? That's because the Pantheon has a huge whole at the top. I didn't know that - you learn something new every day. Rachel was quite concerned about the hole in the roof. If you ask her about it; she'll simply tell you they ran out of bricks. The easy ways to appease a 3-year old...

Once the rain let up a bit, we got some gelato. This is just one curve of the gelato display. I would say they definitely beat Baskin Robbins! :) This particular gelateria ended up being our favorite. We returned on Friday night as well... For a good price, you could get a cone with three different scoops of gelato. We all enjoyed different combinations and taking tastes of each others' choices.Audrey enjoying a drink while we all have gelato. She's still not a fan of cold things.After having some gelato we decided we had walked enough for the day. So, we grabbed the infamous 61 bus (known for pick-pocketers) and then grabbed another little bus to explore the Trastevere area. We meant to get some dinner there, but didn't get off the bus soon enough. So, we enjoyed some views of Rome, hopped back on the bus, and headed back to more familiar territory.
On our way to find some dinner we passed by St. Peter's Basilica:
We then found a little place to eat near our hotel and then called it a night. Another enjoyable day in Rome! :)

Just in case...

you need a good laugh!

While I was getting ready this morning Audrey got into Rachel's drawer and decided to dress herself. Rachel and I got quite the laugh when Audrey came down the hallway...

Rome - Day 1

What was supposed to be our first day in Rome, should really be considered our first evening in Rome. The traffic getting out of the Amalfi Coast area was horrendous. It took us at least an hour to get to the freeway and then once we got to the freeway it was a parking lot as well. So, what should have taken 3 hours, took about 5 hours. And once we got on the freeway, Andy pulled out his blackberry to text our friends who were following us about how ridiculous the drive had been. I said something to the effect of, "Why don't I do that?". The next thing I knew I was screaming and we had hit the car in front of us. Needless to say we were moving at a small crawl, so no damage was done to either car. Thank heavens! Andy learned an important lesson - to listen to his wife and not text while driving! :)

Anyhow, then once we reached Rome returning our rental car was quite the task. We then used public transport and hauled our suitcases, with the help of our friends, across Rome to our hotel. Dropped our luggage off and then we were off to explore. We had hoped to make a 3 PM museum reservation, but we missed it. Oh well, life goes on... So we first headed to the Spanish Steps. We hung out on the steps for awhile, some climbed to the top to see the view, and we strolled around the piazza as well. While we were there they were filming some Italian crime show (similar to our CSIs). So, we got a close-up of some Italian stars. We actually saw them again somewhere else while we were in Rome.

Cute girls on the Spanish Steps:
All of us on the steps:
The view from the top: Andy taking a picture of himself and Audrey hanging out down on the piazza:

From there we walked over to Trevi Fountain to meet up with some more friends.
Then we headed out to explore some more and came across Piazza Venezia. Definitely glad we happened across it. As a matter of fact, the next day when we were up high taking in the view of Rome we realized how prominent and huge it is.
This picture is classic! All three of them looking at maps and figuring out what to do next... Love it! From there we actually decided to go back and check out the Trevi Fountain at night.
We then grabbed some dinner and headed back to our hotel to call it a night. Even though we only had a few hours in Rome that day, we made the most of them... :)