Bullet Proof Plan!

Ok so there we were...maps in hand and a bullet proof plan!

Day one (Saturday)- Central Rome.  We had mapped out a plan from the Colosseum to the Spanish steps with MANY stops in between.

Day two (Sunday)- Vatican City.  Our route from Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel to St Peters Basilica was complete.

We started out early on day one and grabbed a 3 hour guided tour of the Colosseum and Capital hill with a overhead view of the forum. (Although I was not too excited to listen to a tour guide for 3 hours we quickly realized that without one we would have spent more than 3 hours in line just waiting to get into the Colosseum.  Therefore listening to a tour guide with a heavy accent = totally worth it!)

It is safe to say that the Colosseum is the most well know and visited spot in all of Rome...and for a very good reason.  From the second we turned the corner and caught a glimpse of the Colosseum I was in awe!  Not only it is amazing that a building constructed in 72 AD is still standing, it has survived massive earthquakes, and extensive vandalism (That right people....the Colosseum used to be COMPLETELY covered in Marble....what happened to all of this marble you ask?  You can now find it in Vatican City.  That’s right, the Vatican was constructed of stolen "recycled" materials)  

Although we have all heard stories of what went on at the Colosseum, what I quickly learned was that I couldn’t even imagine the types of productions that took place here.  It was most commonly used as a theater or sports arena and less often as barbarian “killing” stage as most people think!  I am pretty sure that to put on the types of productions that the ancient Romans achieved today we would need at least 10 computers and a 3D movie screen today!

Next, on to Capital Hill and the Forum.  Lets just be honest here, being the history buff that I am, I had no clue what the Forum actually was.  And boy was I surprised by what I saw. The Forum was the central of Roman life and as we walked though it was easy to see why.  The streets were flanked by mammoth Judgment halls, marketplaces, temples, and government buildings.  I only have 3 words that can accurately describe what we were able to lay our eyes on- A MAZE ING!

So we finished our 3 our tour and were talking with our guide before we set our on our own to conquer the rest of day one’s plans when we got the whopper of whoppers.  Vatican city is closed on Sunday (I know makes total sence right!  In hindsight we should have know this).  That meant that if we were going to see Vatican city (which we were!) than we had to do it NOW.  So we quickly hopped on the subway and jetted over to the Vatican.

We soon realized that if we were going to make it through the Vatican without spending several hours in line we were going to have to take another guided tour.  Yes please, I would LOVE to listen to take another 3 hour tour!

While in Vatican City we wondered through the Vatican museum (second largest museum in the world- second only to the Louve in Paris.  Which in case you forgot I have also seen!), the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter’s square and the Basilica.  Now, the Sistine Chapel is something that you see pictures of and hear about all the time, but never actually imagine it in real life.  As we walked in I almost felt as if I were in a movie- something this majestic could not possibly exist in real life (Sorry no pictures allowed).  To be honest by the time we got to St Peter’s chapel I was a little toured out to enjoy and appreciate its full beauty.  But to put it simply it is the Church of ALL Churches, complete with a dome built buy none other than Michelangelo himself.  Both EXTREMELY massive and EXTREMELY beautiful! 



Holy Water



Lets just say that when the Holy Water at the entrance is housed in something like this you can imagine what the rest of the place is like.

It is safe to say that after a long day of walking around and 6 hours of listening to tour guides (with no break in between for lunch mind you) I was more than excited to end our day with a nice Italian meal…straight from the source :)

What was left for day two you ask…..say tuned!