10 day Vacation!! Part II- ROME!

Day 29:

This was the final destination of our lovely 10-day break. We were up very early today to catch our cab at 6 am. We got to the hotel in Rome around 10:30 but had to wait to get our room till about 11. After getting our room we went out for some authentic pasta! It was delicious—mine had seafood in it ;)

But when we got back to our hotel room, we find ants! There were not a lot but still enough to be concerned, especially since they were near the bed. So we switched to a new room!
After a short nap we went to some of the sites close to our hotel- the coliseum and part of the forum (ancient ruins). It was remarkable. Before going back to the hotel for the evening we HAD to stop for gelato. Tonight’s flavor was cherry and tiramisu.

Day 30:
Bed bugs. Today we arose to find bugs in our beds. After freaking out again from bugs, we got put in I think “their best” room. Finally, wood floors and some what larger accommodations than the others.
I just wanted to get out of there asap and see the city instead of worrying about all this. So we headed to the beautiful Santa Maria Maggiore, which was about a block away (the closest site to our hotel)! It was magnificent, and in Rome a lot of the churches require that you are covered up when you enter.

After the church we found our new favorite place to eat- Pizzarito Pastarito. It was authentic Italian food and had everything from pizza to pasta to salad and deserts! I had pizza with ham, olives, artichokes, cheese, and mushrooms. The pizza was enough for two! I was able to have leftovers. We went to see more sights after bringing the pizza back to the hotel.

We saw the Pantheon, forum, the Victor Emmanuel Monument (Capitoline Hill)
I wish we could have had a personal guide to tell us all the history behind these sights…next time!

The highlight of our evening—eating our leftover pizza, dancing to music on our beds, and encountering another bug in our room. We screamed and the Bolivian front desk guy came in to try and kill it but couldn’t find it and felt bad. He later made us tea (very south American thing to do to help clam people down) he was so nice! Anyway it did help us get right to sleep, or maybe that was just because we were exhausted.

Day 31:

Vatican City! To sum up this morning: It was magnificent, breath taking, and unbelievable. I absolutely loved going to the Vatican. Even though we got there fairly early, there were already people surrounding the area and lines already forming. Rather than taking it all on by our selves we decided to get a guided tour. We got to see the Vatican museum, St. Peter’s Basilica, and of course the Sistine chapel. That was by far the best part of the Vatican. If I could go back in time I would like to watch Michael Angelo paint and complete that magnificent work. Literally it is too much for words to describe, and it was just packed with people!

Lunch we went to our new place, Pizzarito Pastarito, but today we had pasta. It was a little more expensive but worth it nonetheless. I had spinach and ricotta ravioli with eggplant, zucchini, sun dried tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and basil, with only a slight olive oil sauce. IT WAS SO GOOD! Again I had leftovers.

After a short siesta (nap) we did more exploring! We went to the Spanish steps, and Trevi Fountain. We took the metro to get out to these sites, but being after 10pm when we tried to get back—the metro was closed. So we had our first Rome city bus experience! We were not sure where it took us or how far. So we found the main metro station and had been told that the main station would still be open. After walking in a huge circle around the station to find out our metro line was indeed closed for the evening. So we decided to walk home (which was probably a mile or two away), and stopped for gelato again! It was I think the best day in Rome, we got to see so much and these sites (Vatican, Spanish steps, and Trevi fountain) were by far my favorite!

Day 32:
Today was another early day but instead of heading out right away we decided it would be a good idea to start packing (for me especially because I was very worried not everything would fit in my suitcase). It all fit, barely, but it was again time to explore!
Today we went to Piazza del Popolo, did a bit of shopping, went by the river Fiume Tevere and then headed back to our favorite spot for lunch one last time. I had pasta again, tortellini with tomato in a pesto sauce. Delicious and again had left overs!

After some down time aka siesta ☺ we headed out for our last night in Rome. Gelato tonight was snickers, cream, and tiramisu flavored and we sat in front of S. Maria Maggiore and enjoyed the beautiful evening.