After Venice, we visited Rome!
Rome is a lot more urban than Venice, which Travis described as "a city preserved from another time." I gotta say, I'm not much of a city girl, and the public transportation especially took it's toll on me. But it was a really amazing city full of old architecture and art!
We arrived in Rome late at night after a 4 hour train ride and sort of begged the kitchen at our hostel for any food at all. We were all really worn out from carrying our heavy bags all over Venice, and as Trav and I got to our tent, the key actually broke in the door! Thank god we were traveling with Axton and Lesley because the reception was closed, and they let us stay in their tent that night. I spent a lot of the next day sleeping, but towards the afternoon we went to see the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain!
Trajan's Column.
I had the best gelato outside the Pantheon! This was frutti di bosco and limone!
The next day we woke up and went downtown to visit the Vatican Museum. To say it was amazing would be an understatement.
The saddest thing in Rome is the plight of the immigrant population. Basically there are a ton of beggars, mostly Romanis, and they sell goods of questionable origin along the streets, as well as outright begging for money. They can get really pushy, and I understand why there is negative sentiment towards them from the natives. But it's really heartbreaking knowing that they're forced into doing things like that because its the only way they can make money.
The line outside the Vatican was really long, and these people kept offering to help us "skip the line" for 25 euros. They said the line was too long and we wouldn't make it to the museum before it closed. Well, the line only took about an hour to move through, and turns out these guys were just bringing groups of people to the front of the line and funneling them back in! There are few things I hate in this world more than line-cutters, guys, and I was pretty annoyed. Luckily the Vatican was well worth the wait and the annoyance!
(I also spent too much on a dress at this adorable boutique, so.)
I loved this sassy lady.
I did get to see the Sistine Ceiling, which was really cool! I didn't take a picture though, because I'm not a disrespectful dweeb.
Finally we went to visit the Coliseum and ruins. We didn't go inside, but the view from the outside was pretty spectacular, too!
Lesley, Axton, and Travis accidentally dressed like the Italian flag!
As usual, keep up with me on Instagram , and watch for my next post from Florence!
Ah, I love Rome (Partly for the fact that I was traveling by myself and found out I loved it, but still). The Vatican Museums is very amazing. Weird about the line cutting. I got one of those tickets that lets you in at a certain time, which helped.
ReplyDeleteThe Roma seems like such a touchy topic in Europe. I do think there are a lot of problems, but also that it is not as simple as we might think either. But anyone being forced to live hand to mouth is a bit heartbreaking.
Loving all your travel photos. So fun!
I think I would be horrible at travelling alone, haha! I totally admire anyone who's street smart and self sufficient enough to do it.
DeleteAnd of course you're right, it's a complicated topic, and I only know what I've seen in the course of a short few weeks!
You + ice cream = cutest :) I so agree with you about the beggars. Paris and Prague are like that too. It's saddening. Unfortunately, all big cities throughout the world have populations of displaced people of one kind or another, and they are not afforded basic human respect.
ReplyDeleteoh gosh. that gelato looks so good! yeah people who feed off tourists are so annoying. like gtfo.
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the little diary
I loved my visit to Rome, we stayed for 2 days (I think) and the city is lovely. It's a shame about all the people trying to sell you things and they can get all pushy but it's sad that they have to live like this. I try to have sympathy but at the same time I just get annoyed that I want to be left alone. I think if someone is going to buy from them, they will regardless of being harassed.
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