When in Rome!

This past weekend was extra special because Christy was able to go with us on our weekend excursion to Rome!   On Friday morning, we hopped on a train and got to Rome around 10 am!  After checking into our hotel, we headed to see the Roman Parliament building!  It was absolutely enormous.  It definitely looked quite official.  Our next stop was to the Colosseum and the Forum.  The Forum was much cooler than I expected.  It was crazy to look at all the ancient ruins and try to fathom how old they were.  The amount of history in Rome was just astonishing.  After exploring the Forum for a while, we headed to the Colosseum.  

Us girls in the Forum!

The Colosseum was even more amazing than I imagined.  Surprisingly this was my favorite spot in all of Rome!  The outside was beautiful, but it was even more intriguing on the inside.  I remember watching Gladiator as a kid at my aunt and uncle's, but I never knew I would actually be in the actual Roman Colosseum.  It was crazy to think about all of the history and the battles that occurred there. 

Katie, Me, & Jade in front of the Colosseum

Inside the Roman Colosseum.  This was breath taking.  It definitely took a while to try to take it all in! I can't believe how well everything has been preserved and restored.

Me, Jade, Katie, & Christy

Trying to escape the Colosseum! Help!!!

After going all over the Colosseum, we decided to have lunch at a little cafe called Dante's.  We were having a hard time choosing where to go because we didn't have any recommendations, but we were pleasantly surprised with our food.  

They had chicken salad!  That was a big deal to us because that is extremely uncommon to find in Italy!

After lunch, we headed to the famous Trevi Fountain.  I know it's cheesy, but I have always dreamed of throwing a coin in the Trevi Fountain and making a wish.  We heard that it is usually extremely crowded at the fountain, but we lucked out.  We were able to take a bunch of pictures right in front!  

This was our silly Trevi Fountain picture! 

We threw way too much change into that fountain hoping that one day our wishes would come true.  We shall see!

After the Trevi Fountain, we headed to the gorgeous Pantheon!  

Inside the Pantheon!  The ceiling was spectacular.  The hole in the top is the only source of natural lighting, which is why it was fairly dark inside.  

After a day of sight seeing, we went back to the hotel and freshened up for dinner.  On our way out we found a cute Christmas tree!  It definitely got us in the holiday spirit!

Day 2 in Rome!  We started our day by meeting up with a tour group in Piazza Repubblica.  This was a gorgeous area of Rome.  There was an amazing fountain in front where this picture was taken!  

Me & Katie

For our second day in Rome, we headed to the Vatican City.  Boy was there a lot of history there.  We've learned a little about the Vatican in my art history classes in Florence.  I can't believe they have their own police force and postal service.  It definitely is an important part of Rome, but still separate.  

Inside the Vatican Museum!

View of Rome from a window in the muesum

Some of the amazing artwork!

After hours of touring the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel, we sat out in the courtyard to take a little rest.  We lucked out with a gorgeous day in Rome with beautiful blue skies and great weather.  

After the Vatican, we headed to St. Peter's Basilica.  This was definitely the most touristy part of Rome.  The line to get inside the Basilica was the longest line we had ever seen.  St. Peter's was beautiful!  

Our next stop was to the famous Spanish steps.  Our hotel was conveniently located right near the steps which was nice.  One of my favorite things was watching the beautiful sunset in Rome while just relaxing on the Spanish steps.  After two days of walking all around the city, we were really tired so this was the perfect last stop. It was hard to get a good picture there, but at least we tried!    

Christy, Jade, Me, & Katie

Overall, we loved Rome!  It was so nice to have Christy with us to explore the city.  I had heard from a lot of my friends that Rome was packed with people, but I think we went at the perfect time because we didn't face too many crowds.  I definitely want to come back someday.  I think Rome is one of those places you could visit over and over again and still learn something new.  I don't think I could ever study abroad there because I love that Florence is so small, but it definitely is my second favorite place in Italy!