Rome

Rome has been a place that I have been wanting to go to for some time. From the very start of this semester I knew I wanted to organize a trip to see the ancient city. I brought it up to some friends and the trifecta was formed. Jameson, Yoon, and I would be headed to Rome from November 25-November 28. We knew it would be three packed days that included an all day walking tour of both Rome and the Vatican city.

The trip was made exciting from the first moment. Due to an unforeseen lack of taxis, we almost missed our bus to get from Klaipeda to Vilnius International Airport. We planned for a taxi to pick us up 25 minutes before departure (12:45 am). However, we finally stepped into a taxi about 7 minutes before the bus was to have its wheels moving (1:10 AM). As the trip coordinator, it was a little too much excitement for me. Now that its done, it makes a great story though!

Tired from that crazy experience, we slept on the 4 hour bus ride to the airport. Due to lack of other busing options, we arrived at the airport a solid four hours before departure so we decided to sleep some more at the airport. The flight went smoothly. As we approached Rome I was so excited to be able to see a few ancient aqueducts along with the Colosseum from the air. Amazing!

Its hard to see but its below the word here. HERE about 1/3 down

When we got to Rome we decided we were not going to use any public transportation; we were going to walk everywhere instead. This would allow us to see more of the city and allow some extra calories for that yummy gelato!

a small view

a cute little street

There was a strong police and military presence with the constant threat of terrorism

Atop the Spanish Steps

On top of their WWI memorial

The WWI memorial

The first two days were simply free days. These were my favorite. We could walk wherever we wanted and see whatever interested us. We saw many of the main attractions throughout our stay. The Colosseum was amazing. Thanks to Mussolini wanting to see the Colosseum from his window, the street leading to the Colosseum was straight and ended right beside the Colosseum. This street design made the Colosseum look all the more majestic. With the sound of music from various street musicians and the rays of light from the sun I had since forgotten exists since my time in Lithuania, I was a very happy camper walking the streets of the city I had desired to go to for so long. Our tour guide told us so many interesting things about the Colosseum. This colossal thing that I was standing before was built in only 8 years, and I was only seeing 1/3 of the original structure. The shell of the Colosseum is the only thing that remains. The guide told us it became an open quarry;many people stole the marble seats, floors and statues. It was even painted making it a very ornate fighting arena. St. Peter's Basilica is actually made from some of the marble from to Colosseum.

in the entry corridor

There are many fountains in Rome, it has roughly 2,000 fountains. We probably saw one hundred of them. The favorite of the group was probably the Trevi Fountain. This is where Jameson and I got gelato every single night we were there. Now I haven't had too much gelato in my life, but this stuff, was so good. I always thought that people simply said that it was good because they were caught up in the whole being in Italy thing. However, I must attest it truly was the greatest gelato I have ever had. So we would sit at the fountain and watch people take 1,000 Instagram pictures throwing coins in the fountain. Did you know they collect 3,000 euros (3,500 dollars) from that fountain A DAY? Crazy.

Trevi Fountain Pics

More fountains.

This one is at Piazza Navona

Outside the Pantheon

Another fountain in Piazza Navona

The fountain below the Spanish Steps

One of the attractions I was most excited to see was St. Peter's Basilica. It is the largest church in the world. We even climbed to the top of the dome. Looking down at the top of the dome into the church gave me a lot of perspective as to how big it really was. On Sunday, in St. Peter's Square, we saw the Pope as he gave his weekly blessing. That was probably the most unique thing we did on our trip. During our tour we also went into the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. The Vatican Museums had a lot of sculptures and art. The Sistine Chapel was very cool to see too. Most of the chapel was painted by Michelangelo in about 5 years. It was his first time doing the fresco style painting too. Truly shows you how talented he was.

Inside St.Peters Basilica

I loved the ray of light, it was like the presence of God himself

Raphel's very famous sculpture Pieta. It looked so real, the way he made the cloth of Mary's robe fall made me wonder if it really was stone. Beautiful.

St. Peter's Square

The Dome

Another little dome.

The Tomb of John Paul II

The Dome again

The fence is the boarder into the Vatican City. I've never just walked into a new country like that.

For a little perspective

At the base of the dome inside the church

Truly huge!

We made it to the top!

The view from the top of the dome

I loved the Tiber river. It was really pretty with all the colors of the leaves.

The river with St. Peter's Basilica

In all, Rome was very fun. It was very fun to organize an independent trip figuring out the hostel, transportation to and from the airport, prices, and timing. I have gained a lot of confidence planning things because of that trip. I also enjoyed seeing so many ancient buildings. These buildings were standing in the time of Jesus, Apostle Paul, Vikings, and The Middle Ages, I just think that is so cool. The weather was perfect for our trip. In the day it was sunny, and in the high 50's. One day I believe it even hit 60! A nice change from Lithuania. Thanks to our decision to only walk we hiked a total of 47 miles in three days. I was pretty impressed by that. I will remember this trip for a very long time. It was probably my favorite trip I have taken this semester.