So when really great things happen, I always think "could this really happen to me? Do I deserve this?" and for one of the first times in my life... Yes I do. I finally went to a small sliver of my dream vacation! Rome. Italy is the one place I've always wanted to go and this weekend I went to Rome with Taylor, Jamie and Heather. I had the most phenomenal time! We arrived and got our hostel and when I sat down on the bed the support fell off the frame so Taylor and I played some hardcore McGyvor(sp?). We wandered to a little pizza shop and grabbed some food. I loved it! Jamie and Heather found their way and we decided that the next day we would be going to Vatican City on account of the 28th, the day we landed, was the last day the Pope was in his seat before retiring. So for the first time in over 600 years the pope has quit and vacated the throne... Which means they were going to shut down the Sistine Chapel for Concleave and we were getting ourselves inside before that happens. They're also closing the Sistine Chapel to people soon because the frequent traffic is eroding the art inside. Upon arriving in Vatican we of course grabbed some really delicious Gelato! The most amazing desert on the planet to be exact!
While stumbling around we ran into a nice older lady in her 50's-60's and she asked if we spoke English, thinking we could get scammed she told us about the official tours, how they were about to close all the Vatican in the next week and that we could listen to an introduction and then if we liked the guide we could go to their office and purchase the ticket. NOTE: NEVER BUY TICKETS FROM VENDORS ON THE STREET. After the intro we LOVED our guide and went to their official office a few minutes walk away. Our guide was named Valaria, she said it's like "Malaria" with a V. She was funny and sarcastic and called us all a family and said she was "mamma", true Roman woman to the maximum. She also gave us some really good advice of "don't look at cars when crossing the sidewalks or you're dead meat, look straight ahead and walk and they will have to stop. We don't wait for cars here unless there's a crosswalk light." She was great! We went through the Vatican Museum and saw some of the most phenomenal artwork, sculptures and artifacts of my entire life! Michelangelo and Rafael! it was seriously amazing! Rome surrounds itself in history and culture it was unlike any world I've ever been in.
We hit up the major tourist sites: Campo di Fiori, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Roman Forum, Colosseum, and basically wandered around Rome. Also, Gelato is perfectly acceptable to eat at all times of the day if I haven't mentioned that yet. There's literally so much to do and see and so many foods to try that I wish I would have spent weeks or a month in Italy! I recommend it to anyone even thinking of going there! It changed my world.
While stumbling around we ran into a nice older lady in her 50's-60's and she asked if we spoke English, thinking we could get scammed she told us about the official tours, how they were about to close all the Vatican in the next week and that we could listen to an introduction and then if we liked the guide we could go to their office and purchase the ticket. NOTE: NEVER BUY TICKETS FROM VENDORS ON THE STREET. After the intro we LOVED our guide and went to their official office a few minutes walk away. Our guide was named Valaria, she said it's like "Malaria" with a V. She was funny and sarcastic and called us all a family and said she was "mamma", true Roman woman to the maximum. She also gave us some really good advice of "don't look at cars when crossing the sidewalks or you're dead meat, look straight ahead and walk and they will have to stop. We don't wait for cars here unless there's a crosswalk light." She was great! We went through the Vatican Museum and saw some of the most phenomenal artwork, sculptures and artifacts of my entire life! Michelangelo and Rafael! it was seriously amazing! Rome surrounds itself in history and culture it was unlike any world I've ever been in.
We hit up the major tourist sites: Campo di Fiori, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Roman Forum, Colosseum, and basically wandered around Rome. Also, Gelato is perfectly acceptable to eat at all times of the day if I haven't mentioned that yet. There's literally so much to do and see and so many foods to try that I wish I would have spent weeks or a month in Italy! I recommend it to anyone even thinking of going there! It changed my world.
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