Rome, Day 12: Saturday
Today we walked. And we walked and we walked and then we walked some more, just for good measure ;) Actually we did walk a lot but I'm fairly certain we saw nearly the entire city - twice. Our day began with just me, Kara, Tim, and Andrew because the other girls weren't quite ready yet. We left, beginning in the OLD OLD city where the ruins of ancient Rome lie. Oh man that was something to see and we only wandered the peripheral since we had a tour inside the next day. The way the columns, arches, buildings dominated everything around them. It was so impressive. I realize that impressive isn't quite the right word but honestly, that's what it was first and foremost. Then when one got past the first impression, the sight became so much more than that. It was sobering to imagine the people who lived there, that their world existed in that place and all that was left was a vague outline of what used to be. It was sad in a way but the intricacy and resolution of the work overtook that emotion, leaving behind an extraordinary impression of the genius of the Roman architects.
We met up with Chelsae, Rosalyn, and Aubrey at the Colosseum then wandered streets until finding a place for lunch. Despite the slight priciness of the menu (dang, im glad to be back to the exchange rate of krauns, man!) the food was delicious, true Italian (:
That night we had a "twilight tour" scheduled that would lead us around the "New, Old" part of Rome including the Trevvi Fountain and Spanish Steps, among others. We walked and shopped, seeing the better half of Rome before we finally made it to the Piazza del Fiori, where we were to meet our tour guide. He was a tiny old man who had lived in Italy for nearly 40 years and was a native to Chicago of all places, haha. Another couple, from Australia mate, joined us as well as some of the guide's students (he was a professor) and we were off to see Roma (: He took us everywhere. I mean everywhere. We saw little narrow streets, old ruins in the basements of a restaurant, the Pantheon, the Trevvi Fountain (of which I threw a coin in :)), the Spanish Steps, many more Piazzas, many buildings that popes have built, and finally ended up (3 hours later, mind you) at the Piazza Venezia, one of the most incredible monuments I've seen that happens to be the center of modern Rome. Our plan was then to eat, but the guides students didnt want us to eat at our initial choice (evidently it was too expensive) and their choice was at least a 2 hour wait, so we all ended up parting ways. Our group ended up going to Piazza del Popolo and Repubblica before finally heading back to sleep. By then it was at least 12:00, and my feet were in much need of some relief :)
The Trevino fountain
Us waiting for our tour!
The colosseum at night (:
We met up with Chelsae, Rosalyn, and Aubrey at the Colosseum then wandered streets until finding a place for lunch. Despite the slight priciness of the menu (dang, im glad to be back to the exchange rate of krauns, man!) the food was delicious, true Italian (:
That night we had a "twilight tour" scheduled that would lead us around the "New, Old" part of Rome including the Trevvi Fountain and Spanish Steps, among others. We walked and shopped, seeing the better half of Rome before we finally made it to the Piazza del Fiori, where we were to meet our tour guide. He was a tiny old man who had lived in Italy for nearly 40 years and was a native to Chicago of all places, haha. Another couple, from Australia mate, joined us as well as some of the guide's students (he was a professor) and we were off to see Roma (: He took us everywhere. I mean everywhere. We saw little narrow streets, old ruins in the basements of a restaurant, the Pantheon, the Trevvi Fountain (of which I threw a coin in :)), the Spanish Steps, many more Piazzas, many buildings that popes have built, and finally ended up (3 hours later, mind you) at the Piazza Venezia, one of the most incredible monuments I've seen that happens to be the center of modern Rome. Our plan was then to eat, but the guides students didnt want us to eat at our initial choice (evidently it was too expensive) and their choice was at least a 2 hour wait, so we all ended up parting ways. Our group ended up going to Piazza del Popolo and Repubblica before finally heading back to sleep. By then it was at least 12:00, and my feet were in much need of some relief :)
The Trevino fountain
Us waiting for our tour!
The colosseum at night (:
Comments
Post a Comment