ROME!!!

So even though I am in Switzerland waiting to jump on a plain to Amsterdam, I still feel the want and need to write about my amazing last days in Florence.

On our last weekend, a group of us took a four hour plain ride to Rome. Literally this was one of the best places that I visited in Italy. When we arrived at the train station, after a short walk from the train station and a turn around the corner, there it was, the Coliseum. As grand as it was, I expected it to be even bigger.  What an amazing Architectural structure.  Walking through all the different levels this man made “rock” of a building it was truly amazing to see how they built this building and what they used each area for. As you will see we stopped to take our own gladiator poses along the way through the coliseum.

Heather and Dana

After the coliseum, we ventured over to the Forum Gardens. At the Gardens we saw multiple buildings which are now used as museums for old artifacts. The most impressive sight of this garden is what is left of the Roman Forum. You can see in the picture below the size of this massive structure. After all these years its still amazing to see how well it is still standing and how much of it is still standing.

One of my favorite pictures...I found the "drinking fountain" and little did I know that girl on the left was walking by....needless to say, she got showered with some water....she probably appreciated it though, it was a hot day. 

After meeting up with a few more people in our group from Cal Poly we took the subway over to the area by the Vatican. This felt like home, it was around noon and there was the hustle and bustle of the city that one expects from a city like Rome.  Standing in the center of Vatican City in front of the Fountain and the Vatican itself was truly rare moment. You couldn’t help but to be silent and just take it all in.  Being that it was hot and the line for the Vatican was quite long we decided to not go in and go around to see the Sistine Chapel which is located in the Vatican Museum. After traveling through the huge museum we arrived at the Sistine Chapel. The Chapel was like something you had never seen before. All the time, effort and talent that went in to creating that masterpiece was duly noted while enjoying the museum.

So….Im in Belgium now trying to finish up what I saw in Rome. 7-21-2010

While in Rome we also visited the ever so popular Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. Both were very cool to see, especially the Trevi fountain. We’ve all seen it in pictures and movies, but to see it in person is something else. Who knew it is as big as it is and literally tucked away in an alleyway. As you can see from my pictures, I had to throw in a coin to insure that I will once again visit Rome in the future.  All in all, Rome is a great city, one that I have to come back and truly visit in depth and spend more than one day in. 

And Im finally posting this on the 22 of July....who knew it would take this many days to post a blog entry?