Last stop, Rome

Rome. A bit bittersweet being in Rome. We're here for only a few days and it is also the last stop of our little tour. But going to Rome is on my life's to-do list and I'm so excited to have the chance to visit. We spent our first day walking and walking and walking. We started our walk in Trastevere, where we were staying, and made our way to Piazza del Popolo. We wanted to shop for Ed's suit and were advised to go to Via del Corso. Along the way, we stumbled upon Campo de Fiori and Piazza Navona and lots of churches and beautiful buildings. We rested in Piazza del Popolo for a bit before heading down Via del Corso. The shops got more high-end as we got closer to the Spanish steps. We walked into one store where the price tag said 3,000 Euro for a suit. Yeah, we exited that store pretty quickly.

Our second day in Rome was all about the Vatican Museum, St. Peter's Square, and St. Peter's Basilica. We slept in a little because we were exhausted from all the walking we did the previous day. We agreed that we would use the bus and metro more. The Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel were amazing. The grandeur of the rooms struck me - how could a church that asked its priests and nuns for a vow of poverty have such opulence? But then again, the church ruled just as kings did at one point in history, and so a lavish palace would have been in order. I am glad that past popes had the foresight to collect and safeguard the works of art from the past which we now get to enjoy and appreciate with our own eyes. I wish I could be in the Sistine Chapel alone. Just me and the wonderful frescos that adorn it. Ok, Ed can be there, too. Instead, there were hundreds of people there with us, plus all these annoying people who insisted on taking photos in spite of the large signs that showed a big red X over a camera and the chapel police saying "no foto" every two minutes. Grrrr...

Our third day, we explored the old Rome area - the Colosseum, Forum, and Pantheon. I imagined the Colosseum packed with cheering spectators as the gladiators battled each other. These spectators from 2000 years ago walked on the same ground that I just walked on. Our audio guide said to look around and imagine the present-day tourists wearing togas instead. That's what it would have looked like in the past. After lunch, we walked to the Trevi Fountain and then took the bus to the National Museum of Rome. The museum was the most quiet place we've been to since we got to Rome and it was a nice break from the crowds. Our time in Rome was too short and we'd really like to come back and spend more time in this beautiful city.

And just like that, our vacation was over. We had an early morning flight out of Rome and had a full day of travel back to Vancouver (via Frankfurt and Toronto). I was glad to be going home (I really missed my cats) but was also sad that our little travel adventure was done. We had a really great time!

I'll be uploading our pics to Flickr very soon. Stay tuned...