Roaming around Rome

Last weekend, to celebrate our sixth Family Day (the day the boys were adopted) and Miller's birthday, we went to Rome. I took my personal day on Friday so that we could leave earlier in the day and get two full days to explore. Apart from a tiny delay due to fog in Thessaloniki, our trip was flawless!

After landing in Rome and checking in to the small hotel room we had booked, we headed to the Colosseum. Fun fact: colosseum comes from an ancient Greek word meaning large statue. Nice connection to Greece, right? For us, it feels like all roads lead to Greece, not Rome. 😋 The Colosseum is at the center of Rome and is the largest ancient amphitheater ever built. It still is the largest standing amphitheater in the world. 😱

When originally built, the Colosseum was used as an entertainment venue, hosting the famous gladiator fights and animal battles. However, during its several thousand years of standing, it has also been used as a cemetery, a house for a family in the 1200's, and a church. In recent years, apart from being Rome's largest attraction, is Italy's symbol of its international campaign against capital punishment (which was abolished in Italy in the late 1940's). Since the early 2000's, as a gesture against the death penalty, the local police of Rome change the night illumination of the Colosseum from white to gold whenever someone ANYWHERE in the world gets their death penalty commuted. 

The outside of the Colosseum.

The inside of the Colosseum.

Miller checking out the Colosseum.

After the Colosseum, we went right next door to the Roman Forum to check out all the amazing ancient ruins. Kind of like when we went to Athens, the Roman Forum was more exciting to see simply because the crowds were smaller so we could fully enjoy the things we were seeing. I think that although important to history, people don't often think to stop at the Roman Forum.

Basically, the Roman Forum is a large rectangular plaza that is surrounded by the ruins of several important Roman governmental buildings. It was the center of day-to-day life in Rome. It contained a palace, gardens, houses, pretty much everything. It is still an active archeological site, so we saw people digging and scanning artifacts/rocks. How cool is that?!

A panoramic view of the Roman Forum.

To end our first night, we took a walk by the river, and I am so glad we did! It was dark by then, so we were able to see Rome and the river by night. It was so beautiful. See the pictures below!

Our next day in Rome was even busier than our first! By the end of the day, my Garmin said we got 16 miles of walking in! 

First, we headed to the Trevi Fountain. It felt like all streets near our hotel led to this iconic fountain; we were constantly passing it. It was built in 19 BC, but the most famous sculpture portion (the god Oceanus) was built in the 18th century. Trevi Fountain is known as a wishing fountain; this has been true since it was a bath for the ancient Romans. Now, the ritual is to do a special three coin wish (one is to return to Rome, one to find love, and one to marry). Back then, the coins were seen as offerings to the water gods. We did not have any coins on us, so unfortunately, we did not make any wishes.

After the fountain, we headed for the Spanish Steps. These were created in 1725 as a bridge between the French Chiesa della Trinita dei Monti and the Spanish Embassy. You may have seen them if you ever watched the movie Roman Holiday. Of course we decided to walk up them! There are a lot of steps, and we were a bit out of breath when we got to the top, but it was the perfect spot to stop and take in the amazing views of Rome! Honestly, all the skyscapes of Rome were simply breathtaking, and I was in awe each time we saw it. 

The Spanish Steps facing the French Chiesa della Trinita dei Monti.

Skyscape of Rome with the Vatican in the background!

We had some time to kill before our time at the Vatican Museums, so we went and walked around the Villa Borghese. It is a nice park/gardens and a great way to meander over to the Vatican side of the city. We also stopped for pizza and this AMAZING pizza place. We had slices of broccoli, potato, and sauce pizza. Honestly, ALL the food we ate while in Rome was amazing. I think would never get tired of Italian food. 😍

Miller and Ben chilling while we shared pizza slices.

After our quick lunch, we went to St. Peter's Square. We had tried to get tickets to go into St. Peter's Church. Although they are free, we couldn't get any. As soon as we arrived, we could see why. It was the pilgrimage day and the line to walk into the church freely was a quarter of a mile long. No joke. We did get to enjoy the famous square though. Cool fact: the Vatican now has its own post office where you can mail things. Cool right?!

Panoramic view of St. Peter's Square.

St. Peter's Church.

We had bought tickets for the Vatican Museums, which included a quick tour of the Sistine Chapel. The museums were really cool and definitely worth going to. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from the museums, and it would be so hard to describe all the amazing art and artifacts we saw. I guess it is going to have to be one of those things that just lives on in your head instead of in pictures.

Part of the Vatican Museum tour was a small tour of the Sistine Chapel. No pictures were allowed in there, so I once again have nothing to show you. It was surreal to be seeing a piece of history that is so iconic. I feel like a broken record saying this, but it was once again not as cool as some of the other lesser known pieces of Roman history we saw because of how crazy busy and packed it was. They rush you through the chapel so fast that it is hard to enjoy it. 

We had no time for sight seeing on Sunday. We took the train back to the airport and made our flights back to Thessaloniki so that we could go back to school Monday! The two day trip of Rome was such a whirlwind of walking, adventures, and amazing sites. Even though it was only two days, I know I can speak for all three of us when I say that the trip was worth it for sure!