Thank you for all the sweet comments on my first blog post! Welcome to the first post in my series of 40 PLACES. To celebrate my 40th birthday, my husband took me to Rome and it was awesome! We actually went before my birthday and flew to Rome the first week of April – the perfect time of year! It was my husband’s first time there and my second. (However, my first time was part of a whirlwind “backpacking around Europe” adventure right after college so this was definitely a different experience!) We took off from Tampa and flew through Newark to get to Rome. We arrived early the following morning and spent most of our first day getting acclimated and rested. And then the fun began!
The Vatican, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica
We signed up for a couple of “skip the line” tours prior to our arrival in Rome and I’m so happy we did. When we arrived at the Vatican, I was floored by how many people were waiting in line to get in. We would have been waiting for hours! With the tour, we met our group and got right in. The Vatican Museum was beautiful with such amazing works of art and the Sistine Chapel was spectacular to see in person. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take any pictures of the Sistine Chapel so I don’t have anything to share but I’ll tell you it’s definitely a site to see! After spending some time in the Sistine Chapel, we were taken into St. Peter’s Basilica which was another grand experience. I don’t have the best photos from inside since it was quite dark but I think you can get a sense of what it’s like based on the photos below.
The Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain
I loved that our hotel was in walking distance from the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain. It was so much fun to wander and watch the hundreds of tourists visiting these landmarks. One of the funniest things I saw was the number of people taking “selfies” at the Trevi Fountain. I wish I took a picture of it because it was hilarious! There were tourists from all over the world – all taking selfies! I even offered to take a photo for one couple and they said “no thank you” because they wanted to take a selfie instead! Too funny!
The Colosseum
The Colosseum was another place where we opted for a “skip the line” tour. The tour was awesome because we got so much detailed information about the history, what took place inside and lots of stories and tidbits about life at that time. It’s amazing that so much of this structure is still in tact and it’s even more amazing to imagine what it was like to attend an event at the Colosseum based on the stories told.
I have hundreds and hundreds of photos from our trip but just chose a few to share here to document the highlights of our journey. We also went on a day trip to the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii during this vacation and I’ll be sharing that with all of you soon. And, make sure you come back tomorrow for my first edition of “40 EATS” – Roman style!
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