Roman Holiday

This trip was originally supposed to be last year but one thing lead to another and we decided to do it this year during Thansgiving break. Its also not peak tourist season in Rome, so it is less crowded than in the summer.

Initially I was not super excited about going to Rome, since I have been to Venice and would rather have visited another country altogether, but I really wanted to do a trip with both my parents and I am so glad I went. I was absolutely blown away by Rome.

My Dad organized the entire trip so it was a 4-star affair - from the roomier seats on the plane, to the boutique hotel by the Trevi Fountian, to the Rome airport private pick up and sightseeing tours. Left to me I would have slummed it a bit (well, a lot) more -- but I did enjoy the luxury and given the crappy year I have had, I felt I needed to splurge a bit on myself.

Sunday Nov 20
We arrived in Rome early morning. It was hilarious to see the car driver holding up a card with my name at the Rome airport -- I should have taken a picture. I guess my name alphabetically popped up first on our booking.

Since it was super early, my room was not yet ready at the hotel. So, I dropped my bags at my parents room and I left the hotel by myself armed with a map and walked around Rome for about 2 hrs and made my way to the Trevi Fountain, and then walked to the Spanish Steps and surrounding areas.  People are super friendly in Rome and there were tons of police around in the tourist areas so I had no problem asking directions if I was confused.

We rested in the afternoon and went out to dinner to a nearby restaurant where I ate the most AMAZING spaghetti bolognese imaginable!  Meals in Rome are in courses - first course is pasta, second course is salad, third course is meat (eg grilled chicken breast with a wedge of lemon and a sprig of salad), last course is of course dessert.

Fontana de Trevi (Trevi Fountain)

Plaza de Spagna (Spanish Steps)

Monday Nov 21

Woke up bright and early at 6am, had breakfast in the hotel and were picked up at 8am to go to the central location of the sightseeing tour. We then did a Roma Day tour, starting off at the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica. Our guide was wonderful and after we went around the basilica and saw the famed Michelangelo's Pieta we then drove to Navona Square and saw the fountains, including Bernini's Four Rivers, then walked to the Pantheon and ended at Trevi Fountain. 

We had a lunch included in the tour so we went to a traditional restaurant with beautiful murals. Later in the afternoon we did a 2 hr tour of the Colosseum with another awesome guide.  Dinner that night was again by the Trevi Fountain at a different restaurant. Unfortunately, I choose a poor dish, but the restaurant itself had good ambience and everyone else' food was good.

The Vatican as seen across the Tiber River

The Papal Residence

The Dome of St Peter's Basilica

The Canopy in St Peter's Basilica - below this is a crypt where St Peter is buried

Colosseum (outside)

Colosseum (inside)

Tue Nov 22

Some of the family went to Florence on a day trip, but I did not sign up for that since I really wanted to spend my time in Rome. I am very interested in Art, so that day after sleeping in a bit, I left the hotel and went to museums.

I first visited the Rome Museum of Ancient Art in the beautiful Bergnini palace, where I saw a wooden cross from the year 1050. Also saw several of Raphael's paintings that were on special exhibition, including the famed "La Fornarina" and other Renaissance artists through about 17th century. I spent about 3 hrs there, then walked back to the Trevi where I had a nice solitary meal of lasagna and coffee and planned my next excursion.

I then decided to see a special exhibition of the drawings of Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo that was being held at the Capitolini Museum, so I headed out there. It was about a 20 minute walk from the hotel. That was a crazy experience since I must have climbed about 200 + steps that evening. The museum is huge with NO signs or anything and the elevators looked suspicious, so I was like a crazy person wandering around staircases and corridors looking for stuff.  But I saw the Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo  drawings which were awesome including a rough sketch by Michelangelo of the "Final Judgement of Man" which he painted in the Sistine Chapel.  I also saw a letter written by him and signed  -- can you believe that?!!  I also saw the famous bronze statue of the She Wolf and the suckling babies Romulus and Remus.
Dinner that night was just my Dad and I and we ate at the hotel restaurant and decided to not have pasta. Instead had yummy lamb chops with grilled veggies Italian style.

She Wolf

Wed Nov 23
We had the entire day free until 7pm when we had booked a Rome by Night tour with Dinner. That morning everyone woke late and after breakfast I took the family to the Spanish Steps since I had been there on our day of arrival. After that we shopped for souvenirs.

My parents and I went back to that great spaghetti bolognese place for a big bowl of pasta which was perfect in that slightly chilly damp weather.  Later I went walking to Quirinale which is the residence of the Italian President and nearby there was a special exhibition of Boteccelli and Fillipino Lippi so I decided to nip in and take a look. It was a a wonderful exhibition with a lot of predominantly Lippi's works from museums all around the world, including Florence, DC and NYC.

Later we did the Rome by night tour and I have to admit I was rather tired by then. Everyone else had taken a quick nap in the afternoon while I was out walking and seeing the Lippi exhibition. On this evening tour we saw all the same monuments but now illuminated. The monuments were not as brightly lit as I had expected, but still it was worth seeing. We then went to a restaurant for dinner - same courses of pasta, salad, meat, dessert :-) We got back to the hotel really late, almost midnight.

Rome at Dusk

Aerial View taken from Quirinale -

St Peter's Basilica dominates the skyline in the distance

Thurs Nov 24
Thanksgiving was spent doing a morning tour of the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel.  After the previous late night, it was difficult to drag myself out of bed at 6am, but we managed.

We went back to St Peters's Square and around to the Vatican Museum entrance. I don't have any words to express how I felt looking at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and seeing Michelangelo's creation of Adam, and the Final Judgment. If you recall I had seen his hand drawn sketches that Tue at the Capitolini Museum, it was just awesome to see the final result.  The tour ended at about 1pm, we had lunch (pizza)and did some final shopping.

At about 5pm I went for a solitary long walk to the Colosseum and just sat on a bench and watched the world go by, trying to capture that moment in time. It was our last evening in Rome.

Entrance to Vatican Museum

Police Car at Trevi Fountain

From Nov 25
Left hotel in the AM for flight back home.

Sorry for the long winded post but I want to use this as a way to recall my trip, now some interesting facts:

• Yes Italian men are indeed gorgeous, and the ladies are extremely fashionable.
• Traffic is insane. Drives will mow you down! They don't believe in stopping for pedestrians, so to cross a street you have to wait until there is a group of about 5-10 ppl gathered, then you just edge into the crosswalk and PRAY that the cars/scooters stop. That was the scariest part of the trip given I did a lot of my sightseeing on foot.
• Rome is really safe city. I was by myself wandering around in the dark alleys and did not feel remotely afraid. Tons of police are everywhere especially in the crowded tourist areas.
• Nov is great time to go, particularly to the Vatican since it was not too crowded.
• The Vatican Museum gets 20,000 visitors a day -- you read that right - a DAY!
• The oldest standing monument were ruins of a temple built in 40 or 50 BC
• The oldest work of art I saw was a wooden cross from the year 1050AD, almost a 1000 years old.
• Food is good, but since I am lactose intolerant, I did not partake of the famed gelatos much, and was peeing the cheese off the pizza. I carried about a zillion Lac.taid pills. I did have the most yummy Tiramisu ever in Rome.