Jeana and I were going to get up early on Saturday so that we could have plenty of time to get ready and hit up the catacombs before they closed at noon. Sadly we slept through our alarm. I actually woke up and heard it but no one else was moving so I just turned it off and fell back asleep while I was laying there. We probably all needed the sleep as we had had quite the eventful day previously. At 10:17 Jeana came over and woke me up and I was caught by surprise how late we all actually slept in. We got up and started to get ready for our day. Since it was already 10:30 we decided the catacombs were not going to happen in the morning so we flipped our day around. Instead we decided to hit up a few of the spots around the Coliseum that Rick Steves recommends.
We left the flat around 11:00 and headed on foot in the direction of the Coliseum. It was quite easy to find as we had walked past it the night before. Our first stop was to St. Peter-in-Chains Church. In this church you can actually see the chains that held St. Peter. This church is also famous for housing Michelangelo’s Moses. This giant statue was supposed to be one of the 48 that Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to build as a massive tomb. When Julius died Moses was one of the only ones that were finished and no one cared to complete the project for Julius. The statue was a pretty impressive sight to see.
After seeing the rest of the church we sat on the steps outside for a little pow wow to figure out what was in store for the rest of our day. The plans we had we decided needed to be changed and we therefore had to replan our entire time in Rome. It was well worth it as we were quite happy with our new set of plans. The only bit of disappointing news was that one of the things we both really wanted to do we couldn’t. That would be Borghese Gallery. We didn’t know that to go you needed to book a reservation at least two weeks in advance. I gave them a call just to see but it’s true, they were booked all through next week and it’s even off season! Jeana and I just decided it’s an excuse to come back to Rome. And since we threw our coins in Trevi we shall be back someday!
After finalizing our plans we set off for our next destination. As we were walking we spotted a pet store so of course we went in and had a look. As we continued along we both bought a few postcards. Then we walked straight into the Forum basically. There was a great area where you could take pictures from above the Forum so we did that and took in the incredible sights all around us. There are spectacular buildings all over Rome. The good thing about this is its beautiful, but bad thing is none of them are labeled so you constantly feel like you are just passing by something that could potentially be really cool! They are rarely listed on the map though so they city just must be full of some awesome buildings.
The next place we were in search of was Mamertine Prison where St. Peter and Paul were held. As we were walking in search of it we ran into this vast white building we later learned was a monument to united Italy called the Vittoriano. There was security all over this place. No one was allowed to sit on the steps and if people tried police officers blew their whistles at them and told them to move. I have no idea what is in the building, but the outside was very neat.
After we took our pictures we moved on in search of Mamertine Prison again. We realized we had walked too far so we back tracked a little bit. By this point we were starting to get pretty hungry but we wanted to see it before we sat down for lunch. We continued to look and finally saw some signs for it! It was a huge relief. We followed the signs down the hill and did not see the place anywhere in sight. We knew it had to be around because we were at a dead end. From where we were there were even more great views of the Forum so that distracted us a bit. When we had almost completely given up on looking for the place we realized it was right in front of our faces the entire time. We had thought we were going to get to explore by ourselves but they have set up an audio guide tour you have to do if you want to see the place now. So we got our tickets and had to wait around for about fifteen minutes for our tour to begin. We each had a little snack to tide us over and waited.
The tour ended up being pretty cheesy but was interesting as well. The prison is 2,500 years old. In the tour it had the walls talking to us telling of its past. We got to see the hole in the floor where they lowered prisoners as well as go down to the actual prison floor. On the prison floor we got to see the column where Peter was chained. Seeing the cell was the neatest part. The rest of the time they showed us videos, and while it was interesting the modern twist on things kind of killed the neatness of the age of the place. When the tour ended we found out that we got a bus tour of the city included as well. We figured we might as well do the tour. It probably would have been really neat but there were some protestors on the road we had to take so it was blocked off. We did get to do half of the tour still which included seeing the Vatican so it was well worth it. After that it took us back to the prison where it dropped us off. When we got off the tour we were ready for some food.
Rick Steves recommended a place on Capitol Hill so we went in search of it. As we looked for it we found a replica of the She-Wolf. We finally located the little café. It was at one of the highest points and over looked the city of Rome. It was a beautiful sight and we got there right in time because it had just begun to rain. The good news was this café was outside but it had a glass canopy covering it. Since it was almost 4:00 Jeana and I decided to just get a cappuccino and treat each. They were both quite delicious and full of sugar which got our energy back up. When we were done we headed to the Capitoline Museums. On our way we searched for a fountain called the Ill Nasone Drinking Fountain, “the big nose,” where you can stick your finger under the spout and it will come out another spout for drinking. (We thought this was really cool at the time but tested other fountains throughout the trip and found out they all pretty much did the same thing!) Jeana and I just love these little Rick Steves tips though!
We then made our way into the Capitoline museums at the perfect time as it had just started to really start raining. We explored the Tabularium hall first and it was neat but nothing spectacular. Next we went to go in the spot where you are able to see the Forum through the windows but for some reason it was closed. It was a tad disappointing but we got over it quickly. We explored the rest of the museum. There are actually two but they are connected underground so you go from one to the next without even realizing it. We saw a ton of statues of heads and various other full body statues. A few of the more famous ones included Venus, Hercules, a boy with a thorn in his foot and the She-Wolf.
On the top floor there was an art gallery. The art was beautiful but we were exhausted at that point so we didn’t spend too much time there. There were a bunch of porcelain figurines and mini statues that I really liked though. Of major significance we saw two Caravaggio paintings that Phillipa recommended that we see if we went. That was the final part of the museum so we headed out. We walked down another entrance to Capitoline Hill to see another view. Next we were headed to the Pantheon because we had a restaurant that we wanted to check out. Yet another thing we had discovered though Rick Steves book. At first we walked the wrong direction but got to see a few neat sights so it was worth going the wrong way. We got back on track and made our way there without any real glitches.
When we got to the Pantheon we began looking for our restaurant but got side tracked with a few stores along the way. We just window shopped quickly as we were both pretty ready for dinner after not exactly getting a real lunch. It took us a little while to find the little road the restaurant was supposed to be on. When we did we were really excited because the outdoor seating was real cute. We quickly found out it wasn’t the restaurant and although we did find the right building it had moved. The waiter/owner was nice enough to give us directions to the new location which was situated right next to the Pantheon. We were surprised he told us how to get there and didn’t even try to get us to eat at his place. We found the correct place called Miscellanea. We choose this place because Rick Steves recommended it for study abroad students. He said the owner really loved them and with his book would even treat them to a glass of Fragoline, otherwise known as “sexy wine.” We were of course hoping to get the wine but moreso went for the cheaper prices!
The menu was pretty big so it took us a while to choose but our waiter told us to take our time as it didn’t close until 2:00 am. He was quite the jokester all night long but apparently I didn’t pick up on them because I just got confused a lot. Luckily I had Jeana there to explain things to me! I ordered fettuccine with tomato and basil while Jeana got spaghetti carbonara. We both scarfed our food down when it came and wiped our plates clean. They were no small portions either. Both of us enjoyed our meal but I have to say I expected a bit more being in Italy and all. After we finished we sat there a while waiting for our water to come back around. As I have said they are in no rush here to get you out of a restaurant. We were ready to be home though and Jeana kept trying to get the waiters attention.
Eventually he brought us the bill but he also brought us each a glass of wine so that was quite the nice treat. I have to say this was the best wine I have ever had. Now I’m only comparing it to about three others but it well surpassed those. I’ve never had any that tasted anywhere near that good. So we sat and talked and fully enjoyed our glass of wine. Just as we were done and about to leave he brought us another glass. Mind you we had already paid our bill so it’s not like they expected us to pay for it. I don’t think he remembered he brought us the first glass already but he still left the other two for us to drink. So we then sat and enjoyed those but as soon as we finished we got up and left because there was no way I was going to be able to drink a third! We were not sad we got the second free glass as it was so delicious!
When we left we decided we had to have ourselves some gelato before the day was over. There was a place we saw the day before that Rick Steves recommended so we headed there. I had some scrumptious hazelnut and chocolate mousse. The chocolate mousse was so amazing I thought I might have died and gone to heaven. A day without gelato here just might be a sin. We walked around with our gelato with the Trevi fountain as our goal. We wanted to see it at night as we heard it was even more spectacular. It really was beautiful and probably twice as crowded as it was during the day. So far Trevi has been one of my favorite spots because I just love the atmosphere and simplicity of it (the concept that is, there is nothing simple about the design of the fountain the least). We snapped some photos and then began walking to the Spanish Steps as we wanted to see those at night as well.
After viewing the steps we caught the metro home. By that time we were so exhausted we could barely walk. Luckily our hostel is only a few minute walk from the metro station so we managed to make it back. Once we did we were so ready to crash but first we showered and then headed for another awesome nights rest…a full day of sightseeing sure makes sleeping easy!
***During the night Jordan thought an intruder came into our room but it was really Jeana. She was on guard and ready to attack. Jeana was had just gone to the bathroom and had come back, but it woke Jordan up from her sleep. When she had looked over she thought she saw all of us laying there so that’s why she thought it was an intruder. Apparently she even sat up in bed and was ready to jump Jeana but Jeana spoke up before any of that happened! I slept through it all but everyone else was awake. We had a great laugh about it the next day and continue to!
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