This weekend all of the spring students went to Rome for our opening tour. It was 3 days of monuments and fun. I took a ton of pictures, but these are probably the best/most important ones.
We arrived Thursday night and some of us went on a walking tour. The first thing we saw the Trevi Fountain. 
On Friday we went on a tour of the Capitoline Museum, the Roman Forum, and the Colosseum.
These ruins are about a block away from our hotel. This is a good example of how it is common to be in a very modern part of Rome and still be near ruins that are from 500BC.
These ruins are inside the Capitoline Museum, and they are what is left of the Shrine built to Jupiter. They are approximately 2600 years old.
A statue of a river god outside of the capitoline museum.
This is one of the ruins in the roman forum. It is an ancient basilica that was used as inspiration for St Peter's Basilica.
Here's a good view of the Roman forum.
Then, we went to the Colosseum.
... and me inside the Colosseum.
In the afternoon there was an optional tour, but a few of us decided to go out and explore on our own. We managed to find the Pantheon
Inside the Pantheon is where the first and second emperors of Rome are entombed.
Then we walked a bit more and came across the Spanish Steps.
After climbing to the top we found a spot and decided to sit, relax, and people watch. Here's everyone else enjoying the view.
The next day was Vatican City day. We went to the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. The Vatican Museum is huge and overwhelming so here are a few of my favorites:
one of the many interpretations of Venus
An interpretation of the Garden of Eden
the hall of heads
The entrance to the Sistine Chapel is in the Vatican Museum, and takes about a half hour to get there because there are so many other hallways that you have to walk through. Here is some the trek to the Sistine Chapel. 
Pictures aren't allowed in the Sistine Chapel, so I honored that rule, but I don't think pictures would have done it justice anyways.
After the Vatican Museum we made our way over to St. Peter's Basilica. This was probably my favorite place in Rome.
I think it helped that it was a sunny day, because the basilica looked so pretty with all of the natural light coming through the windows.
In the afternoon we walked around on our own again, and at the suggestion of our
tour guide we went to St Ignatius Church. It isn't as well known, but it is absolutely breathtaking.
As part of our Roman experience, our tour guides had us take the public buses to dinner, so all 33 of us crammed on with the rest of Rome. That was an interesting experience. Luckily no pick-pocketers chose me as a target (although some of the others in our group were not so lucky).
On the last day we walked around and window shopped before taking the train back to Florence. Here I am with a gelato in front of the Trevi Fountain.
On Friday we went on a tour of the Capitoline Museum, the Roman Forum, and the Colosseum.These ruins are about a block away from our hotel. This is a good example of how it is common to be in a very modern part of Rome and still be near ruins that are from 500BC.
These ruins are inside the Capitoline Museum, and they are what is left of the Shrine built to Jupiter. They are approximately 2600 years old.
A statue of a river god outside of the capitoline museum.
This is one of the ruins in the roman forum. It is an ancient basilica that was used as inspiration for St Peter's Basilica.
Here's a good view of the Roman forum.
Then, we went to the Colosseum.
... and me inside the Colosseum.
In the afternoon there was an optional tour, but a few of us decided to go out and explore on our own. We managed to find the Pantheon
Inside the Pantheon is where the first and second emperors of Rome are entombed.
Then we walked a bit more and came across the Spanish Steps.
After climbing to the top we found a spot and decided to sit, relax, and people watch. Here's everyone else enjoying the view.
The next day was Vatican City day. We went to the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. The Vatican Museum is huge and overwhelming so here are a few of my favorites:
one of the many interpretations of Venus
An interpretation of the Garden of Eden
the hall of heads
The entrance to the Sistine Chapel is in the Vatican Museum, and takes about a half hour to get there because there are so many other hallways that you have to walk through. Here is some the trek to the Sistine Chapel. 
Pictures aren't allowed in the Sistine Chapel, so I honored that rule, but I don't think pictures would have done it justice anyways.
After the Vatican Museum we made our way over to St. Peter's Basilica. This was probably my favorite place in Rome.
I think it helped that it was a sunny day, because the basilica looked so pretty with all of the natural light coming through the windows.
In the afternoon we walked around on our own again, and at the suggestion of ourtour guide we went to St Ignatius Church. It isn't as well known, but it is absolutely breathtaking.
As part of our Roman experience, our tour guides had us take the public buses to dinner, so all 33 of us crammed on with the rest of Rome. That was an interesting experience. Luckily no pick-pocketers chose me as a target (although some of the others in our group were not so lucky).
On the last day we walked around and window shopped before taking the train back to Florence. Here I am with a gelato in front of the Trevi Fountain.
I'm just agog with all the art, history, beauty...... So glad you could balance all the reverence of the chapels and basilicas with a cramped bus ride and some gelato! I'm getting very excited (anxious?) about visiting.
ReplyDeleteAh! You were so close to me the whole time! I'm just across the river from those ancient ruins near your hotel! It looks like you had fun, though :)
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