tales of rome
so i had a fabulous time, this is an update of my brief roman sojourn cut to avoid clogging up friends pages with photos
the hostel was less than desirable, but the people in my dorm were cool, even though i was the oldest there, i felt like an old maid, they were all 19 to 21 and thought i was over the hill.. one even mentioned that i wouldn't be able to stay in some hostels soon cos i'll be 26! urgh! never mind...
day one
rome itself was pretty breathtaking, i arrived on the sunday morning, dumped my stuff off at the hostel and went for a walk in the sunshine. the only day of sunshine... it was the rome marathon, so that made for some fun trying to negotiate the streets, first major site i happened upon was the colosseum.
it's bizarre to be walking down any normal european city street to suddenly catch such an iconic image like that out of the corner of your eye...
i ended up having a nap in the gardens of the castel de sant angelo listening to my ipod and i managed to get slightly sunburnt - what a surprise, before i headed up to the vatican
after a stop/start i managed to purchase a gelato - you bizarrely have to pay for it at a separate desk to where they dole out the creamy goodness! after two trips to the cashier i finally managed to get my hands on one and it was delicious..
there were no queues at st peter's so i thought i might as well pop in and it was beautiful..
the sun was streaming through the dome
and the pieta moved me to tears
by the time i came out of the cathedral, the sun was beginning to go down, and it was time to go back to the hostel, i was utterly bushed, managing to have some pasta with my new roommates before heading to bed pretty early.
day two
was spent mostly wandering round seeing various sites, highlight of which was the pantheon, which was the most impressive thing i saw on the whole holiday.
i could have stayed there for hours, and indeed visited it 3 times! and took endless amounts of photos of the dome
an architectural anomaly, it was stunning, and you can clearly see where michaelangelo got his inspiration for st peters!
also seen on that day was the trevi fountain
you could hear it from a hundred meters away, such is the force of the water!
day three
was spent at the vatican museums! the first day it was available to me being shut on sunday and monday.. i went with a couple of guys from my dorm room, we got there for about 8, and it was supposed to open at 8.45, but didn't open til 10, thankfully though as soon as it opened we were virtually in the door... in front of us in the queue though were a group of geordie students - my school never had a trip to rome! how cool would that be?! the best we got was st omer! and that's really not saying much..
of course the whole focus of the vatican museums is to see the sistine chapel at the end, and many people were marching through the other museums just to get there, but we took our time and looked at pretty much everything (or so i think - it's really hard to navigate despite audio guide!) my favourite items being perseus
the gorgeous antinous - i wanted him to give me a hug!
and the stanzi di raphael..
it amused me to hear about how all these great artists in their own right, were busy decorating the rooms at the vatican when raphael rolls into town, the pope the orders the original work destroyed! just imagine how popular he was down the pub!
anyway, the raphael rooms were impressive, in fact the museums as a whole were impressive, even the chairs are decorated.. you can't look anywhere without seeing a painting, or a sculpture or a mosaic, it's just bizarre.. items which would be the star of the show are put in a corner and missed..
so yes, onwards to the sistine chapel... you can't get a real feel for how amazing it is due to the fact that you're cramed in like sardines!
however the last judgement is amazing, and i think i preferred that to the ceiling
day four
my last day, i spent wandering round the city with a girl from the hostel, got hit on by a gelato man (why does it happen two hours before i go home?!)
all in all a really fun holiday, my feet are still aching, and i lost 5 kilos walking round town for 8 hours a day.. i've made some good friends, and we're all in touch which is cool, but i was glad to get home to my own bed!
the hostel was less than desirable, but the people in my dorm were cool, even though i was the oldest there, i felt like an old maid, they were all 19 to 21 and thought i was over the hill.. one even mentioned that i wouldn't be able to stay in some hostels soon cos i'll be 26! urgh! never mind...
day one
rome itself was pretty breathtaking, i arrived on the sunday morning, dumped my stuff off at the hostel and went for a walk in the sunshine. the only day of sunshine... it was the rome marathon, so that made for some fun trying to negotiate the streets, first major site i happened upon was the colosseum.
it's bizarre to be walking down any normal european city street to suddenly catch such an iconic image like that out of the corner of your eye...
i ended up having a nap in the gardens of the castel de sant angelo listening to my ipod and i managed to get slightly sunburnt - what a surprise, before i headed up to the vatican
after a stop/start i managed to purchase a gelato - you bizarrely have to pay for it at a separate desk to where they dole out the creamy goodness! after two trips to the cashier i finally managed to get my hands on one and it was delicious..
there were no queues at st peter's so i thought i might as well pop in and it was beautiful..
the sun was streaming through the dome
and the pieta moved me to tears
by the time i came out of the cathedral, the sun was beginning to go down, and it was time to go back to the hostel, i was utterly bushed, managing to have some pasta with my new roommates before heading to bed pretty early.
day two
was spent mostly wandering round seeing various sites, highlight of which was the pantheon, which was the most impressive thing i saw on the whole holiday.
i could have stayed there for hours, and indeed visited it 3 times! and took endless amounts of photos of the dome
an architectural anomaly, it was stunning, and you can clearly see where michaelangelo got his inspiration for st peters!
also seen on that day was the trevi fountain
you could hear it from a hundred meters away, such is the force of the water!
day three
was spent at the vatican museums! the first day it was available to me being shut on sunday and monday.. i went with a couple of guys from my dorm room, we got there for about 8, and it was supposed to open at 8.45, but didn't open til 10, thankfully though as soon as it opened we were virtually in the door... in front of us in the queue though were a group of geordie students - my school never had a trip to rome! how cool would that be?! the best we got was st omer! and that's really not saying much..
of course the whole focus of the vatican museums is to see the sistine chapel at the end, and many people were marching through the other museums just to get there, but we took our time and looked at pretty much everything (or so i think - it's really hard to navigate despite audio guide!) my favourite items being perseus
the gorgeous antinous - i wanted him to give me a hug!
and the stanzi di raphael..
it amused me to hear about how all these great artists in their own right, were busy decorating the rooms at the vatican when raphael rolls into town, the pope the orders the original work destroyed! just imagine how popular he was down the pub!
anyway, the raphael rooms were impressive, in fact the museums as a whole were impressive, even the chairs are decorated.. you can't look anywhere without seeing a painting, or a sculpture or a mosaic, it's just bizarre.. items which would be the star of the show are put in a corner and missed..
so yes, onwards to the sistine chapel... you can't get a real feel for how amazing it is due to the fact that you're cramed in like sardines!
however the last judgement is amazing, and i think i preferred that to the ceiling
day four
my last day, i spent wandering round the city with a girl from the hostel, got hit on by a gelato man (why does it happen two hours before i go home?!)
all in all a really fun holiday, my feet are still aching, and i lost 5 kilos walking round town for 8 hours a day.. i've made some good friends, and we're all in touch which is cool, but i was glad to get home to my own bed!