Off to Frankfurt airport for our 4 day exploration of the ancient city. Waiting in Frankfurt airport, we indulged in a much-needed sushi fix. Unlike Richmond, Ramstein is lacking when it comes to variety in really good sushi, sure we have some solid tuna and salmon, but we are always on the lookout for more delicious sushi while abroad. After our meal we headed to our Lufthansa flight to Rome. 75 minutes later we were touching down in the Eternal city. Our taxi ride from the airport into the old city center gave us an interesting view of the progression of Rome, from the newer buildings back in time through the time of Mussolini and finally back to the Old city and the time of the Romans. Our Hotel, Hotel Sonya, was located right in the middle of the old city, only blocks away from the Coliseum and Forum. The hotel was in an old, traditional Italian building, complete with wooden elevator. Our late-night flight had left us hungry, and our search for food after checking in at 1:30 left us with few options. We luckily came across an Italian coffee shop/mini-mart and were able to get sandwiches, chips and drinks before they closed up shop for the night. Tiffany also found a delicious serving of Tiramisu. Off to bed, for tomorrow had lots of fun in store.
We awoke early, even after a late night we were up early for an Italian breakfast and city exploration. Our breakfast at the hotel was traditionally Italian. Cappuccino, rolls, meat, cheese, cakes and fruit, a great start to our day. From there we began walking. We didn’t have any plans for the morning and no real directions. Our first stop was santa maria degli angeli e dei martiri. A beautiful church that, much like the rest of the churches of Rome, was wonderfully decorated with paintings and sculptures from the Renaissance period. Then we headed past the Opera house and down Via Nazionale, the main road running though Rome. We walked past buildings and monuments and beautiful architecture at every corner. The weather was beautiful, sunny with a nice breeze, perfect December weather. We made our way down Via Nazionale, arriving at the world’s oldest indoor market (now used as a convention center); Trajan’s Market. Just past the market was Trajan’s Column. Built in 113 AD, the column commemorates Trajan’s victory in the Dacian wars. From there we had great views of Palazzo Venezia and the open square.
Our next stop was lunch. We headed back towards the market and stopped into a small pizza shop for a few slices. After lunch we had THE BEST, and I really do mean THE BEST Gelato either one of us has ever had. As connoisseurs of Ice Cream and Gelato in every country we visit we know our stuff and this place was the best, hands down. After our cioccolato and strachatella (Chocolate and Chocolate Chip) gelato bliss we continued our journey west across the city. We made our way to the Metro and hopped on the subway heading to Vatican City. The Rome metro is easy to navigate (only 2 lines) and cheap and made for a great trip across the city. We arrived near the Vatican and headed towards our tour. We walked along the walls of the city and met up with our tour group near the museum entrance. For our tour we were given headsets so we could hear our guide clearly and we made our way into the museum. Our guide was great. She was incredibly knowledgeable and made our tour fun. The Vatican museums are huge, and exploring them on our own could have been an entire day affair, so it was really cool to have someone to give us a history and hit all of the high points of the museum. The collection of art and sculptures in the museum are amazing. We were in awe of the incredible sculptures and tapestries and paintings for the past 2000 years. We have pictures below of lots of our favorites. As we made our way towards the Sistine Chapel, we came upon the Raphael’s Rooms. These 4 incredibly beautiful rooms, painted by the master Raphael were incredible. Our last stop on our journey through the museum was the Sistine Chapel. The room is dimly lit, as they control the amount of light at all times, but it’s easy to see the massive and impressive works of art that are the ceiling and The Last Judgment. Pictures aren’t allowed since the restoration that lasted from 1984-1994 was paid for by Nikon and Fuji, and now they own the copyright to the works of art for the next 62 years (80 years in all). But the images are simple stunning. After gazing at Michelangelo’s Masterpieces, we left the museums where our tour ended. Finishing up in St Peter’s Square, we headed into the Basilica. Our first sight was Michelangelo’s La Pieta, now set behind bullet-proof glass after a crazy Serbian took a hammer to the statue a few years back. The sculpture, one of my favorites, is incredibly life-like in its marble state. Our tour of the church was one of awe, as the massive structure was beautifully decorated and prepared for the midnight mass service the following evening.
We then proceeded to follow our hungry stomachs to dinner. A quaint restaurant and tall glass of Chianti started off our first Italian dinner. This was followed by salad, homemade ravioli in sage and butter and fried artichokes and calamari. The Chianti was delicious (and we are still on the search for a few bottles to drink at home). After dinner we walked around a little before finding our way back to the metro for the ride back to our hotel. Our first day was amazing, and we had only seen a small part of the city. Excited for the next day, we passed out in our bed , ready for more adventure.
Talk to you soon,
David, Tiffany & Oliver
(Pictures not in order)
Beautiful, and very enjoyable,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing