Rome - Days 1 & 2

Ok, I'm going to be 100% honest here… we spent our first day in Rome not liking it much. It was raining, the crowds were ridiculously crazy, our first meal was nowhere near as good as everything else we experienced, and our hotel room sucked. We made the best of it though and got out on foot and roamed around. I was dying to see the Trevi Fountain, so we headed over there:

From Rome - 1 & 2

From Rome - 1 & 2

After that, since the Spanish steps were relatively close, we found those… the crowds were basically a turn off, but here's a pic of the Spanish steps covered in people:

From Rome - 1 & 2

The rest of the day, we walked… I have a bunch of pictures, but nothing really special. Here's a cool shot of the capitol hill at night though:

From Rome - 1 & 2

That night, w found the most amazing gelato we've had so far… it was so amazing that we went back tonight and I wouldn't be surprised if we go back a couple more times before we leave ;). This is when Rome started to look up for us… The gelato was amazing, we complained about our hotel room and got upgraded, and we started finding areas of the city that were out of the touristy path.

Day 2, we got on the big red bus for a second ride (the first one was in the rain the day before) and got to see all sorts of cool stuff..

The Colosseum!

From Rome - 1 & 2

Capitol Hill during the day:

From Rome - 1 & 2

St. Peter's Square:

From Rome - 1 & 2

After that, we were a little unsure of what to do (to be honest, we were overwhelmed), so we walked over to the Vatican to see if we could get in to see anything.

From Rome - 1 & 2

The line to St. Peter's Basilica wasn't very long, so we decided to go for it and as it turns out, it was AMAZING. I couldn't believe that they let me take pictures inside, but they did and I was a happy camper. I'll spare you all the shots, but here's a cool shot of the inside:

From Rome - 1 & 2

And of Michelangelo's Pieta:

From Rome - 1 & 2

We also sat in for a bit of Sunday service. After that, JC decided to pose with one of the guys from the Swiss Guard:

From Rome - 1 & 2

We went down to the crypt to visit John Paul II and St. Peter (no pictures inside the crypt though) and then climbed to the top of the basilica. The view up top was amazing:

From Rome - 1 & 2

Unfortunately, this if the only picture I got before it started pouring. For fear of my camera, I stopped taking pictures, but we waited it out and managed to get a few as it was nearly done raining:

From Rome - 1 & 2

From Rome - 1 & 2

At this point, we were starving, so we went off the beaten path and went to a less touristy area… we used our guidebook to find one of the most recommended pizza places in Rome and had a fantastic dinner:

From Rome - 1 & 2

After another stop for gelato at our favorite gelato place, we took some night pics and then headed back to our hotel:

From Rome - 1 & 2

24,325 steps (8.83 miles) later, we're done for the night. Tomorrow, we're going to try to hit the Colosseum and the archeological sites :)

Lauren & JC