We arrived fairly late in the evening, but were too excited to see the city so we took a taxi ride to Caffe Martini, a small restaurant with a great outdoor patio overlooking the Colosseum. Sharing a bottle of Chianti with a view of the Colosseum all lit up was the perfect way to begin our Rome adventures! I was still too excited to go back to the hotel, so we grabbed some gelato and began walking. We walked from the Colosseum, past the Roman Forum and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier all the the way to the Trevi Fountain. We tossed our coins in, sat and talked about our impressions of Rome thus far and decided to head back to the hotel.
TRAVEL TIP: It is quite a bit more reasonable to stay in the outskirts of Rome. Ryan and I absolutely opted for this being the frugal traveler that I am - don't do it! While it is quaint and quiet, we spent the difference in taxi rides to and from the hotel. Just bite the bullet and pay more up front to stay in the main city. Once you're there everything is walking distance!
The next morning we reserved tickets for a guided tour of The Vatican. The Sistine Chapel was quite amazing and we sat in there for around 20 minutes taking in the artistry of Michelangelo and listening to the guides describing the different portions of the main wall and ceiling. My favorite fast fact, was that the Council of Trent ordered Michelangelo to make the people more modest in the painting, he declined and they hired someone else to do so. Michelangelo, who was upset by this created a picture of the papal master of ceremonies portrayed as the devil with a snake biting his genital area. When the master of ceremonies asked the Pope to have Michelangelo remove this from the wall, the Pope replied, I could have helped you if you were in purgatory, but not if you are in hell - and the portrait of the master of ceremonies was allowed to stay on the wall.
We ventured into the Vatican cathedral and were able to see the body of Pope John XXIII treated in wax and on display, as well as Michelangelo's Pieta, and of course we touched the foot of St. Peter and prayed for his blessings. Our tour with the archaeologist to go underneath the Vatican isn't booked until later in the week - so we will be back!
Our next stop was a tour of the Roman Colosseum. We precooked this with a guide as well, so we were able to go straight to the front of the line - thank goodness! Even in winter this line was pretty long. Once we went inside she took us around and pointed out the monuments and we looked at artifacts in a small museum. Then, she allowed us time to wander and look for ourselves. It was pretty amazing to think of the history that had happened in this space. We took pictures doing our best "gladiator" impressions. This may have been Ryan's favorite part of the trip!
TRAVEL TIP: If you aren't pressed for time I would recommend booking the tour that actually goes underneath the Colosseum into the preparation rooms. If we go back I will definitely do this!
Next, we did a walking tour of Rome to see the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain in the daylight, and Piazza Navona. A few fun facts - the woman who the Italians created Margherita Pizza for is buried in the Pantheon and Piazza Navona is the site that of Bernini's Four Fountains most recently famous for it's appearance in Angels and Demons. It is the theatrical site in which Tom Hanks rescued the soon-to-be Pope from drowning in the fountain - which actually could not happen in the real-life fountain as it is a bit too shallow!
After the tour, Ryan and I found a small gelato shop just off the piazza and found the most interesting flavor of ice cream - Viagra, neither of us had the courage to try it, but we did snap a quick picture before settling on Fragola and striking up a conversation with the owner! The man who owned the shop was very friendly and when we told him we were from the United States he jokingly laughed and said that I better not come too close because American girls are crazy referencing Amanda Knox! Yikes! ha ha, what a reputation we have overseas.
That night on our way home from dinner we stopped with our group to take pictures at the Vatican all lit up at night - that was stunning! It may be our best pictures from the entire trip! One of my favorite parts of traveling in the winter months were all of the additional decorations put out for the Christmas season and the Vatican was not any different. They had the outdoor nativity set up with the towering, sparkling Christmas tree. Amazing.
Our next day in Rome was just as action packed as our first day! We began by waking up while it was still dark so we could watch the sunrise over Vatican City. This was one of my ultimate highlights in our time abroad. We then walked over and were the first two people inside of the Castel San Angelo and had it all to ourselves for a good 45 minutes as we took in the views of Rome from the very top deck. Incredible. This was one of the sights we wanted to see as Ryan and I are both big Angels and Demons fans, so to have it to ourselves was unreal!
The Catacomb di San Callisto were amazing. We were only allowed underground for about 25 minutes due to the low levels of radon in the air, but it was worth it! We saw where Saint Cecilia's body was originally found and viewed all of the tombs and frescoes surrounding it. This is a live excavation site, so we were able to briefly see the tombs they were still uncovering as well.
TRAVEL TIP: I enjoyed having our wonderful tour guides for this portion, but they don't give you nearly as much time to explore as I would have enjoyed - it may be worth it to see The Basilica di San Clemente on your own pace and invest in the audio guide.
Our final stop on this tour was the Crypt of the Capuchins. It is a working monastery, but the monks do not believe in burying their dead. They all want to be together in life and death, so they create art out of their dead brothers' bones. We walked through these tombs of art and it was incredible to see the bones of these men. There were parts of the bodies that hadn't even fully decayed yet, which was pretty fascinating. A must-hit spot when in Rome!
We finished our night at That's Amore restaurant and headed back to the hotel!
TRAVEL TIP: That's Amore was a bit touristy, but nevertheless had delicious food! We recommend it!
The final two days of our honeymoon consisted of viewing the Church of Saint Cecilia and her tomb, walking through the Roman Forums, Seeing Circus Maximus, touring San Giovanni in Laterano to see The Pope's Chair, touring the San Maria Maggiore as well as its' museum, and finally my favorite part of our time in Rome - touring underneath the Vatican with a Vatican City archaeologist.
We applied for access to tour underneath the Vatican approximately four months in advance, and they let us know we were accepted about two months before our trip. St. Peter's tomb is under St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican Necropolis about 12 meters below the basilica. We walked through air-tight sealed doorways through chambers 10-15 feet wide that used to be Roman streets and tombs. These were all very wealthy people to be buried so close to St. Peter's bones. We walked through the closest church to his bones and then we were let through a side door back to see his actual bones in a plexiglass sealed box. They were illuminated with a orange/yellow light so we could see the remains. It was one of the most interesting, fascinating, amazing things I have ever done in my life!
Once we were finished, we decided to climb to the top of the Duomo, because as you know if you've been reading these posts I love to see a city from every angle! It was similar to the Florence Duomo with the narrow halls and steep steps, but was a more manageable walk. It was pouring that day, but luckily we could still see out across St. Peter's Square and at Vatican City.
Our final lunch was the best meal I had in all of Europe! We ate at La Carbonara Osteria Con Cucina dal 1906 in Monti. They hardly spoke English, and we really had no idea what we ordered, but the "tagliolini zi tree" was delicious! It was the best pasta I've had in my whole life!
Our final night we ventured back to Piazza Navona for dinner overlooking Bernini's fountain and took one last trip to see Castel San Angelo at night before turning in for our early flight back to the
states in the morning.
Our first Europe adventure together as husband and wife was complete and I can't wait for the future adventures to come!
TRAVEL TIP: Be sure to visit Europe with someone as awesome as my husband, Ryan. He was a trooper for every excursion, adventure and photo I wanted. He was by my side the entire time and without a complaint for every different scenario possible. He didn't once scoff at my desire for an aerial and/or underground view of the city and we had a blast together. I'm so lucky to have him as my best friend - love you boy!
xo, Caitlin.
