The first day we went and saw the Coliseum, Roman Forum and other old, old structures. Although it was incredibly hot we still had a good time seeing such cool ancient architecture. As it comes with no surprise, the Coliseum was beyond phenomenal. It was actually my 2nd time seeing it (weekend trip with my nana when I was abroad in Madrid and she was bucket-listing through Europe) but it was awesome getting to see it a couple years later with friends. Trust me, nana and I had some great pictures at it (and did a mini tour) but the ones we captured of us fighting like gladiators with water bottles are pretty money- and inaccessible at the moment since they're on my computer-less sister's camera.
That night, we went out for a nice meal- I had wine, bread w/ olive oil and balsam, veggie soup, veal, spinach.. and wine.
Post-dinner we tried this hostel advertised pool party- 10 euro with a drink at bar them transport to a pool for.. A pool party. It just wasn't anywhere near awesome like we had envisioned. It took over an hour to get to, like the outskirts of Rome via metro and bus, and it was a really sketch party once there. Took us so long to get back that we didn't have time to check anywhere else out. Can't win them all.
The next day we slept in. Rachel and I grabbed the necessities for a proper picnic and proceeded to a nice plaza before entering the Vittoriano to get the best Panoramic view of the simultaneously ancient and modern city of Rome. A free walking tour after showed us the Spanish steps, this church and that one, the Pantheon (WOW), etc. It ended at the Trevi fountain where we made our wishes before going back for quick showers/ dinner and a close by pub crawl with other travelers, including our friend Claire from Naples/Pompeii, her boyfriend, and some of her friends she met before Naples/Rome.
We had a really good time doing it- and it was definitely the people that made it because the bars were basically just us (Monday night in not popular bar area, but so close to our hostel). It was 20€ for 1.5hrs all you can drink beer/wine/cocktails, pizza, shot at each new spot, entrance to club and t-shirt.
We ended up getting a 2€ discount because we arrived in a group. Side note- those 2€ were not saved but in fact later used in a late night Donnies (McDonalds) run. The promoter gal from the pub crawl also hooked us up with a good, affordable afternoon tour of the Vatican.
Next day, we had to move hostels. Did that, then went to the Vatican. We were told it would start at 230 but it didn't until 330 (so much for the saving time by skipping lines perk). We definitely weren't stoked about the delay but it ended up working out really well since the crowds clear out later on in the day. The main attraction is the Sistine Chapel which was really great to see because I got a nice chiropractic treatment looking up at it.. It also happens to be phenomenal mind-blowing art by Michelangelo. My favorite painting in the place is Raphael's "School of Athens." not going to get down to the nitty gritty here but Wikipedia can help explain it http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_School_of_Athens#section_1.
After the Vatican tour, and it's incredibly large (largest or top 3) cathedral in the world, we grabbed a quick power nap, went out to dinner with friends from the pub crawl (Cali, UK, Slovenia) and had a more relaxed night. Great after an action-packed few days.
Final thought here- I went from seeing a showcase of the finest music/art of Skrillex last Tuesday to the finest art of Michelangelo and Raphael this Tuesday. I think one thing I love so much about Europe is the different experiences it can offer you in such a small amount of time and space.
In Florence now, saw some cool things already, had some good food but you'll hear about that in my Florence post in a day or two. Let me just go see the Duomo, Accademia (if not fully reserved), Santa Croce, etc first.
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