We arrived in Rome on Saturday night and took a half hour bus ride out of Rome to the campground where we were staying. There we checked in to a mobile home kind of thing. The next day we had planned on catching the first bus into the city. However, due to sleeping through the alarm plus moving slowly that morning, we managed to miss three buses and ended up getting into Rome two hours later than we'd hoped. So we didn't see very much on the first day, although we did see the Roman Baths which were really quite amazing. It turns out that the Romans invented spas comparable to ones used today. They had gyms, masseuses, hot and cold baths, change rooms, and pretty much everything else that is used in modern pool complexes. We spent the rest of the afternoon roaming (hehe) around, then went back to the campground.
The next day was far more productive on the whole ancient sightseeing front. We started the day by doing a tour of the Vatican, including St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine chapel. It was all absolutely incredible. It was really unbelievable seeing such famous architecture and artwork right in front of my eyes. It was so amazing. On that tour we met three guys from the States and ended up going for lunch with them. We hung out with them for the rest of the day since we were all heading to the same stuff. We saw the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, and then finished the day with a bottle of wine on the Spanish Steps (unfortunately I don't like wine, so I had water--not as classy).
The following morning, Annalea and I went to see the Colosseum. It was mind-boggling to see and walk around something so significant to the ancient Roman world. Actually, many bricks were taken from the Colosseum to build the churches in Rome, including the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica. This, as well as the result of an earthquake, are why only half of the Colosseum is actually still standing at its original height. Still, it was easy to imagine gladiators entering the arena in front of the some 500 000 spectators. We did a tour of the Colosseum as well as the Forum and Palatine Hill. They were all so remarkable. Once the tours were over, we met up with the three guys from the day before and went for pizza (the first pizza Annalea and I have had this trip!). Afterwards we went to see the tomb of the unknown soldier, then we walked along the river. Then we saw Castello San Angelo and walked around the streets of Rome trying to find some food. This ended up taking a long time since we were specifically looking for crêpes which were very hard to find as it turned out. Eventually, we found a place and indulged ourselves in the delicious flavours. I had a savory bacon, mozzarella, tomato crêpe, then a sweet one which had an abundance of Nutella and white chocolate inside it. They tasted amazing! Then we all headed to the Metro station where we had to say goodbye as we parted ways.
The next day, Annalea and I took a day trip from Rome to Naples and then on to Pompeii. Before going in to see the ruins, we took a bus up to Mt. Vesuvius. This is the volcano which erupted in August, 79 AD, covering the town of Pompeii in volcanic ash, killing the people and freezing them in the positions in which they died. The bus took us up 1000m and then we walked the remaining 200m or so to the top. It was spectacular. The top of the mountain was shrouded in fast-moving, white clouds. Steep, rough cliffs dropped far down into the huge crater, while patches of vegetation climbed their way up the rock faces. I was blown away (hehe) by the incredible natural beauty. We headed back down the mountain and caught the bus into town.
We only had an hour to look around Pompeii, since we spent more time than we had anticipated on Mt. Vesuvius. So, we wandered the ancient cobblestone streets and were captivated by the eerie charm of the city. We also saw three body casts made from the originals found in the same positions. There was a pregnant woman lying on her stomach, a man crouching and covering his mouth, and a dog curled up in a distressed
position. It was fascinating, and kind of chilling. It was weird to imagine how the night before the eruption may have been. I would guess that it was just an ordinary evening, probably peaceful as the people naturally assumed that they would safely wake up the next morning. The fear and panic that would have accompanied the volcano's awakening must have been unbearable. After navigating our way through the maze of streets, we took the train back into Naples for dinner.
We, of course, went for pizza since Naples is the founding place of pizza. We went to one of the pizzerias recommended by our Lonely Planet book, which is apparently very popular among locals as well. While we eating the amazing, big, double mozzarella pizza we saw a picture on the wall of Julia Roberts eating pizza in the same restaurant. I thought the picture looked familiar from a scene in the movie, Eat Pray Love. We asked one of the staff and sure enough, it is the restaurant where they go for pizza in the movie. It was also very cool to watch the guy make up our pizza then cook it in the big wood fire oven. Such a cool place and sooooo delicious! And the pizza, which was very big, only cost us €5 ($6.50)!!! Amazing!
We headed back to Rome, back to the campground, then packed up our bags since we were leaving the next morning for Milan.
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