Last week I shared our adventures in Germany and this week it’s all about Italy. This trip was unlike any other that we had planned. Typically we only visit our family in Germany for 3 weeks, but this trip we decided to shorten our time in Germany and travel to other countries. Italy was our second stop. After spending 1.5 weeks in Germany, we flew to Rome, Italy. We reserved a car to drive us from the airport to our AirBnB which was intense to say the least. The roads are nothing like here in the states. Once we arrived at our AirBnB we were within walking distance of all of the sites. On the first day we settled into our AirBnB, got some groceries and grabbed dinner before resting up for the first day of adventures.

Our first day of adventures was none other than the Colosseum. The Colosseum is the Flavian Amphitheater which oval shaped in the centre of the city of Rome. It was built with limestone, tuff (volcanic rock) and brick-faced concrete in 70-80 AD. The Colosseum is the largest amphitheater ever built at the time and held 50,000 to 80,000 spectators with an average audience of 65,000. It was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles and Roman mythology dramas.

The shear size, grandeur and longevity give this iconic symbol its fame. It is amazing to see such beautiful architecture from such a long time ago assembled and still standing. We spent hours wondering the amphitheater because there was so much to soak in. It was crazy to think the gladiators were underneath and sometimes fought to the death for spectacle purposes.

After we toured the Colosseum, we went to the Roman Forum, which is situated just west of the Colosseum. On the way we saw the remains of Meta Sudans, a historical landmark.

The walkway to the Roman Forum.

The Roman Forum is a rectangular plaza surrounded by the runs of several important ancient government builds at the center of the city of Rome. This was originally known as a marketplace and the center of the day-to-day life. Public speeches, criminal tirals and gladiatorial matches along with commercial business all took place here. That is why there are statues and monuments of the city’s great men. The Roman Forum is located in the small valley between the Palatine and Capitoline Hills, and a sprawling ruin of architectural fragments for sightseers.

Again we spent hours adventuring through the Roman Forum admiring how tall the statues and monuments were and how they were still standing. It was amazing to us that the middle of the city and a place that was so busy, no longer was busy for the same purpose but rather for tourists.All of that adventuring ended that day as we prepared for another fun-filled day adventuring the Vatican City. The Vatican City is a city-state surrounded by Rome. It is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church and the home of the Pope.

At first glance you see the Obelisco Piazza San Pietro Citta del Vaticano, the fountain in the St. Peter’s Square. Then we toured the outside of St. Peter’s Basilica before we went inside. St. Peter’s is the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture and the largest church in the world. St. Peter’s is regarded as one of the holiest Catholic shrines. The inside of this church was unlike anything I have ever seen before. The basement held a tomb of past pope’s. St. Peter’s is one of the four church’s in the world to hold the rank of major basilica, all four of which are in Rome.

After spending the morning at St. Peter’s Basilica we went to the Vatican Museums which holds public art and sculptures. The museum contains roughly 70,000 works, of which 20,000 are on display. The most exciting part of the Vatican Museums was seeing the Sistine Chapel. Photography wasn’t allowed of any sorts but it was GORGEOUS!

After two whole days of adventuring the city, we decided to hop on a train and find a beach to swim in the Mediterranean Sea. The train station was an adventure in itself, there were so many trains, signs, and confusion. We missed the first train but quickly realized our ticket worked for every train that ran that same route so we just had to wait.

What we didn’t take into consideration was that the beach was a pebble beach and we are wimps. The beach was beautiful to look at and stand on but once your shoes come off it’s a game changer. We still indulged and gave it a valid attempt but it wasn’t what we were expecting. However we can say that we swam in the Mediterranean Sea!

Our last night in Italy, we walked miles attempting to locate the Trevi Fountain. Google Maps was failing us and we had to ask multiple people for directions which was interesting but we eventually found it along with everyone else! It was worth the walk, so majestic, white, and clear. We didn’t stay long because of the number of people but we were able to take in it’s beauty.

Our last stop was the Colosseum at night to see it all lit up. We rode the Metro down, hopped off at the exit, took photos, and then hopped back on the Metro to go back to our AirBnB. We had to pack, sleep and prepare for the next days adventures to Paris, France!

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