Vivian Goes to Rome

Rome is definitely an incredible city. I visited all of the sites of Ancient Rome… the Coliseum, the Roman Foro, and the Pantheon. It was really crazy being in these centuries-old ruins. It made me feel so young. The only thing I didn’t like about them is that they were mixed in with modern buildings. The Coliseum and Foro are next to each other but they’re surrounded by relatively new buildings. The Pantheon is a bit of a ways from both but it was surrounded by relatively new buildings as well. I think the mixing of the old and new architecture kind of takes away from the old.  I visited the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain and as per tradition, I threw some coins over my shoulder into the fountain. Since I still had a lot of time, I went to the Vatican. I never thought I would go there. The architecture is pretty spectacular. I was going to go into the Vatican Museum but the line wrapped around the entire plaza, which meant at least a 2 hour wait. I ended up just sitting in the plaza and people-watching for about an hour. I must say, the Vatican attracts an interesting bunch.

Unfortunately, the food has been disappointing. When you hear about Italy, you hear about how amazing the food is. And I LOVE Italian food. You’d think that Italian food would taste much better in Italy but I haven’t found this to be the case. I have tried several pasta dishes and have been let down each time. Maybe I have bad luck with choosing restaurants here but I think Olive Garden tastes better, even the tiramisu. 

Overall, I liked Rome but I don’t think it’s a city I would visit again. There isn’t much else in Rome other than the ancient ruins, and they’re something to be visited just once. Just walking down the streets, I wasn’t really impressed. I think Rome is just one of those cities that you visit just so say that you’ve been there before. The best part about this trip is that I didn't have anything stolen. I've heard some of the horror stories and was pretty freaked out about going here but I still have all of my things. WOO HOO! 

 Coliseum

 Roman Forum

 Pantheon

 Piazza Navona

 Spagna (a.k.a Spanish Steps)

 Trevi Fountain

 Vatican City