Season’s Greetings from Italy Part 3: Rome and Vatican City

The train from Napoli to Rome ended up being a bit more eventful than our previous rides had been.

Early on, we heard thudding noises that sounded as if they were coming directly from under our compartment floor. As nobody really reacted to the noise and the train kept going, we quickly disregarded it as a sound that old trains make.

Twenty minutes later, the smell of burning rubber started to fill our compartment. Again, nobody did anything and I attributed it to the industrial area that we were passing through. About 15 minutes after this though, I was drawn away from my Netflix movie by the sounds of panicked voices.

Smoke had begun to fill our compartment. We looked at one another uneasily and all of a sudden, everyone shot up and started grabbing their things and pushing past each other to get to the joint compartment. One woman started hysterically screaming “Go! Go! Go!” in Italian. For a moment, I was terrified that our train was about to catch fire. Eventually though, we got through several compartments and the smoke became less and less dense. The train made an early stop at a platform and had us get off and reenter at the front of the train.

As Kelsey’s boyfriend knows Italian, he was able to fill us in on what had happened; that sound we had heard had been something getting caught in our compartment’s wheels. The wheels had stopped turning and had been pulled along the tracks. Hence the burning rubber smell and smoke.

Problem was, they couldn’t figure out how to get the wheels to start turning again. And so, we sat in an unmoving train and we were about 1.5 hours late arriving into Rome.

The main issue with this was that we had booked Skip the Line Tickets to the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and Roman Forum for that day. After dropping off our stuff and grabbing a late lunch, we rushed on over to the Colosseum ticket booth. Unfortunately, we were told that we would not be able to get into the Colosseum and would have to instead come the following morning. Luckily, we were still able to go and check out the Palatine Hill and Roman Forum.

Thanks again to Latin class, I knew a little bit about Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum before going.

Palatine Hill is the most famous and centrally-located of Rome’s seven hills. By climbing up, you get an amazing view of the Roman Forum ruins. Legend has it, Romulus and Remus (the founders of Rome) were raised by a wolf on this hill. Empire Augustus also built his palace on Palatine, as well as a temple for the god of light, Apollo.

Meanwhile, the Roman Forum was the heart of Rome. Originally an open marketplace, it became the site for elections, speeches, trials, and social/political debates.

Since we could not go to the Colosseum on Day 1 in Rome, we ended up having a bit more time than we expected. And so, we decided to make good use of it and check out some of Rome’s free attractions.

First, we went to the Trevi Fountain, which as PACKED with people.

With the number of bodies pressed against each other and the constant jostling, we did not stay long.

We then passed by the Monument of Victor Emmanuel II and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This white marble structure commemorates the first King of Italy, as well as all the soldiers who lost their lives in WWI.

We then went to the Pantheon, the ancient Roman temple/now church:

What I loved about the Pantheon was that it seemed to pop out of nowhere; a large ancient structure set smack-dab in the middle of an otherwise very modern-looking piazza.

At this point, I was very satisfied with how the day had played out (minus the train fiasco). Olivia and I were ready to get to our accommodations and rest up for the next day.

But here is where our day took another ‘climatic’ turn. Really, I blame myself.

Back in November when we were booking our accommodations, I found a place called the Camping Village Roma. It had cute bungalows and was decently priced (AKA- the cheapest option available in a sea of ridiculously-priced accommodations). The reviews were good and according to many people, it was pretty easy to get there from the center of Rome.

Perhaps I should have considered the fact that most of the people staying at this camp ground were probably interested in CAMPING and not going to the city center each day. They were also more than likely Italian and therefore either had their own means of transportation or knew how to correctly navigate Rome’s public transportation system.

Our “journey” to these camping grounds started out easy enough- take the metro to blah-blah-blah station. Check.

From here, take a bus to the camping ground. Okay… but where was the bus and when did it come? Not wanting to look like total idiots, we decided to just walk to the grounds because- hey, we were practically champs with all the walking we had been doing in the past week. And a 30 minute walk didn’t seem bad. Stop for dinner halfway through and that’s only two 15 minute walks. Piece of a tiramisu cake.

Right.

Somehow, this walk ended up lasting way more than what GoogleMaps had promised. And even though we had our map set to the walking directions, our navigator still told us to cross the road when there was nowhere to cross and to walk along the highway.

Fortunately (?), Thailand had prepared me well for questionable and possibly unsafe situations like this. And so, having to use our cell phones as flashlights to avoid getting run over in the dark didn’t even faze me. Really, I was more anxious the whole time that Olivia would never trust me to book accommodations again.

Eventually we made it to the camping grounds, which was actually a cute place. We had a few more issues once there- lights not turning on, receiving the wrong key card, phones not working … at this point, the receptionist told me that “tonight was not my night,” took pity on me, and sent a security guard with me to help solve all our problems.

But no worries, the next day (New Years Eve) ended up being a lot better. We sucked up our pride and had a taxi take us to the metro to get back to Rome’s center. There, we met up with Kelsey and her boyfriend to be the first few people in line to view the Colosseum.

Last year, I spent the last sunrise of 2017 sitting in a wicker chair on a Thai beach. For 2018, I wanted to pick a just-as-memorable place. Thank you, Colosseum, for helping me achieve that goal.

Turns out, our train trouble the other day had been a blessing in disguise; since we could not make it the previous day, we now had the opportunity to see the Colosseum without almost any people inside. This meant we could do laps around the perimeter in the morning sun with clear views of the center and without bumping into people.

I enjoyed every second of it, even the chilly weather.

Next we took a short taxi ride to a whole new country.

Vatican City

So really, I visited 2 countries this holiday season. A 2-for-1 deal.

With only 110 acres and a population of a mere 1,000 people, Vatican City is the smallest country in the world.

Knowing that the wait time to get into Vatican City is ridiculous, we bought Skip-the-Line tickets in advance. However, what we really needed was to buy Skip-the-Line tickets to the Skip-the-Line lines because even with priority entrance, we still had to wait in line for 2 hours. It’s a good thing we we had gotten into the Colosseum without any waiting, or else we all may have been in a pretty snappy mood at this point.

Fun fact- from what we were later told, the most busy day at Vatican City is apparently the last day of the year… Oops.

Eventually, we made it through and got to see the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel.

As you got closer and closer to the Sistine Chapel, everyone got shepherd together and you were forced to keep moving forward.

There was so much to see in each room though. My favorite thing to do was just to look at the ceiling and see how the designs morphed from 2D images to 3D.

It was good neck training for the Sistine Chapel, where all you wanted to do was look up. Unfortunately, no pictures of the Sistine Chapel (no photography was allowed). Guess you’ll just have to go and check it out yourself!

Unfortunately, we ran out of time to visit St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. Guess that means I need to go back too.

We then crossed back over into Italy and then went to Kelsey’s hotel to get ready for New Years Eve.

We first went to Trastevere, a bohemian area known for its shops, restaurants, and pubs. Afterwards, we were planning to head back towards the Colosseum to see the fireworks there. However, we noticed a little dance party going on in one of the streets and decided to just stay there to ring in the New Years.

Although the fireworks started to go off 30 seconds early (someone clearly wasn’t looking at their watch), dancing in an alleyway with friends, strangers, and good music was the perfect way to end 2018.

The next day, Olivia and I tackled the rest of our Rome “To-Do” List. We went to the Spanish Steps to take in Rome from above and chill (as customary to do on the Spanish Steps).

As we relaxed, a New Years Day celebration and a crowd began to form beneath us, complete with an orchestra and singer.

After enjoying this, we found a place that made fresh pasta and took some to go so that we could eat pasta in the park. And, because it was our last full day in Italy (and also because they taste amazing), Olivia and I once again got gelatos. The only difficult part there was deciding which flavors to pick…

We then sat down to eat them at Piazza del Poploo where again- unbeknown to us- a New Year Day celebration/parade broke out.

To end our day, we visited Piazza Navona, which is one of Rome’s most popular piazzas where you can view multiple statuesque water fountains. There was a fair going on, so the place was crowded with booths, balloons, and another merry-go-round. Olivia and I walked around the piazza and even stopped to watch a puppet show (no shame).

After, we headed back to the Trevi Fountain (it was still packed, by the way) to say goodbye to Rome and throw coins into the fountain. Talk about being extra and making wishes for 2019 in style ;)

The next day, we left sunny Italy and took our flight back to the Prague. When we arrived, it was snowing. Vacation over. And yet, even though I loved Italy, I was happy to be back home.

Throughout the course of our 10 days in Italy, we walked over 90 miles, ate more pizzas that I wish to count, were exposed to much needed vitamin D, and made memories that will stick with me for many years. Thank you 2018 and cheers to 2019.