After waking up this morning we heard news that there had been an earthquake 90 kilometers from Rome. According to CNN, many people in Rome felt the vibrations in the ground, and once we arrived the owner of our bed and breakfast confirmed that...pretty crazy! We landed in Rome around 1:30ish and after we got our luggage and everything we found the man picking us up, and made it to our bed and breakfast around 2:30. As we were driving through Rome, I couldn’t believe that I was actually in Italy...something I had been looking forward to for years! Our bed and breakfast is amazing…as the following pictures will show…our room literally looked right out to the Vatican, which was amazing. We are staying in an awesome apartment by ourselves; we can access the kitchen, have a television, coffee, and our own bathroom...literally everything one could hope for! I’m extremely impressed with this bed and breakfast and will most definitely return here in the future! Here are a few pictures from the bed and breakfast..
View of the Vatican from our room..
A few pictures walking around the streets..
So after we brought our luggage to the room, we walked to a local café to grab a bite to each, since we were both starving! We stopped at a small restaurant close to the B & B and had some excellent pizza! This following pictures I took at our lunch and it was my first pizza in Italy!
After our lunch we decided we would do the Vatican today! We took the short walk across the street and entered into the Vatican, which was awesome. Here are a few photos outside of the Vatican of Dad and me.
We literally couldn’t have asked for a nicer day as temperatures easily reached the 70’s and our day at the Vatican was amazing! I couldn’t believe that we were actually at the Vatican, the Roman Catholic capital of the world. We spent hours walking around and taking pictures around the Vatican which was unlike anything I have ever seen before.
Here are a few more photos that we took around the fountain and also the Obelisk as well!
We really wanted to do the Sistine Chapel, but it was closed by the time we were there. We went inside the Vatican and there was actually a mass taking place, which was pretty cool. The inside of the Vatican was amazing, and I couldn’t believe how enormous it was. We wanted to enter the Tombs of the Popes, but that was closed as well...but we have plans to return there tomorrow!
Here are a few more pictures inside the Vatican…
Dad rubbing St. Peter's foot, which is what one "must" do while inside...
One of the popes guards..these guys were literally everywhere...
I still couldn’t believe how huge the Vatican was, and it really took a while for it to all sink in. Especially that our B & B is so close to the Vatican, and for the next four nights I will be able to just look out my window and see it! Here are some more pictures around the Vatican, as you can see I took plenty of photos there! There also are two circles on each side of the Obelisk, and once you stand in the circles you see that each pillar is perfectly aligned with the next!
After the Vatican we wanted to head to the Castel Sant Angelo however by the time we arrived we realized that it was closed on Mondays. That is another sight that we plan to see tomorrow, or Wednesday. We decided that we would walk around the city a little bit, and I absolutely love the city of Rome. Everything I thought about Italy has been completely true so far, and I can’t wait to experience the rest!
We went back to the hotel to relax for a few hours until dinner, and we had made plans to eat on Via Borgo Pio. This street is filled with restaurants and small cafes and people were just outside everywhere, eating and drinking! We walked up and down the street a few times because we had twenty restaurants to choose from! We decided we would eat at Ristorante Venerina because they had Veal Salcomboca on the menu, which my dad loves. We had a great bottle of Italian red wine, and the best brushutto I have ever had in my life. I had a seafood fettuccini dish, which was great and dad of course had his veal. We enjoyed some tiramisu, which was completely necessary, and also some cappuccino after dinner.
We just got back to the Bed and Breakfast and found out that in the morning we will be greeted with fresh croissants and fruit in the morning. The kitchen is already filled with cereal and other food….but best of all there is a cappuccino maker in the room! The espresso here is stronger than any I have had in Spain, or anywhere else. Here are a few more pictures from inside the bed and breakfast.
After my first day in Italy, I obviously have enjoyed it very much. Everything that I imagined about Italy is completely true. The people are extremely nice, the coffee is strong and excellent, the wine is great, the pizza is amazing, and the pasta as well. Although we have yet to eat gelato yet, I can only imagine how good it will be. I am extremely excited to see some of the Roman ruins in the city as tomorrow we will go see the Colosseo and many more parts of Roma!! I will post again tomorrow night after we explore more of Roma!
A few more pictures from just walking around Roma..
Italian police car..
Amazing view from inside the bed and breakfast
A great picture from after we returned from dinner, the Vatican lights up like this every night.
A domani!
