Roma: Lunedì

Buona Sera!





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!

Tibidabo and last day in Barcelona before Roma!

Hola!

Great picture from Tibidabo..

Well we slept in relatively late and got a slow start around 11ish. We walked down Las Rambla to head into the center of the city to get lunch. Since it was Palm Sunday, there was music playing and some small festivals all over the streets. This following picture I took on Las Ramblas while we were walking towards Plaza Cataluña.

For lunch I wanted to take Dad to this bar-restaurant called Els Quatre Gats, which was a legendary place where Picasso and his friends used to go to. This is a very popular tourist destination, and I had some drinks there one night with my friend Axel. Although it is a bit pricey, they have great Catalan and Mediterranean food, and the place is uniquely filled with art as well. Here are a few photos from inside the restaurant.






This next picture is the Tortilla Espanola, which we both ate…of course loaded with pan tomaquet, and it was one of the better Spanish omelets I have had in Barcelona.

The previous night a bunch of my friends were talking up Tibidabo, which is the highest mountain in Barcelona. At the top there is an amusement park, which is more popular for children...but I heard it was an awesome hike. Tibidabo was one of the only places I had yet to see in Barcelona, so I was excited to go. We took the FGC there, or the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Cataluña which is one of the trains in Barcelona. It took us to the bottom of Tibidabo, and we decided to take the hike up, which was about 517 meters (1,695 feet) which took a few hours.

Here are a few photos from walking up the bottom of the mountain...there are many businesses, government buildings, and very nice houses up on Tibidabo:

We stopped half way at a bar-restaurant which had an amazing view looking over the city of Barcelona...

After a few snacks and drinks, we decided to continue our hike up Tibidabo. We walked up through the Parc de Collserola, which is a 16,000 acre natural park of wild forests and winding paths. It was a great hike, and we couldn’t have asked for better weather. Here are a few pictures from the park...

The Torre de Collserola was in sight, which is the photo that is below. This is a telecommunications tower designed by a British architect. The top of this needle-shaped tower is the highest point in Barcelona at 560 meters (1,836 feet) above sea level. They say that on a clear day you are able to see Montserrat and the Pyrenees as well, which was pretty cool.

These next few pictures of Dad and I was when we were almost at the top of the mountain...

We finally made it up to the top, and eventually realized that there was a Funicular which went directly up to the top of Tibidabo. The amusement park was nothing compared to Great American or Disney World…but it was over 500 meters on a mountain which made it very cool to see. Here are a few pictures of the amusement park...

This next picture is of the church located on the top...you can literally see this from almost anywhere in Barcelona from the distance. One is able to go to the top, but we were extremely tired and the children running around everywhere was quite overwhelming. We found a bus that was headed down to Plaza Cataluña, which was perfect because we planned to stop at the hotel, and then head to my house to meet my family!

We arrived to my house around 6ish or so and stayed until 8 or something around there. Of course I was the translator because Dad doesn’t speak any Espanola but it was fun. We had some fun conversations about many different topics, and I was really happy Dad had the opportunity to meet my family here. I know that Anna and Casi were really looking forward to meeting my Dad as well, which was fun! They are going to Anna’s parents’ house in the mountains for the following weekend, so it will be nice for them to get away. I believe that my family only takes vacations once or twice a year...which is during Christmas, Holy Week, and sometimes during the summertime. Anna loves seeing all of my pictures about my trips I go on, and she has never been to Rome so she is very excited to see my pictures and have me explain everything to her about Italy. I will definitely need to get them something nice from Roma!!

After we left we went back down to El Gotico and had a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant that we passed the other night. We enjoyed some pretty good wine, great pasta, even better dessert, and of course some delicious cappuccino to finish the meal. We headed back to the hotel to “try” and get a good night’s sleep, but I was too wired from all the café I had, so I was up all night…like always. Our flight was to leave from El Prat at 11:45 and arrive in Italy around 1:15ish!

Ciao!