Rome-in' Around

From Ancona, I took the train to Rome! Again, I got lost from the train station to my hostel. It was rather pathetic too because it was pretty much just a straight shot. By the time I arrived at my hostel, it was late so I went to sleep.

I was here for a few days and ended up seeing most of the touristy areas. Below are some of the standing columns that  saw on my first day out. 

I spent a good chunk of my first day around the colosseum. Although the area was interesting, there were just so many tourists that it was a bit overwhelming. I honestly have no idea how people survived during the summer when it was full blown tourist season.  The colosseum itself was nice, but expensive.

I retired somewhat early on my first day. Being surrounded by so many people was exhausting plus I stood in line to get into the colosseum for a little less than two hours. The following morning, I headed out away from the colosseum to a huge garden surrounding Villa Borghese. I was hoping to actually see inside the villa, but you have to reserve a spot early online, so I ended up just wandering around. It was a very pretty area with fewer people, so it was a nice change of pace compared to the day prior.

Below is this cool little car/train that people could ride around part of the garden. I just thought it was adorable!

After the gardens, I made my way to the Trevi Fountain. Originally, I took the metro to where I thought the fountain was, but it was just a tiny fountain and I headed back to the hostel before realising that the tiny fountain wasn't the Trevi Fountain. I headed back out and wandered a bit until I finally found the real fountain. I didn't get very close to it because it was crowded and I was concerned about getting pick-pocketed.

Just incase you didn't believe me about the crowd, here it is!

After finding the real Trevi Fountain, I headed back to my hostel to recharge for my final day in Rome. I woke up early and made my way to the Vatican. The line outside was outrageous! It wrapped all the way around almost three walls! Eventually I got inside. The exit was the first thing I actually saw and it was awesome! Just look at it! It was a little awkward to walk down, but it sure looked cool! Why did I see the exit first? I don't know. I was just wandering! 

Overall, I wasn't that impressed with Vatican. There was a lot of gold and even more angels and art dedicated to Jesus. Yes I do understand that it is a religious building, but it was overrun with them! hahaha I was also a bit disappointed with the Sistine Chapel.  I mean it was crazy that it was painted everywhere, but after everyone built it up, I was let down. I don't have any pictures of the Sistine Chapel because they were forbidden, but if you haven't seen it, I am sure there are billions of pictures online.

Here are a few pics inside of the Vatican.

There was a room devoted to the Pope-mobiles. I thought this one was the most interesting/coolest looking on. It was so shiny and gold and intricate.

After the Vatican, I headed to Saint Peter's Square. I was hoping to go into the Basillica (pictured below), but if you look at it, the line was monstrous and it was going to close shortly. Instead of standing in line, I headed to the Castle of St. Angelo.

Here is a beautiful bridge (Ponte St. Angelo) that runs right into the castle.

The castle was a bit disappointing due to its size, but it was still cool. After seeing the castle, I headed back to the hostel for dinner and to take my shoes off. I had the biggest blisters ever! Gross!!!!

The next morning, I headed to the train station to go to beautiful Venice!