I first want to say that I am really happy that I was able to take my parents to Rome. Yes, Copenhagen and Denmark is a cool and interesting place but it's ROME. I thought it really be a perfect place to go because you can see so much in one area, plus it will be an experience that they will never forget.
We landed in Rome on Sept 8 and I arranged for a driver hired by the hotel to come pick us pick at the airport. True, we could of taken the metro to our hotel by for almost the same price but the driver got us there with less stress and worry. Well almost no stress... My mother and I agreed that we got a little stressed when the driver was weaving in and out of traffic at full speed.
Once at our hotel we were all quite happy. I picked this hotel for many reasons manly because it was close to the Vatican and a metro stop plus it got a good rating on TripAdvisor. So when I booked it I was pretty sure it was going to work out fine.
Once I got settled in and organized in our hotel room. I told my parents that I was going to go out and try to find the metro stops and the Church of St. Susanna. I was looking for this particular church because it was the American church in Rome. When I found this Church website I was so happy because it had so much helpful information and helped me get Audience with the Pope tickets. I also wanted to go looking for this Church by myself first because my mother can not walk that far without experiencing pain. So I wanted to make sure I did all the walking and searching for things so that I could limit my mother's discomfort. I mean this is her vacation too and I did not mind walking around looking for places because I got see Rome that way. =}
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| Church of St. Susanna |
I found the Church of St. Susanna and around 5pm all of us made the walk and metro ride to the Church for 6pm mass. The mass was in English and it such a beautiful Church.
After mass we walked back to the metro stop and there was a small restaurant there. I know this restaurant was nothing more than a tourist trap but it was close and we were all hungry. And even being a tourist trap it was good. I was happy when my mom said she was going to get prosciutto and mozzarella because she never had prosciutto before. After a nice dinner we made our way back to the hotel and got a good night sleep.
The next day I planned on going to the colosseum because the Vatican is closed on Sundays. Again in the morning I left early and checked out the area. Unfortunately my mom was not feeling well that day. I knew she really wanted to come and she the colosseum with her own eyes. But after some discussion and resting my mom decided that she would rest in the hotel and that my dad and I could go. We promised her that we would take so many photos for her that it would feel like she was there.
When my dad and I got to the Colosseum he was really happy on how well I planned this trip to Rome. Because I preordered the tickets (Roma pass) for the Colosseum we were able to skip the long line, show the guard our passes and walk right in.
Many people have seen pictures of the colosseum and it is just spectral just like in the pictures. I think the most amazing thing is that this structure has lasted this long, that centuries ago human engineering and creativity made the Colosseum. I took lots of pictures and video of the colosseum plus some pictures of the forum and Rome from the second level of the Colosseum. I think the best part was just sitting there with my father looking at the inside of the Colosseum; my father using his engineering background describing how the Colosseum would if looked and me just using my wild imagination to envision such a great structure.
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| Looking out at Arch of Constantine and Roman Forum from Colosseum |
At the Colosseum gift shop my father and I found a small coffee table book my mother might like. When we brought it back for her, she really liked it. It was a book that showed how all the Roman structures looked during the Roman empire and how these structures look now.
Since my mother was still not feeling 100% and I wore my father out by walking around the entire Colosseum and Arch of Consintine, I decided I would try to bring dinner my parents. On Sunday in Rome a good portion of restaurants are actually closed, I asked the hotel for recommendations. They mentioned a good restaurant about a five minute walk that has take out. I went there and it really looked like a great restaurant with fresh roasted veggies, fresh salad and fresh mozzarella balls. I planned on only getting two pizzas, I came back with two pizzas, a fresh salad with mozzarella, roasted eggplant and peppers, a kidney bean salad and bread. It really did feel like a feast in our Rome. We had a mini fridge in our room so we were able to keep some leftovers.
On Sunday afternoon at the Colosseum my camera batteries were dying and my father and I had been out in sun for three hours so we did not go to the Rome Forum ruins. I really want to see what's in there so on Monday morning I woke up early, had a big breakfast in the hotel breakfast room and made my way to the Forum. The forum entrance is actually past the Colosseum and Arch of Consistine, so I got to see the Colosseum and Arch early in the morning with very few people around.
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| Arch of Titus |
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| Packed Vatican Museum Pio-Clementiono Museum - The Laocoonte |
The next three days of our trip I planned to be at the Vatican. We were either going to be in the Vatican Museums, St. Peter's Square or St. Peter's Basilica. I preordered tickets for the Vatican for both Monday and Tuesday. My plan was for Monday to be a guided tour day and Tuesday to be a relax go at your on pace day. When researching and planning the Vatican portion of our vacation I read two main things about the Vatican Museums: 1) there is no way you can see everything in the Vatican Museum in one day and 2) try not to go to the Vatican Museum in a Monday.
Well, we went to the Vatican Museum on Monday and I would like to mention to any one else who is thinking about going to the Vatican Museum on a Monday: DON'T. It was so packed and hot in that entire place that I was really worried that my mom was suffering from heat stroke.
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| Basilica of St. Peter Michelangelo - Pieta |
Even though the museum was packed and really warm, I was able to get plenty of pictures and video. Our tour guide took us through the portions of the Museum including Raphael's rooms, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica.
At the end of guided your my mom looked really pale and drank all the water I had with me. I was really worried about her, she looked so pale, and I might of been a little pushy telling her to sit in the shade and to drink more water. But after resting in the shade and drinking some more water my mom was fine. That night I went out to get take out for dinner.
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| St. Peter's Square |
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| Vatican Museum Chiaramoni Gallery |
On Tuesday, Sept 11, I woke up early had a nice breakfast again at the hotel and headed back to St. Peter's Square and Basilica with a handful of postcards that my parents and I wrote. I had enough time that morning to also go inside the basilica and take some more pictures and video. I meet my parents at the Vatican Museum entrance. I preordered Vatican Museum tickets (no tour guide) for this day also so that we could just walk though the museums at our own pace. Tuesday, was a much better day to go to the Vatican Museum it was not as crowded and we could actually stroll through the museum. Around 5pm I had to leave the Vatican Museum and take the metro to St. Susanna Church to pick up our Audience with the Pope tickets. I left my camera with my parents and they went off to spend more time in the Sistine Chapel. We did see the Sistine Chapel the day before but there were so many people in there on Monday it was hard to take it all in. While I was getting the tickets my parents had a relaxing time in the Sistine Chapel and viewing the remaining parts of the Vatican Museums. I asked my dad what he thought of the Sistine Chapel, he replied with "I was wondering how is a simple MidWest country boy sitting here staring at the Sistine Chapel."
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| Vatican Museum Gallery of the Candelabra |
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| Vatican Wall - Seal |
The Audience with the Pope was the one event I was really worried about because it was so hard to find any information about the event. I was really thankful that St. Susanna Church got the tickets for me and told me to be at the audience hall (left of the Basilica) at least 2.5 hours early. Since the Audience with the Pope starts at 10:30 am that meant we needed to be there at 8am and I was exactly sure where the Audience Hall was. So at 6 am the three if us waked up, had a quick bite for breakfast and left the hotel at 7am. After a little searching and asking one of the Basilica security guards I found the Audience Hall and a long line waiting to go through security. I was worried about this event because from the little I have read about the Audience with the Pope it sounded like we would have to stand for over 4 hours (3 hours waiting for the event to begin and 1 hour for the actual event). During the pushing and shoving to get through the security my parents and I got separated but I knew that my parents could find their way back to the hotel so I was not that worried. But when I entered the Audience Hall I was pleasantly surprised, there were seats. I found my parents and they saved a seat for me. The Audience Hall was laid out quite well, the Pope's chair was in the middle if the stage above everyone and there was even are large screen and cameras so I was sure we would be able to easily see and hear the Pope.
After the audience with the Pope my Mom really wanted to see the inside of St. Peter's Basilica so we made our way through security and enjoyed the beauty that is St. Peter's Basilica.
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| St. Peter's Basilica - Tomb of Pope John Paul II |
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| Beautiful Dome at St. Peter's Basilica |
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| St. Peter's Basilica |
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| St. Peter's Basilica |
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| Main Dome and top of alter at St. Peter's Basilica |
Now after a great time with the audience with the Pope and then being able to see St. Peter's Basilica my parents were happy and content and really to relax a bit in the hotel room. Me.... I want to see the rest of Rome so I sent out on an adventure to see Rome. But that story will have to come in about blog post. =)
