This entry will contain day three in Rome, which only leaves the fourth day to write about. (Read Part One here) It was such a wonderful day: we visited the Vatican city and saw so much more, we behaved like true tourists and ate some great food!
Started off with an extremely lazy morning. Really, all that walking around had us exhausted! When we finally left the place we decided to do some more sightseeing at the Victor Emmanuel II Monument first, which really is quite impressive. Apparently the Italian people don't like it at all (they call it "the wedding cake" or "the false teeth") because of the extremely white appearance in comparison to the other buildings, but I actually think it's quite a sight. We could go inside and snap some pictures as well as have a look out on the city from the huge balconies. The sun was shining bright, so the pictures turned out nicely!
From there we decided to walk to the Roman Forum (picture on the left), which was included in the ticket for the Colosseum. To be honest, it was not that interesting to us: basically a large garden with the remains of what once were humongous government buildings. You could see that it once must have been very impressive, however, only blocks and pillars cut in half were left of it. We did not regret going there as there was quite a lot to see; it just was not that much of a highlight next to all the other beautiful sights Rome has to offer. Quite understandable, no?
All that sightseeing got us hungry, so we decided to look for a nice place to eat. We searched for the restaurant Francesco told us to go to, only to find out it was closed... *sad face* However, our cycling tour guide also recommended a restaurant in the same neighbourhood so we decided to check it out. The interior was a bit old-fashioned as can be seen in the pictures below, but if there's one thing you have to know when you're in Rome: the places that look the least attractive usually serve the best food. We've experienced this ourselves!
The restaurant was completely empty but so were our stomachs so we decided just to sit down. We ordered some sort of pizza bread (I'm sorry, searched all over the internet but couldn't find the Italian name. Someone who can help me with this? See picture down below), mine with olive-paste, salami, soft cheese and rocket lettuce. Even though it was simple it was actually pretty good! You could tell that the ingredients were of good quality. You can buy these "pizza sandwiches" as our waitress explained in broken English all over Rome: it's the most popular lunch to order.
Afterwards we crossed the river and walked all the way to the Vatican city. This is a different country, even though it's right in the middle of Rome! It had a slightly different ambiance, too: it seemed to attract a different public and was much more crowded than any other highlight we had seen so far. Because we visited in January it was relatively quiet (as far as a city like Rome can be called quiet..), so we were a bit spoiled.
We walked around the plaza, taking in not only the environment but also the people walking around. Rome has quite a diverse range of visitors already, but what we saw in the Vatican City was a whole different story! We've seen nuns and monks, all different types of tourists including a little guy running around with a very large camera (and he was able to just appear out of thin air) and a guy with so much product in his hair I can't believe he didn't fall over, we've seen a photo shoot that was obviously supposed to be professional, were it not that the couple posed in a rather silly way and were photographed while crossing the street.... You name it we've seen them all! Like I said, extremely diverse. Hilarious, too.
However, we weren't there for the tourists.... We came to see the architecture and Sistine Chapel! Very impressive I must say, even though I usually am not a big fan of art and well, old things. DAMN do I sound like a teenager! Maybe I should phrase this differently: I appreciate art and buildings etc. from time to time, but I believe I would rather not spend all of my time gazing at such objects and spaces, pretending to know what they mean and acting as if I would give my right arm to have a piece just like it in my living room. There. Much better.
[The internet at my parents place is so slow I can't even upload a picture to this page! Gahh! I guess I'll have to add it later and hope I do not forget....]
Where was I? Ahh yes, the Vatican. So we have been inside all these impressive buildings, I will not bore you with their names (to be honest I don't know the names so I would have to google them and I really can't be bothered) but I will show you some pictures down below. Definitely would place this on the to do list for a tourist like myself, it was so beautiful! For some of the buildings/viewing post/museums you have to pay a little extra by the way: we did so for the Sistine Chapel for example. Really worth the money though, we were not allowed to take pictures inside the main hall so you'll have to take my word for it but gosh, I felt so tiny. And to imagine that the paintings on the ceiling had been there for all those years already! (If you don't know what I'm talking about: here you go) So many parts of the painting made by Michelangelo became famous and it was rather special to see this in real life.
Lovely day, but boy was I exhausted. I have a problem with my knees (long story) so days like that really kill me. It was all worth it of course, but at that point all I wanted was to be at our apartment and take a hot bath! Luckily we found a bus that brought us quite close to our place, and after some grocery shopping we finally could go home. We decided to cook our own simple dinner as my stomach doesn't react too well on that much pasta/pizza and other wheat products, and it turned out to be the best decision ever. First of al it was really pouring outside during the evening, so we managed to plan our staying inside on the only day it was actually raining. Yes! Then, we watched "The Intern" on the couch, best feel-good movie ever, with our blanket and some real Italian Limoncello (okay to be honest: we finished the bottle) and we just had some quality time together.
It's already so crowded inside my head all the time, I overthink literally everything and since I want to understand what's going on at all times with my anxiety for example; my brain is usually exhausted. So can you imagine what all these extra impressions, all these sounds and crowds and things to see, do together with all my "usual" worrying... That leaves an extremely tired Vivian. Yes, I am even talking about myself in the third person now.
So watching this film on the couch with our curtains drawn, underneath our blanket and with the Limoncello close by it felt like a safe little bubble and that was exactly what I needed.
We watched the whole movie, absolutely loved it! It says enough that we finished it in one evening: I usually end up falling asleep halfway. I had a good nights sleep after such a long day (or maybe it was the bottle of Limoncello.... Hmmm) and as I felt like that was too much information for me to handle I think I'll leave you with this much to read, too! I wanted to write about Thursday as well but I think it would just be best to cut this blog in half.
Thanks for reading, see you next time! Feel free to leave a comment or follow me on Instagram/Google+/Bloglovin', see the links down below.
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 All 3 pictures taken at the Victor Emanuel II Monument |
From there we decided to walk to the Roman Forum (picture on the left), which was included in the ticket for the Colosseum. To be honest, it was not that interesting to us: basically a large garden with the remains of what once were humongous government buildings. You could see that it once must have been very impressive, however, only blocks and pillars cut in half were left of it. We did not regret going there as there was quite a lot to see; it just was not that much of a highlight next to all the other beautiful sights Rome has to offer. Quite understandable, no?All that sightseeing got us hungry, so we decided to look for a nice place to eat. We searched for the restaurant Francesco told us to go to, only to find out it was closed... *sad face* However, our cycling tour guide also recommended a restaurant in the same neighbourhood so we decided to check it out. The interior was a bit old-fashioned as can be seen in the pictures below, but if there's one thing you have to know when you're in Rome: the places that look the least attractive usually serve the best food. We've experienced this ourselves!
The restaurant was completely empty but so were our stomachs so we decided just to sit down. We ordered some sort of pizza bread (I'm sorry, searched all over the internet but couldn't find the Italian name. Someone who can help me with this? See picture down below), mine with olive-paste, salami, soft cheese and rocket lettuce. Even though it was simple it was actually pretty good! You could tell that the ingredients were of good quality. You can buy these "pizza sandwiches" as our waitress explained in broken English all over Rome: it's the most popular lunch to order.
Afterwards we crossed the river and walked all the way to the Vatican city. This is a different country, even though it's right in the middle of Rome! It had a slightly different ambiance, too: it seemed to attract a different public and was much more crowded than any other highlight we had seen so far. Because we visited in January it was relatively quiet (as far as a city like Rome can be called quiet..), so we were a bit spoiled.
We walked around the plaza, taking in not only the environment but also the people walking around. Rome has quite a diverse range of visitors already, but what we saw in the Vatican City was a whole different story! We've seen nuns and monks, all different types of tourists including a little guy running around with a very large camera (and he was able to just appear out of thin air) and a guy with so much product in his hair I can't believe he didn't fall over, we've seen a photo shoot that was obviously supposed to be professional, were it not that the couple posed in a rather silly way and were photographed while crossing the street.... You name it we've seen them all! Like I said, extremely diverse. Hilarious, too.
However, we weren't there for the tourists.... We came to see the architecture and Sistine Chapel! Very impressive I must say, even though I usually am not a big fan of art and well, old things. DAMN do I sound like a teenager! Maybe I should phrase this differently: I appreciate art and buildings etc. from time to time, but I believe I would rather not spend all of my time gazing at such objects and spaces, pretending to know what they mean and acting as if I would give my right arm to have a piece just like it in my living room. There. Much better.
[The internet at my parents place is so slow I can't even upload a picture to this page! Gahh! I guess I'll have to add it later and hope I do not forget....]
Where was I? Ahh yes, the Vatican. So we have been inside all these impressive buildings, I will not bore you with their names (to be honest I don't know the names so I would have to google them and I really can't be bothered) but I will show you some pictures down below. Definitely would place this on the to do list for a tourist like myself, it was so beautiful! For some of the buildings/viewing post/museums you have to pay a little extra by the way: we did so for the Sistine Chapel for example. Really worth the money though, we were not allowed to take pictures inside the main hall so you'll have to take my word for it but gosh, I felt so tiny. And to imagine that the paintings on the ceiling had been there for all those years already! (If you don't know what I'm talking about: here you go) So many parts of the painting made by Michelangelo became famous and it was rather special to see this in real life.
Lovely day, but boy was I exhausted. I have a problem with my knees (long story) so days like that really kill me. It was all worth it of course, but at that point all I wanted was to be at our apartment and take a hot bath! Luckily we found a bus that brought us quite close to our place, and after some grocery shopping we finally could go home. We decided to cook our own simple dinner as my stomach doesn't react too well on that much pasta/pizza and other wheat products, and it turned out to be the best decision ever. First of al it was really pouring outside during the evening, so we managed to plan our staying inside on the only day it was actually raining. Yes! Then, we watched "The Intern" on the couch, best feel-good movie ever, with our blanket and some real Italian Limoncello (okay to be honest: we finished the bottle) and we just had some quality time together.
It's already so crowded inside my head all the time, I overthink literally everything and since I want to understand what's going on at all times with my anxiety for example; my brain is usually exhausted. So can you imagine what all these extra impressions, all these sounds and crowds and things to see, do together with all my "usual" worrying... That leaves an extremely tired Vivian. Yes, I am even talking about myself in the third person now.
So watching this film on the couch with our curtains drawn, underneath our blanket and with the Limoncello close by it felt like a safe little bubble and that was exactly what I needed.
We watched the whole movie, absolutely loved it! It says enough that we finished it in one evening: I usually end up falling asleep halfway. I had a good nights sleep after such a long day (or maybe it was the bottle of Limoncello.... Hmmm) and as I felt like that was too much information for me to handle I think I'll leave you with this much to read, too! I wanted to write about Thursday as well but I think it would just be best to cut this blog in half.
Thanks for reading, see you next time! Feel free to leave a comment or follow me on Instagram/Google+/Bloglovin', see the links down below.
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