Rome, Italy

Author: Molly

The first stop in Italy was Rome, which we reached in the pouring rain after a long travel day. We stayed four nights at a hotel inside a convent near Vatican City, which was a bit unusual but was very quiet and had a great breakfast.

I admittedly did not pre-book as many Rome activities as Paris, but the first day we did have Colosseum tickets as well as a Vatican tour (self guided tours were sold out and I wasn’t going to miss it).

The Colosseum deserves its reputation as a must visit. It is very impressive, but so are the crowds.

Vatican City was interesting, but the highlight for me was the Sistine Chapel (no pictures allowed in the chapel) and the hall of maps. The tour was a little rushed, but we had time before closing to wander and enjoy the less-busy galleries. It’s a bit overwhelming, but I’m glad we made the stop.

The next day, there was a Metro strike in Rome, so we did a lot of walking. Most of the day was spent in the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill, which together cover a huge area. It was raining and quite peaceful when we arrived. Palatine Hill holds thousands of years of civilizations building atop or reusing prior buildings, making it a fascinating walk through time.

After failing to get tickets to the Pantheon, we wandered over to the Museum of the Capuchin Crypt. Beware, if you didn’t like the Paris catacombs, you won’t like this! Over the course of almost 400 years, Capuchin monks buried their dead and then periodically exhumed them and created art on the walls of the crypt. Before entering you go through a museum, maybe to try to convince you that this isn’t quite strange. It was certainly an interesting spot to walk through, though I was quite worried when I saw a guy about to hit his head on a spine.

I was lucky to nab special tickets for a nighttime showing at the Borghese museum, an art collection mainly containing ancient sculptures. The museum is unique because it was purpose-built for this collection with decorated rooms corresponding to the sculptures. We did have to walk almost 2 hours across Rome after this, but it was my favorite museum we saw in Italy.

The last day happened to be the monthly free museum day. We went to the Pantheon when it opened, so I didn’t have to leave Rome without seeing the largest un-reinforced concrete dome. We stopped by the Museum of Modern Art and then Castel Sant’Angelo, which was originally constructed in the 2nd century as a mausoleum for a Roman emporer before being converted.

Our last stop was at Saint Peter’s Basilica, which we had missed on our initial Vatican visit, but I was determined to see (despite a long line).

Rome had always been on my list to visit, and it really is brimming with sites. However, it was honestly not our favorite spot. The intensity of the crowds was not a surprise, but we also just didn’t settle into Rome the way we did in other places. The sites in Rome also seem to play toward guided tours, and the information available without a tour was in very sharp contrast to our experience in London and Paris.