Colosseum- We spent the most time here and it was well spent. I would highly recommend taking a tour (as we did) because they offer a 45 minute tour in English for 8 euro extra. Included in that is an hour walking tour of the ancient forum which essentially was a summary of the city's history. Warning: Going there really makes you want to watch the movie Gladiator. Fun fact of the tour: Commodus (the emperor played by Joaquin Phoenix in the movie) was hated just as much in real life as he is portrayed in the movie. However, unlike the movie he actually died after being strangled to death in his bathtub.
Trevi Fountain: In my opinion, it was overrated. Given it was raining when we saw it but I always thought it was a part of some huge square when in fact it's somewhat stuck in a small plaza between buildings.
The Vatican- Climb to the top. I had done this earlier when I went to Rome but it was an incredible view on a really nice day.
The Spanish Steps: Know what the Spanish steps look like before you wander around trying to find them! My roommate Tommy and I were walking around looking for them and as we followed signs for them we thought we were at the right place. Turns out neither of us had a clue what the Spanish steps looked like so we started asking people where they were. Naturally they were about 100 feet around the corner in the next plaza. Behind the Colosseum they were probably my second favorite thing in Rome because the view overlooks the city. Make sure you go on a nice day.
The most incredible thing we did was go to the AS Roma v. AC Milan soccer game in Stadio Olimpico. That was hands down the best experience I've hand in Europe. While all European soccer fans are nuts, we were warned (and found out) that Roma fans are the absolute craziest. We went into the Stadium two hours before the game and the section where the lunatics stand was nearly completely full. The traveling Milan fans were separating by glasses from the rest of the stadium. We were given big flags from the people around us to wave during the introductions. Several imporant things:
Go around the stadium beforehand because once you enter your section is blocked off from the rest (don't want Roma and Milan fans running into eachother). Wear neutral colors. Beware of flares which are thrown from the opposing fan sections.
Here are a couple pictures from the weekend:
No comments:
Post a Comment