Vatican City

It would be a sin to get all the way to Rome and not go to the Vatican.

Haha! Just kidding...See what I did there? But really, the Vatican isn't just home to the Pope, but also home to some of the greatest works of art in the world! Two words: Sistine Chapel. It's the smallest principality in the world, but it also contains the largest church in the world- St. Peter's Basilica.

You could spend days admiring the vast amount of art contained in the Vatican Museum; however, that wasn't in the cards for our group. We were on the super-fast track and saw the highlights of the museum, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's all before noon! I don't recommend speeding through, but I definitely would recommend touring as part of a group for two main reasons:

1. As a member of a tour group you get to jump the insanely long line which is known to wrap around the Vatican wall.
2. Your tour guide will give you a much better understanding of what you see and its historical importance along with fun facts, stories and an overall greater appreciation for what could be an overwhelming museum.

The line went as far as the eye could see in both directions! This was at 8am!

 Holy ceilings and tapestries! Bahaha I'm cracking myself up! I adore how so many European buildings, churches, museums, etc. have incredibly intricate ceilings. It's as if they view the ceiling as a gigantic blank canvas begging to become a beautiful masterpiece.

And then there's the mother of all ceiling masterpieces...The Sistine Chapel. Inside you aren't allowed to talk, take photos, sit down, video, eat, and so on. Basically the only thing you are allowed to do is observe.

Thankfully, our tour guide, Anna Rita, conveniently brought a poster of both The Sistine Chapel and The Last Judgment and provided insight into each of the scenes Michelangelo painted and told us what to look for prior to entering (since we weren't allowed to talk once we went inside). It took four long, back-breaking years for Michelangelo to complete this remarkable work of Biblical scenes. To think that he didn't even consider himself a painter and had no idea how to make a fresco prior to this is unbelievable! Can you imagine if painting, rather than sculpting, was his passion? Mamma Mia!

The door and the roped off area are both only reserved for one man and he goes by the name of Pope Francis.

You don't have to be Catholic to appreciate all that St. Peter's Basilica has to offer. In fact, call me crazy, but I enjoyed being there more this time than in 2008 when the Pope was there (no offense Pope Benedict!). I say that because there was a sea of people which inhibited us from being able to see the entire church. So, avoid going on a Wednesday morning if you're indifferent about seeing the Pope or make a point to go back on another day as well.

The Pieta by Michelangelo is my favorite sculpture in the world. 

A visit to the Vatican isn't complete without a witnessing a changing of the Swiss Guard. To be eligible to become a member of the Pontifical Swiss Guard, you must be a male, Swiss citizen- as the name suggests, Catholic (duh), un-married, between the ages of 19-30, at least 5' 8.5" (sorry, if you're 5'8"- you're cut), successfully completed the Swiss military training with good conduct and have at least a high school degree. That's all. :)

Tschüss!

The Late Great Roman Empire

The first day of our "land and sea" adventure began with the exploration of two major icons from the late great Roman Empire: The Colosseum and the Roman Forum.

Fortunately, the hotel in the land package we booked through Norwegian Cruise Line, Grand Palatino Hotel Rome, was a quick five minute walk to the Colosseum. Unfortunately, the walk was easier for some than others in our group...where the average age was 60 (no offense Mom). Literally we weren't a block from the hotel when we already had a "faller" on our hands. Unlike our Berlin experience, this fall was unprovoked by a crazy bicyclist. Thankfully, the lady who fell (tripped over the uneven stone) was all right. Bless her heart.

As you can see by the look on the face of our sassy, little Italian tour guide, Anna Rita, our "special"
group made her work hard for every euro. She did a really great job of telling us all the background information and historical significance up front then giving us time to leisurely walk around without being herded to every single point of interest.

This was my second time to the Colosseum, but this time I actually felt like I saw the Colosseum {if that makes sense}. The first time it was rainy and I felt like our group was super rushed without even wandering entirely around the arena and going up to the second level for an even better vantage point.

We learned that upon completion in 80 AD, Emperor Titus celebrated with 100 days of games. Typically this involved fighting animals in the morning and gladiator battles in the afternoon. It was free to attend and the government even provided food! Before you start saying, "Wow! What a nice guy that Emperor Titus is!" It wasn't the kindness of his heart that provided food and sport to the people of Rome. Rather he wisely surmised that if the people have full bellies and occupied eyes, they won't complain about what he did in and around the Roman Empire. Pretty brilliant, right? Hmm... sounds sort of familiar though. OK, I won't go there. #Obamaphone


After {briefly} losing two of our group members and warning others about the uneven terrain in the Forum, several couples decided it was better to return to the hotel. See what I mean about our special group? Mamma Mia.

In the feisty words of Anna Rita- Andiamo! {It means let's go!}

I must say that the while the Forum was intrinsically interesting, I appreciated it much more after taking three years of Latin. My high school Latin teach, Magister Kelsh, did a fantastic job of making history come to life especially as it pertained to ancient Rome and Greece. Ten years later {omg, I'm feeling old} I still remember stories about Roman/Greek gods and goddesses, the duty of the Vestal Virgins, plus I can still read a lot of Latin! In vino veritas, anyone? Anyone?

The statues above are some of the MVPs of the Vestal Virgins. To become a Vestal Virgin you were chosen from an important family under the age of 10 and vowed to remain celibate and tend the the eternal flame located in the temple (above with the columns). As you can imagine, it was a very big honor to be chosen for such an important task. The eternal flame was equated to the success of the the Empire and its military endeavors. Sound glamorous? I'm sure it was right until one of the virgins decided to break rule number one. The accused VV was publicly humiliated and buried alive. No means no? Yikes.

Before you know it it's lunchtime and what do you want for lunch when in Rome? Pizza, obviously.

So delicious! 

After an afternoon siesta, Richard and I set out to see the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain {which turned out to be under renovation}. It's amazing the things you stumble upon in such an ancient city.

Top: Italians call it "The Wedding Cake." | Left: Colosseum | Middle: Marcus Aurelius Column |
Right: A question from every Latin test: What does SPQR mean? Senatus Populusque Romanus. Boom. 

The Pantheon

The Trevi  Fountain... sort of

Don't worry, we still threw coins in the proper way {right hand over the left shoulder} to ensure another visit to Rome. Hopefully next time the Trevi will  be as impressive and enchanting as the first time I saw it six years ago.

'Til then.

Tschüss!

Mediterranean Cruising...Wonderfully Exhausting!

The word "vacation" in my book is typically synonymous with images of relaxing somewhere tropical under an umbrella or palm tree after waking up around 10am with the most difficult decision being should we go to the beach first or the pool.

This was not one of those vacations.

In fact, this vacation needed to be followed by a vacation similar to the one I just mentioned. This vacation was a gloriously incredible yet exhausting vacation.

Last October, Richard and I decided that we wanted to go on a Mediterranean cruise so we did some research and chose Norwegian Cruise Line's 11-day Rome and the Vatican Cruisetour. This itinerary allowed us to spend some extra time in Rome first (since Richard had never been to Italy before) followed by a week on the Norwegian Epic (a ship we fell in love with in the Caribbean for our first anniversary trip).

We also stayed two extra nights in Rome (good decision) after the cruise to see more of the city on our own before making the two-hour flight home (yay for not having to cross an ocean and having no jet lag!). This also allowed more time for gelato and pizza! #priorities

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Here was our itinerary & some highlights:

Day One | Arrive in Rome

Dinner in Roma!

 Day Two | Tour Ancient Rome

Colosseum

Roman Forum

Day Three | Vatican Tour

St. Peter's Basilica

 Day Four | Embark Ship

Norwegian Epic

Day Five | Florence/Pisa, Italy 

Florence Duomo

Leaning Tower of Pisa

Day Six | Cannes, France 

Nice, France

Monaco

 Day Seven | Palma de Majorca, Spain

Beach day! Finally!

 Day Eight | Barcelona, Spain

 La Sagrada Familia

 

Day Nine | At Sea

 

 Day Ten | Naples, Italy

Pompeii

Sorrento

 Day Eleven | Disembark in Rome

Castles and gelato. Need I say more?

I can't wait to share more about our experiences in each of these magnificent cities and all the historical icons and awe-inspiring works of art we got to see!

Have you been to any of these destinations? If so, which ones? What was your favorite city?

Tschüss!