April 28: Bones

Ah, we've finally caught up to today.

Originally, we were going to go to the Catacombs. But this weird guy on the street told us we had to buy a different ticket to go outside of Rome on the bus, so we decided not to go.

First, we went on the metro to the Mouth of Truth, which is a statue of a giant face that, legend says, will bite your arm off if you tell a lie while it is in there. Turns out it's not true. :(

Next, while my mom went walking along the river, my dad, brother and I went to the Church of Bones, which is a whole collection of contraptions and objects made of skeletons and bones, all done by one monk with the bones of his brothers. Unfortunately, there were no photos allowed, but it was so cool! There were skeletons sitting in niches, covered by robes, and chandeliers made of bones!

Finally, we all went to Vatican City, intent on going to the Crypt underneath St. Peter's. Unfortunately, the line was super long, so we didn't go. However, we did get ice cream (yay) and then went home! And...here we are!

Tomorrow: After three weeks, finally going home!

April 25: Churches and Walking

We started the day with going to the Pantheon, which had an amazing inside! I posted, like, a million pictures on my Facebook page, which are in great detail.

After the Pantheon, we walked across the River Tiber to an island near Rome, then to Trastevere, an old neighborhood with a HUGE church, which my mom and I snuggled up in, since by then we were kind of tired. After that, we went to an island where the Roman Jewish Quarter was. First, we went to a cookie shop with AMAZING cookies, then we crossed the island again and walked by the Tiber River. Then, we went to a museum, which had cool artifacts from the past, and then on a tour to the synagogue near the museum.

After that, we had lunch, and then began our walk back to the subway. We passed the Colosseum on the way to the metro, which looked so awesome! We did see it today, but that post will have to come tomorrow...

April 23-24: Walking Tours and Arriving in Rome

So, on the morning of our arrival in Rome, we were in Naples, and we walked down to the Archaeological Museum with artifacts from Pompeii. We saw the original Faun statue (situated at the House of the Faun), cool theater mosaics, and much more! There was also a cool secret room, which had penises, piles of dicks, boobs, and lots of pictures and models of people having sex in it. Yeah, man, that was some heavy stuff.

Then we went to catch our train to Rome (yay!). It was only an hour long ride, but for some reason it felt like forever. Then we took the Metro to our neighborhood, and we got a little lost, but we finally found it.

Our renter, Elianna, was waiting for us, and she showed us the apartment (which is pretty cool). After that, even though my mom said we were just going to stay in our neighborhood that day, we went out to meet her friend from France. Long story short, we got really lost and didn't get back until 10:30 at night (urrrrgh).

The next day, we climbed the Spanish Steps, and started a self-guided tour called the Heart of Rome walk. Soon we came to the Trevi Fountain, which is amazing (photos are on my Facebook page). Then we went to the Piazza Colonna, where we saw the column of Marcus Aurelius, which is in the same area as the Parliament building. Then we went to the Piazza Navona, where we saw the Four Rivers Fountain, with four River Gods and an Egyptian obelisk. Then we met my mom's friend and her friend, and hung out, getting some gelato (ice cream) and walking around.

We walked by the Pantheon (which was SO crowded, so we didn't go in) and then took the metro home. However, we did go to the Pantheon the next day, which will be the next post, hopefully coming soon, if I have the time. We're about to get a tour of the Colosseum and the Forum, so that should be fun...