Contiki: Day 10 – Rome, Italy!

Today was the earliest day on our trip so far. We had to wake at 6 this morning so that we could make the Contiki included hotel breakfast at 6:30AM. I woke up, washed up and headed down with Ryan to grab some food. It was our first breakfast at the hotel and I have to say it wasn’t too bad. There were Croissants, Scrambled, Eggs, Toast, Bread, and for drinks there was orange juice and another type of juice? Tea and coffee were also served. Today was the first time on the trip that we were offered scrambled eggs, or an egg cooked any style. I was pretty satisfied after I had two croissants and some eggs.

Everyone jumped on the coach and we left for Rome at around 7:15AM. The big problem I have with this stop in Rome is that the hotel is so far outside of Rome that it isn’t even funny. You couldn’t go into Rome on your own if you wanted to. If you did, you’d need to take a taxi from the hotel to the train station, and then take a train 8 stops, then change over to another line and go another 2 stops before you reach the Colloseum in Rome. It’s simply very inconveniently located well outside of Rome. The good thing was that Contiki takes care of your train/bus passes to get you into Rome for your day in the city, as they should.

We finally got to the train station after about a 10 or 15 minute bus ride. We were let off and our tour manager led the way and showed us how to use the train system here in Rome. We finally arrived outside of the Colluseum and we took a short walk to our first destination which was a Contiki Included Guided Tour of Rome.

The guided tour brought us down into the oldest parts of Rome. It was amazing to see how many layers Rome was. When I say layers I mean that Rome is simply layers and layers of buildings built on top of each other and now finally the city is what it is today. We were in a place that was over 2000 years old! The original buildings, and architecture is still in place to this day and we were on a guided tour that explained everything about it. We even visited Julius Ceasar’s temple and shrine on the tour. At the end of the tour we were brought to the Colluseum. The tour of the Colluseum was also included which was great. Our guide took us in and explained all of the history of the famous colluseum and it was quite interesting. We headed upstairs to the second level to get a great view of the full Colluseum and some great pictures too!

After we left the Colluseum we were to meet up with the group and our tour manager would take us on the bus to the Vatican in Vatican City. I did not realize until I got to Rome that Vatican City is actually it’s own COUNTRY! Not city, COUNTRY! You can walk around the walls of Vatican city and say that you walked around the country. It’s quite small, but quite a walk at the same time because the Vatican itself is very, very big.

We arrived outside of the Vatican and most people wanted to get something to eat before standing in the line for the Vatican which was about a half mile long (seriously). We all headed over to a pizza place that our tour manager recommended and I thought the pizza was really good. Ahh, I love pizza!

After the pizza, Ryan and I went to the post office to mail some postcards before jumping into the longest line that I’ve ever waited in, in my life! I couldn’t believe that there were so many people trying get in the on a Tuesday afternoon. The line hugged the walls of Vatican city from the front of the Vatican all the way around to the back entrance. Crazy! Ryan and I said, you know what we’re not waiting in this line! We walked all the way up and around and found some friends on our trip that had been waiting in line for about an hour at this point and they were way at the top of the line at this point. We jumped in with them and we waited about 20 minutes or so before we walked in the entrance to the Vatican!

Once inside everyone was mostly looking forward to seeing the Sistine Chapel so we sort of speed walked through the maze of rooms and hallways of the Vatican. I would’ve preferred to go a little slower if I had the option but I wanted to stick with everyone so Ryan and I followed. Along the way there were all sorts of great art work, statues, egyptian artifacts, extravagant carpets, and much more.

It took about 35 minutes to get to the final destination which was the Sistine Chapel! After spending some time gazing at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel we exited and headed straight for St. Peter’s Basillica, the biggest church in the entire world. St Paul’s in London comes in second for being the biggest church in the world, behind St. Peter’s here in Rome. It was absolutely amazing. The size of it makes you feel somewhat miniature.

Ryan and I were so tired after walking most of yesterday and all of today that we decided to call it a day after seeing St. Peter’s Basillica. We headed back on the Metro to the station where our bus would be waiting but we were an hour or so early so we hung around until the bus took us back to the hotel. Finally we could rest and relax for a couple of hours before the included Contiki dinner here at the hotel at 7:30.

Rome is now checked off the list. It’s a great city, and a city that I would definitely visit again in the near future. It’s quite large, and the metro system seems pretty reliable. The architecture, and ancient ruins are superb and you can’t miss them when you’re in Rome. The driving, and traffic is exactly what everyone claims it to be, totally crazy! Nobody adheres to pedestrian laws so if you are crossing the road you need to be in a group of 5 or more to feel somewhat comfortable. The people here WILL run you over. You will be a new accessory on a scooter if you walk out in front of one on purpose or by accident. Other than the driving and traffic, Rome was a great time!

Ciao!