We started Day 2 at a run. Our first stop was the 110Open, an open-top bus tour. We've found that one of the best ways to see an entire city, with limited time, is to do it by bus.
I won't include many of the photos, because we ended up spending some actual time at a few of the spots, but here are some of the places we didn't go, but got to see and learn about on the tour:
1) Vittorio Emanuele II Monument -or- Rome's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
2) Palazzio Venezia and the balcony (click to enlarge, it's in the center with the flags) where Mussolini gave his speeches during WWII. It's now a museum.
3) "Tim" is the Italian cell phone carrier. :-)
After we completed our two-hour trip around Rome, we headed into the Basilica Santa Marie di Angeli, which is located a few hundred yards from the Termini station.
Based on the exterior, we weren't expecting much from the inside...we were
wrong. It was beautiful!
Here's the dome...
Their organ...
They even have an astrological clock inlaid into their marble to help tell time throughout the year.
Tim had a mini-photoshoot happening and got this shot of a rainbow behind the angel.
After exploring the Basilica, it was time to point ourselves towards the Vatican and our afternoon tour. We had our first Roman metro experience (decent) and got lunch near the city wall. Our tour was meeting outside of the vatican wall and we wanted to make sure we had enough time to find the small cafe.
Once we met up with our tour guide and the rest of our group, it was time to head in. I'm sure you've heard stories of people waiting hours to get in, with lines winding around the block...well not for us! We waited, maybe, two minutes and we didn't even have reservations. Go in the afternoon, it's way better! Once inside, we headed towards the courtyard, so Jimmy (our tourguide) could explain the Sistene Chapel in detail.
Yep, you read that right, he explained it in the courtyard. (This was our entire group...6 people!) The museum has pretty strict rules about the chapel, one of which is "no talking," and unlike other tour guides, Jimmy obeyed them. To compensate, he brought a parchment of the ceiling and we gathered in the shade to look at the details. It was fantastic!
Of course, there are other parts of the museum (to see it all, you would put in 8 miles of walking!), and we got to see some great things on our way to the Chapel.
This here is Emperor Hadrian, the first Roman Emperor to have a beard. Timmy appreciated that...
And this is Nero's Bathtub. The tub measures 6m in diameter and is made of one of the rarest stones in the world, Egyptain Red Porphyry. Want to know how expensive this stuff is...Bill Gates is the only private collector to have a piece and he only has a paperweight. (A $1million+ paperweight, which he bought from the Vatican, who owns 98% of the world supply).
After our tour (Sorry, due to copyright laws, photos are not allowed in the Sistene Chapel...Fugi Films paid for its restoration and got all of the copyrights to it), we headed to St. Peter's Bisilica. Here is Michelangelo's "Pieta."
Tim was more interested in taking artistic shots...
We left the Basilica and headed out, only to find oursleves some Swiss Guards.
I mailed some postcards from the Vatican City post office...
And we gazed over at the giant photo of Pope John Paul II, who just went through his beatification the week prior. There were posters and flags all over Rome with photos of him and some of his quotes. Our tour guide said something along the lines of "Can you imagine how Pope Benedict feels about seeing photos JPII everywhere?" So true...
We got a picture in St. Peter's Square (click to enlarge and you'll also see our photobomber...)
We were getting pretty hungry, so we headed back to Piazza Barberini and The Hard Rock for dinner. Afterwards, Tim wanted to check out the Pantheon. On our way, we got a nice surpise, in the form of a parade of Ferraris! Literally, a police-escorted parade of Ferraris.
It was no surprise the Pantheon was closed, but we stuck around and spent around 45 minutes taking pictures of the building and the square and just enjoyed the Roman evening.
Side Note: If you ever go to Rome, book a Vatican Tour with Jimmy at
Epic Rome Tours. He blew our minds with his art and history knowledge and made it, not only informative, but an absolute blast. His Irish accent also helped!
