Semana Santa Part 3: Rome

Back in Italy! What is there not to like about Italy?

When I arrived in the airport I was hoping to get into contact with Miranda and Taylor who were already there so we could get dinner, but I couldn't get a hold of them. I decided to take a train into the city to walk around before heading to my hostel in Ostia. Unfortunately it took a lot longer than I thought. By the time I got to the train station in the city, I decided to just go to the hostel instead of wander. It was a very long and out-of-the way route to get there...
Thursday morning I headed out to the city alone to see all the main sights starting with the Colosseum and the Roman Forum.

SO gorgeous.

It was getting pretty hot and crowded by the time I was in the forum so to escape the heat and the crowds, I went into the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II...

I somehow found myself in this little church behind the big white monument.

Lunch time!

I picked the strangest looking sandwich they had in the case. Zucchini blossom, mozzarella, and sardines. I enjoyed it. I lost my map somewhere in the forum so I just decided to try to use google maps on my phone as best I could without data. I wandered along the Tiber river, got some gelato, and randomly found a market, some ruins, and some cute little streets on the way to the Pantheon.

Marcello Theater

Chocolate and banana!

Only in the Mediterranean can you be wandering through a city and stumble upon some ancient ruins.

The next sight was the Trevi Fountain. It was turned off for restoration, but they were nice enough to build a walkway through it so we could get an up-close look at the statues.

Still walking! I went down the street to the Leonardo de Vinci Museum. I don't think it was worth the money but it was still interesting I guess.

Then off to the Piazza de Spagna. It was nothing special and completely packed with people so I didn't take any pictures. I was so tired by then, it was time for dinner. Creamy pasta with mushrooms mmm.

The next day I arranged to meet up with Miranda. Taylor had already gone back to Seville. We had both seen pretty much all the sights already so we went to the Villa Borghese Gardens to wander around and talk. We saw some people on horses. It was very nice to get away from the crazy tourist zone. 

There was a zoo in the park so we got to say hi to the orangutans through the fence. We wanted to go in, but it was expensive. Miranda told me about a place that sells really great cannolis so we went and got one of those. This Good Friday, so we wanted to go to the Vatican to see if the Pope was going to speak. There was a service going on and the Pope spoke, but he didn't come out of the building until the procession later. We couldn't go to the procession because we both had to leave the city before the transportation closed.

On my last day in Rome, I went to the National Roman Museum, ate some very cheesy gnocchi, and went on my Vatican City Tour.

The Vatican was a mob scene the day before Easter. We shuffled along shoulder to shoulder the whole time. It was still cool though! The Sistine Chapel was very impressive. It was too bad St Peter's Basilica was closed that day.

I left the following morning bright and early for Seville and after a nap, got to catch the last procession of Semana Santa with Miranda! It was perfect. We found a spot in the shade, the procession only lasted an hour, and we got a great view of Jesus and Mary. What a whirlwind. And such a crazy combination! Muslim call to prayer and minarets to the Pope speaking at St. Peter's Square the day before Easter, to somber processions through the street with drums and incense. I love my life hahaha.

THANK YOU UNCLE BRUCE AND AUNT MARY.