Our Journey: 2016
Roma 2016: (October 2016)
As we were preparing Terus for the winter, we started to visit Rome when the weather was
good. Rome is a city rich in antique buildings built during ancient Roman times. But Rome is also
the city were the Vatican is located. The Vatican is the center of the catholic religion. We
started our tour of Rome by visiting the Vatican. St Peter’s place is well-known but seeing it, is
really impressive. Inside the basilica of St Peter’s we could admire numerous masterpieces such
as Michelangelo's Pieta. Even if I had seen it twice before, I still find it unique in its beauty.
There are always a lot of people in the Basilica, but you never have the impression that it is
overcrowded. We also visited the Vatican Museum. Every day, thousands of visitors enter the
place and I highly recommend that you buy your tickets in advance via the internet to avoid
having to queue for hours to get into the museum. Once inside the museum, you will find a lot of
marvelous statues and other religious artifacts. Unfortunately, we were very disappointed by
the Sistine Chapel because of the huge crowd there and the guards very aggressively having to
shout constantly “no photos and we request silence!” Luckily the paintings of the chapel are very
impressive and certainly a must see in Rome. After the chapel we walked along long corridors
where of lot of items are on display. Unbelievable the number of items the Vatican has. Luckily,
this part is easier to visit and taking photos is allowed. Another day, we returned to the Vatican
to visit the tombs of the popes located in the basement of the Basilica. The recent tombs are
not as sophisticated as the older ones. In the middle, you have the tomb of St Peter, the first
pope, but this one can only be seen from a certain distance.
We also visited other places in Rome that are well known worldwide. We visited the Pantheon,
the Trevi fountain, Plaza Spagna with the Trinity church as well as the Victor Emmanuelle II
monument with the flame of the unknown soldier. if you want to visit a quiet place, we
recommend you Ostia Antica that can easily be reached by subway. The city of Ostia Antica was
once very crowded as it was the harbor of Rome. In the middle you have a large Roman
road with the ruins of shops on each side. More towards the center of the city, you have the
theatre, the temples, the latrines and the thermes (hot baths). If you continue further and go
to the side, you come into the residential area where rich people had houses with beautiful wall
paintings and ceramic floors. Some people even say that Ostia Antica is a better place to visit
than Pompeii because it is much less crowded. Even if we have already visited many places in
Rome, we still have a long list of other places to see, such as the Coliseum, The Roman Forum,
Villa Borgese and Tiberine island (located on the Tiber river) etc… but we are saving those places
for 2017.
good. Rome is a city rich in antique buildings built during ancient Roman times. But Rome is also
the city were the Vatican is located. The Vatican is the center of the catholic religion. We
started our tour of Rome by visiting the Vatican. St Peter’s place is well-known but seeing it, is
really impressive. Inside the basilica of St Peter’s we could admire numerous masterpieces such
as Michelangelo's Pieta. Even if I had seen it twice before, I still find it unique in its beauty.
There are always a lot of people in the Basilica, but you never have the impression that it is
overcrowded. We also visited the Vatican Museum. Every day, thousands of visitors enter the
place and I highly recommend that you buy your tickets in advance via the internet to avoid
having to queue for hours to get into the museum. Once inside the museum, you will find a lot of
marvelous statues and other religious artifacts. Unfortunately, we were very disappointed by
the Sistine Chapel because of the huge crowd there and the guards very aggressively having to
shout constantly “no photos and we request silence!” Luckily the paintings of the chapel are very
impressive and certainly a must see in Rome. After the chapel we walked along long corridors
where of lot of items are on display. Unbelievable the number of items the Vatican has. Luckily,
this part is easier to visit and taking photos is allowed. Another day, we returned to the Vatican
to visit the tombs of the popes located in the basement of the Basilica. The recent tombs are
not as sophisticated as the older ones. In the middle, you have the tomb of St Peter, the first
pope, but this one can only be seen from a certain distance.
We also visited other places in Rome that are well known worldwide. We visited the Pantheon,
the Trevi fountain, Plaza Spagna with the Trinity church as well as the Victor Emmanuelle II
monument with the flame of the unknown soldier. if you want to visit a quiet place, we
recommend you Ostia Antica that can easily be reached by subway. The city of Ostia Antica was
once very crowded as it was the harbor of Rome. In the middle you have a large Roman
road with the ruins of shops on each side. More towards the center of the city, you have the
theatre, the temples, the latrines and the thermes (hot baths). If you continue further and go
to the side, you come into the residential area where rich people had houses with beautiful wall
paintings and ceramic floors. Some people even say that Ostia Antica is a better place to visit
than Pompeii because it is much less crowded. Even if we have already visited many places in
Rome, we still have a long list of other places to see, such as the Coliseum, The Roman Forum,
Villa Borgese and Tiberine island (located on the Tiber river) etc… but we are saving those places
for 2017.
