5 Days in Rome, Part 2

Hannah visiting her 40th country–Vatican City

I will try to wrap up our time in Rome here–we were only there five days but we packed a lot of sightseeing in. There is so much to see and learn! In my last post I did day one (Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Castel Sant’Angelo) and day two (Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, Colosseum). On day three, we had tickets for a tour of the Vatican Museum in the afternoon. I thought we could also pop into St. Peter’s Basilica on our way, but there was a huge line waiting to get in!

So we went directly to the museum for our tour. I’m very glad we had a tour guide to explain some of the history and more significant works of art. We booked it directly through the website, which I believe is the cheapest option. Our guide did a great job of explaining things but also not spending too much time belabouring each item. She told some good stories to keep the attention of the children (and adults, if we’re being honest). The museum is huge and you could easily spend days looking at every piece of artwork, but after about 2.5 hours, we were ready for the main attraction: the Sistine Chapel. No photos are allowed and it was extremely crowded, so we just found a little corner to sit and admire it for a bit.

From there, it was time for an ice cream! And then we wandered around until we came across the Pantheon. The line was long there, too, but I figured out we could order tickets online, so we did that and walked right in. The Pantheon is an impressive temple with a large, open-air hole at the top and the largest concrete dome in the world.

Then we made our way to the Monti neighborhood for dinner and then called it a day.

The next morning we were up and out of the house early in hopes of beating the crowds at St. Peter’s Basilica. And it worked! We were able to go right up the the top of the dome (first for a bird’s eye view of the basilica and then from the tip top a view of Rome) and then we had quite a bit if time inside to wander and reflect. I’m very glad we went early! We ended up spending about 3 hours there. The art and architecture are astonishing. And somehow, despite the crowds, it is calm and soothing inside.

We then had brunch and headed back to the apartment for school/a rest. In the afternoon, a small storm had come through with rain and some thunder. Since it was our last day there, I was eager to get out and explore a bit more. Everyone else opted to stay home, which meant I got to just go with the flow. I walked around the Trastevere neighborhood, ducking into Basilica of Santa Maria while the rain came down. I also enjoyed a late lunch/early dinner and then wandered up to Fontana dell’Acqua Paola and along Janiculum Hill where I was rewarded with some beautiful views. I was hoping to be able to cut down from there back to our apartment, but the roads just didn’t wind that way. I did end up in front of St. Peter’s Basilica, 12 hours after we started the day there, just as the lights were being turned on. A great way to end our stay in Rome.

The next day it was time to move on to our next destination. Unfortunately Charlotte got sick, but we made it to Tuscany where we found ourselves at a gorgeous farmstay just outside of the town of Volterra. We were greeted with a sunset our first evening, and we all immediately began to relax.