Rome: Day Two

 
Rome: Day Two 
Rome Itinerary/Tips and Tricks
9:00 Breakfast
10:00 Castel Sant'Angelo
12:00 Lunch
4:00 Catacombs
7:00 Trevi Fountain
7:30 Pantheon
8:00 Dinner 
10:00 Exploring the Area

Day two of my trip to Rome we had an even more packed day.  Because it was a Sunday, all of the buses were free, or they weren't free and no one was paying?.  No need to pull out that Roma card. I was determine to have a better day today and try to avoid the crowds as much as possible.  My plan of attack was to avoid guided tours all together but that didn't quite happen.

Castel Sant'Angelo
Castel Sant'Angelo was the second free museum I would attend to finish up my Roma pass.  The castle is actually pretty close to the Vatican so if you are wanting to see both it would probably make sense to do them in the same day if your Vatican tour wasn't late like mine.  The castle is in a touristy area, but most of the heat was taken away by the Vatican so it wasn't quite as bad in this area.  The line to get in wasn't long at all and I also spent some time getting some pictures of the surrounding area and beautiful bridges that reminded of me of The Charles Bridge in Prague.

The huge circular castle was originally built to be a mausoleum and later became a secret hideout for the pope, where he could access underground tunnels with its proximity to the Vatican.  Now its a museum.  One cool thing about this castle is you get to go to the dungeon and crawl through some pretty dicey spaces to see the abysmal cells where prisoners were held! Seeing the castle was nice, but not a must-see if you are short on time.  Plus, since I had missed seeing the Catacombs in Paris, I wanted to see the Catacombs in Rome! 

castle sant'angelo

castle sant'angelo
castle sant'angelocastle sant'angelocastle sant'angelocastle sant'angelo




The San Callisto Catacombs
I was pretty excited about seeing the catacombs.  The closest thing I've come to it was seeing The Bone Church in the Czech Republic and that was pretty high on my list of cool things I've seen.  To get to The San Callisto or St. Callixtus Catacombs you have to take a bus or car.  These are the most popular catacombs as there are several other ones to choose from.  They are about 30 minutes outside of the city.  I took the 218 bus from near Via Merulana.  The trip to the Catacombs was a nightmare.  It was hot and sweaty and like the Vatican, the bus was packed.  People kept pouring in and we were shoulder to shoulder.  At one point it was so hot in there and the bus was just parked that people were screaming and panicking.  It was a little scary.

Once we made it to the catacombs it was in a beautiful area.  I just wanted to sit in the shade for a bit and hide.  Once I was ready, my friend and I paid for our tickets.  They were 8 euro each and you had to join a tour to see the Catacombs, which is understandable...wouldn't want to get lost down there.  The tour wasn't long though.  It was nice and cool down there and also pretty eerie.  You don't get to see any bones in this one, most of them are either sealed in, stolen, or turned to dust.  The view in the catacombs was row after row of hollowed out tombs stacked into the wall. I'm not gonna lie, it was pretty depressing, but interesting nonetheless.

Even though I was ready to leave the catacombs, they weren't ready for me to leave.  The one bus that you could take out of there (the 218) took over an hour...or never came.  I don't really know because I ended up taking a taxi back to our room.

san callisto catacombs


The Trevi Fountain
The next few things we decided to see at night because we heard it was the place to be.  I was really excited to see The Trevi Fountain, but I heard it was under construction...bummer. I had no idea just how under construction it was.  You couldn't see anything.  Just take a look at the image below.  But I've heard from the locals that one cool thing about it was that while under construction, there is a walkway above the fountain that tourists can walk through.  This is the closest most people will ever get to the fountain.

trevi fountain

The Pantheon
Only a few blocks away from The Trevi Fountain is the Pantheon.  Though I didn't get to go inside, it was really pretty to see at night.  There is a lot of activity in this area and we decided to sit down at a nearby cafe to have dinner while enjoying this view.  

the pantheon

More Dinner in Rome
I didn't lie when I said I came to Rome for the food.  I miss seafood living in Germany and the pasta, pizza, and red wine can't be beat. Near The Pantheon is where I had the best gnocchi pesto I've ever had!

food in rome
food in rome

That's it for my two and a half day trip to Rome.  Being a city filled with art, history, and culture, this wasn't a vacation for me, I had to see as much as possible and I think I did.  There are so many more things to do in Rome that I couldn't possibly fit them into a short trip like this,  but that's okay because I was ready to head back home.

I felt like I had run all over this town.  The crowds, the cars, the sense of go, go, go!  As I had come to find out in Naples, the driving in Italy is terrible.  No one seems to follow any rules and though Naples was worse, Rome wasn't so different.  My friend told me that she heard that the key to crossing the roads here were to not look both ways and just go.  Not look both ways? This goes against everything I'd learned growing up?!?!  Eventually we started crossing the street like big kids and she was right, don't look both ways!  I guess the idea is more so, don't look like a tourist, but essentially if you are just crossing with purpose then cars are going to slow down for you and they did.  But that's probably really bad advice ;)



Have you been to Rome?  What were you favorite sights?


And if you missed part one of my trip to Rome click here.  To read more about my travels to Italy, see below:
Milan | Naples | Sorrento | Pompeii | AnaCapri | Capri | Bari | Venice 





Linking up at:

22 comments :

  1. Free bus rides on Sunday? Heck yes! Great tips & tricks. I hate when things are under construction at the time of visit. It totally takes away from the beauty, but I guess it's an excuse for a follow up trip later. :] // itsCarmen.com ☼ ☯

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    1. Yea I'm not sure if Sunday's are always free for buses or if there was something going on that Sunday or maybe just no one was paying?

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  2. I didn't get to go down to the catacombs - didn't even know that they existed! They look amazing. Inside the pantheon is pretty great. It has a hole in the roof and the rain that gets through has made a patch on the floor start to erode and that part is roped off. Would be cool to look up through the hole in the roof at night time I think.

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    1. Yea there are actually a lot of Catacombs all over Italy. Wow didn't know that about the Pantheon either. Couldn't tell there is a hole inside just by looking at it.

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  3. Interesting... sounds like there were quite a few unexpected parts to your second day.
    I am curious about how you feel about Rome... a capital city I haven't traveled to. My fiance downright just didn't like it, so I am wondering how you personally felt about your time in the city. Did you like Rome-- would you recommend it?

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    1. I felt like it was a city that has to be seen, kind of like Venice, but I can't really say that I loved it. I was more happy that I crossed it off of my list and got ot see all of the art and history, but I dont think I would return.

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  4. The food in Rome is the best! I was there a few weeks ago for a weekend and my fav was a gelato place near the Vatican called 'Old Bridge' - the best ice cream I have EVER had!

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    1. So funny you mention that because the Gelato in the pictures of Day One in Rome was from that same Gelato place near the Vatican and I agree, it was amazing!

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  5. Rome is my favorite city I go every year and always stay at this apt by the spanish steps. Love if you share this on Fabulous Friday Party
    http://www.simplenaturedecorblog.com/fabulous-fridayhalloween-party/ Maria

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    1. The Spanish Steps was the last thing on my list to see in Rome and I didnt' make it there because of time.

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  6. I am dying to visit Rome! So jealous right now! But your pictures are gorgeous :).

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    1. Thanks! I'm sure you'll get there, living in Germany!

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  7. Didn't see the catacombs but the Colosseum, the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and Piazza Navona were fabulous.
    My post here :http://livingwiththanksgiving.blogspot.com/2013/10/rome-italythe-eternal-city.html

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  8. We found crossing the road in Rome to be a breeze compared to Asia. I think we were already used to just assuming that cars would stop for us or just go around us if we started crossing. We were also quite bummed that the Trevi fountain was closed, although we had a good laugh at all the people attempting to toss in coins only to have them hit the fence and bounce back. I'm glad we skipped the Catacombs. Go and see the one in Paris. It's spectacular and actually has bones.

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    1. Yes, I've heard that the driving in Asia is pretty bad, just like Italy.

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    2. oh, that happened to us, it was SO funny, we tried taking a video but only got the last part on it..

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  9. Love Rome! But it is a big piece of pie to bite into--with so much history, many churches and museums where do you start? We've been 3 times now and every time I go I try to locate a gem I haven't seen before, something not so crowded. Also, the second time around we hired a great guide--it was expensive, but so worth it!

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    1. Yea I'm sure if I ever went back I could find a whole new itinerary of things to do.

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  10. How sad that you couldn't properly see the Trevi Fountain as it's one of the most beautiful sights in Rome. At least it gives you a reason to go back.

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  11. These photos are amazing! Wow! :)

    Thanks for joining the Link Up this week!

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  12. Hi Brittany! This is my first time finding your blog and I had to say hi and say that when I went to rome I saw the exact same things in this post! It was kind of crazy! The Castle of the Holy Angel and the catacombs were so cool! I actually really enjoyed the catacombs even though I was kind of nervous at first. And of course the Trevi fountain and Pantheon! Rome was so wonderful and I wish I could go back! Thanks for sharing your photos and experiences! Making me relive it all!

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-Brittany Ruth