My parents were travelling around the US, France, Italy and Singapore and are home now in time for christmas.  Luckily, I had the chance to meet up with them in Rome towards the end of their trip.  We spent four days seeing the sights, eating some really great food and having having a great time.  I got an iPod Nano for Christmas and a nice..hmmm lacking the correct fashion term... but a nice overcoat which I can wear on top of suits, thanks mum and dad!!! So it was really good to not only catch up with mum & dad and spend time with them.. but it was timed perfectly since I really needed a break from work!!  The added benefit that for the entire trip we had sunny skies was just awesome.  It was a stark contrast to when I returned to København around 3.30pm and it was pitch black and raining.

 

Anyways, what follows is all the sights that we saw (so you can skip it if you want). Anything in Bold below, I have pictures of!

 

I arrived Monday afternoon and took the bus to Termini (central station) where I met up with mum and dad.  We had lunch together while catching up on all the news then took the metro to where the Spanish Steps are and took some happy snaps there. The Spanish Steps (Italian: Scalinata di Piazza di Spagna), ramping a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, with the church under the patronage of the Bourbon kings of France. At the bottom of the steps is the fountain called La Fontana della Barcaccia ("Fountain of the Old Boat").

 

And then... the walking started!!!  To put it simply, we pretty much walked all over Rome.. taking the bus or metro here and there.  Anyways, we walked to Fontana di Trevi: The fountain was built by the architect Salvi (1735) in the time of Clement XII, and decorated by several artists of Bernini's school. It is the front of a large palace (Palazzo Poli) decorated with statues and bas-reliefs on heaps of rocks. The fountain is not only celebrated for its excellent water but for the legend that whoever drinks it or throws a coin in the fountain, will assure his return to Rome... which I didn't do... so I guess I won't be going back to Rome!

 

Then it was time to admire The Vittoriano Monument, Piazza Venezia. The enormous white marble monument at the was built as a tribute to the first King of a united Italy, Victor Emmanuel II. The monument, also known as 'Il Vittoriano' consists of a large flight of stairs leading to the Altar of the Nation, dominated by a colossal 12m long equestrian statue of the King. Near the statue is the tomb of the unknown soldier, guarded by two sentries of honor. Right next to is it Trajan Forum where we took a bus home.

 

The next day we went to the Vatican, like all good Catholics should do .  Saint Peter's Square, or Saint Peter's Piazza (Piazza San Pietro), is located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica, in Vatican City, the papal enclave within Rome. The open space before the basilica was redesigned by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, from 1656 to 1667, under the direction of Pope Alexander VII, as an appropriate forecourt, designed "so that the greatest number of people could see the Pope give his blessing, either from the middle of the façade of the church or from a window in the Vatican Palace".  We started off at The Vatican Museums (Musei Vaticani) which are the public art and sculpture museums in the Vatican City, which display works from the extensive collection of the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Julius II founded the museums in the 16th century. The Sistine Chapel and the Stanze della Segnatura are on the visitor route through the Vatican Museums. As of November 2006, it was visited by more than 4,000,000 people for the year.  It was quite funny actually... because you go into the Musei Vaticani and take a lot of photos at the start.. gallery of maps, tapestries etc... but after the Sistine Chapel.. you rush through everything else.  And there's guards in the chapel to make sure you don't take photos (I took two anyways) and to shhhh people every now and then.  We spent quite a lot of time just sitting on the benches of one side of the Chapel looking up... then spent the other time on the other side

 

After a quick lunch and coffee (dad loved drinking coffee in Italy), we went to The Crypt of the Popes where you can see where St Peter and Pope John Paul II were buried.  Then we entered The Basilica of Saint Peter, officially known in Italian as the Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano and colloquially called Saint Peter's Basilica. It is the most prominent building inside the Vatican City, it's dome is also a dominant feature of the Roman skyline. Possibly the largest church in Christianity, it covers an area of 23,000 m² (5.7 acres) and has a capacity of over 60,000 people. One of the holiest sites of Christendom in the Catholic tradition, it is traditionally the burial site of Saint Peter. Although the New Testament does not mention Peter either in Rome, or martyred there, ancient tradition holds that his tomb is below the baldachino and altar; for this reason, many Popes, starting with the first ones, have been buried there. Construction on the current basilica began on April 18, 1506 and was completed in 1626.

 

Walking along the right aisle of the basilica, there are several noteworthy monuments and memorials. The first is Michelangelo's Pietà, located immediately to the right of the entrance. After an incident in 1972 when an individual damaged it with an axe, the sculpture was placed behind protective glass. Up the aisle is the monument of Queen Christina of Sweden, who abdicated in 1654 in order to convert to Catholicism. Further up are the monuments of popes Pius XI and Pius XII, as well as the altar of St Sebastian. Even further up is the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, which is open during religious services only.

 

Walking down the left aisle there is the Altar of Transfiguration. Walking down towards the entrance are the monuments to Leo XI and Innocent XI followed by the Chapel of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. After that come the monuments to Pius X and Innocent VIII, then the monuments to John XXIII and Benedict XV, and the Chapel of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin. There is also a monument to Alexander VII by Bernini. A skeleton lifts a fold of red marble drapery and holds an hourglass symbolising the inevitability of death. He is flanked on the right by a statue representing religion, who holds her foot atop a globe, with a thorn piercing her toe from the British Isles, symbolizing the pope's problems with the Church of England.

 

Over the main altar stands a 30 metres (98 ft) tall baldachin held by four immense pillars, all designed by Bernini between 1624 and 1632. The baldachin was built to fill the space beneath the cupola, and it is said that the bronze used to make it was taken from the Pantheon. The representation of a chair, part of the sculpture, is said to contain the remnants of the chair belonging to Saint Peter (It is also said that it is the largest bronze piece in the world.) Underneath the baldachin is the traditional tomb of St Peter.

 

We then made our way over to The Pantheon - A marvel of ancient architecture, this ancient temple to all the gods is celebrated for its large dome, copied during Greek and Roman revival periods by such designers as Thomas Jefferson. Originally built in 27 BCE as a temple to all the gods of the Roman state religion, but has since served as a Christian church since the 7th century. It is the only building from the Graeco-Roman world which has remained substantially intact and in continuous use throughout to the present day. You can also see the tomb of Raphael which has an inscription.

 

The next day, we went to The Colosseum which I won't explain since I took photos of the explanations and will upload those instead!  We then walked to The Roman Forum (Italian, Foro Romano) which represents the original Forum Romanum, the marketplace and the veritable heart of ancient Rome.  Then we went inside The Vittoriano Monument and on top etc...

 

That was pretty much it, the next morning we said our goodbyes *sniff sniff* and went our seperate ways.  But Rome is a beautiful city and if you ever have the chance, you should go for sure.  So many beautiful sights and buildings and good food!!!