Family Eurtour 2015: Rome

When in Rome, do not attempt to tour the entire Musei Vaticani and then traipse across the city in 100-degree heat without sufficient hydration. This could potentially lead to your father nearly passing out at dinner and to-go Italian food. Also, if your hotel advertising air-conditioning and wi-fi, make sure both reach all the way to the 4th floor, where you're staying. Not that I know any of this from experience, of course. Why do you ask?

As my mother succinctly put it, "Rome wasn't built in a day, but we sure walked it in a day." Um, yes, yes we did. This is not recommended. We began with a tour of Musei Vaticani...which wasn't air-conditioned. Only a couple of hallways with tapestries and the Sistine Chapel had AC. The rest of it? Forget it. My feet hurt, there were 3,000,000 people there with us, and it was so hot it was nearly impossible to breathe. Did I mention I had to wear a long dress and a cardigan so that I would be properly covered up to enter the Sistine Chapel and other chapels. Right. A former coworker of mine told me that his dad said Europe was just ABC: "Another Bloody Church." I can't speak to all of Europe, but that's pretty true for Rome.

After we finally got out of there, we set about to walk and see the monuments of the city, but we only made it to two (the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain, which was under renovation) before it started to storm. We ducked into a little restaurant to grab some food, since we were exhausted and hungry and dehydrated. It's a good thing we did - it all kind of spiraled downhill from there. I'll spare you the details.

By a collective vote, we weren't major fans of Rome. It was crowded, infinitely sketchy at times, dirty, and mother of God, was it HOT. I didn't have any particular love for Rome on my last trip, but it really was just not a pleasant 24 hours this time. It's full art and history and monuments and all sorts of stuff that needs to be seen...but not worth anything more than a day or a long weekend. There's your travel tip of the day. Just trust me, and if you don't, call my mom and dad. They'll set you straight.

But - the Family Eurotour 2015 carries on! Next stop: Vienna, Austria. Stay tuned...

xoxo,
(Disgruntled and hot) E and Mom and Dad

My personal highlight of Rome: the stand near the train station that sold fresh fruit.

Vatican City walls - meant to last

One entrance and exit = one giant cluster

Here goes nothin'...

Loved all the fancy ceilings

Hey, Roma

The talent - and PATIENCE - artists and architects had back then...

Trying not to die of heatstroke

Animal sculptures

More ceilings

All the time we're looking at this art, I just wanted to be holed up in the shade with a glass of wine reading Angels and Demons.

Mosaic tile floor

Interior courtyard

A surreptitious (and illegal) picture of the Sistine Chapel ceiling...stunning.

Those palm trees.

The spiral "staircase" to leave

Looking back up

The Pope was granting a "special audience" to the people at 6pm. This was the crowd waiting at 4ish. We called it "The Pope Show." Needless to say we couldn't get into St. Peter's Basilica.

Obligatory pic of a Swiss Guard in his "fruity-cool clothing."

Getting dark and stormy over the Tiber

The Pantheon

Annnnd that's a wrap on Rome.