Travel Diary : Rome, Italy

Here are some photos we took on our family vacation to Rome during the summer of 2017. We decided that we will start a tradition of traveling out of the US every summer. Jerrid and I want our son to be able to experience the world. There is no better learning experience than to travel and explore the world around you first hand. Jerrid and I have been getting the travel itch for some time now, and it was just a matter of making that choice to go! Now we're hooked and have booked our summer trip for 2018 already. We can't wait!


During our trip to Europe in the summer of 2017, we visited Paris, France and Rome, Italy. We loved both cities and I will be sharing photos from Paris in another blog post. Rome was a beautiful city with so much history at every corner. Its pretty well preserved for being so old. Its like traveling back in time when you're there.

We visited the usual tourist spots and got some great photos. We saw the Colosseum first. We took a train from our hotel, which was very close to the Termini train station so our commute everywhere was via the train. Using the train system every tourist spot is pretty much a train stop, and a 10-15 minute commute.

The Colosseum was breathtaking. Stepping out of the train stain, its the first thing that you see. During the summer it is a popular tourist spot, so I suggest getting tickets online if you plan on going inside. I got our tickets online and we got to skip the very long line that was waiting to buy tickets. We just had to go through a much shorter line to get our bags checked and we were in.

The Colosseum is Rome's great gladiatorial amphitheater where the citizens of Rome would gather to watch gladiators fight animals and one another to the death. It averaged an audience of 65,000. The Colosseum is an archeological site and a great place or touristic interest. I would definitely recommend that you visit here, or add it to your travel bucket list.





Here is a photo of Jerrid and JJ waiting in line to get water. The water foundations are just water spouts throughout the grounds, so if you don't want to carry around a heavy bottle of water, bring an empty bottle and fill it up along the way.

Along with your entry ticket to the Colosseum, you can enter the grounds of Palatine Hill.

Palatine Hill is one of the most ancient parts of the city of Rome. Imperial palaces were built here. There is just so much history, and we were taking the same footsteps as people have taken centuries ago in this amazing place. In our photos we were up at a popular photo taking spot that overlooks most of Palatine Hill, but you can walk many parts of the forum and through the ancient ruins. Its absolutely breathtaking.






You will also see many "gladiators" round the grounds who are ready to snap a picture with you, for a price. We ended up paying this guy 10 euros, but it was all worth it.

Our next stop was the beautiful Trevi Fountain. This is one of the largest Baroque fountains in the city. There is a tradition of coin throwing using a technique of tossing the coin using your right hand over your right shoulder. About 3,000 euros are thrown into the fountain daily! The fountain is beautiful to see during the day and such a sight to see at night as well when it is all lit up. We were lucky to take a trip there during the day and night time to experience both sights.




A quick walk from the Trevi fountain and we were approaching the Spanish Steps. The streets are lined with cute shops and restaurants. Once approaching the Spanish Steps the shops become high end designer retailers. I stopped by Chanel and Gucci right before they were preparing to close.




Another days journey took us to Vatican City, a beautiful independent state that is located within the city of Rome. It is the smallest state in the world and has a population of about 1,000. Within the walls of Vatican City lie the beautiful St. Peter's Basilica, the famous Sistine Chapel, and the Vatican Museums.










We had to make another trip back to the Colosseum at night to see it lit up. We just fell in love with Rome and do wish to return soon for another trip.