the vatican

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Our last day in the Italian capital was solely dedicated to the Vatican City. I may have been there done that in 2012, but I definitely didn’t have the t-shirt. I couldn’t wait to get back – all I could really remember of the 0.44 sqkm sovereign state was being completely and utterly in awe of it. As soon as we arrived in the square, I realised that my feelings and memories of the smallest city in the world were not about to change.

  

Thanks to our Omnia passes, we were able to by-pass the four-hour queue in the 43 degree heat and jump to the front of the line for the Vatican museum. The museum is fascinating and there are some beautiful pieces of art held here – but we were racing to the finish line; Michelangelo’s masterpiece, the Sistine Chapel.

rome-ing

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“Dolce far niente”

After ‘Sight Seeing Saturday’, followed by a few too many prosecco’s back with our favourite Ro-man the night before – we decided to live and breathe my new favourite Italian phrase meaning the sweetness of doing nothing. What better way to spend a summer Sunday in Italy?

We had no plan, no itinerary, no schedule – our only objective was to enjoy our day, soak up Italian life and relax.

rome wasn’t built in a day…

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…but we certainly made a good dent in travelling it in a day!

After our near disastrous Race to Rome – Monarch Air got us to the eternal city with our tourists hats at the ready. We checked in at Hotel Beautiful, which ironically was anything and everything but beautiful – it was an absolute dive. It was conveniently located though, right by Termini station. They say all roads lead to Rome – but when in Rome, all transport lines lead to Termani – so Hotel Beautifuls location was its (only) beauty. We didn’t let the torn wallpaper, the no air conditioning or fan, the lose power sockets or the spraying toilet flush put us off our game plan however – we were in Rome, we were going to do it and do it well.

 

snapped while rome-ing | three

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Communion rosary beads from the Vatican

snapped while rome-ing | two

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Aperol Sprtiz’s and olives in Trastevere

snapped while rome-ing | one

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Roman Forum

racing to rome

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Travelling within Europe from London isn’t as simple as you assume it would be. Yes it’s easier to get anywhere within this vastly cultural continent than from my isolated island homeland – but it really isn’t as simple as popping to Italy for the weekend. For example, today’s trip to Rome consisted of;

A 20 minute tube to Victoria Station

A 15 minute walk to Victoria Coach Station

A 90 minute bus to Luton Airport