The one where 2013 begins with a bang!

January 1st, in addition to being the beginning of 2013, a year that is sure to be AWESOME, was a day of even more sight-seeing. Because it was a holiday, most of the sites and museums were closed. We had planned in advance and saved the free/outside places for this day. Our first stop was the Trevi fountain, which was very crowded, probably because many other people had the same idea as us. Then we headed to the Pantheon, which was impressive. On our way to the next place, we somehow ended up back at the Trevi fountain, which was good because we had forgotten to throw the required coin in to ensure our return to Rome.

Next was the Spanish Steps, which were completely inundated with people. There was an extremely fascinating concert by what I think was a marching band. There is a large New Year's parade in Rome that has bands from across the world and of which this band was probably a part of. We were tired and we wanted some pics on the steps, so we found somewhere to plop down, eat our sandwiches, and enjoy the music. After the required pictures, we did some errands finding some postcards and seeking out some more gelato, which was absolutely delicious, thank you! Finally came the part I was most anxious to take part in, seeing the first Hobbit movie. IT WAS AWESOME!!! And it was in English, with Italian subtitles, which only were a hindrance when the characters spoke elven or orc. Finally we headed back to a quiet dinner in our hotel room and some Friends episode clips on YouTube.

The next day was our last day in Rome. We still had one more free site/museum with our Roma pass, so we selected Musei Capitolini. I wanted somewhere more in line with Ancient Rome rather than more Renaissance paintings. Capitolini includes many of the statues, artifacts, and ruins found at the nearby Palatine Hill area. It also has some unique viewpoints through some of the original archways down onto the Palatine Hill area. I highly suggest it to those who want more Ancient Rome!

Look! I found Big Foot!!

Next we headed over to Vatican City, where we had reservations at the museum for 1pm. Unfortunately, I was already tired by the time we arrived. The museum has some cool exhibits, but I found it suffers from a lack of context. For example, there is an exhibit on ancient Egypt, but why? It seems rather random, rather like showing off a personal collection without explaining the meaning behind the objects. The Sistine chapel was very well done and exemplary of the time. Katie and I said that the drawings there and on the similar ceilings seemed like a page of doodles by those with talent. Rather haphazard but nonetheless works of art.


Then we headed to the other side of Vatican City to see St. Peter's basilica. There was a singing group a bit ahead of us in line which entertained us for a while. St. Peter's was worth the wait, and I am glad to have see the biggest church in the world. Before we knew it, it was time to pack up and find one last dinner to close out this leg of my trip. We ended with pasta and more pastries, but sadly these could not compete with the ones we had in Florence.

I left early in the morning for one of the Rome airports, with Katie departing later for a different one. It was sad to leave her, but at least I am secure in knowing that we had a trip of a lifetime together! I spent the whole day traveling, first to Madrid, and then by bus to Barcelona, where I finally met up with Marissa at nearly two in the morning for the final stop in my winter adventure!