Author: Justin Hill

Day 5 We explored Venice and visited the Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Basilica. By this point our energy for art galleries was on the wane, so you might have seen us rushing through with some quick nods at items that looked famous. That afternoon we got in our Gondola Ride. Michael picked a short…

Day 4 After a quick tour of The Pantheon, a 2nd-century building with an amazing dome that was preserved by converting to a Christian church (which limited the pillaging), we took a fast train to Venice. The cheap seats were sold out so we ended up in a private First Class cabin, just the four…

Day 3 The Colosseum! Our Rick Steves guidebook had good advice on avoiding the worst of the lines. After visiting Florence later in the week, I appreciated Rome’s sites all the more because they are so huge. There are a bunch of tourists there but you don’t feel crowded because everyone can spread out. The…

Day 2 Walked past The Colosseum to Top Bike Tours. The bikes were nice (good shocks are helpful on cobblestone) and our tour guide Federico was awesome. We had one other couple in our group. An unfortunate highlight of the tour was when Federico had us stop at one of the many drinking fountains in…

Day 1 We checked in at Casa Il Rosario, a Catholic nunnery-slash-hotel. The location was excellent, a couple of blocks from The Colosseum. The nuns made a mean breakfast with homemade yogurt, granola, and pastries. The hot chocolate machine was amazing and so was the lingonberry juice. We walked to the Borghese Gallery. The Borgheses…