A train ride from Rome to the town of Sperlonga

On our third day in Rome, we woke up early and took a train from the Termini station to Sperlonga. It was about a 1.5 hour trip from Rome, and the trains were a very wallet-friendly way to go from city to city. At that point in our trip, we were a little tired of seeing so many museums and cathedrals, and so sparked our interest in going out on an adventure.

Sperlonga was a small, really cute beach town to the south of Rome on the Mediterranean. We walked around, took pictures, layed out on the beach, put our feet in the water (well, Bryce went all the way in, but it was really cold!). The town was partially set on cliffs...there were mountains all around, which made it really unique almost looking similar to Greece (although we wouldn't know since we've never been). After a long relaxing day, we took the train back to Rome and it didn't take us long to fall asleep.



Our fourth day in Rome, we wanted to go back to the Vatican City and see more of it, like the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museum. We didn't really know how anything worked or where to enter, so we pretty much followed the crowds once we got off of the metro. There are soooo many people from all over the entire world who come to Rome to see the Vatican. The line wasn't too long since it was a Monday. But once we got into the museum, it was packed. It was not even comparable to the Louvre (with which we were much more impressed, as a museum). We got audio guides, but the map was really confusing, so most of the time we were trying to figure out where we were inside the museum while listening to histories of certain artwork. As we walked around, we were practically shoulder to shoulder with other people who were trying to move through the museum. The art was beautiful, but the experience of the museum wasn't as nice as we expected (we felt like we were being herded around because it was so crowded). Many people come to the museum, mostly hoping to see the Sistine Chapel, but in order to get there, you tour the entire museum and then lastly, end up at the Chapel. When we finally got to the Sistine Chapel, we were amazed. We had read a little bit on the different areas of the walls and ceiling, and the meaning behind them (which was worth it). We just staired in awe for a long time, at all the corners and every inch of the Chapel that was painted. After awhile, our necks got tired (we regretted not bringing a small hand mirror to look at...which we were told to do), and plus we were shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of others who were looking at it. It was very impressive and it was just another place that we found ourselves saying, "I can't believe we are here seeing this!"

For the rest of our day, we walked around different little streets and plazas, ate gelato and sat in a park near the Castel along the Tiber River.