When in Rome...

So I was in charge of setting up our tour in Rome and getting 8 total people. I already had my friend and her husband and I quickly found the other four through a group we had created on Facebook. I had originally set up a tour with a popular company in Italy, but they changed their rates after I booked with them and were going to charge me the higher amounts. So I backed out and found a place that was around my original price and had good reviews on TripAdvisor.
The company we went with was Drive Around Italy, we were picked up by Joseph (now sometimes I wonder if I got his name right because we were the only one to get Joseph as a driver if true!). The Rome port is a little chaotic and the police there are very iffy about pulling your car up and stopping to pick people up. So it was a little awkward.
Once in the vehicle we were told it would be about an hour to Rome which was no surprise to us. There was a book that was passed around that was really neat and sadly Amazon.com does not sell it! So buy it in Rome if you want it! It shows how the original monuments were when they were built and then how they look now. As we were driving, he told us history facts about the city and then we also passed The Vatican, which we will go to in the afternoon. We stopped for a neat photo-op of The Colosseum. We had previously bought tickets to The Colosseum which also includes The Forum and Palatine Hill. So you may go into any of those entrances. We were dropped off and given one hour for all three. I had been to them before, but my husband had not. So we started in the Forum which is just gorgeous, then we headed to Palatine Hill which is also just as neat. It is just crazy to think how old these areas and some of the structures are. First picture is Roman Forum and the second picture is Palantine Hill:

The Forum

Palatine Hill

We then walked to the Colosseum where there was a long line, however, we found the reservation line (which is what we had) and bypassed quite a big group. We also may have entered the tour line, but we weren't completely sure. Anyways--we were in within 5 minutes! It was a very hot day and very crowded (nothing new there). It was another gorgeous site and definitely a must-see!

The Colosseum 

Inside the Colosseum 

We found our driver at the hour point and we went to Trevi Fountain. We were told if you throw one coin in, it means that you will come back to Rome. Then if you throw two coins in, you find love. If you throw three coins in, you get a divorce! It was entertaining, fun, and beautiful. It was of course, very busy, again, no shocker there! Then we drove by Spanish Steps and headed for lunch!

Trevi Fountain

Trevi Fountain

Spanish Steps

We went to Renovatio for lunch, we were dropped off and a reserved table was waiting for us 8! We all ordered some type of pizza and some wine/beer. My husband and I also ordered some pasta. I love Italian pizza...it is way better than our American version of it. So I really enjoyed their pizza, we thought the ravioli was okay, but the sauce is just different. It was good but nothing to blog about :)

Now it was time to head to The Vatican City. This is a great place and it is a must to have a tour guide. If you have plans to just walk through the museums yourself, you are missing out on so much. I repeat again, It is a MUST to have a tour guide through the museums! My husband said this whole day was his favorite part and the tour through the Vatican was a big part of this. We booked this through the tour company and pre-paid. We were taken through the museums, Sistine Chapel, and then St. Peter's Basilica. The tour guide was great and actually worked at the museums. It was a little random when he asked us to pay his entrance fee as we were never told this (so clarify this if you book a tour from the company you choose to book through). Here are some pictures from the amazing tour and by the way, pictures are forbidden in the Sistine Chapel except for when they are not enforcing it! Guess what- they were not doing it the day we were there or at least for the first ten minutes! So lucky us!

Beautiful tapestries in the museum

Sistine Chapel

St. Peter's Basilica

At the end of the Vatican tour we were asked for the money for the tour and I told them I had pre-paid and had the email for it. So I believe if you do these type of excursions, make sure if you scheduled it, you have all the documents you used in order to book it and contact numbers and such. The driver/tour guides don't always know what was booked or what happened. It was a busy and fun day, and well worth it! I could stay in Rome for a good week just enjoying eating and walking around all the architecture.  Next Stop: Salerno (Naples) Port