Damkier's Travels: Rome - September 2025

Yes, that is the Colosseum with the moon in the window. It is big and old and still impresses everyone who steps out of the subway station named after this ancient Roman icon. I ended my Italy trip in the great city of Rome, but I actually recommend starting your trip here as it can be eclipsed by the other Italian cities. Nevertheless, visiting Italy without Rome is like eating spaghetti without meatballs! Read my food entry to get the joke. I arrived late from Croatia and had time for a quick trip to the supermarket and more wonderful laundry before my next day trip in the morning.

My first day in Rome was actually spent in Pompeii and Naples. I had a tour booked using high speed rail from Rome to Naples with a bus taking us to the ruins and city tour. Pompeii was worth the trip to see such well preserved ancient ruins. It lives up to the hype with the long lines for the brothel and various other images popular with the residents. Mount Vesuvius looms over the horizon as a still active volcano ready to bury another city under its ashes. Our tour guide educated us about the history including the desire of a local king to excavate the city as a way to increase tourism in the area. Funny how civic leaders still think the same way!

Naples surprised me. I was not expecting it to be so beautiful and interesting. We took a drive around the city stopping at a few key locations. The waterfront is really spectacular with the harbor surrounded by the beautiful city and mountains. Our stop at the indoor galleria was nice and allowed me to sample their local pastries including the sfogliatella which is an impossibly delicate nest of pastry shells filled with flavored cream. We also had amazing pizza before heading back to Rome on the train. This was a fun day.

Saturday was my day to visit the Roman ruins and Colosseum. I managed to get an early ticket to enter the Colosseum, but it was not that impressive inside. However, the ticket allowed me access to the full complex including the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. The ruins really didn't do much for me. It was a lot of walking and looking at old columns and various marble debris, but it was one of those things you do in Rome. I was glad to be done and head for the best pasta and gelato on the trip and rest. Saturday night was a special Tipsy Tour with a large group of fellow travelers exploring the nightlife of Rome. That was a fun night with a bachelor party I saw earlier at the Pantheon, a nice German couple, and several people from the UK, Scotland, and Australia. We ended the night singing Italian and Spanish karaoke in a Scottish Pub.

One of the highlights of my trip full of highlights was to attend an Italian soccer game. Technically a Serie A football game which is like attending a NFL game in the United States, but much more fun! The game was on Sunday and took most of the day with travel and pre and post game excitement. AS Roma plays in Stadio Olympico which was part of the olympics and it rather old and large. It was rather basic with limited concessions and confusing seats. However the real attraction is the fanbase with amazing energy and loyalty. Fans linger outside the stadium around the mobile food trucks and bars. The game was great with a high level of play, but Torino's defense kept the score to a 0-1 loss for AS Roma even with a few amazing shots. I wore my Sacramento Republic FC jersey on the advice of a friend which was a BIG hit. I got a lot of positive attention and questions about it. It took a long time to get back to the apartment after the game with road closures and random bus changes and closures really making it a challenge. But it was truly amazing.

After the game, I finally accepted the fact that I was sick with a cold. Getting sick on a vacation really sucks, but I had to push through my last few days. I managed to rest enough to take the subway to see the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain. The temptation of good gelato also helped. The sunset was truly magical even after skipping the two hour line to toss coins into the fountain. The area around the Spanish Steps has a lot of high end shopping including Giorgio Armani who died during my trip. It was a nice end to the day, but I still needed to go to church.

Vatican City is the smallest independent country in the world. Run as a monarchy under the Pope, it is independent from Italy but still very dependent as it's surrounded! This was my 16th country to visit. I booked a tour of the Vatican Museum and gardens. The walk around the garden was nice, but we were all anticipating the end of the tour in the Sistine Chapel. We saw the major highlights of the museum on the tour, but you could easily spend all day there. It is probably the only museum you need to see in Rome and easily the best. They do not allow photography in the Sistine Chapel, but I can tell you it was incredible. Looking up to see Michelangelo's Creation painting with Adam and God surrounded by many other iconic religious imagery is a real treat. I was able to snag a seat to help extend my viewing between coughing and aching feet. The Vatican Museum has a decent food court for lunch and espresso, but unfortunately my ticket did not include admission to St. Peter's Basilica. The basilica also closed randomly in the afternoon making it impossible to visit on my last day in Rome. So I went back to the apartment, licked my wounds, and developed a plan to book tickets early before my flight and rush through the most important place in the Catholic Church.

My plan was to get up early, clean up the apartment, have breakfast, drop the bags off at storage, slog through the security lines at the Vatican, rush through St Peter's then head to the airport. Like a biblical miracle, everything worked on my final day in Italy. My ticket bypassed all the lines parting the seas for my entry. The place was fairly empty so I had lots of time to linger and watch people assembling for the morning mass in this very active church. The organ kicked in and choir sang as I was walking around the spectacular church. It is very big and very opulent inside. The size and magnitude of St Peters is a true sight and not to be missed on any trip. Being a sick and tired pilgrim aligned me with the masses of people heading here over the centuries. I even got some holy water to take home!

The rest of my long day involved a subway ride to the train station for a train to the airport. Once there I went through many passport and security controls reserved for travelers to the USA and Israel. One last stop for an Italian lunch, pastry and espresso, and spending my last Euros at the duty free shop. Time to change into my comfortable clothes and prepare for a 12 hour flight followed by a 2 hour flight after a full day of activity. I easily cleared customs in Denver and made my connection to Sacramento arriving home around 11:00 PM with lots of jet lag and a lingering cold. 17 amazing days of travel to an amazing country with a lifetime of amazing experiences. Please enjoy the rest of my photos below, and please visit Italy if you have a chance!