By bmlee18
I remember first watching the classic film, Roman Holiday, starring the beautiful Audrey Hepburn and the charming Gregory Peck. The Rome that I saw in the film was spectacular, and who would've thought then that I would be able to see Rome for myself? After my travels to Capri, I spent four fantastic days touring the Italian capital, marveling at Roman ruins, sampling delicious dishes, and passing by famous Italian fashion brands and gaping at the price tags.
Rome was similar to, but nonetheless uniquely different from the other Italian cities I had visited such as Florence and Venice. While all of these places were bustling with large groups of tourists from all around the world, Rome was especially packed and busy. And given the large amounts of tourists, there were plenty of salesmen and tour guides, waving around their goods and approaching you from all angles possible. I was especially shocked at the Vatican, where I must have encountered at least 50 tour guides trying to sell me special tour packages and skip-the-line tickets as I was walking the relatively short distance from the St. Peter's Basilica to the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel.
I tend to be a pretty spontaneous traveller, ready to encounter and learn about a new place without extensive planning beforehand and figuring out things along the way. This worked out quite fine at the other destinations I had visited, and certainly added an element of adventure and surprise, but for the Vatican, I was totally wrong about choosing to go with the flow.