We loved Rome. SO much cool architecture and ruins just sprinkled through the sprawling city. It was...unlike anything else I'd ever seen. We did a ton of walking around. We went to Vatican city only because I wanted to see the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Unfortunately they make you wind through the ENTIRE Vatican museum in order to see it, which was kind of annoying. And I have to say, the excessiveness of the art and the insane prices in the gift shop (I'm sure, though we blew past it too quickly to verify) just didn't give me the best of feelings. Somehow it made me feel like the Vatican was missing the whole point. But that's another blog entry all together. The ceiling was pretty awesome though, and so it was worth it. Can't take any pictures in there unfortunately, but it was a really cool experience.
The Colloseum was pretty awesome. As you may imagine we took a ton of pictures.
Love the little sprig of green in this one...
Classic example of how ruins are just everywhere in Rome... There's the Colloseum, just right by the main road.
I mean, how amazing is it inside? Imagine all those lions and tigers roaming around the maze in the bottom just waiting to fight the gladiators.
A friend of mine (I'll not use names, so as to protect the not-so-innocent) told me a story about how his brother was in Rome with some friends and they hopped the fence and snuck inside the Colloseum at 3am (quite drunk, as the story goes) and ran around down on the stage and in the maze below. How amazing must that have been?
Loved the actors who pose as gladiators and try to get you to pay them for pictures.
And apparently, it works sometimes...
The only time in Italy we took a guided tour (with one of those ladies with a flag) was in Rome, and even though our guide was hard to understand and we eventually abandoned the tour early to take pictures of that gorgeous bride and groom. It was worth it to get inside the Colloseum and walk through the Forum though.
Us on the tour bus at the start of the tour, trying to figure out how the headphones work.
These stones in the Forum have been there since Jesus's time. So amazing.
View of the Forum from above.
Me drinking from the old Roman water fountains, which I thought were so stinkin' cool. They are just taps where water flows freely and you can either fill up a water bottle, or plug the spout and water will come up through a hole in the top and you can take a drink. Amazing, genius design.
We also thought the Pantheon was cool. Really cool light to take pictures in.
And people liked to pose right in the center of the spotlight.
But we found that the best light for pictures was just on the edge of the circle of light.
And we loved this couple at the fountain just in front of the Pantheon. They were splashing each other, and having a ball.
We had lunch at this amazing place with absolutely the world's best pizza. BEST.
And we decided this is our house in Rome. Three story townhouse with a perfect blue door, right next to the restaurant with the world's best pizza? Yes please.
Lots more wandering around and taking of pictures. Loved this one from the fancy shopping district.
A chalk artist. Kind of like Burt from
Mary Poppins. Only Italian. And yes, that does say "Lost Tourist Information". See how lovely and helpful the Italians are?
Columns of an old church in the Forum.
Italians are beautiful people. AND beautifully dressed beautiful people. How gorgeous are these swanky shoppers?
Case in point, we had dinner at this outdoor restaurant next to this super hip Italian guy and his French model girlfriend. He was from Milan but had a place in NYC (SoHo) and in Rome and chatted with us about American politics and about how pro-American he was, and then also spoke fluent French to his girlfriend who spoke no English and only had two bites of dessert. Well...good for her. I'm on vacation. This is me at the end of the meal, perhaps after some wine was had.
After a drink from the rooftop bar of our hotel on our last night.
We had a wonderful trip, but by the time it was over, we were ready to come home and start our lives together. It was a trip we'll never forget. Not picture perfect, as we had our share of frustrations. I didn't even post about how Geoff had to coordinate two wedding shoots from Tuscany for his business and had to be in touch with both brides, planners, the shooters, the audio guy and we had limited phone access and virtually no internet. Yeah. Which is part of what made Tuscany so challenging. We spent part of almost every day on the corner of this bench near the library in Montespertoli where he could sometimes KINDA get a signal. Kinda. And had our first couple of serious conflicts as a married couple too. But that's life, isn't it? Fights happen, work gets in the way, and just when you need it most, the internet is bound to fail you. All in all, it's a trip we will never forget. We loved it and would love to go back. Next time: Cinque Terra, the Amalfi Coast, and Capri. And more...
But for now....back to New York!
