Rome was absolutley AMAZING!!! It is crazy that one place can have so much history. It was so neat to walk to the same path that Julius Ceasar once walked. Well, here is my attempt at trying to recap the trip. Enjoy!
October 14, 2008
Today is our anniversary. I can't believe it has ben a year already! We left for airport at about 9am. Our flight left at about noon. We got to Newark ontime and there were no delays on either side. We flew with Continental which was nice. On the flight from Newark to Rome, we had individual TVs on the back of each seat. These Tvs had on demand entertainment. We were able to pick from over 300 movies, 50 tv shows and a few different video games. On the way there I watched Kung Fu Panda. I slept most of the way after that. I knew that we would be walking around once we got there, so I needed to geet some sleep. The flight went overnight and because of the time change we didn't get to Rome until October 15th.
October 15, 2008
Well, we made it to Rome. It is amazing. We got here about 10 minutes behind schedule. The lines were long to taxi out of Newark. There was a driver waiting for us at the airport. Holy cow, I thought driving in New York was bad. It was CRAZY. lol We went out and explored some already today. We walked around for about 2 hours until our room was ready. We are staying in Trastever n a B&B called Arco del Lauro. The locals say that it is the stomach of Rome and I can see why. There are so many restaurants, trattorias and cafes in this tiny little area. Today we went to Campo de Fiori which is a piazza that has been turned into a market. The fruits and veggies looked amazing. There were meat stands, cheese stands and even seafood. We had our first Gelati today. It was SOOO YUMMY, but So sweet! I could only eat about half of mine. We also went to St Maria's. It was beautiful!! It amazes me how beatiful these churches are. After wondering around the city for a while we went back to the room and took a nap. We woke up at abou 7pm and went to dinner. In Rome people don't start eating dinner until about 8pm. So when we went out there weren't very many people at the restaurant. We decided to stayclose to the B&B andwent to a Pizzerira right around the corner. I had a pizza with ham, egg, olives and artichoke. YUM!! I love the thing crust and the taste that it gets from the brick oven. Tim had Mozzarella and ham. We were pretty tired still, so after dinner we just called it a night to rest up for tomorrow.
October 16, 2008
We went to the Vatican this morning! Wow, I think today was the mst exhausting day of my life!!! I am so extremely tired. My feet hurt the worst they have ever hurt in my life. It is funny how something so amazing adn be so incredible painful at the same time. lol The Basillica was AMAZING! The sculptures, the paintings and just the history to that church blew me away. We then walked to the Vatican Museum. The art there was indescribable. THEN we got to see the Sistine Chapel. WHiel you are in the Sistine Chapel, they ask that you be quiet and that you don't take any pictures or video. Every 5 minutes or so, a guard would yel, no camera... or shush the crowd. lol So much for bing quiet. We did sneak a couple pctures adn some video though. Hey, I was in the Sistine Chapel. I may never get back there to see it again. I was going to take a picture. lol Talk about breath taking!!!
While this may not sound like a lot, it is! We had to walk about 30 minutes to The Vatican. Then we were standing and walking around the Basillica for about an hour to an hour and a half. Then we had to walk about a mile to get to the museum. Then we spent about 4 hours in the musesum. Then the walk back to the B&B. My feet hurt so bad that I didnt think I was going to make it. lol But here I am.
Wewent to a little trattoria arond thecorner fromt he B&B. I couldnever figure out tename of the place. It didn't say it anywhere, but we ate there a couple of times. YUMMY YUMMY!! We started outwith an antiposto which was justslices of meat and mozzarella and bread. I thought it was very tasty. We also ordered some house red wine. I am not a big fan of red wine, but this was so good. Tim ordered a liter! We are not use to having to order a size other than glass or botle! lol It was a lot of wine, but we managed to drink it all. lol Tim had Carbonara and I had Cannelloni. After dinner we had Tiramasu. OMFG!!! I am a big fan of Tiramasu, and I have to say, I have had one that was ever close to this good. I love the dinner experience in Rome. It is seen as a family affair and the way to unwind at the end of the day. They don't eat until about 8pm and they actally sit and enjoy it. In America, we are in and out of a place in an hour. In Rome, dinner can be expected to take about 2-3 hours. he waiters do not bother ou and you have to flag them over most of the time to order or if you need anything. The food doesn't come out all at the same time and you get to sit, drink wine, talk and enjoy the streets of Rome. It almost seems like something out of a move. Most of the restaurants are tables outside. So far I love it here!
October 17, 2008
Today we woke up and it was raining. Not too bad, but enough that we had to carry our umbrellas. We went to the little cafe around the corner for our Italian Breakfast (cappucino and sweet croissant). YUMMY!! Then we started our walk. We went the the Panthoen first. WOW!! I had said earlier that it would be neat if it was raining when we went to the Pantheon. I got my wish. lol The reason I said it would be neat is because at the top of the dome their is a hole called the Oculus. Well, it is completly open. Nothing to cover it. SOO the rain comes in. There are drains in the floor. So it was neat to see the rain coming down inside this beautiful building.
Then we walked to the Trevi Fountain. This is what I was looking most forward to seeing. About a minute after we got there, the clouds disappeared and out came the sun. It was BEAUTIFUL!!! I tossed in my coin to ensure my return to rome. After that we walked over to the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II. That thing is HUGE. I mean, it looks big in pictures, but you cant even comprehend until you see it up close. Right next to that is The Trajan Column. Just down the street you can see the coloseum peeping thru. We are saving that for another day. PHEW. As we were walking about to the B&B, we passed the Roman Forums. We peeked in, but are going to look more closely another day.We grabbed a little sandwich from a little shop after the Trevi Fountain. It looked like a colzone, but it was made from croisant dough and it was filled with ham and mozarella. OMG, it was soooooo good!!! The food is amazing. I have no clue where we are going for dinner tonight. We will prbably just wonder the streets again till we find someplace that looks good! lol
October 18, 2008
Well, today was suppose to be a side trip out of Rome, but it didnt turn out that way. I was up most of the night last night sick. I hate being sick away from home. So today ended up being a recovery day. We both needed that. Our feet are still so sore. Almost bruised it seems. But hey, I am still tuffing it out. We ended up going out to eat after I was feeling better. I had the best Gnocchi I have ever had!!! It was Gnocchi with Bolognese sauce. I could eat that meal everyday!!!
October 19, 2008
Today we got up early and went to the market. It was HUGE. It was just like a normal Flea Market anywhere else, but oh well. It was still neat to see the things they were selling. After the market we decided to go to Tivoli to Villa d'Este . What an adventure!!! lol It is about an hour outside of Rome. We had to take a bus to the Termini station and then take the metro to Ponte Mommolo and then take a shuttle for about 45 minutes. PHEW! Tim was not happy and being poopy! lol He is so afraid to do things out of his comfort zone, so this really freaked him out. But we made it. The Gardens are amazing. I cant wait to show the pictures to you of the amazing fountains they have. It is basically just a garden FULL of fountains. Some huge and some very small. It was beautiful. It was up on the side of a mountain, so the view from up there was pretty awesome too. Tim wants Pizza tonight for dinner, so it looks like we are going to hit up a pizzeria for dinner. We had Pizza the first night we were here, but oh well. Tim had pizza with tomatoe, Basil and Mozzorella. It looked very good. I had noodles with pesto. YUM-O!!
October 20, 2008
Another tiring, yet amazing day in the books. Well, today we started out by walking to the Roman Forums and Palentino Hill. We walk thru all of that. That took about 2 hours. Then we went over to the Coloseum. I didnt think I really cared about going inside, but we did and I am glad we did. It was so awesome to walk the same hallways that famous emporors and Gladiators did. After that we walked over to S. Maria in Cosmedin where the mouth of truth is. I got to stick my hand in the mouth and it was still there when I brought it back out, so I havent told a lie. lol Its cool to be able to do that knowing all the history behind it. Also I got to put my hand somewhere that Audrey Hephburn had also. lol In the mivie The Roman Holiday she visits the mouth of truth. It was really awesome.
October 21, 2008
Well, today was bust!!!! We were on the Metro on our way too the Borghese Gallery when Tim got pickpocketed and his wallet stolen. He had been so careful and cautious all week. BUT The door was closing on me on the train and he lunged forward to help me leaving his wallet unprotected adn it got taken. He lost all of his cards and ID. Our possports and everything were safe back at the hotel. We were able to cancel his cards so that they cant do anything with those. Basically all they got was 100€. Tim now has to go thru all the hassle of getting all his cards sent to him again. The one thing he is worried about is his government ID. He has Super top Clearance for work with that card. He is talking to his boss about it right now. With the military it usually has his SSN number on. He cant remember if this one does also. SOOO We flagged the credit agency to contact us if anyone tries to open andything new. Such a hassle. BUT hey, it was our last day, I still have a working ATM card, we only spent half of our budget and we had a GREAT time (up until now)!!! So we just got everythin packed and walked around Trastevere for the rest of the day. We fly home tomorrow.
October 22, 2008
We were up early this morning! We woke up at about 5:30am. Our flight leaves at 9:55am. There was a taxi waiting for us at 6:45am. The trip was amazing! We had so much fun. We aren't going to let the last day influence how we remember the trip. Anyway we have a LONG day of travel ahead of us!
October 23, 2008
It is so great to be home!!!! Last night I slept like a log! It is so nice to be back in our own bed. Now I can start planning our next adventure! :)
October 14, 2008
Today is our anniversary. I can't believe it has ben a year already! We left for airport at about 9am. Our flight left at about noon. We got to Newark ontime and there were no delays on either side. We flew with Continental which was nice. On the flight from Newark to Rome, we had individual TVs on the back of each seat. These Tvs had on demand entertainment. We were able to pick from over 300 movies, 50 tv shows and a few different video games. On the way there I watched Kung Fu Panda. I slept most of the way after that. I knew that we would be walking around once we got there, so I needed to geet some sleep. The flight went overnight and because of the time change we didn't get to Rome until October 15th.
October 15, 2008
Well, we made it to Rome. It is amazing. We got here about 10 minutes behind schedule. The lines were long to taxi out of Newark. There was a driver waiting for us at the airport. Holy cow, I thought driving in New York was bad. It was CRAZY. lol We went out and explored some already today. We walked around for about 2 hours until our room was ready. We are staying in Trastever n a B&B called Arco del Lauro. The locals say that it is the stomach of Rome and I can see why. There are so many restaurants, trattorias and cafes in this tiny little area. Today we went to Campo de Fiori which is a piazza that has been turned into a market. The fruits and veggies looked amazing. There were meat stands, cheese stands and even seafood. We had our first Gelati today. It was SOOO YUMMY, but So sweet! I could only eat about half of mine. We also went to St Maria's. It was beautiful!! It amazes me how beatiful these churches are. After wondering around the city for a while we went back to the room and took a nap. We woke up at abou 7pm and went to dinner. In Rome people don't start eating dinner until about 8pm. So when we went out there weren't very many people at the restaurant. We decided to stayclose to the B&B andwent to a Pizzerira right around the corner. I had a pizza with ham, egg, olives and artichoke. YUM!! I love the thing crust and the taste that it gets from the brick oven. Tim had Mozzarella and ham. We were pretty tired still, so after dinner we just called it a night to rest up for tomorrow.
October 16, 2008
We went to the Vatican this morning! Wow, I think today was the mst exhausting day of my life!!! I am so extremely tired. My feet hurt the worst they have ever hurt in my life. It is funny how something so amazing adn be so incredible painful at the same time. lol The Basillica was AMAZING! The sculptures, the paintings and just the history to that church blew me away. We then walked to the Vatican Museum. The art there was indescribable. THEN we got to see the Sistine Chapel. WHiel you are in the Sistine Chapel, they ask that you be quiet and that you don't take any pictures or video. Every 5 minutes or so, a guard would yel, no camera... or shush the crowd. lol So much for bing quiet. We did sneak a couple pctures adn some video though. Hey, I was in the Sistine Chapel. I may never get back there to see it again. I was going to take a picture. lol Talk about breath taking!!!
While this may not sound like a lot, it is! We had to walk about 30 minutes to The Vatican. Then we were standing and walking around the Basillica for about an hour to an hour and a half. Then we had to walk about a mile to get to the museum. Then we spent about 4 hours in the musesum. Then the walk back to the B&B. My feet hurt so bad that I didnt think I was going to make it. lol But here I am.
Wewent to a little trattoria arond thecorner fromt he B&B. I couldnever figure out tename of the place. It didn't say it anywhere, but we ate there a couple of times. YUMMY YUMMY!! We started outwith an antiposto which was justslices of meat and mozzarella and bread. I thought it was very tasty. We also ordered some house red wine. I am not a big fan of red wine, but this was so good. Tim ordered a liter! We are not use to having to order a size other than glass or botle! lol It was a lot of wine, but we managed to drink it all. lol Tim had Carbonara and I had Cannelloni. After dinner we had Tiramasu. OMFG!!! I am a big fan of Tiramasu, and I have to say, I have had one that was ever close to this good. I love the dinner experience in Rome. It is seen as a family affair and the way to unwind at the end of the day. They don't eat until about 8pm and they actally sit and enjoy it. In America, we are in and out of a place in an hour. In Rome, dinner can be expected to take about 2-3 hours. he waiters do not bother ou and you have to flag them over most of the time to order or if you need anything. The food doesn't come out all at the same time and you get to sit, drink wine, talk and enjoy the streets of Rome. It almost seems like something out of a move. Most of the restaurants are tables outside. So far I love it here!
October 17, 2008
Today we woke up and it was raining. Not too bad, but enough that we had to carry our umbrellas. We went to the little cafe around the corner for our Italian Breakfast (cappucino and sweet croissant). YUMMY!! Then we started our walk. We went the the Panthoen first. WOW!! I had said earlier that it would be neat if it was raining when we went to the Pantheon. I got my wish. lol The reason I said it would be neat is because at the top of the dome their is a hole called the Oculus. Well, it is completly open. Nothing to cover it. SOO the rain comes in. There are drains in the floor. So it was neat to see the rain coming down inside this beautiful building.
Then we walked to the Trevi Fountain. This is what I was looking most forward to seeing. About a minute after we got there, the clouds disappeared and out came the sun. It was BEAUTIFUL!!! I tossed in my coin to ensure my return to rome. After that we walked over to the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II. That thing is HUGE. I mean, it looks big in pictures, but you cant even comprehend until you see it up close. Right next to that is The Trajan Column. Just down the street you can see the coloseum peeping thru. We are saving that for another day. PHEW. As we were walking about to the B&B, we passed the Roman Forums. We peeked in, but are going to look more closely another day.We grabbed a little sandwich from a little shop after the Trevi Fountain. It looked like a colzone, but it was made from croisant dough and it was filled with ham and mozarella. OMG, it was soooooo good!!! The food is amazing. I have no clue where we are going for dinner tonight. We will prbably just wonder the streets again till we find someplace that looks good! lol
October 18, 2008
Well, today was suppose to be a side trip out of Rome, but it didnt turn out that way. I was up most of the night last night sick. I hate being sick away from home. So today ended up being a recovery day. We both needed that. Our feet are still so sore. Almost bruised it seems. But hey, I am still tuffing it out. We ended up going out to eat after I was feeling better. I had the best Gnocchi I have ever had!!! It was Gnocchi with Bolognese sauce. I could eat that meal everyday!!!
October 19, 2008
Today we got up early and went to the market. It was HUGE. It was just like a normal Flea Market anywhere else, but oh well. It was still neat to see the things they were selling. After the market we decided to go to Tivoli to Villa d'Este . What an adventure!!! lol It is about an hour outside of Rome. We had to take a bus to the Termini station and then take the metro to Ponte Mommolo and then take a shuttle for about 45 minutes. PHEW! Tim was not happy and being poopy! lol He is so afraid to do things out of his comfort zone, so this really freaked him out. But we made it. The Gardens are amazing. I cant wait to show the pictures to you of the amazing fountains they have. It is basically just a garden FULL of fountains. Some huge and some very small. It was beautiful. It was up on the side of a mountain, so the view from up there was pretty awesome too. Tim wants Pizza tonight for dinner, so it looks like we are going to hit up a pizzeria for dinner. We had Pizza the first night we were here, but oh well. Tim had pizza with tomatoe, Basil and Mozzorella. It looked very good. I had noodles with pesto. YUM-O!!
October 20, 2008
Another tiring, yet amazing day in the books. Well, today we started out by walking to the Roman Forums and Palentino Hill. We walk thru all of that. That took about 2 hours. Then we went over to the Coloseum. I didnt think I really cared about going inside, but we did and I am glad we did. It was so awesome to walk the same hallways that famous emporors and Gladiators did. After that we walked over to S. Maria in Cosmedin where the mouth of truth is. I got to stick my hand in the mouth and it was still there when I brought it back out, so I havent told a lie. lol Its cool to be able to do that knowing all the history behind it. Also I got to put my hand somewhere that Audrey Hephburn had also. lol In the mivie The Roman Holiday she visits the mouth of truth. It was really awesome.
October 21, 2008
Well, today was bust!!!! We were on the Metro on our way too the Borghese Gallery when Tim got pickpocketed and his wallet stolen. He had been so careful and cautious all week. BUT The door was closing on me on the train and he lunged forward to help me leaving his wallet unprotected adn it got taken. He lost all of his cards and ID. Our possports and everything were safe back at the hotel. We were able to cancel his cards so that they cant do anything with those. Basically all they got was 100€. Tim now has to go thru all the hassle of getting all his cards sent to him again. The one thing he is worried about is his government ID. He has Super top Clearance for work with that card. He is talking to his boss about it right now. With the military it usually has his SSN number on. He cant remember if this one does also. SOOO We flagged the credit agency to contact us if anyone tries to open andything new. Such a hassle. BUT hey, it was our last day, I still have a working ATM card, we only spent half of our budget and we had a GREAT time (up until now)!!! So we just got everythin packed and walked around Trastevere for the rest of the day. We fly home tomorrow.
October 22, 2008
We were up early this morning! We woke up at about 5:30am. Our flight leaves at 9:55am. There was a taxi waiting for us at 6:45am. The trip was amazing! We had so much fun. We aren't going to let the last day influence how we remember the trip. Anyway we have a LONG day of travel ahead of us!
October 23, 2008
It is so great to be home!!!! Last night I slept like a log! It is so nice to be back in our own bed. Now I can start planning our next adventure! :)
