ROMA!

Oh Rome, the most exciting city in all the earth.

There is an energy about the city, one that vibrates through the crowded metro and bubbles over in the form of sauce covered pasta and sweet scoops of creamy gelato. There is art and history and vintage brick roads.

St. Peter’s Basilica

Sistine Chapel/famous Creation painting (fingers touching)

I explored this ancient city from the time the sky was pinkish and barely lit until it was black, black.

Walking through the Colosseum was an extraordinary experience; gazing up at Michelangelo’s handiwork in the Sistine Chapel was breathtaking; eating pizza while sitting on the edge of the Trevi Fountain was cool, and tossing in my beloved wish-laden coin was even cooler.

 
the Trevi!

We relaxed on the Spanish Steps, climbed the 500 steps of St. Peter’s Basilica, grubbed on an appetizer at the Hard Rock Cafe, visited all of the filming locations for the movie Angels and Demons, snuck a glance inside the Church of the Bones, went to St. Peter in Chains, Circus Maximus, and the Pantheon, saw a Roman Catholic worship service, and then, at the end of a very long day and a half in Rome, we curled up on the hard tile of the airport, eager to rest but sad to leave.

Circus Maximum, where Nero slaughtered Christians

Pantheon!

Spanish Steps

Ciao, Italy!