When in Rome...

...EAT GELATO!!! It's 1,000 times better than the pizza or pasta and 100 times cheaper. And I'm not kidding. Ah-mazing!

Jason had some really great one-liners this past weekend on our 4-day trip to Rome (including "I know the name of this playlist. Songs over 6 minutes." in an Irish Pub playing O-Town's one and only album) but my favorite has to be, "What is it they say? You can't see Rome in a day?" After explaining to my little scholar that I think it is "Rome wasn't built in a day", we decided that it might be possible to see Rome in one day. Definitely two days. And luckily we had a little over 3 days. We got to see everything we wanted! Not to repeat myself every post, but we truly are so blessed.

Now I have to admit, I'm not very good at researching the places we travel before actually getting there. Sadly, before we went to Florence, I didn't really have a clue what all was there. I'm more of a take-the-picture-and-find-out-what-it-is-in-depth-later traveler. Not the kind I want to be! But somehow we always get so busy before trips, and I always hate it when I get wherever we are going and can't fully appreciate it because I don't know the whole story. So this trip I decided would be different. I wikipedia'd Rome like you'd never believe. I read blogs about people's favorite things to do in Rome. I called my sister who was just there last March for her honeymoon. I talked to my German friends that had been there. I was convinced I knew exactly what everything was beforehand this time, and I had even written out an itinerary day-by-day based on proximity of attractions and hours of operation. OCD in full effect. And then we got there, and I never looked at it once. My very handsome personal tour guide, who also happens to be my husband, planned perfect days for us and recited all the important facts to me whenever I forgot what something was. I'm considering hiring him out to people as a European tour guide. He has impeccable sense of direction. And that's the only reason I married him. Well, not the only reason, but it's way up there.

Day 1 Itinerary:

1. Fly through Zurich on Swiss Air only so we can get free Swiss chocolate and see the Alps...check.

2. Walk around in circles (literally) until we find the McDonald's all the signs promised existed...check. (Bless his heart. After swearing I could carry my Vera bag and not need a backpack, Jason still carried it for me when I thought my arm was going to fall off my shoulder.)

3. Unexpectedly see almost everything after sunset that we wanted to see the whole trip in about 2 hours - the Colosseum, Arch of Constantine, Victor Emmanuel II Monument, Roman Forum, Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, etc. etc. BUT of course we wanted to see them all in the daylight and be able to go inside, so this was just a preview. :) [To see pics of the first night, check out my Facebook album. There are just too many to post on the blog!]

Day 2 Itinerary:

1. Go to the Colosseum. Be amazed...check.

2. Go to Palatine Hill but not fully understand what it was used for...check. (Bonus: take an inadvertent tour of Augustus's house that ENTHRALLED Jason. Ask him about it sometime.) BTW - I wikipedia'd Palatine Hill today. I get it now.

3. Walk through the Roman Forum because you can't buy a ticket to the Colosseum only. A packaged deal that actually turned out to be not so bad! Word to the wise though - don't trust the exit signs. Or any signs in Rome for that matter.

4. Walk past the National Monument to Victor Emmanuel II. Try not to love it because the Romans hate it, but end up loving it anyways...check.

5. Hit up the Pantheon. Be impressed by how beautiful the inside is, and get our minds blown by what happens when it rains through that open ceiling...check.

6. See the beautiful Piazza Navona in the sunlight...check.

7. Walk to the Piazza del Popolo, where there was a fancy Chinese festival going on we didn't know about...check.

8. Take the back way out of the Piazza above to the top of the Spanish Steps. Be grossed out by the terribly unique smell there...check.

(contrary to how it appears, I did not ask this man to pose for my photo)

9. See the Trevi Fountain. Appreciate it's splendor but be a little disappointed at how crowded and touristy it is...check. What else did we expect though?

10. Become regulars at the Gelato shop right next to the Fountain...check. DELICIOUS!!

11. Go back to the Scholar's Lounge for dinner (where we also ate lunch that day) to enjoy a cider and watch the Vols lose a very painful game to Kentucky...check.

Day 3 Itinerary:

1. Walk to Vatican City...be absolutely in awe of St. Peter's Basilica...check.

2. Get blessed by the Pope...check.

3. Double-check to make sure the Vatican Museums are really closed on Sundays. Find our way easily thanks to these clearly-labeled signs...check.

4. See Castel San't'Angelo...check.

5. Figure we have extra time on our hands - take a siesta, and then head back to the Scholar's Lounge after dinner for nachos, nauturally...check.

Day 4 Itinerary:

1. Experience muscle failure from walking 45 minutes to the Vatican Museums, 45 minutes back to the hotel, and another 30 back to the train station...check.

Had we spent 1 more minute in the Vatican Museums (we power-walked through to the Raphael Rooms and the Cistine Chapel), we would have missed our bus back to the airport. We flawlessly calculated a 4-minute trip to McDonald's into the itinerary on the way back as well, as if you weren't impressed enough already! We made it to the airport in time to check Terminals 1, 2, and 3 for our departing gate...and then back to Terminal 1, the first place we went to find it really was our terminal. Go figure. 

All joking aside from this blog, we had the most amazing trip. It was nice for it to just be the 2 of us, especially before Jason left for the field (today). I miss him already. Spending time with the ones you love and taking it for granted might be one of the worst offenses to commit. Now I just keep looking at all our wonderful pictures and planning our next big trip to cross off our European bucket list!