Finally our long awaited vacation was upon us! I put in half a day at work, then headed home for some final packing, and the 30 minute taxi ride to the airport. We took the short hop to Doha, where we had a couple hour layover, and at 2am we boarded our flight for Italy.
We managed a couple brief naps on the plane, but nothing significant. The flight went well, we grabbed our luggage, and caught a shuttle to the front door of the quaint Hotel Emona Aquaductus. It's a funky little hotel off the beaten path with only 23 rooms, but the people were very friendly, the daily breakfast was tasty and the room was all these two Americans needed.
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| Fresh off the plane, we made it. Standing in our hotel courtyard |
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| our hotel courtyard, loved it |
After dropping our bags and having some breakfast at the hotel (which included real pork bacon!) we headed off to explore. I did a lot of studying and planning of our routes so that we would be able to maximize our time in Rome. Of course, I promptly got lost. Not really lost, I knew the direction we needed to go, so I just kept heading that direction and BAM! There was the Roman Coliseum right in front of us.
We've all seen pictures of it for years, but until you are standing in it, you have no feel for the architectural and construction feat that it must have been. Because it was robbed of it's marble to support other projects, it's a mere skeleton of the building it once was. Such a shame.
After a guided tour we had a break before our Forum tour and Gail and I were actually able to buy an adult beverage from a street vendor and enjoy them sitting in the sun right outside the Coliseum. Oh, simple pleasures!
Next was the tour of the forum and Palatine Hill. Archeological work is still going on to this day. There is not a lot left of the forum, but you can start to get a feel of the amazing structures and grounds that were built there.
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| Street flower markets...love them |
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| Inside the Colosseum |
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| just a fantastic shot |
To our surprise, it was an Italian holiday when we got there, so the main street from the capital building, past the Forum and to the coliseum was closed to traffic, which made for a very unique experience. The picture above shows everyone casually strolling down the middle of the road.
So next was the capital building. A beautiful white structure that has the nickname of "The Wedding Cake". Everywhere we turned there were statues, ruins and historically significant structures. We climbed the steps of the capital and looked out over the city. What a fantastic view!
After a peperoni pizza (which translates in Italian to pepper-only) we headed off to find the Pantheon and Piazza Novona.
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| Statue at Piazza Popalo |
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| 22 men can fit in this horse! |
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| Trajan's Column of Marcus Aurelius, 180-96AD |
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| Bernini's Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi...stunning |
We found the Pantheon without too much trouble, but because of the holiday it was closed! There is a very cool piazza in front of the Pantheon, and we didn't make the waiter work too hard to convince us to have a seat at the outside cafe for a glass of wine.
This is the type of scene that you see on tv and wonder how much Hollywood had to do with it. Hundreds of people slowly shuffling through the piazza, the smells wafting out from the restaurants lining the perimeter of the piazza, the sound of the fountain, a glass of amazing Italian wine and to top things off, a beautiful woman sitting alone in the middle of it all playing an accordion. Priceless!
While sitting there I fried my ever-expanding forehead, but it was well worth it!
Very high on my to-see list was Piazza Novona and it's amazing fountains. A short walk got us there, and it did not disappoint. We were starting to fade a little at this point from the overnight travel, and after buying some art and admiring the fountains we grabbed a cab back to our hotel. What a first day in Rome! Over-the-top!
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| Piazza Novana |
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| Vatican City |
We slept like the dead, and after a hardy breakfast we grabbed a cab to take us cross town to the Vatican. Our plan was to get there and work our way back to the hotel. We didn't have much time, so didn't fully get to explore the Vatican, but enjoyed standing in the center of St Peter's square and taking in the sights. On our way out we saw signs for a sport shop and decided to check it out.
Gail found me a great Italia cycling jersey! Then we cruised by Castle St Angelo and walked all the way to Piazza Popalo. I took another wrong turn and was confused for a bit, but we ended up on Via Del Corso which has great shopping. We lightened our wallets a little along the walk and ended up at Piazza Popalo.
We were getting hungry so stopped at a little place for a pizza and wine, and just chilled and watched the world go by for awhile. As you can see from the pic's, the weather was amazing!
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| St. Peter's Basilica |
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| Castle Saint Angelo |
After lunch we wound our way through all of the narrow streets that led to the Spanish Steps. We grabbed a gelato and plopped down on the steps to enjoy it.
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| The Spanish Steps |
Our next target was the Trevi Fountain. It was harder to find than I would have thought, but we eventually got there. A throng of humanity surrounded the fountain, but after procuring a couple of beverages we found a spot on the steps of the fountain and enjoyed a Peroni (Italian beer) while we checked out the fountain. How cool is that!
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| Fontana di Trevi |
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| Trevi Fountain, stunning |
We had unfinished business from the day before. That being the Pantheon. We wound through some cool alleys on our way and I made a mental note of their location. This day we were able to get into the Pantheon, and I must say, it was worth the trip back.
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| Pantheon's dome, 30 foot oculus allowing those inside a direct contemplation of the heavens |
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| The Pantheon, an engineering marvel still today. |
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| Inside the Pantheon |
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| Cheers! From the Piazza della Rotonda, Pantheon just to the left |
Next it was time for an afternoon snack. My internal GPS led us back to the cool alley, and the waiter flagged us into an outdoor table without much convincing. There was a photo shoot of some sort, and we found out later it was the granddaughter of Musolini doing pic's for her political campaign.
First stop Palermo, Sicily. We chose to wonder the quaint streets aimlessly, ok we got lost a couple of times. Turns out the ship map was a little wrong...we decided to sit a spell in a alleyway cafe and have pizza, beers and a very very strange, and bad I might add, white wine. Along came the strolling accordian player to set the mood just right. A little more lost walking and we happened upon some pretty fabulous gelato, all is not lost. We did finally make it to the catacombs...ewww gross. I guess I never really knew what that would be like. 8000 mummified bodies dating as far back as 1534 all hanging on the walls and laying on shelf after shelf. I gotta say that will be the first and last time I go out of my way to do that. 
First stop Palermo, Sicily. We chose to wonder the quaint streets aimlessly, ok we got lost a couple of times. Turns out the ship map was a little wrong...we decided to sit a spell in a alleyway cafe and have pizza, beers and a very very strange, and bad I might add, white wine. Along came the strolling accordian player to set the mood just right. A little more lost walking and we happened upon some pretty fabulous gelato, all is not lost. We did finally make it to the catacombs...ewww gross. I guess I never really knew what that would be like. 8000 mummified bodies dating as far back as 1534 all hanging on the walls and laying on shelf after shelf. I gotta say that will be the first and last time I go out of my way to do that. 
