Rewind: Rome

Rome was so great!  We'd heard some crappy things about Rome, like it's way too touristy and it's super dirty, but that wasn't our experience at all.  We loved it there!  Although, I will reiterate that it was one of the most humid places we visited in Europe, making it difficult to enjoy the full experience.  Take a cold shower and let's go!

Day 1

We arrived in Rome and it was immediately amazing.  The history of it just smacks you in the face at every corner.  However, it's also now mixed with bits of the 21 century, which just seems odd.  It's crazy to walk down the street and see a 2000 year old church next to an Arby's.  Absolutely nuts.  Random street views:

First thing we did was walk to The Spanish Steps (you can walk to most sights in Rome, maybe not as easily as Florence, but everything is still relatively close).  They actually film a lot of movies here and it was packed with people.  

Next up: Trevi Fountain.  On the way we walked into a souvenir shop and I almost bought a magnet:

I don't know what stopped me.

Okay, Trevi Fountain!  It was hard to get a picture without scaffolding, sorry.

The shitty thing is the fountain was empty for repairs or something!  They say, if you throw a coin over your head (backwards) and make it into the fountain, you will return to Rome someday.  Since it was empty, they had a tiny kiddy-pool sized fountain for people to throw their coins.

We made it!  Can't wait to come back to Rome someday!  By the way, I read that they collect approximately 3,000 Euros a day from the fountain and donate it to local charities.  

Random ancient buildings we walked by:

It's just beautiful here.  You can feel the history.  I don't think I've ever been anywhere older.

Then we stumbled upon Piazza Venezia, which is where a bunch of streets intersect and there's a round-a-bout and lots of traffic speeding through.  Again it's so strange to see modern vehicles whizzing by all these historical sights.

Yea, we're sweaty messes.

We ended up walking to The Tiber River:

 They had all these tents set up for a festival:

On one side they even had a film festival:

Some of the booths had shops, some art, some were restaurants, bars and games.

We did this 5-D short movie experience:

and this video game pod thing:

Before it got dark, we sat at an outdoor restaurant and watched the sun set:

I got a big plate of fried, fresh seafood:

It was shrimp, squid and octopus.  Aaron was too grossed out, but I made him try some octopus and he didn't puke or anything, so that must mean it was delicious (which it was!).

There's something about lights on the water at night that's just the best:

Really cool party.

Day 2

Aaron slept in, but it was so hot I had to get up.  I wanted to see The Pantheon, so off I went.  I saw a loud protest going on (no idea why):

Art museum:

I passed some random ancient ruins:

I also passed a lot of stores selling pope outfits and gear.  

I had no idea there was such a huge demand for robes and crowns and chalices!  I seriously saw 20+ stores that looked just like this all over the city.  I guess if you're eating a hot dog and get some mustard on your robe and need a quick replacement before mass, you need an assortment of options.  Smart, Rome.  Really smart.  Now that I'm looking at this, they might be museums, not stores.  Either way, there were a lot of them.

Okay, finally got to The Pantheon:

I went inside:

Back outside there was a guy floating in mid-air:

Yes, he's holding a stick, but I still don't get it.  There was nothing underneath him!  I had to take a picture from far away because he was getting mad at people taking pictures of him without giving him money and I wasn't giving him shit.  Sorry, dude.

Walked to Piazza Navona, which was nearby:

I had some lunch and started heading back to the hostel to wake Aaron's lazy ass up.  Saw this on the way:

Woke up Aaron and off we went to:

Ta da!  The Coliseum!

I bought tickets online the night before, so we bypassed the entire line and walked right up to the ticket booth and got our tickets.  So worth it because not only is it HOT, but the line is LONG!

Let's go inside (and laugh at all the people in line...hahahaha losers!).

Aaron made the face, so I did it too and that's pretty much why I look dumb in every picture:

Really cool place!  Now off to The Roman Forum (right across the way):

The Roman Forum is huge!  It goes on forever and it's right in the middle of the city.  Incredible!  Since we didn't pay for a tour, we were kinda just wandering, which was fine by me.  However, I don't really have any information to relay to you guys.  I can make something up though, if you like.  Okay, there was a priest called Odorus and he fell in love with a maiden named Smella, but their love was forbidden, so they carried it out in secret.  Eventually Smella got pregnant and had a baby and was shunned from society for having it out of wedlock.  Odorus carried the guilt with him for years and eventually killed himself in the town square, which is right here:

Yea, that was the plot to The Scarlet Letter (the names have been changed to protect the innocent), but I never said I was a novelist.  Whatever, we're in the age of the remake, so I just brought that back.  You're welcome (taking a bow).  Okay, more ruins:

By now we were starving, so we went back to Tiber River because we saw a Michelin starred restaurant with reasonable prices that took reservations the day before.  OMG it's like a unicorn!  

 For apps, we got Grandmother's traditional meatballs:

Delish!

For the entree, I got squid stuffed with eggplant and shrimp, braised in white wine and topped with caramelized onions:

Wow, this was so weird, but so good.  It was so rich and filling, I couldn't even finish the whole thing, but the flavors were really complementary and the onions just made it incredible.

Aaron got beef oxtail with celery and spicy tomato sauce:

He wasn't as thrilled with his, but I enjoyed it.  The texture was a lot like lamb.  Kind of a one-dimensional flavor though.  Altogether, it was a delicious meal, I just don't know why it has a Michelin star.  It seems unearned.  I'm thinking grandma must have some connections, if you know what I mean.

Then we went next door and got peach and pineapple gelato:

Next up: The Vatican!