W47 of Y2

You will see no pictures of any of the kids in this post!!!

That's because Jeremy and I escaped to Rome for our 11th wedding anniversary - without the kids. It was everything we imagined it would be.... and more!

The snow covered Alps looked so cool from the plane

First sight of Rome! You can see St. Peters square and the Colosseum from the plane.



Jeremy was soooo smart and arranged for a private driver to pick us up from the airport to take us to our apartment.

Our apartment wasn't ready yet so the owner asked us to come back in a few hours. This was fine with us though - we couldn't wait to get out and explore the city!

Our first meal. Pizza, of course, and this other thing.... I can't remember the name. The crust tasted like a donut though.


Burlusconi's house (Italian Prime Minister). There were a lot of people there with camera's so we waited for a minute to see if something interesting was going to happen.... but it didn't.

Vittorio Emanuele II Monument at the Piazza Venezia

Foro Romano

The Via Sacra with the Arch of Constantine in the background

The Colosseum

A very expensive cannolli. 15 euro for this and a bottle of water.
We quickly learned to never sit at any tables inside of cafes!!


Trevi Fountain - if you leave money the legend says you will return to Rome.
I left money and Jeremy didn't. hmmm...
Outside the Pantheon

Inside the Pantheon

Which way next?

Nuns and Priests everywhere. At first I kept wanting to take pictures of them, but soon I realized they were everywhere!!

Fountain of Neptune at the Piazza Novona


The bakery by our apartment that we went to every day.

walking down the alley to our apartment to get settled in

The outside of our apartment

Our little midget door

Room #1

Room #2

Cozy kitchen
Bathroom(s?)

We loved our apartment. The owner told us it is over 400 years old! We felt a little like we were in a cave though and our clothes, blankets, and towels always felt wet. It was the weirdest thing. The location was perfect though. We were in the middle of everything!

After getting settled we went back out for dinner. This time we went to a square close to our apartment Campo de' Fiori which was known for being the site of public executions. This guy in the statue was burned alive on this spot in 1600 for believing that the earth was round. They built this statue, after they realized he was right, as a way of saying sorry.

We decided to eat at Sloppy Sams and outside too! The weather was so nice.

All of that just on the first day!! Whew!


The next morning we started out at the farmers market at Campo di'Fiori again. It was just around the corner from our apartment.

Breakfast is served!

We also picked up lots of little goodies to snack on during the day and everything we needed to make an authentic Italian dinner in our apartment for that night.

Stopping along the river to look at the map. Castel Sant'Angelo in the background, also known as Hadrians Tomb and is known for the tortures that took place there.

Can you believe we found a USO on the way to Vatican City? We stopped in for a few minutes... just because we could.

The cutest dog walking around looking for someone to play with.

We took a 3-hour tour of the Vatican Museums. While I wanted to take pictures of everything... I didn't. I am only posting my favorite pieces in the museum. Of course, they wouldn't let us take any pictures at all in the Sistine Chapel.

A well-deserved lunch after the long tour

We were so tired after lunch and the sun was so hot we just sat in St. Peter's square and vegged. I think Jeremy was sleeping, actually. Here is the Obelisk that is said to have the remnants of Christs actual cross in the ball on the very top.

Sunglasses were a MUST on this trip!

Gelato!!

After a while a young choir marched onto the square and sang


Ok... time to move on. I swear, I think we could have sat there ALL DAY!

Back to our apartment to cook the yummy food we got from the farmers market that morning. SO GOOD! I am determined to find an Italian market somewhere here in Germany now. We had wonderful pasta cooked with garlic-infused olive oil with pesto sauce and a tomato/chili sauce.

Somehow we found the energy to go back out after dinner to see some of the sights at night. You can see St. Peters Basilica in the background.

We walked by an Irish Pub, that used to be a theater in the early 1900's, that was playing the Steelers vs. Ravens game and stopped in for just a "minute" to watch the game...

...Well, that "minute" turn about 3 hours. Shortly after we got there the place got so packed full of Americans that we couldn't have gotten out if we wanted to. It was fun though. They were all either English teachers or University students. We felt a little like chaperons at the high school prom but it was fun.

Our friends from that night.

The next morning Jeremy wanted bacon and eggs. So, being the good wife that I am, I ran right out to the supermarket just around the corner from our apartment to gather supplies.

I loved these little cafes all over the city. They don't look that nice and the tables are in the middle of the bumpy "street" but for some reason they just looked so charming. It must have been the red and white checkered table clothes.

Someone told us about this church (aka Capuchin Crypt) that houses the skulls and bones of 4000+ Cappuccini Monks. It was on the way to the Spanish Steps so we thought we would check it out. We couldn't take photo's though - it was pretty impressive to see all the different arrangements of bones. A little eerie... but interesting.


Right next to the Crypt we saw a Hard Rock Cafe. Looking at all of those bones sure worked up an appetite!

YUM!!!


The top of the Spanish Steps. We learned that Sundays, in Italy, are for going out to be seen and to see the city. Everyone was out! It helped that the weather was so nice too.

Jeremy insisted that this guy take my portrait. I didn't realize how awkward it was going to be to stare at someone in the eyes for 30 minutes!

Then to make matters worse a crowd quickly developed and would look at the picture and then look at me and make a little face. I was dying to see what they were looking at!

At the bottom of the Spanish Steps

Piazza del Popolo with the Pincio Gardens in the background.



Rome was full of many different types of street performers. This one was one of my favorites!

One last walk across the bridge with a great view of St. Peters Basilica one last time.

11 years of marital bliss to my best friend. I love you!

The night before we could barely walk down this little alley because people were packed outside the Ristorante waiting for a table. We thought it must be good, and it was so close to our apartment. So we decided to have our last Italian dinner here.

Mixed Frieds. Not really sure what everything was, but they were all soooo good!!!

Rissoto and Roman Pizza

Tiramisu for dessert

Waiting to board our plane Jeremy had to translate Italian into German for this couple.
During this trip he was speaking Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and English!

Good ol'Ryanair. We had a great weekend. None of this would have been possible if we didn't have the best au pair ever! We are so grateful for her.

We felt like we saw everything we wanted to see and were ready to get back home to our babies.

However, Rome will not be forgotten anytime soon.