When in Rome...

Grandpa and Grandma Schlink kicked us out of the house. Without a child or dog by our side, what were we going to do? "Rome, if you want to" was the general gag response, so Rome it was. Pretending Wizz Air was just a lovely social experiment for Romanians to assemble courteously onto a plane, we joined the crowds for a quick weekend of historic excitement, sweltering walks, and some token Schlink romance. The moment we hit the city, I was kicking myself for not having come here sooner. While I realize everyone and their mom has been to Rome, it still felt like we were uncovering incredible stories just waiting to be told. Rome is just that cool; even among the thousands of tourists that jaunt through the cobblestones, armpits to asses, you still feel alone!

I think we played our timeline well, thanks to a great NY Times article: http://travel.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/travel/17hours.html?pagewanted=all (we made 6 of his 11 suggestions) and added some extra excursions, not entirely on purpose either. We just kept finding cool things to see. I mean, there aren't too many places where you literally run into 1000 year old pillars and walls just hangin' around.

The best part of all: as the Roman stories unfolded, the historic men and women I imagined looked exactly like those camera-ready sexy folks from HBO's Rome. It was exciting and actually interesting to see where it all went down. There literally wasn't a thing I was disappointed in. (Well, maybe the broken AC unit we had to jimmy with a screwdriver at our hotel. The housekeepers were mortified a 22 week pregnant lady would desire her room to be less than 23C. Ha!)

Fountain of Trevi, 19 BC. STILL powered via aqueducts! 

Pantheon. It's just huge. 

 Galleria Borghese. Get tix ahead
(capped at 250 peeps) to see TONS Bernini sculpted
breasts, men with fruit, and merry Marys.

Randomly crave citrus? Just look around,
they are everywhere!

Have something to confess? The priest is: IN
Santa Maria Maggiore. The floor plan designed by
miraculous snowfall. No joke.

Basilica di Santa Maria delgi Angeli.
It's bigger on the inside.

Of course, the Colosseum. How could you not?

A funny thing happened on the way to the Forum.
But it was so hot, I forgot what it was.

Just some simple mosaic work, a mere 393 feet
up in the air. St. Peter's.

If you don't shell out the mere 5 Euros to hike up
St. Peter's, you're crazy. Totally worth
the sweat. And tears for some.

Everyone talks a big game of delicious food and wine to be had in Italy, but these two restaurants totally have their A-game in play. Both are Michelin/Zagat/Fodor's/Frommer's/NYT/ect reviewed for total awesomeness. Both are family owned, and both are worth making reservations. Highly recommended.