Rome: final stop in 2014

Rome - Sept 4-6

Since my first visit two years ago, I was very excited to get back to Rome! I remember great sites, history lessons, and amazing cuisine. This trip may have not lived up to the first, due to a little exhaustion and hot Roman temperatures, but we had a nice last few days abroad.

On Thursday, we visited the Colosseum and the Roman Forum after our train ride from Venice. These sites are very impressive, but can be a little more dry than Venetian palaces. For lunch, we grabbed some pizza, which is much cheaper in Rome than Venice, as are most things compared to those prices. We then walked past the Piazza Venetia and to the Pantheon, which I had never seen before. I enjoyed that visit. The pantheon now houses Raphael's remains. We grabbed some gelato (a twice a day occurrence in Italy) and decided we had enough stamina to keep walking to the Trevi fountain and Spanish steps.  To my disappointment, both were under construction. The fountain, one of my favorite things to see, didn't even have water in it! By that point, Melvin and I were very tired of walking, and we caught a cab back. After resting up, we looked up a close restaurant with good reviews. We had the good luck of finding Mama Angela's, our best meal in possibly our whole lives. I had the roman dish of veal with prosciutto, after some bread, carbonara to share, and local wine. To finish the exquisite meal, we had dessert wine and tiramisu. It was so spectacular, we returned the next night and repeated our choices, except I got sea bass, clams, and mussels! So divine!

Our last day abroad started with a trip to St. Peter's Basilica. The beauty and size of the church is just as impressive on the second visit! We had to go back and change after that because it was close to 90 out, and we had to wear pants inside the Vatican. We had a small lunch of carbonara and wanted to see crypts, but I was not dressed appropriately and we were turned away. It is hard being a tourist in the heat since the churches require a strict dress code. Instead we saw the Borghese Gardens and two record stores. We were able to see everything in our short trip, and we definitely enjoyed the food.

By this point, we are ready to go home and see Pam and get back into our normal routine. It was a wonderful trip, and I am glad Melvin and I made great travel partners. I'm looking forward to many trips abroad in the future! For now, back to saving vacation days and money.