{adventures abroad} anniversary-moon III: rome

italy has always been really high up there on the europe list, for too many reasons to go into here {and honestly, do i need to?}. the hardest part was deciding which part of italy to visit first with our limited vacation time. fortunately the decision was made for us when a fare-watcher alert from travelocity arrived in my inbox one fateful october morning: "super cheap to rome! book now or regret it forever" or something like that. and the rest, as they say, is history...

{adventures abroad} roma: day one - roaming rome

when we arrived in rome, it was raining {this seems to be a recurring theme in our travels. at this point we consider it good luck}.  exhausted and jetlagged, we dropped our bags at our hotel near vatican city and go for our traditional first-day walkabout...

{sweet little glass bead shop}

{who can resist mustache pizza?}

{piazza navona}

and then before we knew it, it was time to head back to the hotel to partake in that most fantastic of european customs: siesta!

* * * *

we woke up from our much-needed nap quite refreshed and had a drink on the balcony before heading out in search of more amazing rome-ness...

{we filled our bottles from the sinking boat fountain}

after our delicious pasta dinner at the foot of the pantheon, we got dessert at the world-famous giolitti and wandered home in a gelato-induced haze.

{adventures abroad} roma: day one and a half - creepy boom box lady

we took the bus home that night, and since we have no previous experience with buses and don't speak any italian we accidentally got off one stop too late, at the end of the bus route. it was midnight or so, the station was deserted, and the streets were poorly lit and eerily silent. we consulted our map and headed in the direction of our hotel. there wasn't a soul around - i guess the vatican city area isn't exactly a hopping place after dark. suddenly we heard quiet somber music coming from somewhere. as it got louder {closer} we looked to our left and there she was: the tiniest, creepiest, oldest lady in the history of rome. carrying a boom box. playing church music {the haunting choral variety that is really only just haunting in the middle of the night when you're all alone on the streets in a foreign city}. she stared into our souls and maybe tried to eat them. we turned quickly and made a hasty retreat. 
thankfully we made it safely to our hotel room. we were confused, maybe a little terrified, definitely exhausted. we opened the balcony doors in our stuffy hotel room and went to bed.


{then}


maybe an hour and a half or so after falling asleep, i was awakened by the sweet and solemn sounds of an ancient church choir. it started quietly and softly and got gradually louder and closer, presumably as the crazy boom box lady made her way up our street. at some point the singing paused and was replaced by a deep male voice chanting in some unknown language. i was barely breathing i was so freaked out. i looked over at A: fast asleep {jerk!}. i lay there praying that the crazy boom box lady didn't scale the walls of our hotel and eat us alive. finally the music and chanting faded into the night. and then i tried {unsuccessfully} to fall asleep.

{adventures abroad} roma: day two - ancient rome

we woke up the next morning and hit our hotel's free breakfast buffet before heading out for our first full day in rome. naturally we got lost trying to find our bus stop, but a tiny woman who looked like something out of a disney fairy tale pointed us in the right direction. we took the crowded tourist bus to our first stop: the colosseum. which is incredible. obviously.

and just when we thought it couldn't get any better, we went next door to palatine hill and the roman forum. we were left absolutely speechless...

{palatine hill}

{temple of the vestal virgins}

{temple of saturn}

{arch of septimius severus}

when we finally forced ourselves to leave the forum {we could've stayed all day!}, we crossed the street to have a look at trajan's forum. we grabbed a snack from a street vendor and sat at the base of trajan's column, admiring the world's first shopping mall and marveling at the way all of these incredible bits of ancient history are mere steps away from each other and tucked right into this bustling modern city.

after our break we headed over to the victor emmanuel monument and capitoline hill. it was a good long walk and we were just a little late for the museums there, so we found a little restaurant and sat down for some dinner, drinks, and people-watching.

then, of course, because we are such party animals, it was gelato time {immediately followed by bed time}!

....and yes, we were visited once more by the creepy boom box lady.

{adventures abroad} roma: day three - villa borghese and la dolce vita

we woke up bright and early, grabbed breakfast, and then took the metro to the villa borghese - we had reservations at the borghese gallery {art nerd alert}! we checked in a little early and grabbed a panini in the cafe while we waited for our turn in the museum. you get two hours and two hours only in the galleria borghese, but they are two hours filled with bernini and caravaggio and titian. when we got kicked out, we strolled around the surrounding gardens and made a new feline friend or two.

we wandered for a good long while and ended up at the northern gate of the aurelian wall, at porta del popolo. more than a little exhausted, we went into a bustling cafe and ordered some caffe freddo {coldish coffee slush with the strangest consistency ever}. but what we really needed was a siesta, so we hopped on the metro and headed back to the hotel.

* * * *

siesta was not a success. we rested but couldn't sleep {thanks a lot, espresso!}. we got dressed and headed out to take what our guidebook calls the dolce vita stroll from piazza del popolo {fountains, an egyptian obelisk, and a baroque church} down pedestrian- and shopper-friendly via del corso. a detour took us to the mausoleum of augustus {a little hard to see in the dark and smells a lot like urine unfortunately} and augustus' altar of peace {pretty interesting even from behind the glass walls and i loved walking in the fountains outside!}. after our detour it was on to via condotti {window-shoppers paradise} and back to the spanish steps.

when our tummies got grumbly we went in search of food and found it at l'enotecantica {200 years old, charming, cozy, delicious, crowded}. we drank italian wine and ate bruschetta and gnocchi and ravioli until we were about to pop.

{cutest graffiti ever?}

we stopped for gelato on our way back to the hotel, where we were still wide awake watching the simpsons when the crazy boom box lady came by. we figured that if she was going to eat us she would have already done it by now, so we said good night and fell fast asleep.

{adventures abroad} roma: day four - museums and churches

we slept in for as long as we could, but for some reason this morning was the horn-honkiest day of all horn-honky days outside of our hotel room. we got ready, ate breakfast in the dining room, and took the metro to termini station.
first stop: the national museum of rome: painted statues, portrait heads, roman copies of greek originals, ornate mosaics, incredible frescoes {the room-sized frescoes from the villa of livia were my favorite}.

 next stop: the ruins at largo di torre argentina, awesome for a few reasons: 

• first of all, it's just kind of sitting there in the middle of regular bustling city activity, a beautiful piece of ancient history surrounded on all four sides by modern buildings and streets. 
• second, it's home to the theatre of pompey, where julius caesar is said to have been assassinated. 
• but my favorite thing about torre argentina is the cat sanctuary. there are a billiondy cats living in this little ancient corner of rome, where they are given food and medical attention and lots of love. we spent a good hour there i think, looking at the kitties and petting the friendly ones. A had to tear me away, but only after i'd taken as many pictures as i could.

stop #3: the pantheon - during daylight/visiting hours this time {still breathtaking}.

next up: churches in the pantheon neighborhood - specifically, the church of san ignazio, with its incredible trompe l'oeil cieling. we tried to make it to the church of san luigi dei francesi to see its caravaggio chapel, but sadly it was closed.

after san ignazio, we headed over to the capitoline hill museum for more statues, a cup of coffee at the terrace cafe, and some stunning views of the city and the forum.

when it started getting dark, we left capitoline hill and wandered over to trevi fountain. we put together a little picnic for ourselves from a tiny store nearby and sat at the fountain to eat {you're not supposed to eat by the fountain but we are total rebels like that}.
after dinner and people-watching we made our way back to the hotel, passing through saint peter's square like always. but tonight there was a huge crowd gathered in the piazza and a ton of security on the perimeter. we looked toward the basilica and saw the pope himself! he was making some sort of speech {about what, we didn't have a clue}, and the crowd was cheering. we stood and watched for a while, but exhaustion won out and sleep was calling to us from our cozy little hotel room.

{adventures abroad} roma: day five - the vatican

today's adventure took us to vatican city. along with every other tourist in rome we waited in the world's longest {but thankfully not the world's slowest} line to tour the vatican museum. our reward? raphael's angels, art from ancient egypt, greece, and rome, famous statues, and of course, michelangelo's sistine chapel {apologies for the fuzzy snapshot - you're not supposed to photograph the ceiling!}. after the museum we toured saint peter's basilica {unbelievably large and stunningly beautiful}.

after all of that intense churchy business, we really needed a beer. we found a sweet little restaurant that was open at the tail end of siesta and sat outside with our pizza and beer for a relaxing moment or two.

when we were full and relaxed, we headed for the church of san clemente, a fascinating 12th-century church built on top of a 4th-century basilica built on top of ancient roman dwellings and a temple{!}. for five euros we got to explore this incredible three-layer playground of roman history.

from san clemente we went back to via del corso for some pre-dinner shopping and people-watching. we ate outside at a romantic {and overpriced} restaurant along via delle carroze and then picked up some gelato on the way home.