Our Stay In Rome

A door at the Pantheon
The hole in the roof for light
The Pantheon interior
Trevi fountian - "make a wish"
The Trevi fountian
The wooden toy store
Where is Gepetto?

Ancient Rome
The Colloso
I relax and admire the Colloso

The HUGE building
Young Italian guys

Italian men

A Government building
A cool church
A Neptune Fountian

pillars at the Vatican
okay - lets get the postmark allright?
David and the Castle of St. Anthony
This is a shot for Jennys friend Chris
Beep - Beep - Ciao!

The Spanish Steps
They made us a great lunch!
Vatican City in the rain Postcards in the rain

Overlooking Rome
Overlooking Rome

What can I tell you about Rome? Well, first of all – for me - it is just way too big to even think about rushing through – it must be taken is stages and in days. You will run out of time before you run out of things to see. When in Rome you cannot hurry - the food is even meant to be savored slowly over a lingering conversation and the statues are meant to be critically examined – this is a slow pace and not one that should be rushed. I didn't want to dive head first into Rome, I wanted to ease into Rome slowly, like gently walking into a swimming pool … one step at a time … little by little, gradually getting deeper.
Before we actually went into Rome we spent a relaxing Sunday afternoon at a park with local families, then we drove to a high hill that overlooked the city – the view was absolutely breathtaking – we could see everything from up there. (I will add those photos)
We visited most of the ‘high points’ while in Rome. The Vatican and St. Peters Basilica were one of our first stops – Thankfully we had been inside of the museum before because the line long would take three hours just to get inside. The weather was raining and I sat on some steps under my umbrella writing postcards - just to ensure the “Vatican City” postmark. We'll see how that works out.
Perhaps the most popular meeting place in Rome is the Piazza di Spagna. Home of the famous Spanish Steps, which lead from the piazza to the church Trinità dei Monte. It is a tradition for visitors to be photographed on the Steps and we were no exception. Dave sat on a step and we played a "where's Waldo" type of photo game. I love the Spanish Steps – they are filled with people eating, kissing, reading books, photographing each other and some are just sitting watching the world go by. At the base of the steps are “high end” shops – it was fun to window shop and make some wishes there.
We headed out for the Coliseum but got sidetracked at a large building that was having some sort of Military ceremony – in Rome when you say “The building was big” it does not convey just how big the buildings really are – the columns alone are bigger around than large cars – and they are sculpted in marble. This building had at least fifty steps just to get to the entrance. There was a flurry of men in different uniforms, some had swords and some looked like they belonged in a movie with their hats adorned with a plumage of feathers that were red and blue – a real sight to see and on their shoulders were tasseled epilates. There were a group of young men dressed in what looked like sailor uniforms – I snapped a few photos of them eating from a vending truck – too cute and too young. The building had winged statues twice the size of people – I still have no idea what we were looking at, but we sat there eating a bag of olives and a small loaf of bread for at least thirty minutes.
We strolled down the street towards the Coliseum while looking at ancient Rome – Ahhh – we’re here looking at ancient ROME! (My God, what would we be doing at home right now?) There it was in our sight – The Colloso – The Coliseum – round, aged, giant, tall and proud. Her columns standing through time for all to come and to see – I took her photo and she graced my camera lens – walking closer you could see how time had treated her, the walls had small holes in them, I placed my hand on the wall and took a photo – I patted her and said “be good to yourself ol’ girl – until we meet again”.
Our next stop was the “Trevi Fountian” - As legend has it, if you toss a coin into its waters over your shoulder while facing away from the fountain, you will be guaranteed to return to Rome. ~ so guess what we did? ~
Later that afternoon we went to the Villa Borghese park and had a picnic lunch and rambled around the grounds snapping photos, feeding the birds, people watching and looking at art.
The bus line in Rome has to be mentioned -some times you are packed in like sardines in a can. Just when you think "no way will they let anyone else on this bus" - the doors open and more people step in. They warn you about pickpockets, but let me tell you - at one point by purse was squeezed between Dave and myself and my rear was pushing against some old Italian mommas tummy and even if I was being pick pocketed I would never have known it at all - you stand it is bumpy,hot, stuffy and crammed with people - I just wanted off.
We spent quite some time at the Pantheon – one of the true glories of ancient Rome and it was very well preserved. The Pantheon is the final resting place of Raphael, known for his paintings made during the Renaissance. There were many alters, statues – but the most interesting aspect is that the domed roof has a round opening in the center where natural light fills the room. You are not allowed to stand in the center, it was taped off – possibly because we had intermittent rain and the floor could become slippery,but I was fascinated by this opening in the roof - it was so cool.
The days in Rome were so fun – we would start out in the morning by going to a Farmers market to buy some snacks to eat during the day. Cherry tomatoes, nuts, dried apricots, olives and bread. When we got hungry we would take a break on a bench, open the tomatoes, tear off a piece of bread and just soak in the Roman ambiance – it constantly amazed me that here I was so far from California. We always stayed out during the day for longer than we thought - but we found so much to see – a little toy store that sold wooden toys looked like Gepetto’s workshop – I mean how can you pass that up? You have to go in and have a look around – wooden clocks, pencils with darling toppers, wooden key chains, wine toppers and all handmade, charming and painted in bright lovely colors.
Rome can be very overwhelming – if you let it. But we tried to take it slow, soaking in the atmosphere day after day – my feet ached from walking so much, but when your see something and your mind says “oooh look at that – what’s over there? … let’s go have a look” your feet don't listen - you hear only your heart and you must follow it.

I loved Rome and I will come back again. Ciao~ Nora