Day 7 & 8 - End of Rome

Our final day in Rome we wanted to lay our eyes on the Coliseum and the Roman Forum, so that is what we did. After waling to the Roman Forum we sat down on some old ruins and ate some bread while watching people pass by. My favorite pair to watch was an Asian couple. The girl made her other half take 5 billion pictures of her from every angle with every possible thing in the background. Of course she looked at every picture and if she wasn't happy with one of them, he would have to retake it. They made me laugh! The first time we were here we spend several hours walking through the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. This time we just walked around for a short 20-30 minutes. It was so much more crowded this time as well.

The Roman Forum

Me Conquering a Piece of Land

The Coliseum lives right next door to the Roman Forum. We didn't venture inside but sat on a wall overlooking it for a while. When we got up to leave a girl stopped us and asked if we spoke English. I think she was representing a tour company. We said yes, and then she asked if we were going inside the coliseum. When we said no, she looked as if we had stabbed her through the heart as she said, "You can't come ALL the way to Rome and NOT go inside!" Of course, I said, it wasn't our first trip to Rome and all her pain went away.

Beautiful

The Pates at the Coliseum

The rest of the day we didn't have anything in particular to do so as always we just wondered the streets. We are lunch in a great little place called, AO ristorante. It was delicious. We each had a glass of Sicilian wine that the Sommelier suggested after we told him what we liked and what we wanted. To eat Michael had a basil, tomato pasta and I had a provolone, tomato pasta. For dessert we went searching for gelato and found a great place. We had the flavors of Baily's Irish Cream and Nutella. We had heard about "Nutella" gelato and just HAD to find it. Both were amazing, but the Irish Cream blew the Nutella out of the water. The Nutella was great,but I think I prefer Nutella in Nutella form as opposed to Gelato form. The Irish Cream though, was to die for!

Rome is literally littered with Cathedrals. We were in a quiet little neighborhood and I saw a rather bland looking church and smiled at Michael and walked up the stairs to go inside. He followed, my mouth dropped to the floor as I walked through the doors. It was absolutely breathtaking. This church actually quickly jumped up to my list of 5 favorite cathedrals and is probably in the top three! It was so unassuming from the outside. Yet, every inch inside of this place was covered in some beautiful something. There were only 3 other couples inside that were obvious tourists and another couple people praying. As we left I tried to find it in our guide book and in the 50 plus cathedrals covered in the book, this was not one of them! There isn't much information online about it either.

As always, the pictures don't do it any kind of justice at all.

Basilica Di S. Agostino

Back on my post of the Pantheon Marianne asked if we saw the "Elephant Statue" on the side of the building. We hadn't and managed to find ourselves back at the Pantheon, and this time when hunting for the statue. We thought we were looking for a teeny tiny little statue, but we realized we were wrong when we found him with an obelisk on his back. He sat in a square of a Cathedral and we hopped in there too. It was nice, but after seeing St. Augostino's, it wasn't as impressive. We did find a painting of Jesus showing off his muscles though.

You might have to click it to make it big to see it better!

Jesus showing off his guns.

Enormous Candles

We had a long day and wanted to get back to Myra's a little early so we could pack up and make sure we were all ready to leave in the morning. We walked back via the Trevi Fountain (and hopped in another church), got home, packed, ate and called it an early night and prepare our minds and bodies for the insanity that would start the next day.

Me and Trevi again

The Crowds

Cute Street

Our Temporary Residence in Rome.
The big window on the white building with one shutter open and the other is closed is where we stayed.

Check out the size of that front door!

So that ladies and gentleman, is the end of Italy. Hope no one got to sick and tired of reading about it! :)

Day 6 - Florence

We departed Uzzano early in the morning and got back to Florence around 10. We said our goodbyes to Myra as she had a plane to catch to Croatia early afternoon. After purchasing our tickets back to Rome we checked in our backpacks again and took to the city. We would be returning to Rome at 4:00 so we had about 6 hours in Florence which actually was the perfect amount of time.

We were both a little hungry, so before we started the day, we stopped at a shop to get a couple sandwhiches (yes at 10:00am) while Michael ordered, I took pictures of the gelato.

Yum

Double Yum

The first thing we wanted to do was cross the Arno River and head up the hill to Michaelangelo's Piazza that is said to offer spectacular views over Florence along with a lovely walk up the mountain. It didn't disappointed. The hike up was quite tiring, but we managed. There were lots of steps and steep hills, but it was the cutest most pleasant little pathway. The views from the top were incredible. We saw about 10 Asian Brides and their bridal parties taking pictures. The oddest thing about it was that it was a Monday morning. Anyhow, congrats to them! We sat for a while and enjoyed the view and walked around the old city walls up more hills till we got to an old fort and more views. I actually don't know how it happened, but I didn't take a single picture of the old walls, the old fort or the view from there. But it was lovely.

Walking up the hill

View over Florence

Walking back down the steps

You can see in the pictures of the view a big dome. This is The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, or as it is more commonly known, "The Duomo". I couldn't get a good picture of it up close from the outside because it was too huge to fit in my camera frame, but I didn't try real hard either. We wanted to go inside and it was beautiful. It doesn't hold a candle to the wind against St. Peters Cathedral in Rome, but I don't think anything could.

Duomo

Inside the Duomo

Before going to Rome we had already decided we wanted to Light a candle at St. Peters Cathedral in honor of Michaels Aunt Corlis who passed away last spring from breast cancer. She and her second son, Kyle, traveled to Rome and Croatia a couple years before she passed away. On our first visit to Rome there were candles where you could do this, but there were none this time. So we had to pass, but decided to light a candle for her here, in the Duomo in Florence.

In memory of Corlis Pate.
You are missed every day.

By now, we were getting hungry and since it was such a beautiful day, we opted for a cafe overlooking the Uffizi Gallery and a wonderful bustling square. I had delicious lasagna and Michael had...hmm I forgot! Mine was so tasty I didn't really pay attention to Michaels! I do remember he enjoyed it though.

My view from Lunch.
I caught the lady in the background about put food in her mouth.
I'm sure she wouldn't approve of this picture.

My side view from the cafe

Me and the sculpture of the Rock Hard Abs man.
There was a replica of "The David" next to this fountain, but I didn't get a picture.
I was more drawn to this guy, he seemed more "Manly"
But since the David is modeled after a young King David, that only makes sense.

Many would probably think it was sac religious to be in Florence and not visit one of the great art galleries, but we didn't. Neither of us had an overwhelming urge to hop inside Academia to see the "real" David. I'm sure it is amazing, but perhaps next time we find ourselves in Florence we will. Finally, it was time for some wondering around with no plans before we headed back to Rome.

Street Scene.

In the end, I really enjoyed Florence. It was a nice change of pace from busy, big and crazy Rome. I know a person could spend months in Florence, or just a couple days. There is so much to do and see, but it is a small town. I had never really given Florence much thought besides what my friends that have been there have said. They always loved it. I never had the dream of going to Florence, but I am certainly glad the opportunity presented itself. I hope we make it back there eventually. It was a cool and very pretty place.

Now, back to Rome. We caught our train and both slept the whole way. When we got back we realized we had no idea how to get back to Myra's place and we didn't bring a map of Rome with us. When we came to the main station we came by bus and didn't pay attention to where we were. We decided to take a gamble, pick a direction, start walking and see if we could figure it out. I suppose all our insane walking paid off that day, because within 5 minutes of walking we knew exactly where we were and how to get to Myra's house. Lucky us! For dinner we made the left over pasta we had bought a few days ago, relaxed and talked about what to do our final day in Rome.

Bella Roma Day 3

Day 3 was Thursday. We got up and out about 9AM and walked over to the Vatican Museum to see the Sistine Chapel. This was the only BIG thing we didn't get to on our first trip so it was the most important thing on our list this time. The line was pretty short and we were inside with tickets within about 5 minute of arriving. We shamelessly walked through the museum quickly to make it to the Sistine Chapel because we saw hordes of people arriving as we got in the door. We figured if we lingered to long it would be unpleasant inside. Which it was kinda anyway, but oh well. I had always read that getting to the Sistine Chapel took a long time because it was a far walk, and it was...but we did see some beautiful things on the way and did stop walking from time to time when something caught our eye.

We finally made it to the chapel and I was immediately surprised by how tall it was. The room itself is pretty small, but the work in the chapel is amazing. We stayed a bit staring up at the ceiling and left, and left the museum as well.

Bad Picture of the Sistine Chapel

We also wanted to revisit the inside of St. Peters Cathedral so that was next on our list. It was still as gorgeous, huge and as ornate as I remember it. My absolute favorite sculpture I have ever laid eyes on has a home inside the Cathedral. It is Michaelangelo's "Pieta" which is Jesus laying in Mary's lap after the Crucifixion. I couldn't begin to explain how incredible the inside of this cathedral is. There are so many little interesting things here that are so easy to miss.

The Pieta

St. Peters Cathedral

The story goes, that if you rub St. Peters foot you are absolved of all your sins.
So, now, I'm sin free! ;)

We weren't really sure where we wanted to go next, so we choose Piazza del Popolo. This was another spot we actually tried to see on our last visit but took a wrong turn and ended up way far so scratched it. When we got there, it was so much bigger then I imagined, we sat and rested our legs for a bit before heading back to Myra's to get ready for the party she was throwing.

Piazza del Popolo

Michael Reading the Map

Myra had invited a lot of her colluges over along with two of her friends visiting Rome from Greece. She works with a lot of really nice people that were an array of characters that were interesting to chat with. There was lots of yummy food and prosecco . After all of her colluges and friends from Greece left, the only people still here were the three of us, 4 interns and 1 friend that was visiting one of the interns. We all sat around and talked, drank and ate and had a great time. They didn't leave till about midnight! We had a blast. It was a good thing our train to Florence didn't leave the next morning until 12:30!

Myra being a great host.

Myra dancing with Sergio

This guy, was hilarious. He was the happiest and most smiley person I've ever met.
Sergio

The four interns who were so incredibly nice.
Roberto, Sergio, Myra, Dominica (who is from NYC) and Alessandro

The "M's" Michael, Myra and Michael

Bella Roma Day 2

Wednesday morning came fast, especially since we didn't go to bed till quite late. Myra left early for a day trip for work and Michael and I slept in. When we got up, we headed straight out the door after of course changing to go across the street to a little cafe called, "Friends Cafe" where we got some coffee and croissants. It was good and fast so we could come back and take showers and pack up for the day and get on our way.

We started our "sightseeing" by walking from Myra's place to the Spanish steps which is about a 10-15 minute walk. When we got there we sat on the steps for a while watching the world go by.

Spanish Steps

After the Spanish Steps we walked around alot and found lunch at a cute little cafe. We ate outside under heated lamps, but the wind started to blow and it got quite cold. When we left we had the intention to go to the Pantheon, but since we just went the "general direction" and weren't really looking at a map to get there, we ended up by the river close to Vatican City, so went there instead. When we got there I had to use the restroom and Michael was convinced he remembered there being a restroom hidden on a wall on close to the entrance I wasn't so sure about this, but as we started walking underneath the columns it all came back to me and I knew he was right and there it was, a hidden and empty restroom! We sat on the steps in the square for a long time. The sun was out and I was in heaven. It was so warm I even rolled up my sleeves and helped my body make lots of vitamin D!

Michael Crossing Over the Bridge

Tiber River

St. Peters Square and Cathedral

I LOVE this picture.
Michael and the two nuns.

I'm in green, sunbathing

We decided we would try to go to the Pantheon again, so after reading a map we were on our way and this time made it there. It was about a 45 minute walk or so, but as Myra will attest to, we can out walk anybody in fact in Paris in 2002, she gave Michel the nickname "Walking Nazi'. The Pantheon was just as huge as I remember. It is such an amazing building and to think that the building that is there now has been standing there since 125AD blows my mind.

Pantheon
Can you find Michael? He is hard to miss ;)

It was starting to get later and later and we needed to meet Myra back at the apartment at 7:00. We knew we had a long trek back home so we got some Gelato for the road and headed back. Our plan was to go to the Spanish Steps and then from there back to Myra's house, until we saw signs for the Trevi Fountain (which is relatively close to the Spanish Steps) so, made a detour to go there instead. We spent a few days on our first trip sitting by the fountain eating lunch. When we were here in 2002 the fountain area seemed so empty, there were usually only about 20 other people there with us. It was the end of February on that trip also, so I don't know why this time, there were so many more people. We didn't sit on the steps in front of the fountain but on the wall to the side of it. I found a little corner that I fit in perfectly and Michael stood and researched the map to find the best way home. This time, we made it all the way home with no stops. We were gone from 11:00am til 6:00pm. It was a lovely day of walking around the incredible city, taking it all in and enjoying ourselves.

Coffee Flavored Gelato

Trevi Fountain

This is look like when I walk for 6 hours. Tired!

In the evening the three of us went to the grocery store to stock up on food for the party that was happening the next night at Myra's place. We loaded our backpacks down with 12 bottle of Procceco and tons of food. We also got some pasta, bread, and pesto for dinner along with a jar of instant coffee so we didn't have to run out the door so fast the next morning, breakfast for the morning and a toothbrush for me because mine is sitting in our cabinet in the bathroom in Lyngby. oops. We ate our food, drank some wine from Macedonia and had a lovely evening.

Cooking Ravioli stuffed with Ricotta and Spinach