When in Rome...

This seemed to be the theme of our weekend as we tried to take advantage of everything the city had to offer. We absolutely loved Rome. Here's why:

Trevi Fountain on our first night

Pasta, Pizza, Gelato, Wine oh my!
The food and wine was incredible. Our favorite meal was at a restaurant that I had read about in Time Out - celebrities dine there a lot so we thought we might see someone famous. We didn't end up seeing anyone, but the food, service and atmosphere was "magnifico"

Tour of Colosseum and Roman Forum
This was the number one thing Aaron wanted to see when we moved to Europe. We toured through it and the Roman Forum. Surprisingly, it is still in pretty good shape for being 1940 years old. Aaron loved it, but now he's determined to re-watch Gladiator.

Empty chairs the day before Easter Mass at the Vatican

Easter Mass at the Vatican
About two months ago, we faxed in a letter to the Vatican requesting tickets to Easter Mass. We received a letter saying that we had tickets and to go to a bronze door near St Peter's Square the day before to pick them up. Tickets were free, but the whole experience seemed a bit secretive and exclusive. We picked up the tickets, and the following day, we headed to to the Vatican to find that the whole experience wasn't so exclusive. We packed in with 98,000 other people and watched the Pope deliver Easter Mass. As the precession started up, one of the two guys in front of us said "Sounds like, go Huskies" and I couldn't help but ask, "Which Huskies are you referring to?" : ) Sure enough, they were from Seattle which made the entire experience even better. We were surprised to find out that the mass was delivered in multiple languages and that the entire crowd took communion.

Piazza Navona

Pantheon ceiling

History / Piazzas
We loved all the history that was lining the streets of Rome. From the piazzas to historical remnants of Roman times that you could stumble upon in. Piazza Navona was my favorite- it used to be an old stadium in 1st century AD. But we also loved the Pantheon, Campo De' Fiori and Trevi Fountain. Rome is just so beautiful.

Weather
Saturday night, we had a torrentual downpour at the amazing restaurant, which included thunder and lightning. We were outside under a covered terrace and just listened to the rain pour down on the awning. It was one of the worst "storms" I've ever heard, but such a unique and cool experience. After dinner, we even grabbed a bottle of wine and headed up to our hotel's rooftop patio to listen to the storm (which luckily also had an awning). The following day was gorgeous and the day after that we even got a little sunburnt. The weather was a perfect mix of a little bit of everything.

Water Fountains
The city has over 2,000 water fountains that provide clean, cold drinking water on the streets. We took advantage of these. I can only imagine how crowded they get during the hot summer months (especially if we got sun burnt in April)!

Parade Route

Rome's Birthday
Rome is one of the only city's to celebrate it's birthday, and luckily that date happened to fall while we were in town. On April 21, Rome celebrated it's 2767 birthday with a huge parade, gladiator re-enactments and fireworks. We got caught directly in the parade route and found a perfect lookout to see the excitement below.

After finally escaping the crowd, one last photo!

Getting "Trapped"
This may sound weird, but multiple times during the weekend, Aaron and I found ourselves trapped in a place we couldn't get out of. The first time this happened was during Easter mass. We were in the center crowd and they had formed walkways through for the Pope to drive around in his Pope car and communion to be given. We decided to head out a bit early, but we couldn't get out! There was nowhere to go and just tons of people. Finally, we told an Italian guard, we just want to get out and he ushered us onto the walkway where hundreds of people were lined up clapping - quite the escape! The second time we were trapped was during Rome's birthday parade. The same sort of thing happened and we had to run across the parade route.

We both agree that Rome has been our favorite city we've visited so far. But we're learning that it's really not about where you go, but your experiences in those destinations that make a trip. And everything we did and saw, the people that we met, the delicious Italian meals we ate, and the unique experiences that we had, are really what made our trip. Ciao Roma!