European Adventure: Rome

I guess Rome wanted to welcome us in a big way. This wall was right next to our hotel.

I think Rome might have been Chase's favorite. It is an incredible city, with amazing history, art, and architecture on every corner. We ate some amazing food, including gelato twice daily, and fully enjoyed walking our feet to the bone as we crossed and re-crossed the city on a daily basis.

A lot of the art can be enjoyed in situ, i.e. in the place for which it was originally intended. And as a bonus you can actually take pictures in the churches in which they reside, while you cannot in most of the museums.

A few examples include Bernini's St. Theresa in Ecstasy

 Bernini's elephant statue, topped by an obelisk, topped by a cross (to indicate Christianity's triumph over paganism)

And Michelangelo's Moses. This one was particularly striking--I wish the photograph could capture it.

 There are also lots of fun fountains around Italy:

Outside the Pantheon, enjoying our first gelato (of many).

 Gorgeous and brilliant ancient architecture:

 This would be Chase's "Are you seriously taking another picture?" face.

Trevi Fountain: amazing

 Spanish steps: fun place to hang out til midnight. No one seems to go to bed in Italy. It suited me just fine.

 Colosseum

 I may or may not have grown faint and had to sit down while listening to Rick Steve's very tame rendition of the Gladiator fights. I never said I was tough.

Roman Forum--where Julius Caesar's body was burned after his assassination.

 Sights walking around Rome:

 Vatican:

 We saw the Sistine chapel, among other treasures in the Vatican museum

 St. Peter's Basilica (um, huge does not begin to describe it)

 Michelangelo's Pieta

 All the artwork in St. Peter's are mosaics, not paintings, so they've lasted through all the years.

 Looking down from the base of the dome.

Climbing to the top

And there it is:

 Swiss guards

 The Borghese gallery. Probably my favorite museum of the whole trip, but no pictures allowed.

So I googled a few images. The museum is pretty much a shrine to Bernini, but there are other incredible works of art there, too, trust me.



And just for a second, notice this relief from the Roman era, repaired by Bernini's father. In person it truly looks as though he's being thrown off the horse on top of you (it's right below the ceiling). I have never seen a relief that's so practically a sculpture, and it is amazing. Those Romans were incredible artists.

There were some funny moments in Rome, like when we arrived at the airport, and the guy didn't even bother looking at our passports, much less stamping them. I thought that seemed weird, and when we flew out of Switzerland they thought so too--until we said we flew into Rome, and then they just rolled their eyes and let us through. Italians are warm and friendly and fabulous...but maybe not so concerned with protocol and keeping to a schedule. Ü

We also attended an opera review that made me cry it was so beautiful, were very much annoyed by all the guys trying to sell roses on the street, and enjoyed accordion music that was probably only done for the tourists, but that's okay because it made me happy.

Rome was incredible.