Rome is GORGEOUS, but I will not lie - it wasn't what I would call a "relaxing vacation"... we walked MILES every day, and climbed a million stairs, and there are no public restrooms - all of which was rough on my 20 week pregnant body. Said body is now staging an exhausted revolt against me, making me pay for all the fun that we had. LOL
Aside from that, we had a blast. It is amazing there - seriously, the people of Rome live so differently than we do. It is unbelievably crowded, and they walk everywhere - and smack in the middle of their neighborhoods are all of these amazing sights, all of which are hundreds of years old. Amazing.
It was hard to be away from Hootie, but she didn't even miss us. She was having too much fun with Gramma, Grampa, and Uncle to miss her parents. This is a funny thing - as a mom, you don't want your girl to be sad that you are gone, but you are a secretly a teensy tiny little bit hurt that she didn't ask about you even just ONCE... LOL But seriously, I am glad that she was fine, and I am glad beyond words to have her back with me. :)
There is no way that words could ever describe the things we saw, and pictures don't do it justice - but that didn't stop us from taking a million of them. So without further ado, her is a sampling of them.
The Trevi Fountain - you know this one if you have seen Three Coins in the Fountain or (more recently, and embarrassingly) When In Rome. Throw in three coins to ensure your return to Roma. I threw some in for Carly too. :)
My first day of hoofing it all over Rome - I had no idea what i was in for.... LOL
Michelangelo's "Moses" inside of the Basilica of Saint Peter's Chains:
Saint Peter was bound in these chains the first time he went to jail. People say that they can make miracles and the open them once a year for people to touch. Very interesting.
Fresco at the Basilica of Saint Peter's Chains
At the Colosseum:
:
Arc De Triumph:
Beautiful window displays everywhere - and gorgeous produce!
So much delicious pizza....
See my shirt? While it is true, pizza and gelato help make the belly go round, too.... LOL
Our posh hotel:
The coolest part of our trip was the private tour of the Vatican Museum and the dinner in the Hall of Statues. We were later told that there are around 12 dinners held there each year, almost never for private companies (the last time was 1999) and most are dinner thrown by the Pope for dignitaries and celebrities. The last one was a few months ago for the Clintons. We felt so privileged to have joined the ranks of the few who have been afforded this opportunity!
We decided that if you aren't effected by the Sistine Chapel, you are broken. It is breath-taking. A true masterpiece. P.S. You aren't allowed to take pictures in here during regular hours. This way they can sell more postcards. But we were once again allowed to do something special. How lucky are we?
Dinner is served:
We spent a day in Florence. We did see the statue of David - but you are not allowed to take pictures of him. But you know him - tall, naked. Here are some other pictures from our long day in Florence:
Rub this guy's nose for good luck!:)
Sorry that was so long... That was just a sampling of the pictures we took. Choosing just a few was hard. (And i failed - that was more than a few! LOL)
As you can see, it was a busy and fun week. We saw things we would never have been able to see on our own and we are exhausted and glad to be in our little house with our little girl. We saw some of the world's great masterpieces, but none were as beautiful as my little HootOwl. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment