When in Rome...

Here's a very quick summary of our trip to Rome this past week. We had such a good time. It was fast and furious though, but how else are you going to see everything with only a few days to do it? The map shows where we went starting on Thursday and back in Rome by Saturday night. Then I spent 3 more days in Rome. Seth came home 3 days after I left.

We flew in around 9:00 am and by 10:00 we had rented a car, bought a GPS (an absolute necessity) and were on the road. Within an hour we saw the break lights and cars were at a stand still. This truck caught on fire so we sat for about 30 minutes while they put it out. Seth ended up staying in the right lane and then found that he was blocking the emergency vehicles. So they told him to just keep driving and he led the fire truck and a few police cars to the scene. Looking back it's pretty funny, but at the time, not so much!

Once we got past that, we headed to our first stop: San Gimignano. This was a cool town on a hill top. Of course, the first thing we did was get ourselves some gelato. So yummy!

The next stop was Pisa. We didn't stay too long, but long enough to eat some delicious dinner. I had a gnocchi with red sauce and Seth had pasta with wild boar sauce.

Just for the fun of it, I took a picture of this sign: GO TWILIGHT!

After Pisa we headed to our first Bed and Breakfast in Levanto. It's a town just outside the northern most town of the Cinque Terra. It was an interesting adventure getting to it and we were so relieved when we finally did and the owners were there waiting for us. To get to it, we went down this tiny road that took us down into a canyon. It was dark and the town seemed to be completely shut down. No lights, no cars, nothing. We were it. So luckily we found the place, because if we didn't, we may have had to sleep in the car. But it was a really cool place with a awesome breakfast!

Here's the car we rented. I think Seth had a little too much fun weaving around these small towns in it.

We left the B&B and took the train to the five towns of the Cinque Terra. We only missed one because of timing. We went to Manarola first and from there walked along the Via dell Amore.

Before leaving we left a token of our love for each other on the fence.

That led us to Riomaggiore. From there we took the train up to the northern most town, Monterosso. We only stayed about 10 minutes before the next train came to take us to Corniglia. To get there from the train we had to hike up the mountain on a road that had several switchbacks. This was the coolest town. I don't know how to describe it and the pictures don't do it justice, so hopefully my memory lasts long. This first picture shows an alley that we walked through that just kind of ended at the cliff. We were in Corniglia long enough to have lunch. It was just spaghetti but it was simple amazing! After lunch we took the stairs down the mountain back to the train that took us back to Levanto where we got our car and hit the road again.

Finally, we were heading to Verona where I went to school my senior year. I absolutely love this town! It was really fun to see everything again, but I realized I had forgotten alot. It's been 17 years since I was there.

Here's the GPS on the way. Yes, that's miles per hour, and yes, cars were passing us!

We stayed in another B&B here and once again, weren't sure if we were going to get in alright, but like everything else on this trip, things just worked out!

The arena in Piazza Bra. So many memories of this place!

Juliet's balcony.

The hotel we stayed in for a few months 17 years ago.

This was the best pizza I've ever had! It helped that it was 9:00 before we had a chance to eat and I was starving, but I'm pretty sure it would have been good anyway.

We walked across the Castelvecchio Bridge and then through the streets of Verona. What a great day! The weather was beautiful as well.

We considered taking the train to Venice from here, but we were pretty short on time and pretty tired so we opted to head back to Rome. But not before we stopped in Florence for a record breaking amount of time there. I don't think anyone goes to Florence and sees it the way we did. We found a parking space just outside the city, put enough money in for 1 hour and ran! Literally went from our car across the Ponte Vecchio to the front of the Uffizi gallery and the ran back to our car. Crazy, but fun!

So, now we were headed to Rome where Seth had his conference and the reason for going to Rome in the first place. The hotel was super nice. As much as I loved the Bed and Breakfasts, it was really nice to go to a hotel with a front desk with people who spoke English and we were guaranteed our room even after getting in late! Also, we were back with wifi and could now communicate with people again.

Seth's version of Mister Rogers.

The following are random pictures of Rome. We saw ALOT, and some of what we saw we had no idea what it was. But among the places were knew were the Colosseum, Spanish Steps, Ruins, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, St. Peters Basilica, the Vatican Museum, and of course, the big white building...

I realize how awkward this looks, but I was trying to sit on my hand so my pants didn't get wet. But the cooler part of this picture is that the area was packed with hundreds of people, but Seth, with his mad photography skills, was able to get a spot and angle so we look like we are the only ones there.

This is later at night, but it shows how crowded it was.

Aaah, the Native Americans of Italy. Such a rich culture...huh?

The Spanish Steps

Mosaic tile floor in the Vatican Museum.

Raffaele Room

This picture was somewhat illegal, but I couldn't help myself. I turned my flash off though!

Gotta love the arches. (just so you know, we didn't eat there)

In case you were wondering if we forgot to eat while in Rome, well, we didn't. I thought the food was better up north, but we still had a few good meals and of course, more gelato!

I even made some friends while I was there. Some of the "Wives of On" got together while the men were in meetings and toured Rome. I don't think I've ever walked so much in my life, but it was really fun. These women were great to hang out with!

Overall, I couldn't have asked for a better trip. We saw and did so much and had a great time!