On Friday we checked into our hotel afternoon. The hotel is very Italian and cute with small rooms (very common in Rome) and with the standard Italian hotel hair dryer which looks like an old vacuum on the wall. I can't believe I forgot from last time! One thing I love about most Italian hotels is that they serve a delicious breakfast that is included and usually have cute little sitting/common areas. Friday night we walked around our neighborhood looking for a custom shoe maker that Colin had heard of. Unfortunately it was closed upon our arrival so we decided it was time to eat. We stopped at a really cute little neighborhood restaurant and basically had the place to ourselves. The food and wine was delicious, and the company even better! Afterward we headed to Trevi fountain for some great pics and to make some wishes. On our way to Trevi fountain we passed the US embassy and wanted to take a quick picture in front of it. Afterwards we learned very quickly from the embassy police that this is not allowed. Whoops!
Saturday we had arranged for a private tour of Rome. Our driver, Roberto, picked us up at our hotel in the morning and took us all over the city. We saw the capuchin crypt, the "key hole", the pantheon, the colosseum/forums, the Spanish steps, altare della patria, and much more. He took us to both the big tourist places as well as the small of the beaten path places, including what he labeled as the best cappuccino in the city. We couldn't have agreed more! After a busy morning he took us to his Vatican city neighborhood where he had arranged a fabulous traditional Italian lunch for us consisting of unlimited wine, bread/ olive oil, antipasti's, margarita pizza, gnocchi, handmade ravioli, tiramisu and of course limoncello. Needless to say we didn't go hungry and to be honest it probably was our best meal in Italy! After lunch he dropped us off to meet his guide partner at the Vatican. Maria then took us on a 3 hour tour of the Vatican, Sistene chapel, and St. peters basilica. It was absolutely incredible. Adam and I had walked through ourselves when we were here last time but gained so much more information with Maria leading us.
Last night we took Taxi's to an area of the city that Roberto suggested we go to dinner at. Upon arriving at the square we loved it. The squares they have in Europe and especially Italy that are surrounded by great indoor/outdoor restaurants, fountains, entertainers, and lots of people are just something we don't really have in the States. Each of the restaurants had a host that is there to essentially sell you on eating at their restaurant. The one we selected said he would build us a table right out in the front and would treat us to some champagne for the group. Definitely not something you see At home, and it worked for me. After having yet another delicious meal of fresh pastas we stopped at a gelato place on the square for dessert. Once arriving back at the hotel we got some beer and wine and sat up on the rooftop terrace that they use for breakfast until shortly after 1am just chatting and enjoying the great summer weather.
Today we went to the colosseum and the roman forums all day. It's so unbelievable to think and see all of the things that the Romans were able to build long before our country even existed. It's so neat that so much of it is still here today for us to see. You can really get a sense of what it was like so long ago for the people here. Most of the things here also would be very difficult for someone to build today, yet so long ago and without any of our resources they were able to do amazing things. Some of which almost seem impossible.
Tomorrow morning we will hop a train to head north to Sirmione as our friends are getting married on Tuesday. We are very excited to see what small town Italy is like around lake Garda.
Ciao ciao!
Shelby
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