Monuments done time for Food - Rome part 5

By Sunday we had seen all the big monuments except the Mouth of Truth, which was very south of the city. I of course wanted to see it because it yet again was in Roman Holiday =) Adam and I did sleep in a bit since we had no place to be that morning. We ate breakfast in bed and enjoyed relaxing. We finally scooted out the door and walked over to a coffee shop Adam's co-workers took him to on Tuesday. It is said to be the oldest coffee shop in Rome. Even though we had just had cappuccino for breakfast I still got a second and Adam got an espresso. We also bought cups to take home with us.

Next we made our way down to Campo d' Fiori which was supposed to have a great market...I later re-read my information on it and the market is Mon-Sat. So needless to say nobody was really there. It worked out well though. We went to cross the river and found this amazing leather shop called T-Nobile. The owner came over to talk to us and explained that the leather is from Florence and all the artisans are italian. The whole product is made in italy basically so of course we were intrigued. We searched and searched and found just the items we wanted. Of course, as accountants go, we had problems making up our minds so we left to go to lunch and think about it.

Our Italian friend recommended a great pizza place in Trastavere called Dar Poeta. We searched and were on the correct street but I think at the wrong end. I finally stopped and asked an Italian store keeper for directions..in Italian. She also gave me directions in Italian and with my semester of college italian under my belt I understood and took Adam and I straight there. I'm pretty proud of that moment, I hope my professor is too. I ordered a normal pizza with mushrooms on it...Adam on the other hand must order something crazy and unique. I forgot the name of his pizza but it had no cheese, just sauce, capers, olives, and sardines on it. Mr. Cheese man was not happy about his cheese less pizza but liked it just the same. Mine was better  =) I think he's going to stick to normal stuff when trying things for the first time finally.

After our fantastic lunch we strolled up through Trastavere to go to the Mouth of Truth when we came upon another shoe store...this time for guys. Adam has been looking for some work shoes so we stopped in. He found some beautiful leather wing tipped shoes. The girl working in the store explained that her father makes all the leather purses and shoes in the store and it can only be found in Italy. Well Adam was sold so now both me and Adam have Italian shoes. We really were made for each other hahahaha!

We finally found the Mouth of Truth...or should I say the line for the Mouth of Truth. Since it was snap a picture and move on and regulated by a couple of guys it went quick. They take a .50 donation, and no change, so I only had enough for one. Once we got to the front Adam took my picture and then the nice church volunteer that had been messing with me in line made Adam get up there and took our picture together. It was so nice!

We walked back up towards our B&B to get ready for dinner. We really wanted to go back to the restaurant we found by the Colosseum. We were salivating over the pasta everyone else had ordered while we had our pizza's and Adam's huge mozzarella ball. They had the best pasta!! Homemade noodles and the best sauces. We shared a couple appetizers of a fried risotto ball and fried ricotta ball. Then our pasta's came, along with a side of calamari. Adam even got a Berry Panacotta for us to share for dessert which was also amazing. They don't have doggie bags in Italy so if you don't finish you don't take it home...We finished every bite!

The Ricotta Cheese is on the left and the Risotto is on the right

 Adam's Pasta - It had lots of cheese and black pepper, better than an Alfredo

 My pasta - Red sauce with italian sausage and cheese. 

Then we slowly walked over to the Colosseum to get a couple night pictures. We eventually made it home that night around midnight-1am ish. Since it was our last night we just wandered the city to enjoy it and remember all the fun we had.

We found a nice couple to take a picture of us for a picture of them! 

 The Colosseum lit up at night. It was gorgeous!

 Adam and I attempting a picture together

We must be on TIME - Rome part 4

Schedule starts us at 8am with our breakfast wake up call. They just pound on the door at 8am and put our breakfast on the table outside our door. Adam grabs it and we eat while we get ready. Fresh Cappuccino and cereal this morning. We have to be at the corner of the Vatican by 9:15 to catch our tour group. 

We practically run there because yes we are running late and thought it would be a quick walk, it's just down the street from the Castel d' Angelo which is across the street from us. How ever not such a short hike with coffee and milk sloshing in your belly. We make it there right at 9:15am as they are getting ready to start..YES! Our tour guide is Andre who is an italian. He really knows his stuff. We start the tour on the outside of the walls of the vatican. He explained that the Vatican is a country on it's own with it's own government, police and fire department, and laws. So we technically are crossing the border to another country. 

As we are all standing there, in our group, getting ready to cross the street to the entrance in,  some guy with a tour company comes up to me and says if your looking for a tour group we have an english one leaving in a few minutes. I look in front of me and behind me and then say" Dude...I'm in a tour group right now!" Adam is laughing hysterically by now because I always have this lost, confused, and enthralled look on my face in this city. Adam then tells me it's a wonder I even made it home while out and about by myself. I really need to invest in a hat or dye my hair brown again! But I digress...we enter and get started on the tour. We see the basic layout of the vatican and then go to see some gardens and go down to where they store all the horse drawn carriages and some of the retired pope mobiles.

Then we head through the museums and see a lot of Fresco's and statues. Some made by Raphael, Bernini, and Michelangelo. Other statues were very significant because they are original greek statues that both Michelangelo and Raphael used as they were learning to paint people in 3D. They were amazing, the detail work 2000 years ago is awesome! 

 We are getting close to the sistine chapel and inside there are no pictures or talking allowed. So they have pictures on large post boards outside that discuss everything so your tour guide can explain it all before you go in.

The chapel is unbelievable!! The detail and color is gorgeous. One funny story is that Biagio da Cesena, the Pope's master of ceremonies, was complaining about the nudity of all the men and women so Michelangelo got even by painting his face on Mino's  body in the damned area, gave him donkey ears and has a snake wrapped around him biting his ummm.. manly parts.

Next we moved onto St. Peter's Basillica. This church was gorgeous on the inside. The ceiling was amazing and enormous. There is so much history and I know we only got a tidbit of it. There were lots of statues in it along with more fresco's. we got to see what we would call the pulpit where the pope gives his sermons. we also got to go down into the tomb area and see many of the popes's tombs. St. Peter is also buried underground as well. He is right under a picture of Jesus. No pictures were allowed in there also. When we finally finished it was almost 2pm and we were starving. 

St. Peter's Basilica

Mary Holding Jesus's body after he was taken off of the cross

The inside and up in the dome of St. Peters Basilica

The Holy Door

The Outside of St. Peters Basilica

St. Peter's Square

 Our breakfast at 8am was far gone at this point. We walked back towards our B&B and went up a side street to find an awesome little restaurant tucked back away from pretty much everything. I got another melon and pruscuitto salad and adam got an octopus salad which he really really liked. Their homemade pasta was also amazing. Adam got a swordfish pasta and I stuck to a traditional red sauce with eggplant.

The Melon and Pruscuitto salad

Adam's Octopus Salad

This was our restaurant

 After sitting for awhile we decided to go shopping together. We both had our hearts set on getting one leather item from italy that we would be able to keep forever. We walked up Via Del Corso in and out of shops. I was showing Adam a lot of the side streets as well. Finally close to Piazza del Popolo I found a great shoe store and purchased some really awesome...half-off, grey Italian leather boots. Ummm of course I would get shoes =) we crossed the piazza and walked over to what we thought was a market...it was like the stolen stuff/ crap market but adam and I were able to get adam some, possibly stolen, Ray Ban sunglasses for a mexican price. Adam didn't find anything yet, but we still had a day and a half to look.

We walked back, cleaned up, and headed out to dinner. Tonight was supposed to be something recommended, but we were so tired from our day that I wanted something close, so we did a very touristy thing. We found a restaurant right in front of the Pantheon. We had a light dinner with salads and shared a pizza. We weren't as impressed with the food as other places off the beaten path but the view was outstanding. The pantheon lit up at night is a huge wow factor. We ate and relaxed as people played music for tips till probably 12:30 and then headed home for bed.

Let the Schedule Begin - Rome part 3

Well as you all know I have A LOT of time on my hands. So I created an hour by hour schedule for Adam and I for our trip to Rome starting on Friday morning. So if anyone needing to go to  Rome needs help I'm your girl. After our wonderful breakfast in bed at the B&B we headed to the Colosseum. Word to the wise, buy your ticket to the colosseum online, it covers the Colosseum, Palentine Hill, and the Roman Forum. The line just to buy a ticket was probably 3 hours long, in the 100 degree heat. If you forget to buy your ticket online, go to Palentine Hill to buy your ticket. It's the same for all three places and I think there was 1 person in line. Huge time saver for everyone. Ok so back on track. Adam and I bypassed the ridiculous line at the Colosseum and walked right in. I was hoping for the wow factor when seeing this place but unfortunately the first thought in my head was...wow it looks like Bush Stadium hahahaha. It's amazing to see inside. There are tons of plaques on the wall to explain all the different areas. Also, you can do what we did. Find someone who is wearing the headset walking tour and follow them. They always have it turned up so loud that you can hear everything. I think we freaked out a few people but whatever. We also stopped and listened in on a few guides as well. They don't care. In the Colosseum they have a partially built floor that shows what the battle ground looked like. Under that was the basement area where all the animals were kept, which is the exposed area in the picture below.

The Colosseum

 Inside the Colosseum

 I love that there are so many tourists running around. They will always ask you to take their picture and then offer to take yours as well.

The long side of the colosseum

 This is the floor I was talking about above. Thats what the floor would have looked like where the battles were played out. The basement below with broken down walls is where the animal's were kept for the battles.

 Us on the top floor looking over the whole Colosseum

After wondering around the Colosseum we headed to the closest neighborhood and found a local place to eat lunch. This is where Adam got an enormous ball of mozzarella in his Caprese salad. It was awesome, he did let me have a taste of it =) In the corner you can see some of my pizza, it had mushrooms and italian sausage and it was delisch!!

Next was the Roman Forum and Palentine Hill. These two area's are connected so you don't have to exit one to go to the other which is awesome. They are also right across the street from the Colosseum so we can get more pictures. We went by ourselves, no tour so we just walked around the ruins and Adam took pictures of everything. There were lots of old buildings and amphitheater ruins. We were able to find some shaded spots to hangout in which was very very awesome. In the Farnese gardens they had lemon and orange trees growing and I practically had to hold both of Adam's hands to keep him from picking and eating them. I don't know if it's against the rules but I'm not letting him get me thrown out for it! We ended close to the museum so we walked through there for a little air conditioning and exited through the front which was a great picture shot of it. After finishing up there we walked back through the shopping district to stroll around. It's what people do here apparently!

The view of the Colosseum from the front of the Roman Forum/Palentine Hill 

 The orange trees that I had to keep Adam from stealing oranges. The kid cannot control himself around fresh food. On our hike up Utliberg in switzerland there were raspberries growing and he would just pick them and eat them!

 The Roman Forum

 Palentine Hill area

 I think this was part of an old ampitheater, Adam was stoked. Not sure if you can get on this so he ran and did!

 The Roman Forum Area

The Roman Forum Area

 More ruins at the Roman Forum, this is where you exit and end up at the museum.

I have dinner scheduled for 8:30pm on in Rome. Dinner starts for the early birds and tourists around 7pm but all the local's and lively people it's around 9pm and later. After cleaning up...we head over to Gusto for dinner. Another recommendation to us. The melon & pruscuitto salad and bruschetta start us off and then a plate of local cheeses and meats. We were still full from pizza and pasta at lunch so we decided to try some traditional appetizers instead. All wonderful!!! Plus the nights in Rome are completely different than the day time. It cools off so much that it feels wonderful outside, probably to the 70's. Of course there is more walking around then off to bed finally around midnight. We have to save our feet for the next day...The Vatican!! As my friend Emileigh says..."Your in Rome...why would you sleep" hahahaha!

It's only Partly about me - Rome Part 2

Thursday I was supposed to start my vacation with Adam at 4pm so I had to entertain myself until then. I guess I was forced to shop again...tragic. My shopping excursion yesterday produced nothing but looking by the way. Since I had been so lost the day before I knew exactly where to go. I started off going up a side street off Via Due Macelli, which is the street that leads to the spanish steps. There was a cute bistro up there where you could get a cappuccino and croissant for breakfast. For both it was only 3.50 euros...steal compared to switzerland. Also, in italy if you want to eat cheap you order at the counter and then stand at the counter to eat and drink. Much cheaper because then service isn't included in your bill, like if you sat down and were waited on. After getting caffeinated I headed out for shopping that might include making a purchase. I walked past the spanish steps and up Via Del Babuino and Via Margutta. Via Margutta was not for shopping. This is the street where Gregory Peck lived in the movie Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn, Via Margutta 92. I watched the movie before we left, i'm a huge Audrey Hepburn fan!
Can't say that I made any great purchases on this trip either...those are later with Adam. But I had a great time running up and down all the side streets where there were less tourists and more locals. I found some great shoe stores and wish I could have remembered where they were.

 This is the doorway for Via Margutta 92

Next, hung at the hotel in the air conditioning and waited for Adam to finish his meetings. While I was sitting and reading, minding my own business, an Italian gentleman came in to read the newspaper. He kept looking at me which I figured was because I'm a young girl in the Savoy hotel...why? He finally started talking to me in very very broken english and what I thought was, he's on his break and works at the hotel as a manager. He was trying to find out why I was there and was explaining that I was with mio marito (my husband) who is in a meeting and then holiday till monday. He asked if we were staying in the hotel the whole time and I said no. He then asked for my number for what I thought was he would give us help around town/on a hotel room to just stay there. However, after he left and I talked to Adam we pieced my conversation together and realized nope this was just a dirty old man hitting on me and I am that stupid. The guy had to have been 60 at least so I never suspected that would happen. Good news was I can't ever remember my phone number here so I gave him a wrong one so he couldn't call me. I didn't want to stay at the savoy or have him try to persuade us with a better room deal, it was a bad hotel. 

Adam and I got to our new bed and breakfast and loved our  new place. It was quite and quaint and on a side street to a main road. Very good location. If you go too blocks west and 2 blocks north you are standing in front of the Castel d' Angelo.They bring breakfast to your room every morning, so it was like a 2nd honeymoon for us. We dropped off our stuff, cleaned up, and went to dinner at Maccheroni, the first on the list of places to eat from our new Italian friend. We stuffed our faces with way too much pasta and wine then went down the street for Gelato. We needed to walk off all the food so we walked over to the Pantheon and Piazza Novana and people watched for a little while. We got really ambitious and walked down to the Trevi Fountain also. It was Packed with tourists. We managed to make our way down to the fountain and snap a few pictures and talk some tourists into snapping us together.When our feet couldn't take it anymore we headed to our hotel for some much needed sleep.

Castel D'Angelo

 Adam and I on the Bridge

 Piazza Novana

The Pantheon

Trevi Fountain

Adam and I in front of the Trevi Fountain