Rome

Roma was one of our favorite stops - between the many fabulous meals, lovely friends made, and rich roman history there are many wonderful things we will remember about Rome! Upon arrival, we met our Airbnb host at the apartment (the only host we actually met) and Angelo was so sweet and kind! He had all kinds of suggestions of things to do and places to go. I cannot recommend this place enough if you are ever in Rome. Rome was very hot! We tried to do the super outdoorsy/walking activities early in the morning, but some of it was unavoidable. Lots of water helped!

Days in Rome: 3
Transportation: A decent amount of walking as well as trips on buses/metro/trains to get from place to place. One ticket from ATAC will get you one full trip for 90 minutes, so bus then metro, or metro then bus to your destination. We used GoogleMaps to determine the best route to get many places. Also FYI make sure you validate your ticket! We got a 10E "penalty" for not validating train tickets from town to the airport. Things are not labeled in English throughout Italy, so you have to figure a lot out on your own.
Accommodations: We stayed at Angelo's place from Airbnb - LOVELY apartment, he left us snacks and chilled wine upon arrival, showed us around the place, and even had laundry detergent. What a great host!
Things to Know: Many locals, store owners, etc. speak little or no English (although better than Venice) so it is good to know a few phrases, etc. We were told pickpocketing is pretty bad in Rome, but we did not witness much. We did encounter people who were selling things (selfie stick, roses, etc.) who were a little pushy. I just started smiling and walking away and they thought I didn't speak any of the languages they were speaking. If you take a rose or something even though they say it is free they will con money out of you.

Our lovely Airbnb

wine and treats left by our host upon arrival the first evening!

Day 1
The Colosseum

I pre-purchased tickets online for the Colosseum/Forum - one joint ticket, which allowed us to "cut the line" per say and move right to security. We still had to wait about 10 minutes but whoa it was worth it! We started at the Colosseum and worked our way through the Forum after. We followed Rick Steves' book and learned a lot along the way. One super cool fact was that there were over 80 "elevators" to move scenery, animals, and gladiators up on the stage at the Colosseum! A modern stage usually has just a few. The Romans were pretty advanced in many areas including architecture and math, which may be why I love them. Also they have pretty stellar food. Anyways, the Colosseum was super hot and pretty crowded, but it was something you should not miss. Afterwards we walked through the Forum, also using Rick's tour. However, a good portion of the Forum was closed for renovations or something, so we weren't able to see everything included inside. I do have to say there is not much information posted anywhere, so you really need either a guide book, tour guide, or audio tour at both locations.

The Colosseum

The floor where the gladiators fought

Where the important royalty, government, and wealthy sat - actually a poor view compared to the high pesant views!

The Colosseum

Where all of the secret elevators were - they surprised gladiators with animals and other gladiators to fight to the death

Arch of Constantine between Forum and Colosseum

Arch into the Forum

The Forum

The Temple of Castor and Pollux

The Forum

View from the top of Basilica Julia

Spot where Julius Caesar's body was burned

Piazza Navona

After hanging exploring all morning, we headed to Piazza Navona for lunch and some city exploration. We went to Navona Notte for lunch where I had yummy Lasagna and Dustin had a huge calzone. Afterwards we wandered into a few stores and explored the plaza. We stopped at Giolitti for gelato and WOW it was amazing! Thanks Wendy for the recommendation! Do not let the long line scare you away - it was SO worth it. Best gelato we had all trip! Afterwards we headed to a Steelers Bar in Rome - La Botticella. This was a recommendation and we had an amazing time chatting with the owner who is Italian and just loves Pittsburgh. There was memorabilia from Pittsburgh and a huge Penn State flag inside! We felt at home. I had some house Limoncello and Dustin had some local beers. We also made some friends with Delta pilots who adopted us as their children and bought us drinks. We laughed for a few hours listening to their crazy stories. This bar is a frequent place for Americans or those who speak English, as the employees and owner speak English. This was one of the coolest things in Rome! Afterwards we went to Pizzeria da Baffetto (recommended) for the BEST pizza we had on our entire trip. We shared a large margarita, and I think we could have demolished 3 between the two of us :/ Oh well, I guess we need to go back!

Lasagna for lunch!

Piazza Navona

Giolitti

Dustin got vanilla with chocolate chip. I had peach, champagne, and raspberry. YUM!

Steelers Bar!

Steelers Bar

Steelers Bar with touchdown Jesus in a Steelers helmet

la Botticella - the Steelers Bar

BEST pizza from Pizzeria da Baffetto

Rick Steves' Heart of Rome Walking Tour

As the sun began to set, we embarked on Rick's Heart of Rome tour which is encouraged to happen in the early evening. We stopped at the Trevi fountain, where you are supposed to use your left hand to toss the coin over your right shoulder to make a wish. Well I accidently did it opposite my first wish, so I had to try it again! The fountain was crazy beautiful at night but holy smokes crowded! This is a place to watch your bag/camera for sure. We finished up at the Spanish Steps (which were actually closed haha)

Trevi Fountain

Wrong shoulder

Right shoulder!

Make a wish!

toss the coin

Trevi Fountain

Trevi Fountain - crazy crowds!

Spanish Steps were closed. Dustin was thrilled. Also we got poopy gelato from a small stand. No good.

Day 2

Vatican/St. Peters Basilica/ Sistine Chapel

We booked a guided tour of the three, because it was recommended, and because it is difficult to navigate/even get in without a tour. We used Dark Rome's tour and I was pretty impressed overall. We were one of those "annoying" tour groups with the headphones in being obnoxious. Our guide was pretty great and we learned so much along the way. However, we did the whole thing in about 3 hours and I am pretty sure you could spend 100 hours exploring all 3. We learned a lot from the guide, and I am glad he was able to point out the main and important events. I was impressed by the initiatives the new Pope has brought about and overall it was a really neat experience. We were not allowed to take photos in the Sistine chapel because a Japanese TV company funded the renovations, and no owns the rights to it. They were pretty strict! It was crazy neat to see Michelangelo's work, even though he wasn't really interested in doing it. I taught my students about the art, and so it was neat to see it in person. Up near the alter, he painted a butt facing the alter, just a little kiss me to the pope who made him paint it when he wanted to do bigger and better things (this turned out to be pretty big). If we went back. I think a second visit we could handle ourselves - but if it is your first visit a tour guide is essential! Dress code was not really enforced. Many men had on shorts, and females had tank tops and shorts. However, we played it safe and I think it is important to be respectful of the church.

Annoying tour people

Outside the Vatican

Tapestry in the museum

Map in the museum

Beautiful paintings

Outside St. Peter's square

Pieta

St. Peter's

Pantheon

Because I had on a tank top the previous day, we didn't venture into the Pantheon. When we headed there this afternoon, many people did not follow the dress code (common theme). So we probably could have come previously. I was in awe of the mathematical properties of the building. Romans were so ahead of their time! It was free and we did not have to wait at all to enter.

Dinner at Trattoria Der Pallaro

A recommendation from Alex, this was a traditional Italian meal made fresh by Nonna herself. There was a predetermined 4-course menu that was just to die for. For 25E each, we enjoyed 4 courses, wine, and water. A pretty great deal for such a delicious meal. I can still taste the fresh, flavorful roma tomatoes, potato chips fresh out of the fryer, and fresh pasta with 2 sauces. Uh, wish they delivered to State College.

Course 1: Fresh tomatoes with basil, bread, prosciutto, mozzarella, and lentils!

Course 2: Fresh pasta (red sauce and carbonara)

Course 3: Prime beef, salad, fresh potato chips

Course 3: dense coconut cake and my huband hehe

Day 3
Cooking Classes in Rome
One of our favorite parts of Rome (who am I kidding, the entire trip was awesome) was our cooking class. It took place from 10am to 4pm. We arrived to a fresh breakfast of pastries and fruit. We got acquainted with the chef and the other people in our class. We got right to prepping our meal. It was all hands on deck as we prepped each of the dishes over the course of 2 hours. We met such kind people during the class! After we had finished prepping, the chef and his assistant plated everything while we enjoyed the fruits of our labor! The food was delish and it tasted even better knowing we helped to create it. After we left we were emailed the recipes I hope to one day recreate. We were able to make suggestions for foods we wanted and the chef took it into consideration. Neither Dustin or I had eaten fresh mussels, and I was pleasantly surprised and scarfed mine down! So much fun! After our class we walked and rode a train to the airport to depart for Barcelona. Rome - you will be missed and we absolutely will be back!