arrivederci roma

We came, we saw, we conquered.  We ate our weight in gelato, we explored holey buildings, we toured the Colosseum, we found secret gardens, the Gypsy Church was ours,  best views were seen, modern art was admired, we walked around an entire country, and most importantly, we got to enjoy the city together!

thank you sisters for sharing the adventure with me!  Rome, one day, we'll be back....

tying up odds and ends

1// walking to the Vatican 2// boy strangling goose 3// inside the labyrinth that is the Vatican Museum 4// main street 5// dragons and da Vinci 6// Spanish Steps 7// Wenzel 8// St Peter's at night 9// the attraction of Trevi 10// Trevi Fountain

best circus... err I mean church... in Rome

The advice from Alli, to check out every church we found in Rome, was pretty much the best travel tip I have every received.  This advice led us to find the little gem pictured above.  While every church/ cathedral that we visited in Rome was in some way decorated for Christmas (usually with ridiculously huge Nativity scene), this church, which will forever be remembered as the Gypsy Church, was really something else.  It was like Catholicism meets Ringling Brothers.  The entryway was covered in thick red velvet curtains and inside, the Big Tent had been mimicked with enormous yellow and blue streamers.  In my opinion, though, the crowning point was the plethora of paper stars that hung from the ceiling and walls.  Stars everywhere.  Gypsy Church, you are a star.

I would really like to know who is the mastermind behind the decor.  Holiday Spectacular Genius, if you are out there and reading this blog, please, please reveal yourself!

Best View in Rome

Giancolo.  Hands down, best view.  You can hike up the hill (it is just a hop, skip and a jump from the Vatican) and see the entire city and all the way to the Alps.  We were lucky that our wandering around/ getting lost allowed us to make it to the top of the lookout right at sunset.  The golden city looked even more amazing from such a height.  It was really cool to go to Giancolo at the end of our stay in Rome so that we could spot all of the sights that we had previously toured on eye level.

To all tourists/ travelers out there, take the time to go up Giancolo.  Enjoy the view, enjoy the little park and monuments.  Find out where the Zamboni lives :)  

modern art in Roma

So after visiting the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain, which are both an absolute zoo, we wandered around looking for a place to each lunch and along our way, we found a modern art museum.  I forget its actual name, but the place felt like a haven from from the storm.  No one but us and the cranky museum attendant.  It was quiet and beautiful and colorful and refreshingly non-Rennasiance.  I love the neon shades in the portrait of the woman on the chair.

from market to mouth

giant donuts, greens, chiles, sweets, squashes, mushrooms, fish, tomatoes, gelatos, pizza, pasta, pasta, and more pasta.  can't get enough of it.

St. Peter's

There is a rumor going around that we did not go to the Vatican (ehem, mother?).  But, this is not the case, in fact, we were among the last people to leave St. Peter's Basilica on the 31st before the entire place was closed down for the Pope's New Years Eve Mass.  We arrived in the Vatican city just a few hours before it was to be closed, so we scurried to the end of the line that wrapped all the way around St. Peter's square and waited.  We were worried we would wait in line for hours just to be told that the basilica had been closed, but we got lucky.  We were amongst the last to enter and the last to leave.  It was pretty cool to see the place emptying out and in general, the cathedral is breathtaking.  It is enormous and sooo ornately decorated.

After we were kicked out, I decided that perhaps we hadn't seen enough of the Vatican, so, I took us on a tour of The Wall.  We walked the entire perimeter of this tiny country.  Just us, The Wall, and traffic whizzing by.  Though the Vatican is a very small country, we were, eh slightly exhausted by the end.  I think my sisters would have preferred to skip the tour...

....stay tuned for more stories of Rome, and soon to come, stories of Colombia!