As promised here is a post about our adventures in Rome! Excuse all the wows and exclamation points, but there is no other way to describe this beautiful old historical place! I am by no means a history buff (that is Aldo all the way) but even I am amazed at the history and beauty of Rome! And Aldo was totally geeking out – from the Coliseum to the Palatine Hill and even the Vatican. This was Aldo’s dream city and the fact that we had private tours of everything was even more…well…WOW! There I said it!

My favorite tour was the Coliseum, it was so much bigger and detailed than I ever thought it would be. The amount of design and the complexity of the architecture without the modern tools we have today absolutly baffles me – I can only imagine what it must have been like with all the marble intact! I can’t wrap my head around how they could have built something so amazing and beautiful and after all this time it is still standing! Standing on the coliseum floor where the performances happened and looking out into the Coliseum was incredibly overwhelming and I was totally in awe. I can only imagine what Aldo was feeling. His favorite spot was Palatine Hill. Just knowing the history behind it and being able to walk around and view all the different parts of history made him totally geek out. And, of course, he was filling in the blanks where the tour guide would leave out. Yes, he was totally that nerd, but we all loved it! 

One of my favorite towns to walk around in was Trastevere. I can only imagine the engagement and wedding photos I could take around here. The authentic and less touristy area with all the amazing ally ways and doors was so much fun. Add in a river, bridge and island…and sold! Such a cute, romantic, quaint area that made you feel right at home. I still felt like I was walking on a movie set, because how could I possibly be tooling around all these magical allies with little shops, homes, eateries and smells – the good and the bad. That was one thing that I found so interesting, how the ally ways smelled. Some were amazing and ranged from the smell of food to the sweetness of the perfume shops and then some were just awful smelling (diesel or sewage, yuck!). Cracked me up!

And let’s not forget the food. I am not sure how this is happening, but it just keeps getting better and better. Even just the basic tomato…how does it taste so incredible! I am not sure I am going to be able to eat big-city, American food once I get home!

This was our first little lunch spot in Rome. I mean how cute is this! I love the open doors and green plants all around. Again, I enjoyed me some Pizza and wine! If you know me, you’ll know that’s a very rare thing for me.

I loved the bicycles and mopeds just parked along the ally ways.

And the amazing doors…of course.

Can you believe that the concrete in the dome of the Pantheon was poured in one pour and has a radius of 142 foot and is 142 foot from top to bottom? Again, I ask, without the use of modern tools, how the heck did they do that? 

Oh, here’s just another random Forum we found wondering around the city. 

I know it may be cliché, but I really enjoyed the Coliseum and exploring the ruins of the infamous Forums. Here’s some more photos! 

And the Vatican, I am not even Catholic and I was super amazed. The art, of course, was breathtaking and I was just in total awe of the variety of artists. Plus, we had an awesome tour guide! Thanks Laura! Can you believe that just the black letters in gold surrounding the edge of this dome are 10 feet tall? I couldn’t believe how the perspective and how tall that actually meant the building was!

My favorite town of Rome…Trastevere!