Our train arrived in Rome and we took a taxi to our super modern hotel, La Griffe.
crazyyy
We checked our bags and I changed into a long dress since Joe told me I would be rejected from the Vatican if I didn't. Then we hit the streets.
mapping so hard
fountain by our hotel
We were starving so we found a cafe to eat lunch before our Vatican and St. Peter's tour.
When in Rome...get caprese and cacio e pepe
After we ate we got set up for our three hour tour with headphones and met our Roman tour guide Angela - quite a little firecracker! We walked to the Vatican and learned all kinds of historical information.
St. Peter's Basilica
In the pine cone square:
Inside the Vatican museum:
Angela liked this guy's fanny
St. Helen's sarcophagus, most expensive sarcophagus ever according to Angela
We got to go into the Sistine Chapel and see Michelangelo's paintings on the ceiling and the Last Judgement on the walls. It was so cool to see it in real life and to notice the difference in his style as time passed while he worked on it. We were not allowed to take pictures in there, but we all know what that looks like!
We ended in St. Peter's, which is Joe's favorite church ever. It was really pretty and everything was gold. There was actually a funeral going on while we were there so we couldn't go up to the canopy and see the tombs.
lots of bronze statues from the Vatican were melted down to make this canopy
gold ceilings
a Cardinal going to the funeral
We got to see Michelangelo's masterpiece, Pieta, which he carved out of a single piece of Carrera marble when he was only 23 years old (if my memory is correct...) It has to be protected by bulletproof glass because in 1972 a crazy geologist walked into St. Peter's and attacked the statue with a hammer screaming "I am Jesus Christ." Mary's nose was chipped off and taken home by an onlooker, so it had to be recreated by a chunk of marble taken out of her back.
Pieta
Swiss Guard outside of the Cathedral- loved these goofy looking guys
Piazza San Pietro
this little boy was learning to ride his bike in the Piazza San Pietro... so cute
We went back to our hotel to check in, and found out that we had been upgraded to the honeymoon suite! Ooh la la! It was actually a super weird room, that had two levels. Here is the first floor "sitting room.":
upstairs
another shower with no shower curtain
We walked to a restaurant for dinner and had a fantastic meal of homemade gnocchi and cacio e pepe.
best gnocchi ever
professional honeymooners
during dinner one of the waitresses broke into an opera song. how lovely.
Next we walked to the Trevi Fountain to make some wishes. It looked so pretty lit up at night time.
throwing euros in for my wish
The next day we bought passes for the double decker hop on hop off tour bus so we could do "Rome in a day." Great decision. Our first stop was the Santa Maria Maggiore, a beautiful church that was beginning a service in Italian. Next, we got off at the Coliseum, and Joe was so excited.
Then we walked to the Forum and the Circus Maximus, an ancient chariot racing arena.
In the circus arena with the Forum in the background
Next we decided to get seats on the top of the double decker bus and stay on for a full rotation to get all of the cool tour information through our headsets.
the "wedding cake building" where the Italian president lives
cruising
caught mapping
We hopped off the bus and decided to hit up Piazza Navona to people watch with some vino. There was a bunch of art for sale in the middle of the Piazza. We ordered lunch and took in the views.
this was our lunch
We left Piazza Navona and headed to the Pantheon, which Joe also loved. The Pantheon was originally a pagan temple, which was converted into a Roman Catholic Church and is still used as one.
standing in the Piazza della Rotunda
the opening at the top of the Pantheon
inside the Pantheon
We randomly went into a back door of a church after some other people did, and of course it tuned out to be a beautiful cathedral. Basilica St. Andrea Della Valle.
St. Giuseppe's tomb inside the church
the prettiest ceilings
Then we continued on our way to Campo di Fiore. And what do you know, they have happy hour in Rome! And you know what they say..
When in Rome...go to Sloppy Sams happy hour
For our last night in Rome, we went to eat at Sora Lella, on the Island of Tiber, recommended to us by our cab. It in an area of Rome called Trastevere which is a lot less touristy than the main parts of Rome. It was the kind of place where you kiss the cook as you leave and tell them how great your meal was.
excited about our last honeymoon meal
veal meatballs! mamma mia
my gnocchi with shrimp, so delic
best tiramisu ever made
that's Sora Lella on our house wine bottle
limoncello after our meal
After we ate, we walked around Trastevere to check things out. When we were too tired to walk anymore, we went back to the hotel sky bar to have some last drinks.
views from our hotel rooftop bar
The next morning, we severely underestimated the time we would need to make it to the airport for our flight, but God sent us a sweet angel cab driver who drove like a bat out of hell, and also security is prettyyyyy lax leaving Rome, so we walked right onto our plane and sat down once we were inside. Luckily, we made it in time to experience the girl next to us do inter-twined yoga poses with her dad in the aisle right beside us for a good 10 minutes before we took off. Weird flight. We made it back to Mobile about 16 hours later and our private transfer (Kathy Z) was waiting for us at the airport.
Looking a little rough, but so much more traveled and learn-ed than we were two weeks ago!
The honeymoon's over! Now Joe is stuck with me.
