Roma

Wow, what a week in Rome! It has been crazy busy with full days walking in the 95+ degree (34+ for our Celsius friends) heat. On our very first full day we managed to hit the Colosseum, the ancient roman Forum, and Palatine Hill. In fact, while lounging on Palatine Hill, watching the giant rabbits munch on some grass, we started to hear Pink Floyd over a loudspeaker. A quick Google search showed us that David Gilmour of Pink Floyd was playing that night at the Circus Maximus, and there were still cheap tickets available. We both immediately knew we had to go! Between purchasing the tickets online at 6:20 and the show starting at 9, we booked it to the north part of the city to pick up the tickets before 7, rushed back to our Guesthouse to drop off our backpack and make dinner, and headed back into the city in time for the first song. It was crazy, but we made it! Okay, we weren't in our seats in time but we were at the Circus when the music started. David rocked out on his guitar, and it was a truly amazing show! We both had been wanting to find a notable concert to attend on a whim on this trip, and we finally did! It was really a nearly perfect day of history, exploration, music, and lasagna. Oh, and I guess appreciating that we are on a round-the-world honeymoon. It was one of those days that makes you say "wow" at your life.

Anyway, nothing could really top the perfect day, but Rome has so much to offer we've been trying. Everything was free on Sunday so we hit up the Castle Sant Angelo and the National Gallery of Ancient Art (very cool, but glad we went for free). Monday we saw the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Novona, and the Borghese Villa Gardens. Tuesday, after our trip to St Peters described in another post, we went to the pyramid of Caius Cestius and then stayed in that neighborhood for a happy hour/apertivo buffet (a popular Italian pre-dinner tradition).

We could spend several more days, maybe weeks, exploring Rome if we had an unlimited budget and if it weren't so hot. But alas, we leave early tomorrow morning for Amsterdam. Adieu Catholicism, and hello to a country with VERY different cultural norms. We've been seeing Dutch art sprinkled throughout the museums for the last two weeks, and, just based on that, we can tell it's going to be a very different world.Read more