Voyaging Berts: April 2018

(If you haven't read about our first stop on this voyage - Amsterdamin' - you should!)

Roma, Rome, whatever you want to call it... it's one of our absolute favorite places. Rumor has it Roma is named after the Italian word for love - Amor - Roma when spelled backwards. It makes sense, I don't think I've met a single person who hasn't loved Rome. As the plane landed, I had butterflies, I was so excited to show my family Rome and all it's impressive sites. But I'll admit, we got off to a rough start. My suitcase was the last off the plane (insert panic attack here) and then we were mere feet from the train platform but were unable to deboard the train for over an hour due to "an issue at the station." However, once off the train and seeing the familiar places, my bad mood started to dissipate, I mean we were in Rome how bad could it be? My parents were already at our B&B, Domus Liberius, and since neither room was ready, we dropped the luggage and headed off to find some lunch. Not too far away was L'Angolo di Napoli and we opted to give it a try - btw, I highly recommend.

View from Mom and Dad's room

We were able to get into the rooms after lunch and all settled in for a nap before we headed towards Piazza Venezia. If you're planning a trip to Rome, obviously do the heavy hitters first - the Colosseum and the Roman Forum - but I think Piazza Venezia should be next on your list. Hubs and I had already been but we were still amazed by it's grandeur. There's an elevator that will take you to the top level and the views simply can't be beat. We actually saved that for the last day of our trip (future blog post coming).

View of Venezia as we were walking towards it

Some of the Roman ruins near the piazza

I love all the cuppolas (domes)

I think this is one of the most beautiful buildings

It's crazy how much detail can be found everywhere

Woohoo! We're back in Rome!

Pano from the lower level of Venezia

I spy a Colosseum...

After soaking in the views of the Roman ruins and the Colosseum from Venezia, we were off to the Trevi Fountain. Again, despite having seen it before, the fountain's beauty and scale still managed to impress me. By this point it was nearly time for dinner so we decided that was our next stop, all except my dad. He wandered off and when we finally found him, he had the largest thing of gelato I'd ever seen. People were chuckling at the site of it, no joke. Due to it's size, he wasn't able to finish it alone so we all got to try. The cherry was my jam!

Still feeling a bit worn out, we headed back to Domus for the evening - Hubs and I shared a bottle of wine in our room while my parents decided to get some sleep.

The next morning, our first stop was Castel Sant'Angelo, which was originally a mausoleum built by a Roman Emperor but later was used as a fortress and castle by the popes. It was really amazing to see and you could get a feel for the different pope's based on how each apartment within the Castel differed. As we made our way, it began sprinkling but we were hopeful it would clear up while we were semi covered by the Castel.

And we're at the Castel

Pedestrian bridge in front of the Castel

I love the trees in this courtyard

Side view

Archangel statue

St. Peter's

Gettin' artsy with it..

The ceilings are all so incredible

View of the city from the top of the Castel

Pano of the city

Another gorgeous ceiling

Unfortunately, we were wrong... but, we accepted the fact that it would be a rainy Saturday and decided to make the best of it as we walked over to Piazza Navona. This piazza was originally a marketplace (which has since transitioned to Campo de Fiori) and now has many restaurants. It's a beautiful piazza, I can see why it's so famous.

The Tiber River as we were walking towards Navona

Piazza Navona

Can't let a little rain get ya down

The level of detail is simply incredible

Exterior of the Pantheon

Me and momma

Outside the Pantheon

From there, the Pantheon is right around the corner. On our last visit to Rome, Hubs and I had stopped in but due to the crowds I wasn't able to really see much detail. Boy, was I thankful for another chance. I couldn't stop taking pictures, everything was eye catching. Mom and Dad are very religious, so we sat at the altar and had a moment of prayer before heading onto our next stop - The Spanish Steps. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty stoked to see the steps. Last time we were in Rome, these were under renovation so we weren't able to see them and all their glory. They were worth the wait!

There they are, leading up to the Spanish church

Beautiful fountain that you can drink from

Unique church

Beautiful church

It was nearly lunch time and we were all starting to wear out so we found a cute cafe and all indulged in some pasta and spirits. On the walk back, mom and dad decided they were ready for another nap while we waited for my sister and BIL, so Hubs and I decided to get to something off the beaten path and chose to go for a walk on Appian Way, the oldest road in Rome. It was three miles away, but the rain had stopped so we were on our way. We had just made it and were debating seeing the nearby catacombs when a torrential storm started. Luckily, there was an adorable cafe not too far from us that we decided to wait out the rain. After two glasses of wine, it was time to call an Uber.

Appia Antica

First order of business upon arrival at Domus - a hot shower. And man it felt good. By the time we finished, it was time to meet my parents for dinner. We were just about to walk down to one of our favorite places from our last trip - La mucca biricchina - and that's when the phone rang. Our house alarm was going off and the door was wide open. Our locks can be difficult, so we were praying it wasn't fully latched when our dog sitter picked up the pups. We felt helpless. Luckily halfway through dinner, we heard from the police confirming it wasn't a robbery. As we breathed a huge sigh of relief, we also ordered a large bottle of wine and some dessert to celebrate.

As we were settling back into the hotel, sis and BIL finally got to Rome! We were excited to catch up with them and plan a morning of site seeing with them as well. Being that it was late, we said our hellos and quickly formed a plan before they went off to bed. We were to meet early the next morning for breakfast, then begin our trek see the "majors" again - Piazza Venezia, Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, and the Trevi Fountain. If we had enough time we'd venture just farther down from the Steps to Piazza del Popolo before heading to the fountain. Excitement filled me once again at the thought of sharing all the reasons we love Rome.

The next morning, we set off right on time and hit all the above. Bonus - we were even able to squeeze in the Piazza del Popolo! Since it was Easter morning, we basically had the place to ourselves while everyone was at mass! It was awesome. All in all I think we were up to around six miles total by the time we headed back to meet my parents for lunch. We were all ecstatic at the thought that in a few short hours we would be on our cruise ship sailing out across the Mediterranean towards new adventures!