Rome, Day II

Posted on June 26, 2012 by carlieblissirwin

Well here we are, back in Rome again! This post covers our second day in the city. (Like how I used Roman numerals in the post title? It’s all about the details, folks. )

Of course we couldn’t go to Rome without visiting Vatican City. I’m not very religious (except about watching Mad Men), but I have heard of the Pope before. Mostly because I’m not an idiot. And there are seriously a lot of cool things and gorgeous architecture in that weird, tiny country.

Just as a disclaimer – we did see the Sistine Chapel, and Michelangelo’s ceiling was huge and amazing. But there were no photos allowed. So I strongly suggest that if you have the means, get over to Rome to see it for yourself if you haven’t already. You won’t regret it.

Rosella, our tour guide from the day before, decided she hadn’t quite tired of us yet and graciously agreed to teach us a few things about the Vatican as we walked around and gawked at everything.

And there was a lot to gawk at.

As you can see, my mom (lower left hand corner above) really brought her A game when it came to gawking. Well done, Debbie.

I’m not a perv! He’s wearing a fig leaf.

So I may not have photos of the Sistine Chapel, but I do have photos of St. Peter’s Basilica. And that’s almost just as good.

After the Vatican, we moved onto the Pantheon. We were basically just going from one historical landmark/architectural wonder to another. That’s pretty much what you do when in Rome.

The Pantheon is the oldest building I’ve ever stepped foot in. It’s from ancient Rome. Even before all of that Jesus stuff. Crazy.

After the Pantheon, we wandered around Rome, checked out the Borghese Museum and walked down the Spanish Steps.

There were a lot of huge knockers in Rome. Yeah I just said that.

Thanks to a recommendation from my friend Emily (shout-out to SF!), we ate dinner at a restaurant called Cul de Sac off of the Piazza Navona. Best caprese salad I’ve ever had in my life!

After dinner, we strolled home by way of the Trevi Fountain. And I spectacularly failed at getting a good picture of it.

And that’s it!

The next stop on our trip is Sorrento. Hopefully I’ll have that post up within the next week or so.

You can see my recap of our first day in Rome here if you haven’t checked it out already.

Rome (if you want to)

Posted on June 14, 2012 by carlieblissirwin

I don’t know if you read this blog because (1) You’re entertained by my writing; (2) You enjoy looking at my photos; or (3) You’re that creepster boy who used to stalk me in 3rd grade now you’ve found me on the internet and you just read my blog instead of hanging out in the bushes in my front yard like you used to. (And by the way, that experience is why I had an extreme distaste for suburban shrubbery in my adolescence. And boys.)

All of that to say – this post includes a LOT of photos. So hopefully you picked option #2. And if you don’t visit this blog for the photos, feel free to thoughtlessly scroll through as you please. That’s why I added the parenthetical “if you want to” to the title. It had absolutely nothing to do with wanting to reference the B-52’s song from the 80’s. Nope, nothing to do with that.

So Rome!

It was fabulous. And maybe my favorite city we visited in Italy. I’m not going to try to describe everything pictured here, so if you have any questions about what’s in these photos or where we went, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll get back to you.

We had gorgeous weather the whole time we were in Rome and made sure to take advantage of the ~~cheap beer and wine~~ charming al fresco dining options.

Attraction #1 on our Rome itinerary was of course the Colosseum! Our tour guide Rosella was fantastic, and I really learned a lot about the history of the ruins. I also learned that getting zero hours of sleep the night before turns my short term memory to crap. So all I can tell you about the Colosseum is that it’s super cool looking. Find it on Wikipedia if you really want a history lesson.

Did I mention our parents were our travel buddies on this trip? Both sets!
Rosella also took us to see the Forum, Palatine Hill and some of the other ruins scattered about the area. I don’t know if you knew this, but Rome has a lot of ruins. And all of the buildings are so old and beautiful, which of course prompted me to be all, “Hey look at me, I’m a photographer!” and take an obscene amount of photos.

And of course it wouldn’t be a trip to Italy if we didn’t gorge ourselves on gelato on the first day. And everyday thereafter.

And at the end of one of the longest days of my life (yes, this was all on our very first day!), some wine. Because I wanted to be just a bit more comatose than I already was.

So that was Day #1 of our fantastic Italian journey! Stay tuned for Day #2 featuring the rest of Rome, including the Vatican where I discovered a deadly vendetta against the Catholic Church and embarked on a frantic hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs and deserted cathedrals! All in my mind, of course. Angels & Demons, anyone?