Ex-pat Newlyweds

I was the first one to legitimately use the line “When in Rome…” on our holiday. Josh was furious he missed his chance and gave me such a lovely one. I felt slightly bad that I took the line away from him, but I couldn’t pass it up. It was just too good. It was in response to his comment on my shoes: “Well, those are rather romanesque” (they’re not at all really), and my response would be fairly obvious to anyone in that conversation.

I said: “Well. When in Rome…”

Rome was the last leg of our almost two-week adventure of Italy. We had eaten our way through Tuscany, explored the little known land of Monte Argentario and it was back to city life for renaissance, religion and a big birthday.

The Trevi Fountain by Bernini.

The city is one of those that you see something amazing around ever corner. Over the course of our four days, we exhausted ourselves wandering through the old part of the city. Each trip out we discovered new (to us) pieces of marble chipped away by some great master of the craft.

St. Peter’s Square and the Basilica in the background.

One morning at the Vatican wandering old halls filled with mind-boggling art and while the sistine chapel was breathtaking, it was the three rooms painted by Raphael that took me by surprise.

The Belvedere Torso in the Vatican.

The Swiss Guard of the Vatican have to wear this unfortunate number. My theory: it makes the Pope look good.

Signs all along the stairs warn you that sliding down the stairs on your butt can happen anytime.

We wandered around the Pantheon, up the Spanish Steps and through winding streets, dodging scooters coming at every direction.

The Spanish steps.

One evening, we went to the little shop on the corner and picked up all the things we needed for a delicious antipasti meal. We wove through the city to find the greenest space we could find and settled to eat amongst marble statues in the grounds of the Villa Borghese. For dessert, we drank in the sun setting over Piazza del Popolo.

Josh “fills in” for the head of this unfortunate statue in the park of Villa Borghese.
Sabine with the spread.

Gelato was had every night and finding meals could be a battle but we always made it work. When you go to Rome, avoid anything that looks like a cafeteria near any of the major sites — they’re all just rip offs. Go a few blocks away — even if your hangry (being ripped off will just make you hangrier). It will be worth it.

The grand colosseum

Josh’s birthday started with a text message at 5 a.m. (thanks Jeff) and after more sleep, but his 30 years into perspective by seeing sites more than 2,000 years old: The Colosseum, Circus Maximus and countless other ancient sites, spilling over into our last day in Italy, where we wandered around Palatine Hill and meandered through the Forum.

The birthday boy was well documented. He really doesn’t look 30, does he?
He certainly doesn’t act 30…

snap!snap!snap!

The view of the forum. There is so. much. stuff.

Columns, columns everywhere.

I’m still not sure how I felt about Rome. It was incredible to see all this city that has contributed so much to the world around us today but at the same time, it was a massive, hot, sticky city. It was dusty and dry and so developed, no natural part of the land that was there before Rome seems to exist.

We climbed back onto the plane exhausted and glad to be heading home to the lush European city we call home now.

Note: I let Josh handle the photography for the most part on this part of the trip, so my pictures are only a limited capture of the holiday. I’ll make sure he posts more of his on here. As always, you can click on the photo for a bigger version.