ITALIA (Part one)

The time has come, the day is here! I've finally managed to sit down for an extended period of time and write these over due episodes on my trip to Italy! I took copious notes in my diary that week so that I may do this report justice. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting so long my little badgers- you know who you are! This is just the first installation of three, because there are tons of pictures and stories.

April 5th, Day 1: Travel day. Mom arrived at JFK and had a few hours layover before I got there. We took off at 7:30pm NY time for an 8 hour flight....

Packing in NY. Somehow I only filled half my suitcase, so plenty of room for souvenirs!

Fresh pedicure on the day of departure!

Really cute ladies at the airport...overnight flight meant we were in our PJ's.

April 6th, Day 2: Buon giorno Italia! We arrived in Rome about 3:30pm. We took a group cab into the city- the airport is technically in Fiumicino- and regrouped at the hotel before we headed out to take advantage of a few daylight hours.

Beautiful red bloom trees everywhere! This was just street side.

Signage with my almost name :) It reminded me of Russia, where an "r" is a "p" in their alphabet.

Action shot! Mom throwing her wish coin into the Trevi fountain. It was super crowded with high schoolers that afternoon, so getting pictures without lots of extra 'friends' was difficult.

Our first gelato, near the fountain. Doesn't matter where you go, this is the best ice cream in the world! I had pistachio and hazelnut. 

The roof of the Pantheon. It's the oldest complete building in Rome, functioning first as a shrine to several Roman gods and then as a Christian temple. It's an interesting blend of the two now. 

The Pantheon exterior. Caught a little ray of sun in there :)

There was a very clever street display along a fence. Each little post had a quip which corresponded to a small piece of art. This was my favorite. 

The Piazza de Popolo, one of my favorite piazzas in the city- and there must be a hundred. 

After all this we went back to the hotel to stop for a second before dinner, and passed out from exhaustion for about 15 minutes. We drug ourselves to a yummy dinner at a restaurant the hotel recommended as being "authentic", not touristy. We had Montepulciano d'Abruzzo (Tuscan red table wine which is delish and we proceeded to drink daily), rosemary focaccia, squid, salad, pastas, and an amazing custard for dessert. Bedtime swiftly followed.

Our petite hotel room. Push those beds about 6 inches closer and it's a big California King.

April 7th, Day 3: Roman Holiday. We got up early to take advantage of this whole day. The "continental" breakfast at our hotel was DIVINE. The typical eggs/bacon spread was there but there was also fresh pressed juice, cappuccino to order, fruits, pastries, and the most delicious yogurt. Even little cookies and individual Nutella servings. Needless to say, I packed a few snacks.

 Nerd alert! I bought this American Apparel onesie a few weeks in advance and planned my entire wardrobe around it. That's Dad's straw hat, so I felt like I took him with us. 

Mom and I on the On/Off Bus. This was the best deal: 24 hours of hop on service on a little circular route through Rome. It hit all the big spots so it was super convenient. 

Approaching the Colisseum. Between here and the next photo, Mom twisted her ankle. We started outside in a small group tour, and when we moved through the line inside she stepped in an enormous pothole and fell forward. She walked it off like a CHAMP (and at home found out no surgery was needed) and wore an ankle wrap the rest of the trip. I mention it all now, so you know how early it all happened!

Inside the Colosseo. The bottom would have been covered with a stage like the portion on the left, where all the battles took place. What you see are actually the internal catacombs where they kept starving animals and gladiators in preparation for the fight. 70% of the original stone was excavated to build the Vatican, but then no one would touch the ruins for a long time because there were many many bodies left behind which were overcome with flood waters...it was a little stinky.

A "gladiator" trying to sneak a kiss with my lovely Momella...

So I tried to kill him. :) Kidding, he was a friend of the tour guide, so we all got to take pictures fa free!

Beautiful Pamela in front of the fateful place of ankle damage... look at that sunshine!!

This was just the first day...softball size, not yet blue. I'll spare you the gory shots form later days, lest my blog become some gruesome medical venture, but she was a real trooper. It swelled daily the moment she put her foot on the floor, and we still went everywhere.

The many layers of time in the Roman forum. Standing the ground level is almost like being in the basement, looking up as the buildings get younger. They just built on top of everything, so as archeologists dug down they found more and more society as they looked for earth.

Mom and me amidst the forum ruins. I distinctly remember this being where my burn started.

Saint Peter's Basilica. Probably my favorite place, and was last time I was in Italy (Spring 2007). So enormous and beautiful and epic. I want to get married there... I have a picture of the Pieta too, but it didn't turn out so great. Kinda weirdly reflecting the protective glass. Look it up, it's gorgeous. :)

Any sort of funky filter on my photos is due to the Hipstamatic application on my iPhone. There are only a few pictures I took with it, but I like the effect they produce. This is the cupola of St. Peter's with a black and white film.

Shhh, don't tell anyone I took this picture of the Sistine Chapel's last judgment/ceiling. It's not allowed, but I used my phone and couldn't help myself. We got an audio tour of the Vatican museum and Chapel, so I learned a lot about the tons and tons of art collected over the years. This is obviously Michelangelo, but much of the Sistine chapel's walls weren't actually his work!

This is a Dali that lives in the Vatican museum. Who knew they had such an eclectic modern art collection? I'm pretty sure that's a liver on a slab, in the desert. With some unicorns and angels of course.

End of the day, sandal sunburn! The weather was gorgeous, but having been shelled up for so long I forgot sunscreen might be required. My freckles sprouted on my nose, and so did a little pink on my shoulders and feet.

That's all for today folks! I'm not sure you realize how I agonize over what to write, which pictures to include, whether I'm boring, too long winded, making corny jokes... It takes me hours to put together one blog, so I'm breaking it up a little. For my sake, and so that these posts are just scrolling on and on and on. Next episode is days 4-6, including Montepulciano, Florence, Castle Broglio, and Monte Oliveto Maggiore!