Getting some religion.

No, we didn't spend the day attending church, but we did spend almost the whole day in Vatican City or in churches/below churches.

We visited the Vatican first thing today. Little did I realize that I actually booked our tickets for the Vatican museums during the time of the weekly Papal audience outside of St Peters Basilica. Too bad, we could've seen the Pope Mobile (and the Pontiff himself)!  As it was, we saw the aftermath of the crowd and St Peters Basilica was still closed so we weren't able to go inside. But we visited the museums and St Peters Square (or Piazza San Pietro) about an hour after the Pope had left. 

Then on we went to a crypt and catacomb tour. Unfortunately we couldn't take photos in the any of the churches or catacombs.  We saw lots of tunnels and bones and very cool caverns, you'll just have to trust me on this. 

However, just after we left our drop off spot, a big rainstorm hit. Since we didn't have rain gear with us, we waited it out on a corner step and were approached by no less than 7 umbrella street vendors in the course of 15 minutes. Seriously, I'm not sure if these guys monitor weather radar or what, but they are on the street just as the first raindrop falls. However, this time I managed to snap a picture of one. Definitely the "picture of the day". 

Low key day.

Well, we were a bit forced into a low key day today for two reasons. 1) Ostia Antica, our chosen archeological site for today is closed all week due to flooding. And 2) I woke up a bit under the weather.  I think I'm battling the bug Tom has had for a few days. So, I slept in and we took a much shorter walk around the city than yesterday. We took in the Spanish Steps and some of Villa Borghese Gardens. It was a bit colder and blustery today. I'm hoping we eventually get to see some Roman sun. 

The Spanish Steps

Our afternoon cappuccino break was topped with quite possibly the best foamed milk I've ever had. 

We also had an absolutely fantastic dinner at Osteria Santa Christina al Quirinale in our 'hood:

http://www.ristorantesantacristinaalquirinale.com.  Their zucchini flower pasta was simply fantastic. By the way, Italians eat so late, I'm pretty sure our dinner time (7:30ish) qualifies as blue hair dinner time over here.  But the upside of this is that we haven't had a problem finding a table yet! 

Tomorrow we see the Vatican museums and the Sistene Chapel in the morning and the catacombs under Rome in the afternoon...a much busier day for sure. Thursday is...drum roll please...POMPEII!!!  We are very excited, it's been on my top ten list for years. Friday is TBD, although we've thrown a day trip to Tivoli into the hat as a possibility. 

Picture from the top of Rome below. Vatican in the distance. 

Ombrelli Frogger

You know how in some cities, even if they get a lot of rain, few people use umbrellas?  Rome is not one of those cities. Umbrellas are everywhere. It's honestly hard to walk on the sidewalks when it's raining because you're constantly playing Umbrella Frogger. And not only that, but Rome has tons, and I mean TONS of strolling umbrella street vendors. If it's raining, you get asked no less than once per block if you'd like a very cheaply made umbrella (this is not an exaggerated number). 

So, today we braved the rain, wind and umbrella street vendors. We visited the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Pantheon, and passed dozens of great ancient buildings, plazas and fountains along the way. Rome has wonderful architecture along virtually every street. Pictures below. I couldn't narrow it down to just one today!

Tomorrow we venture to Ostia Antica, the old port of Rome, now in ruins, just a bit outside the city. 

The Colosseum

Temple of the vestal virgins, with the sun barely peeking out.

Impressive columns with a background of our weather today...

A very flooded Tiber River

Dog Parking along the street

Cave Canem

How fitting, when we (finally) find our B&B, the mosaic below greets us at the front door. It looks to be a pittie!  It literally means "Beware of Dog". 

The (finally) comment above comes from our very rainy hike to our hotel from the main Roma Termini train station. Suffice it to say, inkjet printed maps do NOT hold up well in the rain. But we made it, after a bit of wandering with full backpacks and our very wet feet.  

We explored the somewhat crowded streets for a bit after a hearty nap, ultimately taking in the Trevi fountain and some cool architecture. The fountain was mobbed with folks all clamoring to get a picture and toss in a coin. We hope to sneak back by late at night this week for a quieter experience. 

Our dinner tonight was fabulous. Osso Bucco for Tom and a killer homemade pasta with fresh pepper and reggiano cheese for me. This, of course, was followed up by cappuccino and tiramisu. Yum yum yum. 

Off to bed!  Hopefully the weather partially holds tomorrow as we hope to see the colosseum and other historical sites. 

Countdown to Rome...

T-5 days and counting!  Vacation here we come. On our list of must do places to see are:  Pompeii and Mt Vesuvius, the Coleseum, the Vatican and Sistine Chapel, and the Catacombs under Rome.  We are staying in the heart of the historical district and very close to the main train station, so getting around should be super simple!  We plan on putting LOTS of miles on our walking shoes next week for sure. 

Other items on our to-do list?  NONE!  We are not planning out a thing until we get there.  We will eat good food, drink good wine, see lots of great historical sites, find cafés and bakeries and just enjoy Rome.

 

As usual, I'll keep the blog updated, hopefully nightly with our adventures and the picture of the day!

Lucy the Wonder Dog

We found a cancerous tumor on our little girl a couple weeks ago.  Hoping we caught it early, they removed it. And since she's 13, while she was under, they did dental as well.

About 7 inches of staples later (27 total - they take a lot of surrounding tissue for a pea size tumor), and 5 teeth pulled, she's on the mend!   She came through wonderfully thanks to a great staff at Hampden Family Pet Hospital and Dr Buttrill. 

She's styling in her 80s style cut off t-shirt. Staples come out in a week. 

It never gets old.

Driving home from skiing at Winter Park, I was treated to this scene after cresting berthoud pass. The picture doesn't do it justice, of course. The sun was shining on icy, snowy peaks with snow billowing off of them due to hefty winds today.

It was one of those things that makes you want to stop and admire it because you know the light will change soon and it will fade away. I even saw another guy pull over with a somewhat beefier camera than my iPhone to snap some pictures. I wish I had one of his!!

Living in Colorado never gets old. The scenery takes my breath away on a regular basis. Can't beat that.