roma

Ode to Italy:
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...
One: paninis
Two: caprese
Three: spaghetti
Four: ravioli (which are super big and flat, unlike the homemade chunky ones we make!)
Five: tortellini
Six: pesto. On everything!
Seven: gnocci
Eight: super yummy cheap house vino everywhere
Nine:tiramisu
Ten: panna cotta
Oh, and don't forget cappuccinos for all!

I think I travel for food. Never mind the sights. Yum. But anyway.
So we got into Rome on Wednesday, and our shuttle drove to our hotel just in time to see my mom and Marty turning the corner! Yay! What good timing! They had been in Rome for a few days by that time, pretty much all of which was spent in St Peter's (including all masses) with one quick trip to the Pope's summer residence so that she could see him. Mom and I came here once upon a time (a while ago, back when I got the tickets for about $350 roundtrip! I don't think that will ever happen again...) and that was another time that almost the entire 9-10 days was spent in St Peters...and I think Mom saw the Pope about 6 times. She loved John Paul II.

Anyway, here's St Peter' s Basilica...great sun rays in time for 5 o'clock mass!

We visited the tombs (including JP II), and then went up into the dome. Lots and lots and lots of spiral stairs! I got dizzy. Here's Marty making his way up!

Cute kids in St Peter's Piazza.

At the Vatican Museum--we took a great tour of the museum and the Sistine Chapel. The hall of maps is my favorite--the maps are all calligraphied, and have tall ships sailing in the oceans. Super cool.

Josh with chops. They only lasted about a day. Pity.

Mmm...hanging out on a street corner with pizza.

One of the many pretty bridges over the Tiber River.

Another mass at St Peter's finds me admiring the dove window above the alter.

I've taken many pictures of light fixtures and walls and laundry here...it's just all so pretty!

Went to a trattoria near the hotel and got BOMBARDED with food. I don't know if it was the 'feed the tourist' special, as no one else seemed to have random food brought to their tables...but it was all SO GOOD! So, picture it: Italy, 2010. We walk into a little trattoria near the Vatican and ask for a table for four. A surly waiter points us to a table. Now, we thought he waws surly, or maybe just crabby, but goodness, the man was funny! And he then brought us like 7-8 dishes of antipasto, including veggies (lots of awesome different grilled veggies!) and mozz and prosciutto and some flat bread and then crusty bread...and then he brought the menus. I was still working on all the veggies, so I declined any main dishes. However, Josh and Mom had an unreal lasagna that probably had more cream in it than Ben and Jerry's. Yum. Then dessert...did we get to pick dessert? Oh, no, dude just says he'll bring it. Tiramisu, panna cotta (COHt-ta! COHt-ta! I didn't get to have it till I said it right), and something else I can't remember right now. And THEN he brings biscotti and digestives in the form of limoncello and liquornero. Holy cow. Then we all got rolled back to our hotel.

Leaving for the Cinque Terre! Aren't Mom and Mart cute with their matching bags???