When in Rome ...

Spending a long Valentine's Day weekend in Rome with my husband was just as wonderful and romantic as I was imagining it to be.  It was nice to get away, just the two of us, to a place that we both love, but have never been together.

We arrived Thursday night, ordered room service, tucked ourselves in, and capped the night off with some Parenthood. (If you don't watch, you need to!! Amazon Prime members, first 4 seasons are free.)

Friday:
We spent the day in Vatican City.
D and I aren't good planners.  It is what it is.  We're pretty laid back when it comes to vacationing.  If we figure out things to do, great, otherwise, we're fine just walking around and popping into places that were recommended to us (10 minutes before leaving the hotel).  So as you can imagine, we booked tickets to the Vatican/Sistine Chapel, only 1 hour before we needed to be there.  We skipped the lines and headed right to the front (not sure why everyone doesn't do this).  It was a beautiful day.  We moseyed around Vatican City and hastily made our way through all of the suggested museums.

The sky was off the charts

Taking an iphone picture of the Sistine Chapel from inside of my purse.
This is the extent of my rebelliousness. 

We finally made our way to St. Peter's Square and found thousands of people there.  We had no idea what was going on.  A concert maybe?
Then we saw him!  A small speck of white hundreds of yards away.  The Pope!!!!

We knew he lived here but we didn't know that we would actually get to see him.  Pretty cool.  (Remember that we don't plan.  So this was a huge, exciting coincidence!)
Then, just as we thought he was leaving ... he made his way through the crowds.  Yup.  The Pope was 3 feet away.  I was beyond thrilled!  We were in Rome, on Valentine's Day, and we saw the Pope.  This faithful Catholic girl felt truly blessed!

If you're reading on your phone and can't watch the video, here's a pic ;)

Click here for the article: Pope Invites Thousands of Couples to the Vatican
The rest of the day consisted of a great lunch, more sites, and a lovely Valentine's Day dinner.

Trevi Fountain - Day

View from hotel

Photographer made us

Trevi Fountain - Night

Saturday:
Colosseum.  Again, skipped a half mile line. (This is literally D's dream!)
Took pictures, investigated minimally, and headed to lunch.  We ate at Rossapomodoro and I have never had a better pizza in my life.  It's safe to say that I'm a complete Pizza Snob.  I am.  And this chain restaurant served me the absolute best, most delicious pizza EVER.  Wow, I can barely talk about it.
After lunch we headed to Trastevere, a quaint area of Rome where DCrai and I stayed with friends 8 years ago.  It was cool to be back.
Hotel for a bit then to dinner at Osteria44.  Amazing food, great wine, superb service!

The sky.  Sigh. 

Saltimbocca - Ridiculous! 

Sunday:
Church.  Breakfast.  A walk around the park.  A quick and delicious lunch.  And to the airport we go!

Great weekend.  Good company.  Good weather.  Good food.

When in Rome...

xx