Rome'n Around

 Hello hello, Im back with another largely just picture blog (everyone's favorite I know!). After some wonderful days in Dubrovnik I was able to show Dad Rome, Italy. I was stoked. Ive already been here and I loved it five years ago. I think there were a few things that made this part of the trip less desirable than what I had in mind or how I had remembered it. A. I like to compare Rome to New York City. A giant, famous city with so many things to see, do, and eat. Both cities that a lot of people dream about going to. And yes, they are awesome! - the first time at least. The second time through you aren't as distracted by all the famous buildings and sites because you've already seen them (they are still awesome don't get me wrong), but you see the city in a little bit of a dimmer light I guess. You see the busyness, the filth, and sadly the crime. We'll get to that one later on. But anyways, Rome x2 was still fun, just not quite as spectacular as I remember. Our airbnb was in a fantastic spot though. I mean just look...

Yes, this is the rooftop of where we stayed. The Colosseum right out our front door. 

The first day we got there we really only had time for dinner and to walk around the Colosseum. Dinner was delicious. Bread with oil and vinegar per usual. Lasagna for dad and Carbonara for Laynee. Ive had better carbonara else were in Italy, but still good. 

And of course - Dessert. Everything we needed was literally right on the street where we were staying. We ate at the restaurant 3 times while we were there ahah. 

A perfect intro evening into Rome. 

After sleeping in till 11am - boom Colosseum! 

Are you not entertained??

Selfie>>> Arc of Constantine

Selfie<<<Arc of Constantine 

Next up on the docket - Roman Forum

I was in too much of a rush the last time I was here so this was my first time seeing all this. It's pretty insane to think of how long these remains have been around. And that people were living, shopping, running errands in the busy down town of Rome right there back in the day. Wayyy back in the day

I believe at this point it was scorching hot out so we may have gotten a lemonade slushy and gone back to the airbnb for a second?? I don't remember. But this brings us to numero B. Rome is not a summer vacation. Just don't come here in July or August. 100 degrees with humidity plus lots of crowds calls for passing out in a city bus. Well *almost passing out in a city bus. We hopped on the bus to take us to The Vatican City. I started to feel a little off so I did a few things to try and help such as bend my knees, take some deep breaths and so forth (literal no AC anywhere and especially on crowded busses). Well my off-ness got worse and I figured I was probably going to pass out so I tried leaning up against the side of the bus where dad was but when he saw me he told me to sit down now. My initial thought was "ew gross" but then I figured it was better to sit than to cause a scene by fainting so I did. I sat on the gross bus floor. Never passed out, but kinda felt "off" all throughout Italy just because it was so hot and we were probably very dehydrated. Just getting off the bus was enough to make me feel better. Walking, feeling a breeze and eventually finding some water and Powerade did the trick. 

St. Peters Basilica! We didn't go in because the line was wrapped around the whole Vatican. 

The Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel - BOO

I was super excited to see the sistine chapel, but in traveling there are some things that are way better than you could've imagined and others are a total let down. Well, it was a let down. That's ok though, not everything can exceed expectations. So let me paint a picture for you - walking through room after room, building after non AC'd building of paintings, sculptures and tapestries just waiting to turn the corner and enter the Sistine Chapel (the only thing anyone actually wants to see). Except it literally takes like an hour of this pointless walking, like two miles of walking though these museums to get to the destination. And then all it is is another room just like the others except there is a million people squished into it and its hot and people are yelling at you to be quiet so then you really did all that to just stand there for one minute and leave. Walla. that's it. The Sistine Chapel. We did it so now you don't have to. Taking one for the team, you're welcome. 

Legit thought this was the sistine chapel when I saw the ceiling. Oh and there was 20 other ceilings just like it. haha. Memories. Then we hopped back on the bus to take us to the airbnb. This is where the third reason why Rome isn't as great as I remember comes in... C. Pick-pocketers. Ya know you hear about them in most metro stations "watch your bags" whatever and you hear about them in Europe in general. Ive had an experience with them in Spain, but maybe because Im a girl and the pick-pocketer I encountered there were also females it wasnt that crazy of an experience. Well, it sucks to say, but that wasnt the case here in Rome. We ended up taking the wrong bus which re-routed us to using the metro (first mistake). I was in front of Dad getting onto the train, I found my spot to stand and turned around to see dad in the middle of a bunch of men pushing each other. At least that's what it seemed like. He gave me this look of "what the freak were those guys doing" and within seconds him and I both realized he had been pick pocketed. Right out of his zipper pocket his little thread wallet was gone. He confronted the guys and told them they stole his wallet. We tried getting them to show us their pockets, but they wouldn't. At this point we weren't sure what the best thing to do was, but we got off at the next stop and immediately texted Mom and Chase at home to cancel both personal and business credit cards. As terrible it is to get your wallet stolen - there were definitely noticeable tender mercies such as it happening at a time where family and friends were awake in America and able to help out quickly. The Italian idiots had tried to make a pretty big purchase almost immediately but thanks to the credit cards being cancelled it didn't work out for them. Another miracle was the big purchase was on Dad's business card which we hadnt used at all outside the country, therefore, it was flagged and wouldn't go through. It was a real bummer of a day and I really was the cherry on top to tainting Rome. Sadly, we had two more days there. They were good days though. In the end, Im glad Dad wasnt terribly hurt or injured and that everything that was stolen is replaceable - except for maybe some cash. 

Next day - Florence! Both our first times to this city. We went there for one reason and one reason only - DAVID!

I would also count this as another tender mercy. I don't think either of us really wanted to be in Rome, so it was nice that we had already planned to head to Florence this day. Also dad will tell you this was one of his highlights of the trip. 

So the sistine Chapel was the let down site of Italy, but David was the stop that was bigger and better in real life. 

Epic portrait selfies - to keep it PG of course. 

Can't forget this delicious food. My mouth is watering just writing this. 

And lastly, the Duomo. Don't know what it is, but it's cool. Then we rode the train back into Rome for an early evening to bed. 

The next morning was an earlier one for us - Trevi Fountain! The goal was to beat a majority of the crowds welp I guess we need to try a little earlier next time. 

And then an hour long city bus ride to the outskirts of Rome where the temple is!! Excited to be back and actually go in and do work this time around. 

Always a good time hanging out in the temple. I like going to foreign temples and seeing where everyone is from. There was this one guy, who I'm guessing is a local, just handing out his family names to everyone. He had multiple huge stacks of family names and you could tell how much he loved the temple and how badly he wanted his ancestors to get their work done. A nice morning spent in the house of the lord away from the chaos of the world. 

Just trying to find shade while waiting for the busses

And the best part of each day - eating time ahah. This lasagna was top notch. The best Ive ever had (I don't each much lasagna or red sauce to begin with). and the oil and vinegar - I was definitely converted after ten straight days of eating it. 

I will say there was one day where we walked to find some cannolis - they were delicious as well, but gelato just always hits. We were to bed extra early, like 6pm, because of a nice early flight..

If I remember correctly this photo was taken at 0347 AM. Our goodbye picture to Rome. Off to the next place...