The Eternal City

For our first extended vacation of the year, Brandon and I visited a city that's been on his "must-see" list since I've met him: Rome. I had been to the city nine years previously when I studied abroad in Florence, but every church and piazza still left me awestruck the second time around. We stayed in a fabulous hotel - one of the nicest I've ever stayed in - directly next to the Pantheon.

I took this from the bed!

The Pantheon is a former Roman temple dedicated to all the gods, commissioned by Marcus Agrippa in 27 BC. In the 7th century it was turned into a Christian church (the Roman Empire started accepting Christianity in the 4th century.) One of its main characteristics is the oculus in the ceiling - the world's largest unsupported dome.

Piazza della Rotonda

Oculus open to the sky - there are holes on the ground to drain rainwater

On our first day, we took a guided tour that included the Coliseum, 

a walking tour of the main city sights,

On top of the Spanish Steps

and finished at the Vatican museums and St. Peter's Basilica. It was an epic, eight-hour tour!

High altar in St. Peter's

View of Vatican City and Rome from atop Aventine Hill

The next morning we self-toured the Roman Forum, the main city of ancient Rome. We spent four hours wandering among the ruins, and we didn't even see everything! It was huge. Everywhere you look in Rome, you see excavations and ancient buildings. It's like no where else on earth (except maybe Athens?) 

Panorama from the gardens of Emperor Augustus's palace

Taking in the history

One of my favorite pastimes we adopted during our trip was popping into a church on our way to/from other sites. There are over 900 churches located in the city, and we stumbled upon some really beautiful ones. I loved seeing the architectural/artistic differences of the decor. Most were dark inside, so our photos didn't turn out too well. These are some of the best:

Tenth-century church - Byzantine style

Seventeenth-century church - Gothic style

One of our good friends from home put us in contact with his father who lives in Rome. He generously took us around for a day, including driving down to Naples to climb Mt. Vesuvius. Such a fun adventure!

With Enzo on top of the volcano

Roadside sandwiches - so good!

The food - I never remember to take photos of food, but suffice it to say we stuffed ourselves with pizza, coffee, pasta, wine and gelato...usually all in one day! I'm still dreaming about the tomato sauce. We had a fantastic five days in Rome - enough time to really fall in love with the people and culture. Ciao Roma!