when in Rome...

i just returned from the vacation of a lifetime. at least, that’s what one of my co-workers calls it and i’m of a mind to agree. i spent twelve days on a cruise ship, with three friends and about 4,000 other people, touring several ports in the mediterranean. i set out for the airport early the morning of the 22nd with two prayers…please, God don’t let eyjafjallajökull, the icelandic volcano, trap me at the JFK airport. and, please, let me find Jess easily in the rome airport. i learned something about myself that day while sitting and waiting for a connecting flight. i had secretly, somewhere in the back of my mind, been expecting something to keep me from this trip. i would double check my tickets, sure that i somehow had the date wrong or the wrong destination. surely i wasn’t really going to rome, italy to board a cruise ship. i somehow expected for someone along the way to say, “nope, not you Beckie. you don’t get to have experiences like this.” surreal, that’s the only way i can describe it.

and, it’s still surreal, even now, after the fact. i’ve been back home for about four days and it now feels slightly like a dream. if i didn’t have the pictures to prove it, i might think i wasn’t really there at all. i’m trying desperately to keep it fresh in my mind and to process what i’ve seen and experienced. it will probably come in patches and out of order, but i’m going to do my best to share my adventures, starting in rome…

three things i love about rome…one…gelato, which is much more than ice cream ever could be. my favorite was cappuccino, which somehow tasted like chocolate and caramel with the tiniest hint of caffe. it was like a creamy frappuccino that you eat with a spoon. i would buy it from the lady in the termini train station because it was the cheapest (2.60 euros for two scoops) and the best. although, it might have been the price that made it the best because i can’t say i had any bad gelato, just expensive.

and, two…the way italians say “Ciao Bella.” (translation: hello/goodbye beautiful). i firmly believe that every woman should have an italian man say this to her at some point in her life. in fact, if i could get a recording that i could play on repeat i would be in heaven. there’s a reason italian is referred to as the language of love…it’s beautiful.

three…the buildings. i have hundreds of pictures of random buildings. i can’t even tell you what they are, i just liked the look of them. maybe i missed my calling as an architect. i don’t know, but i loved looking at those buildings with their little green shutters. so, i chose a few of my favorites to share. some i’m sure will be very familiar…

the colosseum

part of the roman forum (next to the colosseum)

st.peter's basilica in vatican city

one of those cool buildings i was talking about

fontana di trevi (aka...the trevi fountain) and, of course i threw my coin in and made a wish along side the other tourists. fun fact...the coins in the fountain are collected every day to help feed rome's homeless.

rome has several bridges that cross the Tiber river. this one was my favorite...the statues along the side represent the stations of the cross. and, they're beautiful.