When in Rome, get the gelato!

What a change from Scotland! I haven't worn shorts during this whole to until we arrived in Italy. It took all of Sunday for us to move between countries. We learned that British Airways still gives you a meal of some kind on every flight, even if it's less than an hour. We were pleasantly surprised to be served a hot breakfast on our flight from Edinburgh to London (which was extra nice because the line to drop our bags off took over an hour so we didn't have much of a chance to grab something to eat before we got on the plane).
I've come down with a touch of a head cold, so that made traveling a little uncomfortable (for me and for the poor passengers who had to endure my sniffling). Add to that the fact that this is Dane's first real experience of anything like culture shock and it made for an exciting and somewhat bewildering adventure getting from the airport to the hotel (for example, the method of getting on the bus is push your way through the crowd to put your suitcase in the storage compartment underneath and then claw your way to the door to make sure you wind up on the same bus as all your belongings).
Our hotel is right next to the Spanish Steps and just a few minutes' walk to the Trevi fountain, so after a quick shower and change, we went off in search of dinner. We ate at a street cafe where a bridal party paraded by and everyone cheered. We were also on the route of a local walking tour, as several groups wearing headsets and following a person with an umbrella passed by as well.
Sleeping in an air conditioned room was delightful, and this morning or breakfast was brought up to us. I have loved cappuccino for a long time, but Dane has only recently discovered how awesome it is.
Because I am still sick, Dane let me sleep in (and then nap again after breakfast) while he went off in search of a charger for our phones (I brought 2 adapters with me and managed to grab one for Africa rather than southern Europe...oops). Finally, we were ready to start exploring a little.
Our hotel is very close to the Trevi fountain.




Our first order of business was to head down to where the colosseum and roman forum were and find lunch (even though all I'd done since breakfast was sleep; gotta love vacation). We ate fresh caprese salad and veggie focaccia in front of the tomb of the unworn own soldier monument. I believe it is also a national museum, but as I don't speak or read Italian, I'm not sure.








We decided against actually going into the colosseum and instead just walking around outside of it. Same with the palatino. I think at some point you reach a saturation of old buildings, and we are pretty near it. That said, it was pretty amazing to see these old buildings even from the outside and marvel at the history they carry.
Here are several photos from this walk. I'll add commentary when I can, but sometimes we just thought something looked cool.












in case this is more helpful to you than it was to us.








See how I'm trying to smile here? This was right after I finally succeeded in falling off a curb and turning my ankle a little. I'm fine, it's a little sore but very minor, but it did nothing to help Dane feel less worried about me hurting myself (I've almost done this several times on this trip already). I was so glad I wasn't the one carrying the iPad at this point.




The colosseum! it's a little unreal that its just in the middle of this city.












Dane's observation is that it see,s like there are layers of age to the building, as shown in the next 3 pictures, newer to older.












We didn't pay to go it, so our pictures of the inside are the super cheapo kind where we take pictures through the gates and arches. Some are better than others.
















I was trying to show how tall the building looked when you were standing right next to it. It didn't really work.








In Fantasia 2000, my favorite piece is the whale segment, set to Pines of Rome. The pines in Rome are a little different from normal pine trees, but I love them because they make me think of flying whales.



Constantine's arch.



This was the entrance to the archeological area of Rome, called the Palatino. We didn't go in, but we walked around its perimeter.




And on that walk, saw things like this:



which I've decided to pretend is the temple of Apollo, even though it is decidedly not.
It got quite warm on our walk. We passed by this park, and were amused by the two guys resting in the shade of the tree.







maybe this is Apollo's temple. I still have no way of being sure, but it at least looks a little more likely.


One part of our walk took us through a kind of sketchy street (it's hard for me to get a read on it because Rome is kind of a dirty, graffiti filled city) and then up this steep switchback road that opened up onto this view.



From what we could see here, we were glad we opted not to go in. It seemed like we could see most of it from here.








They are serious about their statues here. I didn't get a picture of it, but right after this we walked down a huge steep ramp/staircase that did not seem like it would be safe in the rain.

We have no idea what this is for, but it was elaborately carved and pretty cool looking.





The Spanish Steps!


And the fountain at the base of the Spanish steps from the 17th century.


After this, because I'm a sickie, we went back to the air conditioned hotel room for a nap (Dane is not sick, but was fully on board with going back to the ac and a shower- Rome is HOT). We also thought that some gelato would help cool us down. We were right. It was lemon and fabulous and when you order it in a cup, it comes with a little baby cone for fun.



Refreshed, we went off in search of dinner. The restaurant we chose had this little window for the food delivery, and the bill came in a little wooden box. Also, house wines in Italy are far superior to house wines in the US.











More tomorrow about our day in Vatican City!
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