Roma

Warning:  If you hate Italy, vacation anecdotes/pictures, or loooong blog posts, you should probably refrain from visiting this blog for the next couple of days.  This is the first of three posts covering the big trip to Italy.  And it's dedicated to Mr. Charles Cutler, who especially requested this series!

How do you properly celebrate 10 years of marriage?  Four kids?  And everything that those ten years encompass (including and not limited to hundreds of changed diapers to career changes to moves to buying your first home)?  If you're me and Carter, you head off to Italy for eight days (which also happens to be the first trip alone together in NINE years--we'd been married for seven months the last time we traveled together just the two of us).  And then you proceed to have the most magical trip of your lives through three delightful cities!

At the outset, I have to say this trip would not have been possible without the support of our amazing families.  My parents flew in from their island just for me.  They lived at my house and took care of the four little girls.  They dealt with laundry and night wakings and shuttling the ladies to dance classes.  And my dad even did yard work!  Carter's parents picked up different combinations of kiddos daily to help out.  My brothers and sister and sister-in-law helped, too (I hear they got roped into the yard work, too.  Sorry, guys!).  The support was incredible and it let us travel without worrying about home.  Grazie doesn't even begin to cover it.

As usual, leaving wasn't easy.  Three out of four girls were diagnosed with double ear infections three days before we were scheduled to leave.  They passed their sickness on to me and 24 hours before our flight, I found myself in Urgent Care with a nasty case of strep throat (they gave me a shot of penicillin so that antibiotics could get through my system speedily).  I haven't had strep since 1989 and I haven't been sick enough to need antibiotics in three years.   I was like, SERIOUSLY?!?!  This is happening now, right before the trip we've been planning for over six months?!?!  It was definitely not the ideal circumstance for our first extended departure from home.  But we pressed on (with LOTS of drugs in my case).

In Salt Lake, waiting for our first flight!

After a couple of very long flights that ate up an entire day (which was actually pretty great--I had the chance to just sit still and rest for that first bit of trying to get over my illness), we landed at the Leonardo Da Vinci (aka Fiumicino) airport just outside of Rome at 7 in the morning.  An outfit change, lots of drugs, and a speedy train ride later, we found ourselves storing our luggage at the Termini train station and heading out onto the streets of Rome.  We walked over to the Santa Maria della Vittoria to see the famous Bernini statue, St. Therese in Ecstasy (I was determined to see it in person after falling in love with a picture of it in a humanities class exactly ten years ago).   The draping of Therese's gown was fantastic.  I also love how Bernini used mixed media--the bronze with the marble makes for a great combination.  So glad Carter was willing to take that little hike!

After that,  we took the Metro to the Colosseo stop to take in the Colloseum, the Arch of Constantine, and the Forum.  We sprung for the Roma Pass, which meant we got to skip the lines at all these places (you get unlimited public transport and entry to two museums free with this pass, so it was worth the 28 Euro price tag).  Before we left, we downloaded the free Rick Steves audio tours off iTunes.  Carter brought a splitter, so we'd both plug into his iPhone and listen to Rick tell us all about a particular site.  I felt a little gruesome at the Colosseum (thinking of all the slaves that had to build it and then of all the people that died there was unpleasant to say the least), but the Arch of Constantine was amazing.  By the time we hit the Forum, I was feeling a little sick and very tired.  So that just felt like a lot of ruins to me.  But all the history and stunning architecture was definitely impressive.

After all of that, it was finally time to go find our hotel.  We discovered that the package we booked had us staying WAY out in the boonies of Rome.  Carter, ever the optimist, looked at journey as a way to mingle with "real" Italians and see parts of Rome that aren't normally explored by tourists.  We had to ride the Metro out to the last stop and then take a bus for another 10-15 minutes.   The whole commute took about an hour and a half.  We opted for a taxi after we hit the far out Metro station that first time just so we could  figure out where the hotel was.  We stayed at the Eur Suite hotel, which was pretty decent.  We checked in and then I took a little nap while Carter figured out the buses we needed and then we headed back into Rome for a little night life.  We ate at a lovely restaurant (I had a fabulous pizza with eggplant, zucchini, and asparagus) that we found in our Rick Steves guidebook (he was definitely the honorary third member of our party) and then hit the Trevi fountain (with gelato in hand, of course).

The next morning, after a good night's sleep, we headed out early for our appointment at the Vatican Museum.  Carter had pre-booked and pre-paid all of our museum visits online before we left.  Again, if you do this, you get to skip the MASSIVE lines.

I absolutely loved the Vatican.  In fact, if pressed, I would have to say this was my very favorite thing that we did on the trip.  The buildings were gorgeous and the artwork was stunning.  We strolled through the grounds and studied the museum guide Carter bought for me at the entrance.  I loved every minute of it.  The Pinecone Courtyard and the Octogonal Courtyard were especially appealing to me.  Carter really liked the mummies.  The Raphael Rooms in the Papal Palace were also spectacular.  We took our time and lots of photos of this amazing collection.

Of course the highlight of this museum is the Sistine Chapel.  Again, this would have to be my very favorite thing that I saw (and I saw a LOT of amazing things on this trip).  I literally gasped as we walked into the room.  I read a couple of books about Michelangelo and the Chapel before we came, so seeing in person was especially meaningful (for me, doing the homework ahead of time really helps me appreciate things more).  The ceiling was beyond incredible and The Last Judgment of Christ fresco wasn't too shabby either.  I particularly fell in love with the Delphic Sibyl.  She is just gorgeous in real life.

 Cart's contraband photo--NO PICTURES are allowed.  Thankfully he didn't get caught and tossed out.

After taking in the Chapel, we headed to the pizzeria in the museum.  While we were eating, I decided I just HAD to get back into the Chapel for another look.  Carter was quite indulgent and we managed to figure out how to get back into it (which proved to be pretty difficult because traffic flow is one way in that museum).   I loved studying the ceiling and the fresco even better the second time.

After that, we took the shortcut over to St. Peter's (thank you again, Rick Steves for tipping us off on the secret door at the back of the Chapel).  We did the audiotour of the biggest church in Christendom.  Michelangelo was responsible for my favorite thing there as well.  The famous Pieta that he did when he was only 24 (!) was beyond beautiful.

 Not the best pictures.  Go here to see one that does it justice!

Bernini's gorgeous dove and his amazing bronze baldacchino were impressive, too!  Quite the edifice, that basilica.  After we got our fill of the inside, Carter decided we ought to climb to the top of the dome.  We faced our first massive line there, but we took some pictures to pass the time.

We took the elevator up as far as we could and looked down on the cathedral (yes, we spent the extra two Euro for the elevator option!).  Then we climbed 320 claustrophobic steps to the very top.  The view of Rome was undeniably impressive, but my new (three-year-old, post-Sadie) fear of heights kind of took over.  I kept worrying that people were going to drop their cameras (illogical, yes, but I couldn't help it!).  My pre-Sistine Chapel drugs were wearing off, too, so I wasn't feeling the greatest after the hike.  I managed to get down the steps, though.  And to hit the gift shops hard, even in my weakened state!

We also explored St. Peter's square and took plenty of pictures after we got down.  Then we strolled over a bridge with an excellent view of the Castel St. Angelo.

After that, we took an exceedingly crowded bus over to the Pantheon and then made a quick gelato stop to fortify ourselves for the next Rick Steves audiotour.  The piazza outside the Pantheon was fantastic and the dome at the Pantheon (which inspired Brunelleschi's Duomo and Michelangelo's St. Peter's dome) was stunning.   I also enjoyed seeing Raphael's tomb.

We tried another Rick Steves restaurant for dinner that night and I tasted my first Caprese salad of the trip (I ate one per city!).  So good!  After that we hiked over to the Spanish Steps.  We said goodnight (and goodbye) to Rome.  Quite a visit!

 Cart's Carbonara, his dish of choice this trip!

Stay tuned for Florence and Venice!!!