The moment I've been waiting for, This whole trip was mainly about going to Italy and we finally arrived in Rome on October 18. We checked into our hotel and freshened up on our Italian phrases before we ventured out into the world of Italy.
Before I left for this trip. Dad and I discussed surprising mom for her birthday with a trip to Rome. We planned it to be at the same time I would be there. He told her on her birthday about the plan and since August we have both been eagerly waiting for this day to come! So mom's flight arrived 4 days after we arrived in Rome. While we waited for her to arrive we explored around the outside of Rome. We went to the beach and discovered it had black sand. We walked through a really nice nature reserve park and noticed all the Cyprus trees. We spent way too much time in the grocery store just admiring the selection of cheese and prosciutto and pasta! We tasted the local pizza that was only great dough, cheese and toppings. No sauce. We went to our first Italian restaurant and ordered in Italian. It's a good thing we are not picky cause we didn't exactly know what we ordered. They brought out a pasta dish as the first course and then the main dish we ordered. I had chicken and justin had pork sausage. Then they bring a salad with olive oil and balsamic from the local region, that was delicious. So now we knew pasta was a first course, which made it a little cheaper and that's good news for me. We also noticed when we ate dinner the next night we caught some kind of early bird special but it was like 7 pm. Italians eat very late most restaurants were either closed or completely empty at 7. They come out around 8:30or 9 in big groups and would start filling up the restaurants. Lucky for us the night we had the early bird special we had the whole restaurant to ourselves and we had one of our favorite dishes. A classic, cacio e pepe it's basically egg pasta with a Parmesan sauce and lots of freshly cracked pepper.
Finally the time had come for mom to arrive. After a 23 hour flight she landed at midnight and took a taxi to our hotel where we were waiting outside. I was so excited to see mom, it's only been 3 months but it felt much longer being so far away.
We got up the next morning and started our adventure. We had to journey into Rome with all of our luggage to the next hotel that was closer to the metro and the city. We took two crowded buses and got some looks because we had the luggage in the seats and everybody had to stand. We finally arrived had to work out some issues with the hotel but after it was all settled we walked to Trastevere area. It's a picturesque old part of town with cobble stone narrow roads and the inhabitants consider themselves the only true Romans left. We went to see the Santa Maria in Trastevere which was probably the first Christian church in Rome inside were beautiful mosaics of the virgin dating back to 1291. We continued to wonder through the narrow streets looking at all the shops and restaurants and watched as the night life came out. We found a small restaurant and ordered pasta of course! We ordered bruschetta to start with but the waiter brought out brusketta instead a variety of meat and prosciutto. Then our pasta: mom had spaghetti carbonara made with pancetta, I had truffle tortellini stuffed with pumpkin and ricotta cheese, and justin had his favorite cacio e pepe.
Day two with mom we started at the Pantheon one of rome's oldest buildings and best preserved, built in the 1st century AD. Then we saw a few churches. First was Santa Maria sopra Minerva built in the 13th century and is famous for the beautiful blue ceilings and the risen Christ sculpture by Michelangelo. Second was Sant'lgnazio di Loyola built in 1626 in honor of the Jesuits (society of Jesus) founder. It's famous for its illusionistic ceiling showing 4 women representing Asia, Europe, America and Africa being sucked into heaven. It also had a beautiful wooden sculpture of all churches around the world under one big church in hopes that one day we will all be together as one religion. Next we stopped to see the ruins at Largo Argentina these are some of the oldest found in Rome dating from the era of the Republic. One has been identified as the buildings where Julius Caesar was assassinated by Brutus and Cassius in 44BC. Then we walked to the lively market at Campo de Fiori where we saw lots of cheese and truffles, olive oil, balsamic, huge porcini mushrooms, artichokes, cashmere scarf, and leather. We ate pizza on our way to the Trevi Fountain Rome's most famous fountain, but we didn't get to throw our coin in because they were renovating and had drained the water out. The Spanish Steps were also being renovated but we got to see them and the Piazza around the steps was a busy and interesting place. We got on the metro from there and headed to the hotel to rest before it was dinner time. We found a small local restaurant that turned out to be wonderful. We even met some people from Seattle sitting at the table next to us. We finally got the right bruschetta and the waitress brought out a special zucchini flower stuffed with mozzarella and deep fried. It was delicious. Mom ordered spinach risotto and I fresh fettuccini in a saffron zucchini sauce and justin had spinach ravioli in a pesto sauce. It was a great end to our busy day.
Day three with mom! We got up early to wait in line for the Vatican City. Everyone knows about the Vatican but it's even better in person. It's a separate state ruled by the pope about 500 people live there the city has its own post office, bank, currency, radio station and daily newspaper. We entered at the Vatican museum but sprinted straight for the Sistine Chapel to have time to see it and then not be rushed to see all of the museum. The Chapel is beautiful Michelangelo's ceiling is amazing he painted it between 1508 and 1512 it has so many details and colors I can't imagine having to paint that on your back. A wall at the end of the chapel The Last Judgment by Michelangelo is said to be his masterpiece of his mature years. He worked on it alone for 7 years completing it in 1541. This was really cool to see. Then we went through the museum which holds several Greek and Roman antiquities and artifacts from Egyptian tombs. Most of Italy's greatest artists, such as Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci are represented in the art gallery. There is so much to see we spent the rest of the day at the museum until they closed. We were there on Sunday when the pope comes out to bless the crowd but we didn't go see him. Since the museum was closed we walked to Castel Sant Angelo which has a huge corridor linked with the Vatican Palace, providing an escape route for the pope.
The next day was Monday and most things are closed so we had a relaxing morning and went out in the afternoon. We walked past the pyramid of Caius Cestius and went to Church of Domine Quo Vadis were Jesus' footprints are. Then we took a metro over to Eataly a 4 story heaven for me, full of gourmet food you could buy and sample and there was a culinary school on the top floor. We bought balsamic, wine and several other things that later filled mom's suitcase so we could have them when we get home. Since we spent most of the day at Eataly and had a late lunch, on our way to the hotel we stopped at a pastry shop and got mini tiramisu and pistachio cream puffs and some cannoli for "dinner". It was a good day and a perfect ending.
Next day was the Colosseum! We got there early but didn't have to wait in line long. We got inside and it's amazing what grand scale it is. It's bigger than you imagine. And is amazing to think they built this in AD 72. It could hold over 55,000 people and had a retractable awning to shelter the spectators. The arena floor was originally wooden and covered with sand but underneath was a network of elevators to lift the animals up to the gladiator. You can see the setup of the elevators today. We noticed our ticket for the Colosseum included the Palatine and the Arch of Constantine. So we went to the arch next and then started walking the Palatine, we didn't realize how big it was. It's one of the best kept ancient sites in Rome it was once the residence of emperors and aristocrats. You can see from the ruins a range of simple houses where Augustus was born to luxurious palace for later emperors. There is also a huge courtyard and stadium where they did horse races. From the courtyard you can see the remains of the Roman Forum below. It was the city center during the early republic at the 2nd century BC Julius Caesar built up the city to be nicer he built business centers and law courts. It was cool to walk the streets and imagine how it was back then. We were close to a big monument that was fairly new it was built in honor of the first king of unified Italy The Victor Emmanuel Monument. We walked up to the top of it and then over to the church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli that dates back to the 6th century. The church is famous for its detailed gilded ceiling and it's paintings by Pinturicchio also the miracle-working wooden baby Jesus is there. We walked down the marble Aracoeli Steps and into the Piazza del Campidoglio where a statue of Emperor Marcus Aurelius is in the center. Next we went to San Giovanni in Laterano a huge cathedral built in the early 4th century but has been rebuilt several times. Beside it is Sancta Sanctorium where the Jesus steps are. It is said the mother of Constantine had the holy stairs moved from Jerusalem in 326. They consist of 28 marble steps from Pontius Pilate's palace and it's believed that Jesus walked up and down these during His Passion. The steps are covered in walnut woodwork out of devotion and are ascended on ones knees. We prayed as we went up the holy stairs on our knees it was very humbling and faith encouraging. We all felt closer to God after this experience.
After our fun filled day we ate dinner at a small bistro. Justin had spaghetti alle vongole a classic pasta dish served with tomatoes and baby clams. Mom had 4 cheese gnocchi and I had fresh ravioli with sage and butter sauce.
The next day of our adventure we took a train to Florence! In the 15th century Florence was the hub of the artistic and culture reawakening. Writers such as Dante, Petrarch, and Machiavelli created a proud literary heritage and paintings and sculptures of artists such as Botticelli, Michelangelo and Donatello make this one of the world's greatest artistic capitals. We started at the Galleria dell' Accademia where the famous David statue by Michelangelo is. It stands 17ft tall and was sculpted when he was only 29 making him the foremost sculptor of his time. We saw so many other amazing works of art too. Then we walked the winding streets toward the Duomo and Baptistry. The cathedral is Europe's fourth-largest church it's beautiful. The inside of the dome was painted by Brunelleschi and the Baptistry has a beautiful 13th century mosaic illustrating the last judgement and this is where many famous Florentines including Dante were baptized. The famous bronze doors were made by Lorenzo Ghiberti in 1424 each panel shows scriptural subjects and events like Abraham and the Sacrifice of Isaac. We walked past the birth place of Dante on our way to get something to eat. We found some delicious pizza and then went to Palazzo Vecchio where the town hall still stands and many famous sculptures scatter the square. We walked down by the Arno the river that cuts through the city and saw the Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge(1345) lined with shops with an elevated corridor called Corridoio Vasariano, it was designed for the Medici family to move about their residences without having to mix with the public. And then we crossed another bridge called Ponte Santa Trinita. On our way back to the train station we passed the church of Santa Maria Novella. Then we jumped on a train that went through Tuscany to Pisa. We quickly got to the leaning tower of Pisa before it got dark. And the church it is beside the Campo del Miracoli. Then we walked down the streets and found antique market and shopped around a little. We had to grab dinner to go and catch the train back to Rome. We got back pretty late and we were all tired from our long adventurous day.
We saved the best for last. On mom's last day we went to St. Peter's Cathedral. It's a huge cathedral inside the Vatican, it holds hundreds of precious works of art some even from the original church built by Constantine in the 4th century. A lot of the inside was designed by Bernini, including the extravagant Baroque canopy that stands over St Peter's tomb with twisting marble columns going up below Michelangelo's huge dome. That is 448 ft high and is said that the Statue of Liberty could fit under the dome. There is also Michelangelo's Pieta created when he was 25 in 1499 and is the only sculptor he signed. We took our time admiring this beautiful church and we climbed to the top of the dome. That was a wonderful view of Rome. Once we were done we did a little souvenir shopping and then got gelato! Mom's first time trying it. We went back to the hotel and packed and then went to eat dinner at our new favorite restaurant. This time mom got a pizza with fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and sweet corn. Justin had fresh linguini with an eggplant Parmesan tomatoe sauce and I had truffle pasta with porcini mushrooms. It was a delicious Italian farewell dinner before mom had to go back to the real world and we had to journey to our next workaway.
Special thanks to daddy for having this great idea and getting everything ready for mom's surprise trip and for funding our roman adventure. Wish you could have been here with us!
Michelangelo's
Trevi fountain and Spanish steps
Jesus' feet
Truffles at Eataly
Roman forum
David in Florence
Pisa
St. Peter's
From top of the dome
