Rome, Italy

My family was really very kind and let me sneak away with friends for a long weekend in Rome. We had such a nice time. The weather, the sights, the food, the wine, and of course the company were all fantastic.   Our group is quite an international bunch and it was so fun and interesting for me to learn about other cultures, perspectives etc.  It is also a true vacation of sorts, when only having the responsiblility of yourself. No worries about meeting other peoples needs and expectations, and for me that is so important to experience every once in a while. It was extra special too being in Rome for such a religious time. We were there for Palm Sunday and also in a Julbilee year (a Holy Year - that usually happens only every 25 -50 years and they open the Holy doors  - it was quite special.

The Vatican (the smallest country in the World - Vatican City :-))

We went to the Vatican Musum and Sistene Chapel. It is unbelievable to see the miles of art and architecture! 

The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was gorgeous. Michaelangelo did a pretty amazing job. 

The Post office at the Vatican :-)

A Swiss Guard

Gelato!!!

The top of the Pantheon (an architectural wonder - it has a hole in the ceiling and the rain falls right through (it was designed to give you direct access to heaven, but such an amazing building to have been so well designed for drainage so long ago!)

The Pantheon from the outside

My dinner one night. Fresh Pasta hanging before being cut up to be cooked. Delicious!

An evening procession (hard to see, but pretty cool)

One day, we just bought fresh cheese, pesto, sundried tomatoes, olives etc. for our dinner.

so yummy!

This was really neat -  The sacred steps - A church where you climb on your knees each step up - saying prayers along the way. It is said to have drops of Jesus' blood on it.

There was much more security this visit than the last time we were there. Not sure if it was for Easter or if that is just the new sign of the times.  

One of the Holy doors - they only open every 25 -50 years for the Jubilee.

Palms everywhere on Palm Sunday (really they were Olive Branches

One morning we went for a run - it was so neat to run around such amazing sights

We asked a police woman what her favorite "non tourist" thing to do was - she told us about a hidden cafe at the top of this bulding. The views were amaing!

The Roman Forum

Looking up to Paletine Hill

The view from the Restaurant that the Police Woman recommended. You can see the hills of Rome in the distance. Gorgeous!

The same view - but a little zoomed in and a little later in the evening.

Not sure if I could parallel park in this city!

If you look closely - this building looks like a Chinese statue with a hat :-)

Our yummy dinner of cheese, tomatoes olives, bread, and wine!

We ran into this line. We noticed it was all locals (not many tourists at all). People waited patiently for 5 hours!

The line went on for ever! It was to go through one of the Holy doors that is only open for 2 days (Palm Sunday was one of them). I think it must have been a pilgrimage and if you wanted to include all of the Holy doors of Rome on your pilgrimage  - you had to get in on one of those 2 days (the reason for the long line and also the patience for the long line also).

Beutiful view of the city

There is  even a Pyramid in Rome (we didn't see that the last visit)

As always, something has to be renovated on our trip. Here were the famous Spanish Steps all closed off. You could go up the side though and there was a beautiful roof top cafe at the top.

So pretty!

"The Pope" being checked out by the police to make sure he is in compliance with street enteratainers :-)

Another picture of the view from that special "non touristy" place - we went back for a second night too!

The Forum!

Romulus, Remus, and the Wolf

And if you look closely, we even had a view of the snowcapped Alps on the way home. Such a nice getaway weekend! And now back to much colder Germany!