Semana Santa Travels--Rome!

Bet you weren't expecting another one of these. It just seemed too abrupt to end where I did, however, and I've known for a while that this blog needed to be finished sooner or later... I think I've pushed it off about as long as my memory will allow. 

Over Semana Santa, we traveled to Rome and Paris. My original plan was to breeze over these travels with a few pictures and a mere handful of words, but I realized soon after I began to sort through them that a "few" pictures was out of the question. 

First stop in Rome was the Vatican museum, which was overwhelming to the senses, to say the least. Particularly to the eyes...

Whoever designed the place seemed to be a firm believer in decorated ceilings. I believe I left with a substantial neck ache.

Next stop, the gelato shop! Though I was a true fan of Granada gelato, I have to say that the Rome gelato put it to shame. I've never had such flavorful ice cream in my life, and I honestly don't expect to ever again.

After that, it was off to St. Peter's Basilica.

Possibly the next day (my memory is failing me), we visited the Pantheon.

It was waiting to get into the Pantheon that we got our second batch of gelato (and where I mistakenly ordered actual nutella as my second flavor, thinking it was ice cream. It was actually a fairly brilliant combination... kind of like hot fudge), and where Lily honed her pizza "chunking" skills (our solution to getting uncut pizzas).

After that (which may or may not have been the same day), we visited the Trevi fountain and made our wishes with Euro cents.

These wishes were captured on film, thanks to the "high speed burst" setting on my camera, of which we made frequent use. Below, my wishing face.

Next (maybe), was our visit to the Colosseum, a visit I had been looking forward to (particularly since it had been looming in the background as we walked to the Vatican and our other destinations). I was particularly keen on getting a pair of gladiator scandals and wearing them into the Colosseum to make the experience complete but, unfortunately, I was unsuccessful with that endeavor. In spite of my lack of appropriate footwear, it managed to be a pretty darn awesome experience. 

Directly after that (ignoring our small lunch break of probably more chunked pizza), we headed to the Roman Forum. I found the Roman Forum even more incredible than the Colosseum, possibly because it just seemed so unreal...

Thanks to Atalie for this last picture.

After the Forum, we took a sizable stroll along the river (due to the fact that half the time we were headed in the wrong direction). We passed our fair share of beautiful sights, however, and I regretted nothing. 

And from further explorations of Rome...

We stopped for a while on the Spanish Steps... which only seemed fitting.

And I found my purple flowers. 

That's it for Rome! I actually brushed over that trip with a considerable amount of efficiency, by my standards. Next up, Paris!