travel recap - rome (days 1 and 2)

We were fortunate to spend our third wedding anniversary in Italy.  We awoke in our room in Venice so sad to leave, but so excited to visit the last stop of our vacation: Rome.

We showered, packed, checked-out, and grabbed the vaperetto to the train station.  We lugged our luggage up the steps, and turned around to get one last glimpse of the beautiful city.  I can honestly say that our hearts were a little heavy, as we didn't know when we'd return to this magical place again.

Once we were on the train, we snuggled into our seats and were ready for our few hours' journey to the eternal city.  Just before the train left the station, another couple asked us if we would mind if they sat with us - being the nice Canadians that we are, we said that we'd be more than happy to share with them.  Actually, as it turned out, they were also from Canada.  We shared some prosecco with them, and talked the whole time until they disembarked in Florence.  They were very entertaining and made our train ride a little more fun.




Once we finally arrived in Rome, we headed out to find a taxi to take us to our hotel.  After a ridiculously-expensive taxi ride (note: be very carefully about getting ripped off by the cabbies in Rome), we finally arrived at our hotel.

By this time, we were in our travel groove.  We know that we always feel a little out of place when we first arrive in a new city, and the best way to combat this feeling is to go for a walk to explore and to get something to eat.  So that's exactly what we did.  We took a walk to the nearby Spanish steps, and then ducked out of the rain to get something to eat.  Afterwards, we went back to our room for a nap to freshen up for our anniversary dinner later that night.

Dinner was magical.  On our way to the restaurant, the car drove us through the flood-lit city; we couldn't believe that we were actually celebrating three years of marriage in ROME.  We got to the restaurant and took in the amazing view of the entire city, all lit up like a Christmas tree.  We ate, drank cold prosecco, and reflected on the past three years and just how happy we are in our lives with each other.

It was the best anniversary ever.  I'm not sure how we'll be able to ever top it.

We awoke on our second day in Rome ready to discover the ancient sights.  We took the metro to the Colosseum.  As we exited the station, we looked up at the massive, ancient stadium.  We walked inside (thanks, Roma pass!) and tried to imagine being here thousands of years ago.  The scale of the stadium was amazing, and the engineering astounding - I couldn't believe that this structure has been standing for thousands of years.

After the Colosseum, we decided to make our way back to our hotel.  So, we decided to kill two birds with one stone and walk through the Forum to explore some of the ruins.

On our way back we stopped for a quick lunch, visited the Pantheon, and did some shopping.  Afterwards, hot, exhausted, and ready for a short rest, we headed back to the hotel.

After a quick nap and some wine and prosecco, we headed up the street to Harry's Bar to grab a pre-dinner cocktail (or two) with a view of the ancient city walls.  I ended up having two bellinis and they were the best drinks that I've ever had.  I'm craving one right now.

After the cocktails, we headed out to a nearby restaurant for dinner and some (more) prosecco and some pasta.  We laughed, ate, and enjoyed the warm, summer air against our bare arms.

After dinner we were feeling pretty good from all of the prosecco, and decided that we'd take a visit to the Trevi Fountain.  We sat, along with tons of other tourists, and listened to the rush of the water, and took in the golden glow of the lights.  We tossed our obligatory coins into the fountain and then headed back to our hotel room for the night so we could get a good night's sleep to conquer our last day in Rome, and Europe, the next day.