When in Rome...

I wanted to come up with a more creative title for the post, but Cousin Marlo put me to shame with her "Aroma of Roma" post (well done, Marlo!) and I had to throw in the towel in the interest of finally finishing up our Europe report before we have a little butterball to report on.
As you can see, there was no escaping World Cup Madness, and Buddy just couldn't resist the urge to stop.
Our first stop was the Spanish Steps. Why the Spanish Steps are in Rome I couldn't tell you, but they were pretty cool.Cool enough for a fashion shoot, apparently. As if I didn't already feel like a Land Monster, I caught a glimpse of this Italian waif out of the corner of my eye whilst I had to rest half way up the steps , huffing and puffing.It didn't take long for us to note that not speaking a lick of Italian would be problematic during our sojourn in Rome, and that standards of customer service are a little different. And by "not long" I mean that at the bus station upon arrival we tried to order lunch, only to have the cashier mutter something under her breath about "americanos" and literally throw my food and change at me and refuse to make eye contact. Disheartened, we opted to grocery shop so as to avoid having to eat out for every meal, thinking all we'd have to do was look at the dollar amount and provide the cashier with that amount. Not so simple, folks. I thought I heard "quanto" so proceeded to tell her in my best Italian how much the item in question cost. Apparently she was asking if Brandon & I were together and purchasing all the items on the belt. Again, eyes were rolled and my change was thrown at me and it took every ounce of restraint not to throw it with more force directly at her face. I did, however, exclaim that I wished I knew how to swear in Italian, which the Australian girl in line behind us found amusing. So as to keep myself from bursting into tears, I busted out the Italian phrasebook at every opportunity:
Then it was off to the Trevi Fountain to see what all the fuss was about. Fuss well deserved, it was incredible!
Just as incredible? GELATO! It was at this point in our trip that we resolved to get gelato at every tourist attraction we visited. One of the best decisions we've ever made.
There were, of course, bad decisions made as well. Like cracking open a bottle of Sprite at the back of a church, breaking a palpable silence. As soon as it happened, Buddy & I exchanged one look and without words immediately got up and exited the church with much haste. But hey, when you're thirsty and nauseous, you're thirsty and nauseous. So here I am enjoying my beverage in front of the church instead.
You'll notice from here on that most of the stops on our visit were dictated by our love of Dan Brown's novel, Angels & Demons. Consider that a spoiler alert if you still haven't read the book or seen the movie and wish to. Please don't judge us for being so blatantly reliant on pop culture and not history, but we enjoyed ourselves.
Piazza del Popolo, the first of the stops for Robert Langdon.
What you don't see in this picture of the Chigi Chapel is the Prophet Habakkuk's finger pointing to the devils hole wherein lay the first of the preferiti. Buddy took on the role of Habakkuk instead and was immensely disappointed by the construction, despite his seemingly cheery disposition in the picture.
We went and walked around a gigantic park at the top of the hill to see what was going on there, and I was mighty surprised to see palm trees all over the place. I didn't realize Rome was so tropical!
Another unexpected appearance in Rome: Sir Ted Danson! I'm sure it's a well-respected Roman Emperor, but there's no denying the resemblance to Mr. Cheers himself. One could rent a rowboat and paddle around this scenic little pond. We settled for taking a picture near the scenic little pond and eating while watching what began as romantic escapades turn into heated arguments about which way to go and how slow the man was rowing. That's amore!
Question: Michelle, how did you spend your first night in Rome?
Answer:
Day 2: The Vatican.
We opted for a guided tour and were glad we did, because we got infinitely more out of spending time in the Sistine Chapel than we would have otherwise. Our Swedish tour guide went into detail about every panel on the ceiling and how Michaelangelo included a self-portrait and even poked fun at one of his critics by giving him donkey ears!
On our way to the Vatican Museum to see a myriad of statues and paintings.
In case you were like us and wore long pants, wondering if shorts were inappropriate for The Vatican and may cause you to be denied entry, this MAN was on our tour and managed to make it through. Nice.
Just one of the incredible ceilings on the tour. I had a kink in my neck by the end of the day!
Another painting we got some really helpful background on. Can't tell you anything about it anymore, but at the time, it was pretty fascinating.
Buddy in front of the hall the cardinals walk on their way to the Sistine Chapel for Conclave.
BOTH of us in front of St. Peter's Square, which was still set up from the papal audience the day before. Unbeknownst to us, we picked a good day to go - a day earlier and it would have been a nightmare!
Just to give you an idea of the immensity of St. Peter's Basilica, this is just one of many gigantic statues and doesn't measure a third of the way to the ceiling.
Here's another glimpse of how massive this place was. Impossible for us to do it justice in pictures.
If you've seen the film, you'll recognize this as the staircase the camerlengo descends in search of the bomb. Buddy contained his excitement for the picture, but was pretty giddy. I had to hold the camera over my head and guess whether or not it was a good angle to get him and the stairs. Not bad, eh?Brandon's attempt at the same wasn't so successful.
A list of all of the popes, beginning with St. Peter himself.
BOTH of us in St. Peter's Basilica.
Between his consumption of England's Buxton water and the holy water in Rome, Buddy should be the picture of health!
They may dress funny, but the Swiss Guard mean business! People were requesting pictures with them, and besides not looking at the camera, they insisted tourists stand several feet away (insisted here, meaning pushed!) So we didn't bother asking and took the picture from a distance instead.
Here's a view of St. Peter's from the outside, with chairs still set up for the previous day's papal audience.What's this? Another clue? Another marker on the Path of Illumination? Epic.

Again, with the gelato!We skipped a few markers and went straight to the end of the Path of Illumination - Castle St. Angelo. Although I was being slightly facetious here, the tunnels were a little creepy.
We knew we were in the right place when we saw this guy.
Poor guy can't catch a break. Apparently the castle didn't cater to giants.
Again, stopping a nice young family and offering to take their picture yields a picture of our own :)
I couldn't help but giggle when clumps of nuns passed us on the streets - they're so cute! I did, however, refrain from any Sister Act references or musical numbers. I knew you'd be proud.
While slightly confusing, I really appreciated the effort to provide English on the front door of our B&B.
One of my favourite Metro experiences occurred in Rome: Buddy & I were sitting together (I had bags on my lap - that'll be important) and like the strapping gentleman he is, Buddy stood as we approached a crowded stop so as to let woman, child or elderly person occupy his seat. Mowing down said women, children and elderly people, a rather spry middle-aged man elbowed his way to Buddy's seat, beating out someone we learned later to be his wife. She stood directly in front of me, invading my personal space as much as she could. Now, I don't speak Italian, but I can usually tell when people are having a conversation about me. Like this charming couple, for instance. My first clue? They both leered at me during the entirety of their discussion, apparently upset that I neglected to give up my seat for her. Irritated by the situation, at our stop, I passed the bags to Buddy, put one hand on my burgeoning belly (which I stuck out as best I could so there was no mistaking) and used the other to prop myself up then support my back (the standard pregnant lady pose) all the while grunting and groaning and saying "Scusi, scusi". After they picked their jaws up off the ground, Mrs. I-Didn't-Marry-Him-For-His-Manners finally got the seat she so craved. And I got a story that I still laugh about today.
I should mention that only a handful of times did I have to stand while able-bodied young men occupied a seat, and on the whole people were incredibly gracious when it came to giving up a seat for me, which I found refreshing and really appreciated. One gentleman in Paris even made his wife give up her seat for me, which I felt badly about, but she was happy to do (for the record, he was standing too!)
On to the Colosseum! Another impressive structure it was impossible for me to photograph adequately. But we certainly made an effort and must have taken 100!
They had a Gladiator exhibit throughout, featuring costumes and tidbits about the events hosted at The Colosseum, both disturbing and interesting.
It was big.
Remember when we saw that guy from Moscow in Paris? As coincidental as that was, I don't think anything beats us seeing an entire family from Brandon's ward in Moscow at The Colosseum. They were there on holiday, being show around by their son who served his mission in Italy (so grocery shopping was considerably easier for them). I still can't believe the odds of us being in the same place at the same time like that - especially considering the size of Moscow. My head's still spinning!When they said Rome wasn't built in a day, they weren't kidding. They're still going! Okay, so they were fixing up one side of the Pantheon, but it made for some interesting picture taking. I recognize that I look a little too happy to be posing with a tomb, but when it's the tomb of Raphael (the painter and architect, not the turtle) you can't help but be a little excited to be there.How does one properly celebrate being at such a historic site? Chicken McNuggets, of course! You may scoff, but "McNuggets" is the same in English and Italian, and I just couldn't handle being yelled at again. My cashier even threw in 6 extra nuggets for the Bambina! I'll take it.
Although we'd already been to the end of the Path of Illumination, we didn't want to miss Piazza Navona, where the last of the preferiti drowned or nearly drowned (depending on whether you read the book or watched the movie). What you can't see well here is my impression of a water fountain...and dribbling all over myself.This was Buddy's version. Please note the statue in the middle and you'll see how accurate Buddy was.We know about the Great Castration and the fig leaves, but this pigeon took it one step further in an attempt to protect our innocence.
Thanks to the modest pigeon, we were able to sustain our appetite...for gelato!
Just couldn't help himself! By the way, the water was only a few inches deep, so Robert Langdon's dive was contrived - Hollywood movie magic!We stayed at a B&B that a sweet, little lady ran out of her home, directly across from the bus station. I took this out our window. It doesn't get much closer!
The only downside about where we stayed? The strawberry yogurt. You know when your mum washed your mouth out with soap? Tasted just like that.I did it! I reached the top of the stairs entering the Roman Forum...only to discover that it was a steady incline up an enormous hill from here.Buddy amongst the rubble.
You can't help but be impressed by how large some of these structures are and how amazing it is that they were built so long ago.
♫ Tell you 'bout those Sabine women, who lived in the Roman days...
Those women were sobbin' sobbin' sobbin' buckets of tears... ♫
Name that movie!On our last night, we ventured out to see some of our favourite places all lit up. Little did we know that as bad as the peddlers were during the day, they were 10x more pushy at night. This guy offered to take a picture of us (he insisted we kiss - not our choice) and we gladly accepted. Then he held his hand out for some cash and we knew that we couldn't let this happen again...
...Until we got to the Spanish Steps and this evil little man literally shoved a rose at me, despite me crossing my arms and repeating that I didn't want it, claiming that it was a gift for the baby. Then, he offered to take our picture and suggested I hold the whole bouquet and got upset when we didn't give him as much money as he would have liked. Oh well, got a picture!
And this one was taken for free by some friendly Canadian (holla!) photographers touring Italy. What luck!
We spent a good three days in Rome and thoroughly enjoyed it. Although it was nice to get back to England where I could understand everyone...for the most part :) Viva la Roma!