Roman Holiday

After our mission trip to Greece was over, we decided to spend a few days in Italy.  Believe it or not, our airfare was actually cheaper with a stopover in Rome on the way back.

We arrived at night, and as soon as we rode in the cab from the airport to our AirBnB apartment, we could see the contrast between Athens and Rome.  In Athens, most of the buildings were rather small and crowded together.  Streets were pretty narrow.  The trees were usually olive or fruit trees and were quite short.  In Rome, the buildings and the trees seemed stretched out and tall.  And there were fountains lit up everywhere!

But our first order of business was to sleep in and have a big breakfast.  That's when we found out that it's not just the buildings that are bigger in Italy - the prices were at least double!

We headed to the Colosseum to wait in a very long line (2.5 hours in the hot sun).  It was pretty interesting, but if we ever go back, I think we'll go for a moonlight tour.  Excuse all the photos, but we waited a long time for these.

We intended to tour the Forum next, but I evidently dropped our tickets (they were dual tickets for the Colosseum and Forum).  Oh well.  We saw it from the outside instead.  

For our first evening, our plan was to go to the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain.  My friend, Stephanie (who was with us in Greece), said I just had to have my photo taken eating gelato on the Spanish steps just like Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday.  We arrived right at the golden hour.

the church at the top of the Spanish steps

looking down from the top of the steps

getting ready to get some gelato

Well, this is where my story diverged from Audrey Hepburn, but I still think it turned out quite romantic.  Terry and I found a store near the steps that sold gelato and quickly bought some.  When we went to pay for it, it turned out the gelatos were 12 euros each!  I could buy five gallons of Bluebell ice cream for that much!  But Terry didn't complain.  He was trying to help me get my photo.  Then when we got back to the steps and got ready to snap a photo, a policeman whistled loudly and told us to take our food off the steps.  Turns out you are not allowed to sit or eat on the steps, or a lot of other things.

Meanwhile, our gelato was melting really quickly and getting our hands and cell phones sticky as we tried to take at least one photo at the base of the steps where it was legal.  

I decided that I had my own romantic moment because Terry had purchased two outrageously expensive gelatos (when he doesn't even really enjoy all that much) and was trying so hard to make a photo just to make me happy.  So we just laughed about it and washed our hands in the Fountain della Barraccia (Fountain of the Boat) at the base of the steps.  Don't worry, we saw plenty of Italians doing the same.  No rules broken.  

Then we took an evening stroll taking in the sites, including the famous Trevi Fountain.  

Pantheon

Altar of the Nation

Trajan's column