When in Rome: Part 1

Well, we made it back from Rome last night. Our trip was a whirlwind of museums, ruins, restaurants, walking, and espresso. Here's a few pictures from the first two days, if you'd like to see:

We took the train and arrived around 3:30 - after walking to the hotel (successfully) and checking in, we left and took off for Trastavere, a neighborhood across the river. No time to spare! We started at Santa Maria, the local church. There was actually a service going on so we listened to the singing for a while before heading back out (into the rain).

We walked along the narrow streets and found a little place to have a drink. We decided on Negronis because we don't have those in Cortina and neither of us had ever tried them.

We ate dinner at a local pizzeria, Dar Poeta, that was recommended by two people....but we found that there were more Americans than Italians inside! BUT - we outlasted all the other tourists and students, and by 9 pm, the Italians were pouring in. The pizza was delish and totally different than what we have in Cortina! We shared two and then went to get hazelnut and pistachio gelato next door before heading home for an early (ish) bedtime.

We started Monday at the Colosseum....enough said. The first picture here is our first view of it, from down the street...we just loved how it was peeking through.

Then we headed over to the Forum and Palatine Hill. We walked through the ruins and did a tour from our guidebook.

Then we took a quick trip over to the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin to see the Bocca della Verita, which was fun and silly:

Then FINALLY to a little wine bar for lunch, where we ordered a Lagrein which is from our own Trentino-Alto Adige region! And had some absolutely delicious antipasti (which we had a lot of throughout the trip).

So that was a loooong morning. We walked back to the hotel to regroup and rest a bit and then headed out AGAIN! This time - the Pantheon.

Then on to the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps (we were very, very busy...but we did rest on the steps for a while):

Then we ended our first day with a fantastic dinner at a little place in North Rome called Ristorante il Gabriello, where we ate antipasti, little raviolis in a creamy sage sauce, homemade pasta with lobster, shrimp and calamari, steak with different types of salt.....it was one of our favorite parts of the whole trip!

And finally we fell into bed after the busiest day of our lives!
Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow....