The Story of We: An American in Paris (and Rome)

Hey friends! So, blogging is the first thing to go when life gets busy, but it's for a good reason, I promise!

Over Thanksgiving we went to Europe! Rome, the Cinque Terre, Monte Carlo, Paris - it was amazing! I'll be recapping little by little, but here are a couple summaries I wrote while I on the trip...accompanied by a few of the 700 + photos I took. :)

Day 1:

We're here in Rome!

After a long sleepless flight (at least for me - I read a whole book and watched two movies though!), we got into Rome about 8am local time, hopped a shuttle to our hotel/b&b, and met our very nice hotel operators Francoise and Melissa. Melissa is from the US, so she explained to us where we could find everything, gave us some restaurant recommendations, and off we went to see the sights! Cappucino, the Roman forum and ruins, tasty steak and veggies for lunch, more coffee, and the colosseum! Not bad for a sleep-deprived day!

3,000 year old columns as benches.

After a nap on my part, we're getting ready to head out and get a pinic dinner to bring back from a grocery down the street. Salami, anyone? Mmm...tomorrow, onto several more ancient things (fountains and markets, i think?), then the Vatican on friday!

Most of all today I was struck with how simiar things are to home here! Aside from the ancient ruins and collumns literally just lying around serving as 3,000 yr old benches, teenagers run around wearing leggings as pants, lots of people speak English, and the colloseum is basically the first giant sports stadium. They even had ticketed seating back in the day!

Colosseum.

The Vatican.

Trevi Fountain.

Pantheon.

The Colosseum.

Days 2&3:

Whew! So much walking! :)

Walked everywhere yesterday, we calculated at least 10 miles!! Each morning we enjoy coffee (espresso or a cappuccino) and breakfast in a cafe down the street. They are very nice and made me eggs for breakfast in place of the customary pastry. "Io sono ciliaca" works wonders here - they're very educated on gluten intolerance and cieliac disease. Yesterday we walked to the Campio de Fiore, an outdoor morning market, then on to the Vatican. After a stroll through the Vatican museum, you end up in the Sistine chapel - it is truly amazing to think of all the years Michelangelo spent up on scaffolding painting that ceiling! After St Peters Square and St Peters basilica, it was off to find some gluten free pizza! It. Was. Amazing. We took the scenic route home through lots of piazzas and side streets - and the Pantheon, Spanish Steps, etc. the little side streets are my favorite, much quieter and less people!

Today we went to a fun flea market, then had a picnic! I've eaten so much prosciutto and salami over the past 2 days I think I'm going to turn into a hunk of pork! But it is SO. GOOD. :) more wandering down side streets this afternoon, then we participated in the "passeggiata" - the evening walk! I have heard of this, when all the Romans come out each evening to walk their kids and dogs and chat - but it was amazing to watch! It seems every citizen of Rome was out strolling and chatting and "ciao-ing", and we got a little table outside at a restaurant to have gluten free pasta and people-watch. They even had gluten free tiramisu, and I'm officially stuffed to the gills. Good thing we walk so much!