Our last European destination this year

Remember how I said our motto in life right now is, "When in Rome"? Well, we finally made it to Rome to live it out. I shouldn't say finally, since we've been SO many places since we've moved to Basel, but Rome was the one last place we wanted to go this year, and before the Lentil comes along next spring.

BK and I traveled to Rome this past weekend and had an action packed time. The Lentil seems to be punishing me a little bit for our love of travel, as I seem to not be adjusting quite as quickly as normal after we travel to and from places. Such is life- only a few more flights before I'm grounded for the last trimester.

We started our first afternoon wandering around the city, just needing to make it to the Spanish Steps in time to meet our tour guide for an evening tour. Our first stop was at Santa Maria Maggiore. We didn't plan this stop, but found it near our hotel on the way to a more central part of the city. Like many of the cathedrals in Rome, it is beautiful and incredibly ornate. I love all of the ceilings in the buildings. It seems so often we forget to look up, but in older buildings, often the ceilings are given more attention than walls or other decor.

BK and I then stopped for a little afternoon snack to get some sustenance and do some people watching. Of course, in Rome, there are fountains and usually a church in every square.

From there we continued to make our way closer to the Spanish Steps, but first stopped at the Capuchin Church of the Immaculate Conception. My dad recommended that "we just Google it and go." Somehow we stumbled upon it unknowingly, then decided to go ahead and go in. We didn't go in the sanctuary part of the church, but the main attraction is the crypt. It is kind of weird, and a little serial-killeresque, but the crypt is decorated with the bones of deceased monks and other poor Romans. The rooms are divided up into types of bones, such as the pelvises, shins and thighs, skulls, etc. It's interesting, but like I said, a little weird.

From there we met our tour guide from Angel Tours for our Heart of Rome Tour. The tour could have up to 15ish people, but lucky for us, it was just me, BK and our guide. This was a great way to start off our time in the city, hearing about some history and being able to ask any questions we had. Like I mentioned, we started at the Spanish Steps, which aren't actually Spanish. They derive their name from the fact that the Spanish Embassy is in the same square. It's also where we took our weekly pic :)

From there we went to Trevi Fountain, which actually deserves all of the hype it gets. It's an amazing piece of work attached to a building. It was commissioned by a wealthy family in Rome many years ago and has over 3,000 Euros per day thrown into the fountain. BK and I threw our coins in, with our right hand, over our left shoulders, to ensure we would someday return to Rome.

After Trevi Fountain we stopped at a funeral monument and were pointed in the direction of a couple of unique churches we should see. One included a church that appears to have domes in the ceiling, but in fact, is 3D painting done on the ceiling with a flat roof. Very interesting…I'll wrack my brain, but the name escapes me right now.

We then saw BK's favorite site in Rome, the Pantheon; in fact, he liked it so much we went back every day we were there. It is an amazing building, and a true mathematical achievement.

The truly awesome thing about it is that it was built in 118 AD, is still standing, is still in use, and remains the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. It measures 43.3 meters high as well as across. Raphel (the artist) and the first two kings of Italy are buried inside the building as well. The building has been studied throughout the ages as an architectural marvel.

From the Pantheon we enjoyed Piazza Navona, which boasts three impressive fountains, along with a church and cafes around the perimeter of the square. The fountain pictured below symbolizes the four rivers of the world coming together in Rome. It (like many others) was commissioned by the Vatican and each statue represents a different continent.

After we finished with our tour, BK and I enjoyed an easy dinner at a local pizzeria recommended by our tour guide, then called it a night. We spent Friday at the Vatican…more on that later!