Rome

After 5+ months, countless wonderful experiences and more astonishingly beautiful sights than I'm sure I'll even be able to remember, there were recent moments when I expressed the somewhat jaded idea that it would be too touristy and we could just skip over Rome and head north straight away. The idea was certainly helped by the sticker shock inspired by the prices involved in staying anywhere within the city. After a well saturated day and a half in the ancient city, I'm thankful that I was able to shake such an absurd idea out of my head. Yes, the more famous parts of the city have been retooled over the years with English menus, countless gift-shops, and more day-tour options than you could shake a traveler's check at (I'm not sure these are so useful anymore, but you get the idea), but it's hard to imagine a place more deserving. It took little to no time wandering around the city to ferret out any of my 'jaded traveller' thoughts - it's just plain incredible how much beauty has been condensed in a handful of square kilometers. With only a day and a half, we budgeted our time (and our Euros that slip away all too easily in such an expensive city) carefully, and mostly decided to meander from one stunning site to the next in a slow loop back to our hostel next to the train station. Yesterday evening, after getting settled, we took a slow walk down to the area that has played home to the Colosseum, Forum, and other ruins for the past few thousand years. After the past 5+ months of travelling, we've developed a fondness for taking a soft approach to navigating new cities. I think it's a little more engrossing to pick a specific destination, get a rough idea of it's direction, and give yourself plenty of time to meander your way there (I've gotten pretty good at relying on the sun for direction, with the occasional help from a little compass I picked up in Bangkok on a whim). This method felt most rewarding last night when after a few instances of "oh this street looks interesting, and it's sort of in the right direction" we were abruptly spilled out in front of the towering Colosseum. It was never a must-go destination for me, but as such an intensely iconic structure that can't help but have formed an imagined view of it in my mind while growing up, it was wonderful feeling to have it's massive, ancient glory erase any rough image that's been planted in my head since I was a kid. 

The first of several gelato

One of the many beautiful structures I knew absolutely nothing about

Obligatory old honda photo

In all her glory

This view looked even less real in person

After a long walk around the area of the ruins, we finished the night with a what felt like a well deserved meal after most of the week on the farm at a well reviewed Indian restaurant. Nothing could have hit the spot better (a split bottle of prosecco didn't hurt either).

This morning we printed out advanced tickets for the Vatican museums, and took a slow walk to the metro before making it over to the city.

 The museums were pretty astonishing. Reminded is a bit of our experience in the Egyptian museum - just an overwhelming volume of incredible work. No pictures of the Sistine Chapel (I'm sure you all have seen enough pictures anyway). Apparently the images are now copyrighted after a company sponsored a long restoration process. Didn't know that was possible.

Mini Vatican

We then proceeded to the famous square in front of St Peters and sat around enjoying the beautiful day and soaking in the view.

Then a long stroll by the castle and back over the river.

Then slowly made our way to and through the stunning Piazza Navona, dedicating a bit of time to the myriad of street performers.

Then on to the Pantheon, starting to feel that half of what we've seen today rivals the most beautiful buildings of our trip so far. We made a few stops nearby for more gelato, and into a wonderful little salumeria for some prociutto, some salumi, and what we now think was a cured horse meat (it was pretty good!), some fontina olives, and a 9 euro bottle of Barbera d'Asti for dinner (along with bread from a nearby minimarket). 

I think I remember doing a project on this thing in 6th grade

I really dig all the incredible fountains around Rome, and this one clearly takes the cake - but the crowd here was just absurd.

The final highlights of the day were getting into the Santa Maria della Vittoria chapel a few minutes before it closed. The artistry (thanks to Bernini) is just unbelievable. It also has the bonus of housing the famous Ecstasy of St Theresa sculpture which is super interesting.

 On a final whim before dinner and settling in, we wandered into Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri which was an absolutely stunning space. It invoked a similar sense of majesty to the Hagia Sofia and some of the grand mosques of Cairo and Istanbul. As a bonus, there was a fascinating exhibit about Galileo's research's base in his theism, and beyond that, there is a meridian measurement instrument built across the floor of the basilica. Crazy Romans.

We're up early tomorrow to catch a train to Florence and then an afternoon bus to the vineyard in Chianti. I think we're doing this right.