This Time Last Year

I was not getting ready to dress up or give out candy...I was in Rome...with my sister!!!

Thought I could share with you some photos of our trip since I wasn't blogging this time last year. And because there's just way too much beauty in Rome for one post, maybe I'll break it up into a couple of back to back travel posts:)



P and I really want to go to Italy and travel around the country for a few weeks, but for now we don't have the time or the money. My sister however, is a very lets-do-this-thing kinda girl and we've traveled together before (a few years back the 3 of us - P, my sister and I - did Ireland together and had a fabulous time..maybe I'll show you those pics someday too). So the MOH (we'll just call her that, since that's been her nickname since my wedding 4 years ago -yes, it stands for Maid of Honor) and I decided to go for a short trip to one part of Italy, just to get see something and to satisfy our traveling itch for a bit. (P stayed home and let us have a girls trip...we invited him but he declined...no idea why!)

We decided on Rome and met each other at the Leonardo da Vinci (Fiumicino) Airport (the MOH lives in Manhattan). We were there for 4 days/5 nights but thought it was the perfect amount of time to spend in one city...long enough to not feel rushed and to become familiar with the area so that it sort of feels like home but short enough not to get bored and to leave knowing you want to go back to hit up some of the things you missed the first time round.

We stayed at the Marriott Grand Hotel Flora on Via Veneto overlooking the Villa Borghese Park. Travel tip: if you or your spouse travel a lot (especially for business), totally sign up for all the frequenty flyer miles, Amtrak miles, Starwood points, Marriott rewards, etc. It's worth it. P has gotten us free hotel rooms at least for some of the nights on every trip we've take together since we met. That's why we were able to stay here. And we got our Pottery Barn dining room table for free after converting all his Amtrak points to PB gift cards:)

{we had the best room, the one right between the 2 flags...there's me on the balcony!!}

Back to our awesome hotel - it was a great location and with views like these (taken from the rooftop when we splurged for brunch up there on our last day), we lucked out!

{Villa Borghese}


{yep, that's St. Peter's Basilica over across the River Tiber!!}

Rome is a place unlike any other. The history, the architecture, the food, the drink (well, I don't like wine, but I do love cappuccinos!)...mostly it just leaves you in awe.

I thought I'd start by showing you some photos of one of the most famous Imperial Roman landmarks and one of my favorite sites to have seen...The Colosseum/Colosseo. It was completed in 80 AD. Enough said (that's almost 2000 years ago!!!) Although I don't agree with the way this huge elliptical ampitheater was used back in the day, it is amazing to see and explore. Do not let the long lines to get in dissuade you, stick it out, the wait is worth it. (We paid for the audio tour, the kind where you follow a map to specially marked spots and listen to the recording when you get there...I like to hear all the information about a landmark when I visit...it makes the experience so much better.)

Unbelievable, no?! Check out how different it looks later on in the day when we came back as the sun started to set. These are once in a lifetime moments. Thanks, Moh, for such a great trip. And thanks, P for letting us go:)

Sigh...oh how I wish I was there now. Halloween is not really my thing...although P and I are attending a party tomorrow night as Velma and Shaggy of the Scooby Doo gang (the friends we are going with are going to be Fred and Daphne). I'd take Europe over trick-or-treating any year (although this could change when we have our own kiddos).

Posts to come on other wonderul spots like the Roman Forum, the Pantheon and the Vatican (if you get bored, let me know). Have a great weekend and happy Halloween:)