Roma

It's been said that Rome wasn't built in a day, so I guess you can't see it in a day, but we tried to do it in a day and a half.  We took the train from Venice to Rome on Monday and arrived around 12:45.  A quick bite at the train station gave us the energy to hail a taxi and go to our apartment in the Testaccio neighborhood of Rome, a little bit south and west of the Colloseum and other major ancient attractions in Rome.  Once we dropped our luggage at the apartment, we walked toward the Colloseum, a stroll that took about a half an hour.  By the time we got there, it was past the time to enter any of the major sites, so we just strolled around soaking in the history. 

And even though you've seen it however many times in photos, it truly is something to see in person. 

With that attraction and others closed for the night, we headed north to places that don't close, such as the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain.  The Spanish Steps were bathed in the fading sunlight by the time we got there, and we managed to take in the vista as the sun set.  Annie and the kids climbed the steps to see the Roman landscape as herds of tourists took their own pictures to take back to Japan and Spain and Russia and other points unknown.   

On our way to the Spanish Steps, Annie had spotted a Sephora store that she wanted to stop at, so once we were done with the Steps, we headed toward the store where she found what she wanted, but we had a moment that threatened to change the entire trip.  As she was getting ready to pay in the store, Annie couldn't find her wallet, and thought it had been picked by one of Rome's famous thieves.  After about 45 seconds of fear, she discovered that she had put it in another part of her purse, much to our relief, but giving us the catch phrase of having a Sephora moment for quite some time.  A short stroll took us to the Trevi Fountain, which was packed with tourists, even at around 6 at night.  After a few quick photos,

 we reduced the number of the crowd there by four and did some shopping and caught a cab back to our apartment in Testaccio. The woman who handled our renting of the flat we stayed in recommended a restaurant nearby called Remo Pizzeria which turned out to be the find of the trip so far.  Sorry, but we will never call 347-1111 again after having the pies there.  We had a great server in Angelo and the place was filled with people speaking nothing but Italian and it was a great night for our family.   The pizzas with their thin crusts and tasty toppings are unbelievable and we ended up ordering another for the kids.  Then, when we ordered the tiramisu for dessert, our lives were changed forever!!  We've never tasted anything as wonderful as that and even ordered another to finish off before we were finished off for the night.  What a meal!  With our appetites satisfied, we settled in for a full nights' sleep to take on a full day of Rome on Wednesday.  We cut to the chase and set out to the Colosseum first thing Wednesday, working our way through the fake gladiators and took the audio tour around the most famous arena in the world.

Ho fame, so we went to a restaurant that offered outdoor seating on a reasonably warm Wednesday, and had more fantastic bruschetta and pizza and caught a taxi to the Vatican.  After waiting in line for about 20 minutes, we went into St Peter's Basilica, which was stunning on a lot of levels.  Once we finished with the spectacle of that, we headed back to Testaccio for a return trip to Remo's where the kids were treated to some behind the scenes action of the friendly staff.

Remo's Pizzaria was our favorite spot of the trip so far, thanks to the great food and great staff there, the picture there was the idea of one of the workers, which shows how friendly they were to Americans who spoke no more Italian than a few basic phrases.  We have to say a special thanks to Angelo, who made us feel like locals. 

Roma was a special place on what has been so far the trip of lifetime, tomorrow, Tuscany and a rental car. Hope that CDW is worth the Euro!!