Italy Trip: First 3 Days in Rome

I haven't posted much about our 20th wedding anniversary trip to Italy this past summer, so here's the first 1/3 of our trip, which was 3 nights in Rome:

Stuck flying around Atlanta waiting out a storm!


Best meal I've had on a plane on the way to Italy.


On our rooftop bar at Hotel Artemide IN ROME!


Drinks before exploring.










Out for a 2 pm lunch (weird timing because of the time change) at Signorvino.










Our hotel room at Hotel Artemide for the first 3 nights.


The old elevator in our hotel.

We got settled in and my wife took a little nap. I hit the treadmill in the basement for a speed workout that I posted about here. Then we hoped to see a bit more of the city:

It started raining, so we went next door for crepes and gelato.




Outside Quirinale Palace - a residence of the President of the Italian Republic.


Trevi Fountain!






Hopping into a church near the Trevi Fountain to get out of the rain for a second.


Back near the Quirinale Palace.


This tunnel was near our hotel, later to be featured in the most recent Mission Impossible movie.




More fountains in the rain.


Back at our hotel for the night. Got to bed a bit early as I hadn't slept
in about 36 hours (my wife got a few solid hours on the plane).


Day 2. Breakfast in our hotel was AMAZING.






The waitress always brought me one of these. TASTY!




Car ride to the Vatican.


The Vatican wall.


Inside the Vatican.


The dome of St. Peter's Basilica.






So much art!






The hall of animals.


The hall of statues.


Popes have pooped using this toilet. (A stone that was completely
"harvested" from the earth, so there's no more of this left.)




The hall of tapestries...


... and the hall of maps.




That's a view of the outside of the Sistine Chapel.

After studying all of Michelangelo's work in the Sistine Chapel throughout my art school experience, I found myself getting a little emotional walking through it. We sat and just soaked it all in for 10 minutes. (And I don't have any photos as it's not allowed to take photos in there.)

Outside of St. Peter's Basilica - the largest church in the world with a dome designed by Michelangelo.


Inside. Room for 60,000 people!










Back outside in a drizzle.




Here you can finally see a bit of a dome back there.




Walking away from the Vatican, walking along the Tiber.


Stopping for pizza at Pizzeria Baffetto.




We stumbled across the 3 fountains of Piazza Navona.








There are a few thousand places around the city with water
running down from the mountains where you can refill a water bottle.




Trajan's Column - another piece of history studied in school!


On an island in the Tiber River to start a food tour of the Trastevere neighborhood.


My wife had great comments about bathrooms, like "THAT bathroom was a cultural experience!"


A small bite at Da Enzo.


Walking with our tour guide Rish.


Into the basement of Ristorante Spirito Di Vino.


That statue is now in the Vatican collection ("The Apoxyomenos" or "The Athlete")
and was found under rubble in this very basement.


An amazing beef stew.




Pork, bread, and wine at Norcineria lacozzilli.


Al 17 Gusteria...


... where we got this rice-filled cheesy bite.




La Boccaccia for some unique pizza!




This didn't have cheese but was delicious...


... and this one was potato-based.


Final stop for pasta before dessert. Here's some of the crew from Texas that was also on our tour.


Rione 13 for some great pasta!


Rish stealing my wife's gelato at Fatamorgana.




Wandering around the Tiber river after our tour.




Sarah's under that light on the middle of this bridge.
It's older than Christ! And was our path to the island.


Close-up.


Wandering around Rome, slowly working our way back to our hotel.




We spotted the Colosseum off in the distance, so we had to go check it out!




Cutie.


Checking out a beautiful church with its doors wide open at 10 pm on the way back to our hotel.


Breakfast on Day 3 (what would be our 2nd full day).




Always the best date.


Heading to the Pantheon - again, more history I couldn't wait to see!
We planned to get there just before it opened to get in line.






The Pantheon! The line was already long, but we were in maybe 15 minutes after it opened.


Concrete dome that's 23 feet thick at the bottom! And tapers to a few feet at the opening.


A mathematically amazing structure!








I love what the wide angle does to my legs.




Behind the Pantheon.


Ah yes... my 4 favorite tennis players.

It was Sunday morning, but the Pope wasn't in town, so we didn't feel the need to go to a service at the Vatican. But we found another church we were planning to go to for mass in a few hours. But then we stumbled across the Church of St. Ignatius (the founder of the Jesuit faith, which is the faith our home parish is rooted in). It was beautiful, and mass was going to start in 90 minutes, so we just looked around before attending a (surprisingly small) Sunday mass there:

When viewed from the middle of the church, the ceiling appears to extend into the sky!




The body of a bishop (I think?).




Lots of relics. See all the bones near the bottom?




The mirror in the middle where you really get the illusion of the ceiling going up to the Heavens.


Our turn at the mirror.


Seated up front before mass started.


Back at the Trevi Fountain after mass.






One of my favorite selfies from the trip, just wandering around Rome.


Back near the Colosseum for pizza and pasta based off the recommendation of our food tour guide.


Pasta at Luzzi...


... and a pizza for me.




I didn't know about it at the time (like the tunnel from a few days before), but a chase scene
from Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One took place on that lower road.


... and the other way is the Colosseum.


Cutie.


I needed a cannoli.


More fresh water - the ones with a hole in the top mean
you can plug the faucet to turn it into a drinking fountain.


Panties graffiti. True story: a priest walked by as my wife was trying to take this photo.

Day 4 was our final morning in Rome. I got up early and went for a long run along the Tiber River as I posted about back in August. Then it was time for breakfast before an official tour of the Colosseum and Roman Forum:

Tasty desserts post-run for breakfast!


At the Colosseum.


Inside!




View of the Palatine Hill area from the Colosseum.








The Arch of Constantine next to the Colosseum.


Up Palatine Hill.


Capers grow hanging down! (Not something I'd thought about or knew before.)


The Roman Forum. SOOO much history here!




With our tour guide Tatiana again! (Same art historian guide we had at the Vatican - loved her!)


Whoa.


On a basalt road from the 1st century.


Looking up to where we were standing 2 photos above.




Where Caesar was cremated.






The first covered market in the world.


A final walk by Trajan's Column on our way back to our hotel.

We had checked out of our room and had our bags held in the lobby. We walked back, grabbed our bags, walked to the train station about a half mile from our hotel, and hopped a train to to Florence. After that run, long walking tour, and then getting to the train station, I set a PR for daily steps with 37,075 (soon to be beat a few days later on this same trip!).

Back with the 2nd part (of this 3-part trip) shortly. In a week or 2. I hope. Ideally sooner than it took to make THIS post after getting back from this trip nearly 5 months ago... sheesh.

UPDATE: here's part 2 and part 3 from this trip.