Rome, the eternal city

In front of St. Peter's Basilica

Rome.  On our honeymoon a few years ago, The Mister and I went to Florence and Venice, among other places, and we were always a little regretful that we hadn't left time for Rome.  So it became the next stop after Paris on our winter break. In Rome, we made the happy discovery that speaking to each other in heavy Italian accents does NOT get old.

We also made the discovery that the Sistine Chapel is overrated. *Gulp*  That's right, I said it.  Here's the deal: the actual painted ceiling is pretty cool. But you pay 20 dollars per person for the privilege of seeing it, and you cannot go straight in - you have to walk through about 30-40 minutes of a winding maze, packed with people, that they call the "Vatican art museum."  Whatever, we had just been to the Louvre.  I like art as much as the next person, but after 5 hours of medieval paintings in two days, I felt like if I saw one more "Pietá" or "Madonna and Child" that I would stick my museum brochure in my eyeball and swirl it around, just for a different view. But no matter, I still had to squeeze my way through this museum, and then finally, at the end, you are ushered into a small dark chapel that is packed cheek to butt with people looking straight upward. If you are the kind of person who sticks out your foot to trip people for fun, the Sistine Chapel should be your mecca.

But you know what was NOT overrated?  New Year's Eve fireworks next to the Roman Coliseum.  The Mister and I got a bottle of champagne and sat on what was probably a two-thousand-year-old stone wall next to the old ruins, made friends with some Argentinian guys next to us, and tried not to get killed by the rogue fireworks exploding helter skelter in the crowd.  Italians apparently aren't huge on the idea of an "official" fireworks display run by guys that actually have safety precautions.  People from the crowd just carried huge ones on their shoulders, put them down in the middle of a group of people, the more unsuspecting the better, and lit a match.  Unsurprisingly, ambulances were standing by.  It was ridiculously fun.

New Year's Day, we were in St. Peter's Square for the Pope's New Year's Mass and I achieved my first goal in 2011: get blessed by the Pope.  Check that off the ole' bucket list.  I know it looks in the video like there were hundreds of people there, but I am pretty sure when he did his up/down/across the body blessing ninja-move, he was looking right at me.

The inside of the Coliseum, where the Christians were fed to the lions and the gladiators fought to the death

More Coliseum - and the sun's finally poking through

Courtyard windows

View from a window built in 79 A.D. I bet the view's changed a bit.

Someone's old house