Rome: Part 1

Rome was my favorite destination this trip, by far. The artistic, historical, spiritual, and cultural appeal of this city was just overwhelming for me! 

The only disappointment was the food. Italian food is my favorite back here in the States, but everything in Rome was touristy and every slice of pizza I had was served to me cold except for one, which was disgusting even warm. The one truly good meal we had was with our B&B host Simonetta, who deserves a proper shout-out right here and now. Here is her website: http://www.bb-simonetta.com/

and you SHOULD stay at her place if you are lucky enough to visit Rome! She took us out to dinner on our first night in the city - she drove us around in her car, showed us the best view of the city (no tour buses go there at night so it would have been an impossible view without her), and walked us to a restaurant we couldn't have otherwise gone to since neither of us speak Italian. She also ordered for us - we had fried artichokes, spaghetti alla carbonara, and some nice wine (I think Simonetta was absolutely offended that I wasn't going to drink any).  

Before our excursion with Simonetta, we explored to the city a little on our own. Here is a picture of St. Peter's Square.

and inside St. Peter's Basilica, the Pieta (one of my favorites) - like the Mona Lisa, impossible to get a good picture because of the crowds.

This is me in St. Peter's Square.

 A dome inside St. Peter's Basilica. I can't remember if I've already mentioned this, but you could pretty much make an amazing trip to Europe out of just visiting the (mostly free) churches there. At least I could.

 And me outside St. Peter's Square again. It is hard to capture the full awesomeness of this place on camera. This is just one side of the square.

It was so much warmer in Rome. aaaaahhhhh....

 Inside St. Peter's Basilica.

 Laura in St. Peter's Square.

My new leather jacket! Everyone in Europe had one; we totally gave in to peer pressure and each bought one. I just had to get rid of that black sweater.