So here we are, all the roads have led us to Rome. Another big city and after a few trips to small cities we were excited to dive back into big city life, and Rome is a great one to do it in. Rome to me is more than just a big city, Rome is a beautiful marriage of the ancient world and the present. The once center of the world, the capital and crowning achievement of the greatest empire in human history, Rome has beauty, history, culture, diversity, and so much more jammed into, by US standards, a small footprint of a city.

It is amazing what 10 years can do to a person and their perception of the world. Arriving from Corfu, we had to take a bus to the central train station to catch the metro to our hotel. It was at this point we realized how when we were younger we may have been a tad bit more worried on the cost of a place to stay vs the safety of it. As we pull around central station the memories start flowing back; “oh wow, I remember walking here to get to our hostel last time!” “Umm, did we really walk down this street?!..at night?!” To be honest I wouldn’t walk down that street at noon now…so ya…to be young…or old…however you want to put it, we were glad to be staying near Vatican City this time around.

I had 2 missions in Rome (well all of Europe really), walk the city and eat food. While I’de like to say I saved myself for the great food Italy has to offer, the amount of Bratwurst and beer I had in Germany would make me a liar. Rome is the perfect place to walk the city and eat; there is something old and beautiful around every corner, and when you think you could sit and stare at the architecture all day, your attention is immediately diverted by the aroma of something cooking in an equally beautiful setting around the next corner.

Moving along, we only had a few spots we “needed” to see, and the first one was the Trevi Fountain. A staple of the Roman experience for both its beauty and its legend. It is said that tossing coins into the fountain over your left shoulder ensures a return to Rome, moreover, for young lovers, tossing in 3 coins ensures a return to Rome as a happily married couple. So yup, you guessed it, 10 years ago me and the love of my life reached into our pockets, grabbed 3 coins, closed our eyes, locked our lips and threw 3 coins into the flowing water of the Trevi Fountain. Returning 10 years later as a happily married couple has only strengthened the legend. This time we only had to throw 2 coins in to ensure our return

A quick little walk from the fountain, and when I say little walk I really mean a test of will power as you walk the gauntlet that is Roman streets around dinner time. The smells, the settings, the bottles of wine calling your name all make the quick little walk to the Pantheon a tough one.

As you can see we failed to make it to the Pantheon without a pit stop for some “energy”. However we did make it, and even though we have both seen it before it is still such a beautiful structure, a massive piece of architectural achievement. The second you come around the corner to the plaza you are faced with it, and it is amazing, you cant help but stare. Still to this day, almost 2,000 years after it was built, the dome that caps the Pantheon is the worlds largest unreinforced concrete dome…I mean amazing

The next day was our big day, I vowed to walk 10 miles that day! Basically the more I walked, the more i could justify eating. So we took the metro to the last stop in the south eastern portion of the city and we were gonna walk all the way back…Debbie disapproved of this idea…but we did it.

Anyway, on to our 10 mile day….

Sadly at the end of that day, from one end to the other end, we only walked 6 miles, so I changed my justification on walking 10 miles to be able to eat, by having a celebratory dinner on walking Rome in such an efficient manor..boom! I love Rome, it is one of my favorite cities in the world, unfortunately we were only here for 2 days, but I am hoping 2 little coins will get us back here some day.

Next onto Tuscany and the heart of our travels.