rome may not have been built in a day, but it won my heart as soon as i got off the plane.

i can’t begin to tell you how in love i am with the city. For my money, it blows Paris right out of the water. Perhaps it made an even more indelible impression on me, because i had no expectations of it, or preconceived notions. i did no research before my trip – didn’t even so much as crack a guidebook. yet around every corner, there was breathtaking art and history and character and charm and more beauty. we’d meander down some tiny alley and find ourselves surrounded by verdant balconies and rooftop gardens, or turn onto a sidestreet and be suddenly amidst ornate fountains and statues, and alex and i would turn to each other and say, “oh look! more random beauty!” it was overwhelming – too much for the senses to take in.

the plan for the start of the trip was for me to meet kari and alex in the airport in rome (they were flying in from boston, via milan), but due to fog, the rome airport was only letting two flights per hour land, so i arrived five hours later than scheduled. i finally got in, and travelled into the city centre, where i met alex and kari at the hotel, which was as old-world and charming as they come (alex wangled us a penthouse suite for free!). marble, chandeliers, wood panelling and brass everywhere. after settling in, we headed out in no particular direction, and did some random sightseeing – the museum, the “fake” pantheon (ok, so we misread the map and ended up inside some elegant historic church before we caught on), and the real pantheon. we had our first of many delicious dinners, and then had limoncello and biscotti for dessert at this *fabulous* little wine bar/restaurant we found off the campo dei fiore. it was like stumbling into something out of a movie. a true gem, it was cozy and gracious and charming and hidden (not to mention cheap) and we ended up back there 4 nights out of five while in rome, and didn’t feel the slightest bit embarrassed about it. by the end of our stay, the waitstaff welcomed us like old friends, and we bid a personal goodbye to the owner, truly sad to know we wouldn’t be back there for quite a while.

alex and kari being serious fashionistas, the priority for our first full day in rome was shopping. we did some *serious damage*. we rented a car (i drove!) and headed to the outlets to worship at the altar of dolce and gabanna, versace, etc. – all the biggies. i bought some outrageous ferretti hot pink patent leather stilleto sandals, which i love, and some naughties at la perla. 6 hours later and laden with glamourous goods, we had a vague notion of driving to florence for a late dinner, but after an unscheduled detour through a shantytown straight out of “snatch” (bonfires, piles of trash, mobile homes as far as the eye can see) we managed to find our way back to rome, and decided to stop back at “our bar” for a lovely meal, dressed in all our newest finery. wild game prosciutto, classic melt-in-your-mouth carpaccio, torta neopolitana… mmmm. wine, more wine, and many limoncellos meant we wound up giving each other a boozy fashion show in our hotel room at 4 am.

the next day there was a massive peace march through the streets of rome marking the one year occupation of iraq, which alex and i took part in – energizing and heartening to see the tens of thousands of people who were still outraged at the war and bloodshed, a year later. it was big and boisterous and impassioned, and although we couldn’t understand the chants or political banners, it was a wonderful experience to be involved in something so globally unifying.

(nytimes.com photo)

after the march, we went in for something a little more sophisticated – a full multi-course dinner at a lovely old-world restaurant (again, free – thank you alex!), and then headed in search of a trendy nightclub called lattepiu (”milk bar”, modeled after “clockwork orange”). sadly, we failed to find it (perhaps it’s so trendy that no one knows about it?), and ended up having a drink at a tourist trap in the shadow of the colosseum, before deciding we’d rather just head back to “our bar”. many many limoncellos later (and after alex re-enacted “la dolce vita” fountain scene) we stumbled back to the hotel, at an exorbitant taxi price. when the driver didn’t have change, alex went into the lobby to get some, and then the driver kicked kari and i out, seemingly telling us (in our impeccable italian translation) it was fine, he didn’t need change. 5 minutes later, the lobby staff was calling us about the irate taxi driver at the desk, waiting for his 5 euros.

the next morning we headed off to vatican city to see the masterpiece of the sistine chapel, only to discover it was closed, but we still got to go to the top of the dome of st. peter’s basilica (several hundred narrow claustrophobia-inducing steps to reach it) and the trevi fountain (massive, just massive) with a side mission stop along the way for the *best* award-winning renowned gelati in all of rome, especially for alex. we walked over to the spanish steps (crawling with tourists) and saw a very moving memorial to the madrid bombing outside the spanish embassy, and in fact, there were handmade signs of unity and grief scattered throughout the city. after so much climbing and walking, we could barely contain our excitement about heading back to “our bar” for dinner, where we had more delicious wine, smoked swordfish, and artichoke and salmon lasagne, and a beautiful lemon granita. and of course, limoncello and torta panacotta for dessert.

monday morning we had to pack up and say goodbye to our lovely hotel, then headed out on a second attempt to see the sistine chapel. on the way, alex had her wallet stolen on the metro by some gypsy children, which caused some chaos, but luckily not much was actually taken. getting to the queue for the chapel, i managed to do some mental money-laundering (so as to convince myself i was *not* actually giving any of my money to the catholic church) which may seem silly, but i was otherwise prepared to boycott the chapel, so it was important to me. the chapel itself was magnificent, and being in the presence of so much astounding beauty was awesome (our enthusiasm dampened only by the constant yelling of “no pictures” by the security guards). we then we went to piazza navone, (more foutnains and random beauty!) for a last cappucino, did some window shopping, and then it was time to go home. sad as I was to leave, it was wonderful to know i had my boy waiting for me at the airport.

there is sooo much i have left out, so i may come back and edit this after i go through all my pictures and put them up (yes, i know, i still don’t have the ones from bath up yet either!). i have glassblowing tonight, so it probably won’t happen for a few days.

i can’t wait to go back.

see all the colourful blurry photos here

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