Our last stop on our European adventure was Rome. It was so hot! Apparently, we visited in the middle of a heat wave. We stayed at Hotel Aventino, which was a little off the beaten path, but very nice and calm. It was located in a residential area on a gated property with a little garden. Once inside the gate, it really did not feel like we were in a big city at all.

After arriving in Rome, we checked in at the hotel and went out to buy tickets for a bus tour. I'm not a huge fan of these, but because the metro system in Rome is not all that developed, I thought it might be an easy way to get around and ensure that we hit all of the hot spots in our short time there. Here we are roasting on top of the double decker!

We got off at the Vatican stop. The line for the Vatican museums and St. Peter's Basilica was so long! We decided that a look from St. Peter's Square would suffice and headed a couple of blocks away to visit one of Rome's best shopping areas. You see, not only were we running out of time to purchase souvenirs for a few hard-to-shop-for family members, but one of my goals on this trip was to find a fabulous handbag. Rome was my last chance to do this! Anyway, I will pick shopping over touring a museum any day.

Mission accomplished! I found a beautiful handbag at Cocinelle. It was on sale, and it qualified for the VAT tax, so it ended up being a very good deal. The funny thing is that Kristi bought her Italian handbag at the very same store! We figured it out when I got home and we realized that our bags have the exact same lining material!

After a full day of sightseeing via the bus tour, we went to the Spanish Steps before dinner. Right around the Spanish Steps is some very exclusive shopping. These stores were all so expensive that I didn't even go in any of them. It was fun to see all of the people out taking their evening stroll, which is what the Romans do every night.

We ate dinner at Vinando, which was recommended by my work friend Heather. It was excellent - very cozy and full of real Romans. We had zucchini flowers stuffed with cheese and fried for an appetizer. So good!

TMT's eggplant parmesan. He loved it!

My pasta - it was rigatoni with shrimp in a saffron sauce. It was pretty good, but not my favorite meal of the trip. I think the waiters thought I was a camel that night. I guess the bus tour and heat dehydrated me, because I drank a good 2 liters of water all by myself at dinner! This was a restaurant where the waiters are very attentive and come fill your glass anytime it gets just a little bit low. Let's just say they were at our table quite a bit!

The next morning, our last day in Europe, we took a guided tour of the Roman Forum and Coliseum. We did this through a company called Through Eternity tours. I would highly recommend both the company and not trying to tour these sights by yourself. Our tour guide was able to give us so much information. Without her, it all would have just looked like a big pile of rocks!

After our tour, which took all morning, we walked over to the Piazza Navona for lunch and did some sightseeing on the way. We ate at Caffe Bernini, which overlooks the piazza. The food was really good and it was fun to people watch while we ate.

TMT's "pepperoni" pizza

My spaghetti carbonara - I'd love to learn to make this, but it is so unhealthy! I should probably just save it for special occasions at restaurants!

We bought a painting from this lady. I love to get artwork when we travel. There were lots of vendors in the piazza, but only this lady was selling original paintings. Several of them said that they had painted what they were selling, but I didn't believe them. This lady was obviously very proud of her artwork, and she was working on a new painting when we walked up. So I felt like she was the real deal!

We walked over to the Pantheon. Inside they were having mass with a wonderful choir. I love to listen to choirs and the accoustics in this church were fantastic. I did think it was pretty rude that there were tourists everywhere taking pictures and eating gelato while these people were having a church service. At one point, the priest even had to ask that people be quiet so that he could pray!

We went back to the hotel and rested for a little bit and then headed back out to find somewhere to eat dinner. We knew that we wanted to eat in the Campo de Fiori, so we just wandered around for a little while looking at all of the menus posted outside the restaurants. We chose one that looked a little touristy, but the food was good.

TMT had rigatoni al amatriciana.


I had penne alla vodka, which I loved!

After dinner we did the Rick Steve's walking tour from the Campo de Fiori to the Spanish Steps. Along the way, we saw this bride. Her wedding had just ended at the Pantheon. Everyone in the square was cheering and clapping for the bride and groom; it was so fun!

My last gelato! This is the most famous gelato place in Rome, so I had to hit it up before we left. It was actually really good gelato - a perfect way to end our vacation!

Our last stop of the night was at the Trevi Fountain. We asked some man to take our picture, and, as you can see, it really did not turn out at all. Behind us in this picture is the famous fountain. Oh well, it gives us a reason to return someday!