.. roma ..

speechless. 

.. musei vaticani any one? ..

on day one our hotel concierge told us that the catholics were on holiday which meant that the vatican and all the churches were closed for holiday. but they opened on friday, our last full day in rome. so we scheduled ourselves in for the vatican on friday.  

we woke up early on friday got ready for the day and went and had breakfast in the hotel. not bad, but they cook odd and they charge way too much. then we were off. we walked the 3 miles to the vatican and found a huge surprise. a line, that followed the wall of the vatican all the way around, estimated at 2 1/2 hour wait. we found another tour guide and hopped on the band wagon. we left on a tour shortly after and ended up with a semi decent experience.


{ticket }
we did good at first, the girl was great knew a bunch of stuff. we saw some raphael and michelangelo and amazing art.


{raphael : transfiguration of christ}

then it got crazy. we walked out to these posters about the sistine chapel, since you aren't allowed to talk in there, and it was about 100 degrees with the humidity and I was in a maxi skirt. so hot! the vatican has strict rules about dress code, they don't allow bare knees or shoulders. all i have are bermuda shorts so my knees were all out, so we went the skirt route. we sat out there in the sun for about 40 minutes while we talked about the sistine chapel. then we started towards it, we had to go through a few halls. but then plans changed, we found out that the hall we thought would be open was closed so we got bottlenecked with them and everyone else.


{Lacoon}

we made it into a courtyard where i got to witness my second dream, Lacoon. it was beautiful. i was so excited. then came the worst thing ever, i have never felt more claustrophobic in my life. we were stuck in the hall of muses with about 3,000 other people. no air conditioning, a bunch of people and no water i was almost passing out. i freaked and grabbed cody, we got a fan and i started fanning myself. as soon as we caught a space we paused. it was awful. next we went through the hall of illusion and the hall of tapestries.



{hall of illusion}

it was beautiful. and then the chapel. you go down a narrowing stairwell, about 4 flights down the width of two people standing side by side. and then you turn left up two stairs and boom you are inside the sistine chapel.


{sistine chapel, we weren't supposed to take this picture.. whoops!}

it was kind of anti-climatic but it was beautiful even still. we walked inside and found a little space we could stop and admire the beauty around us. we saw the wonderful fresco paintings all over the ceiling and the walls. it is a glorious work. truely. after we stayed for a few we walked out to St. Peter's Basilica.



{it opened to this.. huge!}

we walked around and checked out some of the alcoves, we did see the pieta - the first statue michelangelo did, masterpiece. we ended up at st. peter's altar. st peter is buried underneath it behind a tile mosaic wall. they don't allow you down there but you can see if from the top. pretty big.


{st. peter's altar}


{us in st. peter's}

after this we were whooped and ready to sit for a bit, so we headed back to the start to get our backpack that they made us check. ugh, so we walked back around 1 mile to the entrance and gathered our stuff. and we were off, we found a place to sit and eat and cool off for a bit. then we started the trek back near our hotel. we passed the castel de st angelo, where they filmed Angels and Demons. Pretty. we then walked to the pantheon, since it was closed also due to the holiday.


{the pantheon}


{ the ceiling of the pantheon}

this church was built by back in the day, it can fit a perfect sphere inside of it and the ceiling is open to outside.  so if it rains outside it rains inside too. pretty crazy right? oh and raphael is buried in here. kinda neat.




we ended up doing a little more shopping and then found a place for dinner. after dinner you will never guess what we got next, yep gelato at gelateria valentinos. then we found a place to sit at the trevi fountain and watch the people.

{trevi fountain}

we finished the night on our own private balcony, cody told the hotel we were celebrating our belated honeymoon. the loon. 

and we called it a close to our roman holiday. the next day we returned home. which was also an adventure. Cody and I got separated and i made it home a day before him. who would have thought. all in all it is an amazing place, i asked cody if we could move there the last night there, he said no but i would in a heartbeat. loved it.

.. a dream come true, from art history that is ..

the next morning we woke up so late, like 10:30. we slept 14 hours. it was great. i felt so new. we got up and dressed and on our way. we missed the breakfast in the hotel so we found a McDonald's near by and had some pastries. they were great. after that we walked to the Colosseum. my all time favorite site, that i couldn't wait to see. i have been studying about this monumental place for years and couldn't wait to get there. we walked down a street and at the end sat the beauty.



it was breath taking. i couldn't believe that i was there standing in front of this monumental structure. we stood outside for a moment to grasp the glory. we were approached by a tour guide who said he could get us in for 20 euro and walk us around the Colosseum with a English speaking tour guide and we could skip the line. we decided to do it. so glad we did.

we got inside and started to see the beauty that was all around. this place is amazing. it was built so long ago and for it to still be standing is an amazing feat alone. we walked around with a cute roman woman who spoke pretty good English, a little broken, but still good. we heard of all the stories of how it was built and used through the years, a review for me, interesting to hear all the details. then we were turned loose to check it out ourselves. we walked around and saw all of it and all the pieces of marble that they have preserved.


{a 180 from inside, in the mid left you can see the marble seats}


{360 composite, pretty neat to see}


{look ma, i'm a giant!}

we stood inside the bookstore for a bit, mostly for the air conditioning, but read all the books. we then found a water fountain and filled our water bottles. all the fountains in rome are purified filtered water and you can fill up at any of them. tastes just like filtered water. it is amazing. after this we spent some time at the arch of Constantine and then walked past the palatine hill and the roman forum, they were both under construction. eww. we saw Trajan's column and Trajan's forum.




it was amazing. we then decided to do some shopping. we found a clothing store that cody fell in love with so we spent a good hour in there while he found clothes. then the shops all started to close, so we figured it was time to go. so we left and found a great restaurant on the shopping street called cucina italia. we went in and had pizza. italy's pizza is by far the best i have ever had. amazing. after dinner we walked to the trevi fountain, i wanted to see the fountain at night. we ended up finding a little gelato shop called gelateria valentino's. it is owned by a cute little couple, they are delightful. we tried some of their gelato and walked home. 

my dream came true, i saw the Colosseum. something i thought i would never see in my life time. truly wonderful and beautiful. 

.. a little new york, long flight and two dazed tourists ..

so day two. we had been able to sleep for about 4 1/2 hours and slip in a shower, which i was so grateful for. we made it back to the airport at about 6:45 and walked to the gate. this time things looked better, which was good cause the flight to rome left new york at 7:30 we needed to make it there. we were able to make it on the flight, phew. we got seated in bulkhead, which if we don't get first class that is my second choice. we got seated to this really nice guy. he talked to me the whole way to new york. he is a neurologist (I think more the pathology way) but he sits in surgeries while patients are being operated on and his job is to make sure that the surgeon doesn't damage any nerves or brain / brain stem function. it was rad to hear all about his job and surgeries and the crazy things he had seen. I asked him about his craziest surgery and he said it was a guy who got a tumor on his brain stem where it attached to the brain, it had finger like tentacles that had wrapped around the stem and attached in. he said it took 2 days to do, day one was just cutting and removing the bone and exposing it all. and then wrapping him up and day two was removal. They got 60% and upped his life expectancy by a decade or two. crazy. talk about a nice flight.

we got to new york around 3:30p and we had 4 hours to chill until the next flight left. so we found our next gate, and then decided food was in order. so we found a chili's too in our concourse and sat down for a bite. cody of course had to face the window to watch the planes. it got so bad that he actually got up and left me at the table so he could go look at them. boys. after lunch we went for a walk and explored the whole airport, cody drooled over planes.


{on our walk}
we ended up in the food court next to the runway so he could watch what else, planes. after 3 and a half hours of this we walked to our gate. and as usual waited.

{a pigeon in the food court.. strange little birdy}

we got called up pretty early on in the boarding to find out that we had a seat! YAY!


{ticket}

i hurried to put on sweatpants, i mean come on 8 hours on a plane, i want comfort! we boarded the plane and discovered that we had got business class. i have never sat there before, i was excited and overwhelmed all at once.


{please don't mind i look gross, it was a very long day}

i got comfy and wanted to go to sleep, but i stayed awake to eat and watch wanderlust, hilarious movie by the way, and then i crashed in my lay flat seat.


{eating dinner, i had short ribs}




{dessert, mine on top ice cream sundae, and cody's cream puffs}


{and i'm out, my fav is the creeper dude in the background, classic!}


we arrived in rome around 10 am there and de planed. we sat in a line for about 30 minutes to get through immigration and soon we were in. we found our way to the train station and got tickets. and then worst train ride ever. it was a half hour ride in a train that didn't have air conditioning. oh and did i mention that it was 95 degrees with 90% humidity. heat + no air conditioning + sweatpants = hot sweaty sicky girl. from the train station we transferred to a subway. only after 20 minutes and attempting to talk to a sweet italian woman to find out that the subway was under construction and we had to get on a bus. adventures. we got to our hotel, showered and were back on the streets in attempt to stay awake as long as possible. we walked to the piazza navona, pantheon, city center, and trevi fountain.


{me at trevi fountain, it was packed!}


{ this is a freeze frame from a video, I had to hurry cause there was only a 2 second space before someone walked in front of me again.. ugh}

beautiful. i was in awe! we ate at the hard rock, a tradition we have when we travel, and called it a night. we were both showered and in bed by 8:30. jet lag.. ugh. it was a crazy way to get there but it was a blast.

.. roman adventure day one = fail ..

{ our euros }

so as you are aware, or if you weren't, cody and i had planned a trip this month to rome italy. we took days off work, had a garage sale to earn some extra bucks and planned. we had decided, since we fly standby, that we would try and leave the night before our flight to Rome from New York to fly to new york with cody's parent and make a day out of it. I went to work half day that day, came home to do laundry, pack, prep jet's stuff for the trip and do any last minute errands or what nots that needed to be wrapped up. this particular day was also my youngest brothers birthday, not just any birthday his 18th. so we had some celebrating to do. after all this packing, cleaning and errand running we went out to dinner to celebrate. it was fun, we just went to outback with him and had dinner laughed a bunch and they topped it off with a sundae all for him.



{the birthday boy with his sundae}

after all this fun and excitement, it was time for us to prep. we did our last minute stuff, took jet on a ride and said our goodbyes. and we were off to the airport. i will admit i cried for a good 15 minutes about leaving jet home with my brother, not cause i didn't think he would be alright but just cause well he is my kid and sometimes leaving him behind just sucks. we arrived at the salt lake airport around 10pm. the flight left at 11:55. we found cody's parents and got comfy and sat down and chatted. now with stand by you can only get on the plane if there is an empty seat, so asking for 4 empty ones is kind of a stretch i admit. but we have done it before so it couldn't be too hard. so we waited and chatted and waited. they started loading the flight and people were swarming (another thing i don't understand. why are people so anxious to hurry up and sit on the plane? they will wait for you to get on, you don't have to be in someone else's personal bubble in line just to hurry up and sit.) and we just sat. after they loaded the flight there were a few seats, but as per requirement we have to wait for them to do a final boarding call and wait the necessary 5 minutes for the person to show up. and wouldn't you know it they all showed. so us going to new york for the day was a no go. cody's parents left us for their comfy bed and we attempted to get on another flight to atlanta that was leaving at 12:30. again the process only to find out there was only 1 seat, and since we are a party of 2 that wasn't happening. so we called it a night. we found a cheap hotel near the airport, kind of reminded me of the shining a little, and cozied in for the night. we decided to attempt again the next morning at 8:30 to get to new york again. 

.. saluto roma ..

so a few weeks ago i told cody he was taking me on a vacation, since it has been a year since our last vacation together, and that i didn't care where we went just that i could relax and not be attached to a phone or computer. to just get away. so after much debate we have landed on the choice of going to rome. ooo i am so excited. i have never been to rome, it's been on my wish list forever i can't hardly wait to go. here is where you come in. i have never been there, and i need to know what i just HAVE to see. so far on my list are

. colosseum

. trevi fountain

. vatican city

. st. peter's basillica

. pantheon

. sistine chapel

. spanish steps

. roman forum

. catacombs

we are thinking of staying near the spanish steps, since we found a good deal and from what we have read it is a good central place for getting to other things. so.. people share your advice. we are going mid- august, help me out if you would please :)

. a graduation trip .

so i feel old, my youngest brother j* is graduating from high school this year. it is strange. after much debate cody and i decided that we would take j* on a trip of his choice for his graduation present. he chose washington dc. so it was on. the week we decided to go, cody ended up scheduling his check ride {this is for another post} so he couldn't go with us so he could study it up. so the last week of march it was on. here are some pictures from our trip.

so day one we got into baltimore around 5:30, by the time we rode the train into down town and then to the hotel we were starving. 

{ticket}

we had breakfast at 8 am utah time and that was the last meal we had. so we trekked to capitol city brewery, it is amazing and waited for a table. it was the best meal. j* got a bloody nose in the middle of dinner, and had to have a tissue up his nose all through dinner. 

{bloody nosed j*}

we walked around and just ended up going back and go to bed. We were pooped. 

{this rad fire station is next to our hotel, it is historic like one of the first in the city}

the next morning we got up and ran to the national air and space museum and walked through that and the museum of natural history. 

{national air and space museum runway, this is for cody}

{the spirit of st louis at the national air and space museum}

{mammoth at the natural history museum}

both so cool. after the museums we went to potbellys sandwich works which is also delightful. we then decided to hit up all the monuments. we started at the jefferson and walked to fdr, mlk, lincoln, korean war, world war 2, and the washington monument.

{MLK memorial}

{washington monument at night}

{at the lincoln memorial}

{washington monument from the lincoln}

{the cherry blossoms at the FDR monument, it was the 100 yr anniversary of the blossoms!}

 by this time we walked to the white house and checked that out and then we went to dinner at the hard rock cafe. yum! after this we stopped in to crumbs and got some cupcakes to try and headed back. the cupcakes were delicious!

{crumbs}

the next morning we tried to get into Ford's theater but the tickets were sold out. sad. so we decided to shop instead. we checked out a whole street and ended up finding the spy museum. it was pretty cool, but we didn't have time to go through it so we just checked out the store. 

{watch out for the gnome}

then we headed back packed up and headed to the airport. 

{us on the way to the airport, it was j* first time on a subway, don't mind that he smiles nice and i am retarded. it was a day}

since we travel standby we have to wait to see if we can make it. turns out we didn't. but we had to make a backup plan. we flew to nyc for the night, our chances of getting out were better. so we got to nyc, checked into a hotel and then went to times square. we ate at hard rock and walked around.

{us at the hard rock, apparently i only have one face}

 j* started to get sick so we headed back. turns out the express train we got on turned into a local at night and what should have taken us 30 minutes turned into 2 hours. killer. we got to the hotel around 1 and we had to be up and out to the airport by 5. 4 hours of sleep yum. 

the next day we got up and to the airport and we didn't make the first flight so, we got breakfast and then j* crashed on the floor on our luggage. i spent time watching a set of birds eating crumbs left behind by the most cute girl. 

{ the little birdie who brought me 4 hours of entertainment}

we made it on the second flight home and lets just say i am still not caught up on sleep. 

but it was a blast!

happy graduation j*!

and if you didn't hear, he got a full ride scholarship to UVU that can be renewed if he keeps a 3.0. he starts this fall!