Roma: Take Two!

We began our week-long endeavor by taking a train to Rome to show Jenna such sights as the Coliseum, the Forum, the Trevi Fountain, Roma's Jewish Ghetto, the Spanish Steps, the Vatican Museum (my first visit!), and Irene's old neighborhood, Trastevere. We packed all of this in two short days, which was quite exhausting! The biggest and spontaneous surprise of the trip was Roma Euro Pride 2011, a huge music festival that took place at the Circus Maximus in honor of Rome's gay population, in which we found out was happening the very night it was scheduled to take place. After a rushed spaghetti dinner, we met up with Irene's friend who is still living in Rome, bought a couple of bottles of wine, and raced to the concert in hopes of seeing Lady Gaga, who was performing for a couple of hours. The minute we stepped off the bus, we heard her singing and ran up the hill to the Circus Maximus just in time to observe two of her songs live (and for free!) It was a huge venue, and so much fun to see so many Italians grouped together. As we sat on the grass and popped our wine bottles, we had to share a laugh due to almost missing her performance all in the name of wine.

Jenna and I at the Trevi Fountain. We had to coax her into throwing a coin in to assure another visit to Rome in her future. (It worked for me last time I did it with Grandma and Grandpa!)

The Spanish Steps. Can you tell just how crowded Rome is in the Summer?

The Geography Room: surprisingly, one of my favorite rooms in the Vatican Museum. The maps chronicle different eras in Italy's history.

So intricate!

The famous School of Athens painting in the Stanza della Segnatura.

The best spaghetti I've had in Italy.

Roma Euro Pride stage