Bohemian Rhapsodizing: Rome

When we found out that B's Aunt and Uncle were planning a 40th anniversary cruise, and that all four of their children and their respective families would be joining them, we congratulated them on such a great milestone and wished them a fabulous time. When we found out that they would be disembarking in Rome, so very close to us, we started making plans to meet them for a few days. Our only problem would be timing. With our trip to the US already booked and the girls school start date looming right afterwards, we only had a week free. The fates were on our side.

We were still getting over the jet lag, and I began packing again. (Packing was a summer theme, I think). We left on Thursday, and after a quick flight, a train ride, and a short walk, we were at our hotel. It wasn't quite as simple as that sentence makes it sound, as we ran into some train trouble by buying the wrong tickets for the train and getting in a bit of trouble by the ticket taker. But it was all sorted out and will make for a funny story someday.

B and I have been to Rome before. Together, in fact. It was our first trip together when we started dating. I know it had been 11 years, but somehow I don't think the sights in such an ancient city had changed much in such a short time. So, we were just going to take it easy, spend a few days enjoying family and not stressing about seeing the sights. Though, don't worry, we didn't take them all the way to Rome and not see the best of it; we just weren't going to stress about it.

It was family. It was food. It was fun. We had a great time and it was the perfect way to end our summer vacation.

The girls loved that your hotel was named Panda. And that it was just a block from the Spanish Steps.

Day one - we wandered, and played and just enjoyed each others company.

It's water. But we did think about finding her a brown bag...

Fascinated by the fact that he has no hair.

Day two - this time we were going to get serious...well, maybe about the sightseeing.

Hop On- Hop Off, the most expensive taxi ride ever when all you do is hop on, and then off and then walk the rest of the city. Just saying.

Stopped for nourishment (or Nutella straight from the package) before tackling the Colosseum.

Family! Trust me, I took a million pictures of the sights but I can't have them all here...I will do a post of just the monuments next.

After a long day of sight seeing and walking and eating we still had some celebrating to do... It was Germaine and Alberto's 40th anniversary and it deserved a great night out. And it got one. And I played stealthy photographer and took a bunch of candid shots...without ever leaving my seat...