When in Rome....

...do as the Romans! We've definately enjoyed our time in this crazy city that was't quite what we expected! We are definately enjoying the local experiences. Well, except for the scooters we were determined to rent....after walking the city for less than 4 hours, we quickly decided this would not be a carefree experience but rather a pretty stressful one. The roads tend to be an area for outrageous parking, honking, walking in and out of cars, crazy drivers, and pretty much anything else you can imagine! We dediced to stick to public transportation and of course, a lot of walking!!!

Pizza, pasta, bread, pasta, ice cream, pasta....and so on describes my diet since arriving in Italy. You wonàt hear this carb lover complaining, but I am hungry for a steak...or some chicken:) The food has been good, and much better than a few other cities. The ice cream is FANTASTIC. I've enjoyed an afternoon treat almost every day....probably doesn't surprise most of you!

We've definately seen our fair share of ruins. Jake now refers to those areas, museums, memorials, and many other things as "more old stuff." It's facinating and very different than the US.

Of course, we've seen some BEAUTIFUL Catholic churches filled with art, relics, and just awesome places of prayer. I could list several but by far the best experience was our day today at the Vatican. We were pretty sure we'd missed our chance eot get a blessing from the Pope because we weren't able to get here Sunday, but ended up being able to sit (pretty close) in on a papal audience. It was such a cool surprise and blessing! Although most of the speaking was in various languages, I enjoyed every minute and we were within 5ft of the Holy Father.

The hotel is GREAT and we've definately enjoyed some quiet time to get away from the constant flow of people! A few more stops in Italy and then we'll be on our way to Germany. Still having a blast but starting to miss my closet, my truck, American food, and always missing family and friends!

Love from Roma!

Tara