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Greetings from beautiful Rome! I am so happy that fall has finally arrived and the weather has been just wonderful. I was a bit apprehensive as it had been raining hard for a few days before our arrival and there was flooding in the Tuscany area. This put a damper on my plans as l had planned a weekend getaway for us in wine country. Then l realized how fortunate we were to be able to travel and not have the headaches and misfortune and loss of life that seems to be happening on a daily basis all over the world. From earthquakes to fires to hurricanes, it certainly seems the earth is trying to tell us something. I hope we listen. It did stop my whinging and shut me the heck up. Nobody likes a whiner, including me :-).
We are winding up our two week visit over here. I am as usual sad to see it ending so soon. I always love the attention heaped upon me by my mother-in-law. I try (not really 🙂 ) to stop her from spoiling me, then l succumb and thoroughly enjoy it. It’s always hard to adjust after going back home. We have had lovely pet sitters looking after our dogs in Valencia. They came from New Orleans and the dogs took to them instantly. We have had the best luck with Housesitmatch and will continue to use them to find sitters. The best part is they will be coming back to sit for us some more after going on to Crete and Lisbon. Yeah!!!!
Our two weeks have been spent eating, sight seeing and eating some more, not to mention gelatoing (a word l have just made up). We spent an amazing evening doing a food tour with theromanguys and saw a couple of new palaces that were simply stupefying. We also made a return visit to the Vatican. I can’t wait to share them with you upon our return which might be a couple of weeks as we are only back for a day in Valencia before taking off again (my stupid planning once again!).
The first picture is of Vittoriano, also known as the Altar of the Fatherland. It is a monument that honors Victor Emmanuel, the king that unified Italy. The monument is the largest in Rome, and that’s saying a lot. It is slightly controversial still because a neighborhood was destroyed so it could be built. Local unflattering nicknames for it includes “la dentiera” (the set of false teeth) and “la torta nuziela” which means the wedding cake. Tourists love it though, and l certainly do. I love spying it from different points in the city. It houses the tomb of the unknown soldier and has an elevator that will take you to the top for the most awesome views l’ve heard even though l have yet to do it. It was such a beautiful day that we walked to the Colosseum from there to hit up my favorite pizza joint :-). Glad to say it’s still fantastic and remains my favorite. Despite the fact that the main tourist season is over, there are still insane crowds in and around Rome. It is pretty pleasant though, not frenzied, actually very pleasurable with the right mix of locals and tourists.
Hope you’ve enjoyed this little snippet of our Rome visit. If you are not subscribed to the mailing list, this would be a perfect time to do so. You get fresh posts right in your inbox, spam free too!
How is fall over your way? Has it arrived or are you still in the dog days of summer?
That’s true, the planet wants to tell us something – and it’s starting to get loud. We recently had the worst storms I’ve ever heard about in Romania which caused a lot of destruction and loss of lives… and things are not looking good in other areas on the globe either. Hopefully we’ll start getting the signals and all of us start to something about it!
But back to traveling… that ice cream looks absolutely amazing! I’d love to battle one as well, I can only imagine how good it tastes. And probably I should do too, soon since the cold weather is getting closer and closer.
We certainly do need to listen. It had been whispering it. Now, it is yelling it so we need to heed the warnings for sure. I like how you put doing battle because that is exactly what it is… :-). It certainly is amazingly delicious. Get it while you can still enjoy it.
It sounds like a great visit and that you’re enjoying “mama’s” attention. It still feels like summer here in Lagos – hot days but the nights are cooler. There are still plenty of tourists here as well. See you soon!
I am certainly loving all the attention and can never get enough of it. I am ready for summer to be over and hopefully Valencia agrees with me :-). There are still tourists there as well. So looking forward to your trip, the doggies will be happy too, such attention seekers :-).
Still in the 90’s in Florida. The temps usually dip by Halloween, but who knows. It has been a strange year. Nothing like Mama to spoil you right! Looking forward to photos.
It certainly has been a very odd year weather wise. So hard to predict. 90’s sounds positively hot. I am ready for Fall. It was always my favorite time in Boston :-). Yeah.. I am totally loving being spoiled by her :-).
What a lovely Italian “mamma” you have there, enjoy getting very spoiled indeed. I love Italian food and the gelato OMG it is so yummy. Even with all the herds od tourists Rome is fabulous, I don’t think one can ever get enough of a city like Rome. Did Frederico teach you to speak Italian?
Yep! I certainly got lucky :-). I love Italian food as well, especially when cooked by Federico. The number of tourists, though high right now, feels just right. Federico has tried to teach me Italian, but l say let me try and learn Spanish first since l live there and still suck at speaking it :-). 11 years later and l have only picked up the bad words from when he watches football :-).
Greetings!
That gelato is as big as her head! I didn’t know anywhere dipped them that big! I love it!
Although we mentioned the architecture begins to look a little bit alike sometimes—wow! The architecture there seems so special! I’ve not been yet!
I don’t know what to think about the Earth’s patterns striking, but it is certainly making me think.
Terri
I know right? They both managed to finish theirs while l brought the rest of mine home :-). It was humongous and they fill the cone to the bottom as well as opposed to the U.S where they sit it on the top of the cone :-). Yeah..the architecture is pretty spectacular. Something is definitely going on with the earth :-(.
I like the way you put a rainy day into perspective, Kemi. Nothing like floods, earthquakes, fires and famine to realize how truly fortunate we are. Just think, we could be in south Texas still!
I think Federico’s mom and I would get along quite well! That gelato cone looks just my size. Yum.
So glad you’ve enjoyed your visit, that your dogs have been happily cared for and spoiled and especially that we’ll be seeing you soon! Here’s to the joy of travel, exploring new places and friends! Anita
Sometimes l tend to loose track of what matters, but luckily it only takes a little thinking on my part to realize the error of my ways :-). Yep! You too would get along for sure, she is super neat as well :-). We can’t wait to see you guys. I have been holding off on seeing sites in Valencia so we could all experience it together :-). The dogs are loving all the attention and will never tire of it, so get ready to rub bellies 🙂 :-).
‘Looking forward to more posts on Italy. And how lovely to have an Italian mother-in-law who will shower you with Italian love, big hugs and lots of delightful food!
Yeah, the weather disasters all over the world really make me happy with what I have, and where I live. We may have terrorists running around through Europe, but they are nothing in comparison to a natural disaster which not only happens on a massive scale, but in destinations that are poor and can ill afford to have all the worldly goods washed away and destroyed leaving them with nothing but the clothes on their back, if that. and over which we have absolutely no control. It’s so sad and distressful.
As for Autumn / Fall, it’s certainly arrived and crept up so suddenly, I feared that I woke up in the middle of the night one morning, when in truth it was 06:20! I’m the Time Lord in our household, so if I don’t get up, nobody else will either lol!
I know. I totally got lucky as far as having a fantastic MIL.It’s fantastic! :-). Yeah..you have to realize how lucky we are sometimes. I used to go to Puerto Rico with a friend of mine who is from there and to see what it looks like now.. It’s just sad. Federico and l always say the same thing. Why is it almost always poor countries that can not afford it that it always happens to? Jeez..like they don’t have enough on their plates :-). I love how you said Time Lord..hahaa!!! I always get up before the alarm does as l do not like to hear it..so in some way, I am the time lord! 🙂
Ah, beautiful Rome! We were there last spring for a long weekend and loved it (a lot of people complain about Rome but I think they just don’t plan – it’s a city that needs a bit of planning). The Vittoriano: beautiful with the most over-zealous security guards I’ve seen anywhere. I saw one yelling at a tourist that was taking a group photo of his family. Guess you can’t linger on the steps. But the way he screamed you’d have thought the guy was packing a bomb.
I cracked up about the guards :-). I guess they take their job pretty seriously. Funny, people were sitting on the stairs and lounging, even eating this day. I guess because most of the crowds were gone and they were more relaxed. You’re right, you have to plan and be prepared for Rome, but it is mostly an awesome experience.