ROMA-The Frommer's Way

Yesterday we woke up, Tim had to do some work before we could head out. I used the time to catch up on the blog and do some of my own work (yes IA girls, I AM working on some things we talked about on the IA board trip!).
We finally finished that up and got out around 1:30pm.  I think we traveled so hard and at such a fast pase for the first 10 days that we are literally exhausted and really enjoying sleeping in and just going at our own pace again.
Believe it or not, I am getting sick of pasta. I can see why Italian women are known as "pasta mamas." LOL I haven't eaten any protein or veggies since Friday and I am craving them. So off we go for lunch, where we decide to eat a slice of PIZZA and eat a better dinner later on in the evening. As enamored as I have been with the pasta here, I am disenchanted with the pizza. It's not very good. I haven't had one slice of pizza that was yummy. Disappointing, as you would think it would be really good here.

So, today we decided to do a walking Frommer's tour that is supposed to be 3 1/2 hours long.

These are the steps on the way up to where the Italian President resides. 

Tim on the steps.  The rain has been following us everywhere we go but today it is finally sunny and HOT. It's only about 70 F but because of humidity it feels hotter. 

The Piazza del Quirinale- this was built from the great Baths of Constantine.

Home of the Italian President

I am a sucker for a man in uniform. "Will you take a picture with me?" Tim thinks it is cute that I am enamored with the Italian men. It isn't all of them though...just the ones with uniforms on. :) HAHA

I don't know where these men are marching off to but Tim fell in behind them with his umbrella in his arm like a gun and tried to go into whereever it is, but a guard gave him a stern look and waved his finger at him like,"No, No." Hey, it worked on Eurotrip and the Three Stooges. LOL

Next Frommer's took us back to the Trevi Fountain, which we had already seen but it was close and we wanted to follow the guide. Trevi Fountain is amazing and we have now been there 4 times. LOL

I did some research on making a wish, apparently you are supposed to throw THREE coins in the fountain in order for you wish to come true. I didn't do it right the first time, so we figured I should do it again, just to be sure.

Here is why there are other people in all of our pics at Trevi Fountain. It is THAT packed all the time.

I am amazed at myself that I even ventured down to the fountain with as much as I dislike crowds.

Kym taking a break

Ummm some old church. The tale is that several of the popes have "donated" their hearts and internal organs here. Gross.

This is one of those people that stands there all day and let's you take a picture with her if you put money in the can at the bottom of her feet, like the robot guy in Amsterdam. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't be dressed up as the Statue of Liberty in a foreign country right now. 

What a crappy job; to stand there all day in the heat still as a statue. UGH

The hustle and bustle of Rome

I love the buildings here.

This was funny to me. See the little grey smart car? We watched him park there. I guess if your car is to long to fit in the space for parking behind the one in front of it, you turn that sucker sideways and tuck it in and call it good!

I thought this wedding dress was prettier than the one Katheryn Middleton just wore.

This is Piazza della Trinita Monti. It is another obelisk brought over from Egypt. It sits at the top of the Spanish steps.

The view from the top of the Spanish Steps.

Another view from the top of the Spanish Steps.

Sitting on the Spanish Steps

The Spanish Steps

A little about the Spanish Steps... Takes it's name from the Spanish Embassy, which was in a nearby palace in the 19th century.  The spanish, however, had nothing to do with the construction of the steps. Designed by an Italian architect between 1723 and 1725, they were funded almost entirely by the French as a preface to the French church, Trinita dei Monti. In the 19th century, the steps were famous for the young men and women who would line the travertine steps flexing muscles and showing ankles in hopes of attracting an artist and being hired as a model.

At this point we studied the Frommer's guide, which told us to go look at a couple of houses and the Keats-Shelley House, which we decided to skip and head straight for McDonalds- which was also on the tour! LOL

Another obelisk

This is Moses and the Ten Commandments. I don't know the story very well, but Tim's condensed version is that Moses led the Isrealites out of Egypt and they were wondering the desert for 40 years. The Israelites said they were tired of this. Their God wasn't there for them, so Moses talked to God and asked what to do. God gave him the Ten Commandments for his people to follow. But the Israelites were not obeying the laws and were being really naughty so Moses got pissed and laid down the LAW.  On this Moses statue, you can see the "antennae" that were supposedly his "connection" in speaking with God. These are often misrepresented as double horns because he was so angry.

McDonalds in Rome

Rather than "Roman" looking, it is actually very modern looking.

Mmmm..My first bite of protein in 5 days. Even if it is a gross McDonalds burger.

After McDonalds we decided we were done with Frommer's tour. Once you have seen a couple of obelisks, I guess you have seen them all. Everything started looking the same to me.  There are 50 million little statues in Rome and they ALL have meaning but trying to remember what they all are and what they mean was fast becoming difficult for me.

This is the Augustus Mausoleum. You cannot enter the mausoleum itself but you can take a look inside from this gate.

This is Via Condotti, a shopping street that offers the latest in Italian Fashion. It's great window shopping but if you want to purchase anything, you better have a platinum American Express card with no limit! VERY EXPENSIVE STUFF HERE!

VIA CONDOTTI

Talon, these are mosaics.  Se how they are little tiny squares but they make a design? Even the red, yellow and black are all just little squares. Pretty cool, huh?

This is another mosaic that actually shows a picture of two men fighting over a woman.

Can you see how each little square is placed just right so that it makes a picture? (This is for my 10 year old son, who was asking me to explain what a mosaic is.)

The Lamborghini Store. There is actually a museum but we couldn't find it.

Wouldn't I look hot driving this car? 

Son: "Mom, when I grow up I want to spin around on my head and have people give me their spare change as payment." Mom: "You better get spinning then."

To be fair, they were quite good and ummm.."yummy to look at." Lots of muscles.

Just a postcard, but it looks like our little Kitty Cate. 

The MALL!!! Look how beautiful it is in there! I wish we had malls like this...minus the crazy ass prices! 

We went in looking for a belt for Tim and I was awestruck by the architecture.

I left my perfume somewhere and I guess Tim left his belt somewhere. He has lost so much weight lately that he has been walking around literally holding his pants up with one hand. Time to either buy a new belt or a new pair of pants. Although if we keep eating pasta like we have been, both of us will fatten up! LOL

This is "Italian Vodka." I thought the containers were really pretty and would have bought it just for the container even though I hate vodka.  They were much to delicate and I knew I would never get it home without it breaking. :(

Another quaint little Italian Ristorante. It is so nice to eat in these little places. I dread going back to the states where we have, Wingers, Chilis, Applebees, KFC or Taco Bell. YUCK

Cheers! Ahhh water! Did you know when you ask for water you have to specify if you want "gassy" water or Mineral/still water. Just so you know, they DO call it "gassy" water for a reason! LOL

MMMM SALAD!!! Green and Crunchy! I found a new veggie I really liked called Finocchio, which tastes like black licorice.  We call it Fennel in the US but it is pretty unknown. I will be looking for it in my grocery stores now that I know what it is and tastes like.

The pink stuff on the right is shrimp cocktail. The sauce tasted sort of like Thousand Island dressing.

Pasta Vongole. Clam pasta...YUMMY! I am amazed that the Italians have about 500 different ways to cook up pasta, they all taste different and they have all been delicious!

Some kind  of beef...yummy!

In the elevator of our hotel. Even the elevator had a little chandelier in it!

We got back to our hotel where Tim had a conference call for work. It looks like everything is working itself out and we are going to be able to stay for the rest of our trip.

Just goes to show that owning your own company is not always all that it is cracked up to be.  Yes, we have a lot of freedom, yes, we do pretty well finanicially, but sometimes when shit hits the fan, you HAVE to be there to fix it. 

Last month, we had a trip to Palm Springs planned with some of our good friends. Shit happened and Tim actually missed the entire weekend, so I spent the weekend with our friends without him. It sucked (not that I didn't have a great time with our friends) but you have to find a way to work through that stuff. 

Sometimes it is 1000 times more stressful to own your own company than to have a job where you work for someone else, but it also gives us 1000 times more freedom to do what we want, when we want (unless shit hits the fan). LOL

I will still take owning our own businesses to working for someone else. :)

That was all yesterday. Today, we are going to see the Colosseum!

Today, we have a bunch of friends coming in.  We are going on a cruise on Sunday.  Oh man, I feel bad for them. The jet lag is going to kick their asses. I don't know how they are even going to see the ports we go to. Hmmm.