Roma...I love ya like your tomatoes

Roma was hard core, so grab a snack and get cozy, we're goin' in!!

Last we left you, we were refugees at McDonald's. This was a unique way to end our time in Barcelona, but you do what you gotta do.

We flew to Roma, Italia that evening and arrived too late and couldn't check into our monestary until the next day. Yes, you read that right. I said monestary. You can stay in them all over Europe. They are inexpensive, simple as the Nuns that live there, and quite possibly quieter than silence itself. If anything were to happen to us while we were there, the crime was from within. We had 4 keys to 4 different security doors to get to our room. One being solid iron and another being about 3" solid wood. Ragan and I have been on a bit of a "marital time out," for lack of a  better way to describe our sleeping arrangements lately. In Europe, for those of you who haven't been here, if you reserve what we think of a king size bed in the States, you have in fact, reserved two twin beds with a gaping hole in between them. The monestary has been the biggest extreme. Example seen below.

When I was Catholic High prom I remember some of the priests saying "leave room for the Holy Spirit," but this was a little extreme. But we're pregnant, so I guess it's a moot point. It felt like we were at summer camp.







 They say the early bird gets the worm, and in this city you're either a bird, or a sardine cooking in the sun standing in a line. For three mornings we bit the bullet, headed out to the major sites and got the worm. First we're off to the Colosseum. Great decision. For most of our tour there were probably 50 other people in the whole place. The audio tour was a huge disappointment, but it was great to actually be in the Colosseum and experience it's sheer massiveness.

Tip to future travelers: A great discvory occurred while we were touring that morning. Personal guides!! They are like walking, talking history books!! I was so jealous when we'd run into them around town explaining the deep history of Rome. They are usually Americans, which is a real bonus when it comes to the language barrier. I'm telling you, it's the way to go in a city that has as much history as Rome does. We decided when we got home that we would find some more in depth information on the city and go about our learning in a backwards kind of way. We absorbed as much as we could because let's be honest, 3,000 years of history is A LOT. We loved the history of the city and the architecture, but as a whole, it was chaotic and we were not helping matters by being out for 10-12 hours a day. The monestary was a peaceful way to end each day.

Here we are in the center of the Colosseum. They have crosses all over the exterior and this one in the center of the interior. Today, we see the Colosseum as crumbling bricks, but it was once covered in a very thick white marble. We learned on the tour that the marble was removed to be reused in the building of St. Peter's Basilica, which was not unsual during those times. Does anyone else find it ironic that they used building materials from an arena that used to persecute Christians to build a church? Anyone? Anyone?

We're off to visit some of the sites..shall we?

This is one of our favorite ladies we've encountered on our trip. We found her delighfully dancing and subscribing to the philosophy to "dance like no one's watching." And that she did! She was dancing her little heart out in Piazza Navona to the band behind her and grabbing the hand of anyone she thought needed to join in. You should have seen Ragan out there. Just kidding people. That would deserve a blog post unto itself. He stood safely 15' away to ensure he wouldn't be one of "the chosen."

Here's that stunning couple again in front of the Trevi Fountain. Neptune is sure to keep it safe as he guards it from behind us. The fountains around Rome are fed from springs that are all over the city. This fountain was loaded with coins! It averages $3500 a day in coins, which are apparently used to help feed the poor. There are several reasons you throw the coin with your left hand over your right shoulder: for good luck, to get married, to get divorced?, or you want to make a return trip to Rome. I'm sure Ragan threw his coin for a return trip to Rome one day with the kids. :)

At the base of the Spanish Steps, which were "designed by the Italians, paid for by the French, occupied by the British." Does it get more international that? At the base of the stairs you will find a fountain that is said to have "the sweetest water in all of Rome." It pretty much tasted like cold water to me. Refreshing!

We made a second trip to the Spanish Steps because Ragan just didn't get the allure and thought he had missed something the first time. He had some grandeous idea of what he thought they were going to be like and it failed to meet his expectations. I never minded a trip over there because the good 'ole American McDonald's was next door. Potty break anyone?

The Italians have been holding out on us. This my friends, is a culinary wonder. Feast your eyes on  macaroni and cheese, meat, and vegtables, rolled in bread crumbs and fried. Paging Paula Dean, Paging Paul Dean!! She'd slap some butta' on these puppies and chow. They were really goooooooooooood. Like they say, "When in Rome." If you insist.

I don't even recall what I ordered, but apparently it's a lot of milk and a touch of coffee. It wasn't Maxwell House, but it was still good to the last drop.

After we finished at the Colosseum, we headed next door to the Roman Forum and Palantine Hill. This is was essentially the center of the Roman civilization dating back past 900 BC. Palantine was really more of the living area for the rulers of Rome and the Forum was the city itself. It makes for a long, long day to do all of it. It's pretty amazing but disorganized. There are no numbers to mark the sites as you are going through with the audio guide and "see" what used to be there. We spent a lot of the time just trying to figure out what was where. You start to understand why their greatness was in the past at times like these.

Here's Ragan standing above with a little part of the Forum in the background.

More Forum. They would be the smartest people in the world to turn one of these ruins into a snack bar like in Pompeii. Ragan would have paid a pretty penny to get Momma Bear fed half way through this trekk! I thought I was going to lay down and die right there where Cesar was burned, I couldn't take it anymore.

One of my favorite pics. This is what remains of the Temple of Saturn.  Built in 497 BC

 There are fountains of fresh, cold spring water all over Rome that you can refill your water bottles with. They save some green on those hot days! In Ragan's hand you will see our trip bible. It's the Let's Go Western Europe book that is written by Harvard students who are traveling on the cheap. It's been a great companion for the trip!

Two mornings we were quite the good non-Catholic Catholic's. Bright and super early we got up and headed to Vatican City. It was kind of a pick your poision, which line do you want to stand in and wait that morning. We chose St. Peter's first. No wait the first time in and then when we realized we missed the famous Michaelangelo statue Pieta (1499) depicting Jesus in His Mother Mary's lap after the Crucifixion. We got back in line and only waited for about two minutes. The birds got the worm again! Shortly after we finished, the line was at least a 1,000 people long. The Basilica is over the top elaborate! Indescribable really.

 Michaelangelo's Pieta

Corridor at the entrance of St. Peter's

Our final morning in Rome we decided to top this hot fudge sundae with a cherry and visit to the Vatican Museum. We were warned of the lines and saw how insane they were the morning before. With that being said, birds again! We were in line at 6:30 AM!!! Serioulsy, we aren't morning people. Proud to be the 6 and 7th people in line, we were patting ourselves on the back for this accomplishment. Ragan knows that me hungry isn't the best of ideas, and he being the good man that he is, goes and hunts down the only open cafe in blocks. Sacrafices his coffee to bring me one back because he couldn't carry two. They don't do "take away" coffee here. No insulated cups, they are more like the one's you tee tee in at the doctors office, which really conjured up some great images for me while I was sipping. Anywho, I felt like gloating because I KNOW the girls next to us where green with envy and just wishing they had a man who would have done that for them. Pray and wait girls...pray and wait. Let's get back to the line. There is a reserved line, which we were kicking ourselves that we didn't do. But then, there was the tour bus groups. Sweet Lord have mercy on me, when they opened the doors early to those people and they started filing in, we simply had to nod our heads. I stopped watching after the 18th bus full of people made it in before we did. I can't even fathom the amount of money that museum brings in. Easily they had 1500 people through the those doors less than an hour after opening. And it never ever slows. 

  Please don't be confused. Ragan has not grown a 3rd knee. That couple started off standing BEHIND us that morning and then slowly inched their way until this man was practically leaning on Ragan. You can tell by the look on Ragan's face that he is enjoying the European closeness. There seems to be no interest in personal space here. Although Ragan wanted to teach him a lesson about personal space, I don't think he's ever wanted to pass gas on someone more. To teach  lesson of course, you understand.

Alright, I'm probably not supposed to touch statues that were around 1,000 years before Jesus, it was kind of an "accident." But how could I NOT touch the belly of a statue named "Bes" Patron Genius of Pregnant Women?!!?!?

This is me trying to be like the Genius. He actually kind of looks like he's trying to have a baby in that squatting position. A guard walked by shortly after this. I think he was onto me.

Let's quickly visit this GIGANTIC bowl! You see the tiny people heads behind it don't you? That is Hercules in gold in the background. But this bowl was actually the bath of Nero's wife. OOOOOOOK...that isn't over the top AT ALL. Very reasonable to have something like this.

I've accepted that I have become an 84 year old Asian tourist man. We have walked until our heels have cracked and are now bleeding. I would have duct taped maxi pads to my feet if I thought it would ease the pain I felt at this moment. 

I know a few things with certanity in my life: the sun will come up tomorrow, that Jesus loves me, and that my husband has NO nerve endings on the bottom of his feet!! I thought this was some kind of gene passed down amongst the Aborigines because they were never going to warm to shoes. But I am apparently married to a very white decendent of them. I kept thinking to myself, what could I have possibly done to prepare my feet for this torture!?!? Somewhere between the fluxing of complete numbness and the sensation that ants were biting them, I came up with it. If I had only spent months beating the soles of my feet with leather and then slowly walking across beds of nails, I would been used to this. I looked at Ragan and said, "do your feet not hurt AT ALL?" and he looks at me like I had just asked him some bizarre, out of the blue question, and he says, "no, not at all." How is this possible God?!!? How?!!?!? It doesn't even make sense!

I'm going to be caddy for a moment, so if you don't want to join in, jump off now. It was great catching up with you, we'll see you in Sorrento.

What's going on here?

Or better yet...here? Let's catch her on the flip side. 

Dear What not to Wear,

Stacy and Clinton, if you're ever needing to "get away" for a quick trip to Europe, I have just the person for you. There is no need to follow her around for a week with hidden cameras, these two pictures should serve as enough evidence that we need an intervention. 

Yours Truly & Not Looking So Hot Herself These Days,

Melody Thomas

You know I heart you for sticking with me! Love ya...