It’s been more than a year since I journeyed to Rome with my family in June 2007, but — like London — there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about my trip to Europe. It happened at a unique time in my life: I’d just graduated from college; I was preparing to enter my first full-time job at a newspaper; I was leaving behind bits and pieces of “childhood” and getting ready to enter the “real world” (though, as John Mayer reminds us, there’s really “no such thing”).

Basically, it was amazing! Being in such an exciting, busy and energetic place — even if it did rain the majority of the time we were there — was incredible. I’ve been meaning to write about it for a long, long time, but I’ve never created the opportunity. I was looking through tons of my photos today, though, and was reminded of so many awesome places we went. Looking back now, it’s hard to believe I was really standing there, so far from home. But it was incredible being an American abroad!

Our first day arriving in Rome on a flight from London, we grabbed a cab and headed out to our hotel about 30 minutes from the airport. After trying to settle in a little bit following a harrowing drive through the country with a newlywed couple on their way to Venice, we took one of the hotel’s buses into town and went straight to Vatican City.

It’s a good thing we did, too — this was really our only “nice” day in Rome. It poured, poured and poured buckets almost the entire rest of our trip in Italy — including the following Sunday, when we returned to the Vatican for mass. Tons of other tourists were out, too, including several American student groups. English was being spoken all over the place — surprisingly comforting and disappointing all at once! It was nice to know we could communicate while getting around, but not quite as “authentic” as I was expecting. That was good though, really — and we were always in heavily visited areas of the city.

 

Dinner that night was one of the best of the trip — our first evening in Italy, out on the sidewalks in a tiny cafe as, originally, the only diners, and a gorgeous breeze blowing through. We had pizza and marveled at the differences between authentic Italian cuisine and our American version (honestly, I greatly prefer American “Italian” food!), then figured out when ordering water, you must always specify if you want “flat” or “sparkling” (flat — always flat). We won’t make that mistake again.

Other favorite stops on our Roman holiday included the Spanish Steps (above) and the Trevi Fountain — and the latter was one of the loveliest attractions we saw in Italy. I could have stood there all day, staring at that blue pool of water! I don’t know why, but it was mesmorizing.

Of course, I tossed in my coin and made my wish: To return to Rome. Ironically, after getting with our tour and visiting Venice, Florence, Tuscany and Lake Garda, we did return to Rome — and the fountain. We went back in the rain one week later, but it didn’t have nearly the charm of that first day! I’m not counting that as my triumphant “return” to Trevi.

Dinner on night two was fun, warm and exciting. We traveled around the country with a tour group, so we had the chance to talk with several other couples/families on our trip. One Canadian couple took a liking to us and snapped the above photo of my sister and me. It should be pointed out that most people on our vacation with us thought Kate was my parents’ daughter and I was a “friend.” What they mean by “friend” exactly, I will never know!

It was all amazing, though. I have so many more photos and an equal amount of enthusiasm for all of them, but I’ll save them for a lulling afternoon to post, reminisce and enjoy some more!