To put things in perspective, this happened on the day I did the “Caesar Shuffle”. We started at the Colosseum then headed to the Forum in the peak of the sun. Shade in ancient ruins is few and far between. Then we did Palentine Hill (ruins of the emperors homes). In case there was some question, it should be known that ruins are my favorite!!

inside the colosseum

no shade + 110 degrees. OMG

things i'm obsessed with: ruins and mosaics

some ruins at palatine hill

Being a day ahead of “schedule” we took a leisurely lunch at the top of the capitol building. After lunch we headed to the Catacombs of San Callisto. SO INTERESTING. a couple of former popes, some saints, and martyrs were buried there at one point, although the catacombs have since been looted and almost nothing remains. There’s about 20km of hallways of mass burials so MILLIONS of people were buried down in there. As an added bonus: it was so nice and cool in the catacombs and our tour guide was a priest from Australia. Sweet!

exit out of the catacombs of san callisto

We spent another day or two wandering the Crypts of the Capuchin Monks, the Pantheon, and some other miscellaneous sites and museums. Our final day in the city was meant to be spent taking full advantage of the spa at the hotel. However, this turned into “lets go to the hospital for pink eye then take a nap” day. I should mention that our hotel was on the outskirts of the city. There was not one English or Spanish speaker at the hospital. Somehow I managed to give them my name, tell them I had conjunctivitis, express my allergies, and gave a list of my current medications. Oh and the health care system in Italy ROCKS. I got in and out in an hour and the total bill (since im foreign) was €25. Seriously less than 40 bucks for a hospital visit including medicine is awesome.

the pantheon: under construction

the trevi fountain lights up nice at night!

but there are SO MANY PEOPLE there!

We spent out last night in Rome enjoying the night view from our balcony, then a man started yelling from over his balcony to down below. I initially assumed he was either crazy, drunk, or both. “Hello!! Hello!!” Then he started with “Can you send somebody up?” Um what? then he elaborated. “The door is closed” = dude locked himself out on the balcony. It was hilarious.

View from our room

Pool view at night

Borghese Gallery

Looking down onto the Piazza di Popolo

Spanish Steps

Trevi Fountain

You walk up this for about 10 min to get into the Vatican Museum

Inside the Dome of St. Peter

Pope John XXIII, apparently a said because he hasn't decayed...

Despite being sick, and it being well over 100 degrees, Italy was off to a great start!!

What have I been doing all this time? That’s a good question, cuz time has certainly flown by. Here’s the synopsis:

*I went to Italy. I’ll blog more about that later tonight, but I will tell you it was PHENOMENAL. We spent 6 days in Rome and did just about everything, including catching pink eye. Yep, medical issues follow me everywhere I go! We headed north for 4 days to Florence. Gorgeous city, and a lot cooler and less humid. It’s nice sightseeing in weather under 105 degrees. We also did a side trip to Pisa/Lucca and another to Cinque Terre on my birthday. BEST. BIRTHDAY. EVER. Finally, we headed down to Naples for 2 days. Naples is a dump, that’s for sure, but Pompeii was so worth it. Sorrento was glorious. More details on all of this to come!

*I quit 2 of my jobs. Hallelujah!! I increased my hours at the other one so I can still afford to pay my bills, and I took a different unpaid internship job. I’m now working in a school and am finally realizing my calling in life. Good thing it only took me 20-some-odd years to find it! It was a crazy month of transitioning, and at one point I was working 4 jobs for a week, but I made it through, sanity in tact. Whew!

*I’ve been planning my wedding. Duh!! For those of you who don’t know me well, I’m organized and plan ahead to the point that it’s pathological. Taking the idea from my friend (and bridesmaid!) Jess, I have started a wedding binder. My colors are eggplant, turquoise and silver, so the binder and its pages are those colors. I’ve been clipping things I like from magazines and putting them in their appropriate category. It’s fun – like scrapbooking! The binder is almost full though, fortunately with contracts! Yes, I am ahead of the game and have tons of vendors already selected, deposits paid.

*Last but not least I’ve been helping my extended family clean out my great aunt and uncle’s house and prepare it for sale. It’s kind of sad, but there’s so many of us doing it and we’re bonding over it. We found so many old pictures of relatives that lived and died before our time – it’s really neat! We also found a lot of … um… educational materials. Materials including, but not limited to, 30 years worth of Playboy magazine. The house is almost ready to go on the market.

Rome:  6 days. I’m so fortunate and stoked that I’ll be staying in seriously the nicest hotel I’ve ever seen: The Rome Cavalieri. I think that in the 6 days we’ll be there we should be able to do ALL of the touristy things and still have a day to enjoy the amazing spa facilities at the hotel. In reality this is a fast paced trip, but when  you have that at your disposal, you kind of have to take a day to slow down and unwind.

Florence: 4ish days. Definitely a side trip to Cinque-Terre. Maybe a side trip to Pisa if there’s time.

Naples: maybe 2 days? Really all we want to do in Naples is go to Pompeii. It doesn’t seem like there’s that much to do in Naples, so maybe there will be another day trip to one of the off-shore islands.

I’ve started learning a couple of key words, acqua being by far the most important. After all, it’s going to be hotter than hell. And I’ve experienced hell: Thailand in August, Paris and Catalonia in July. I’m probably going to spend half of my budget on acqua lol.

In terms of planning, I have my Frommer’s 2010 Italy, I have the recommendations of like a thousand relatives and friends, and I’ve recently discovered some cool sites on Italy: Why Go Italy and Life in Italy. I also have the Rosetta Stone Italian, and a guide book of key phrases that I can keep in my pocket. Rumor has it that I’m getting luggage for my birthday (I really want this in green, fingers crossed). I think I’m good to go!!

J and I found an amazing airfare deal a couple of weeks ago, so we pounced on it. We’ll be gone a total of 15 days, and plan to hit up Rome, Florence, and Naples. Naples is really only on the list cuz we want to hit up Pompeii. I am obsessed with ancient ruins afterall

J has enough hotel points to stay at a SUPER nice hotel for 6 nights for free! We’ll be spending an extra day in Rome just to take advantage of the spa and whatnot. When in Rome… lol

A more detailed itinerary will come, whenever it is that we create it The trip isn’t til the end of summer, so we have time!