Vatican

While in Rome, we took a tour of the Vatican City. The Vatican is a country in itself, comparable to the concept of Washington D.C. in the U.S. We had to go through security to be able to make our way in. Little fun fact, people actually live in the Vatican besides the Pope.

The ceilings were beautiful.

We were able to see the Sistine Chapel, but weren't allowed to take pictures unfortunately. It was amazing with the paintings jumping out at you in 3D. Everyone was instructed not to take pictures and to be quiet the entire time.

Th entrance to St. Peter's Basilica.

It was massive and unbelievable.

At the very end we were able to shop in a boutique for items to be blessed by the Pope and returned to our hotel later that day. Members of our tour group actually got to see him one of the days. Super cool.

Next week: One of my favs, Florence but not before a trip through Siena.

Rome

A short walk from our hotel, we walked beside the Roman Coliseum on our way to dinner the first night. You know, just a casual stroll passed the largest amphitheater ever built. I will get to more of this amazing structure later in this post.

Rome is where the food really started to get good and I simply ate for taste most of the time. Everything was just so darn good and had my favorite meal of the entire trip there. Spaghettoni with pecorino cheese and cicory... Oh and a glass of vino on the side at Ditta Trinchetti Roma Trastevere. Absolutely check this place out if you are ever in Rome. The ambiance and food were amazing.

I also got an appetizer of prosciutto and mozzarella with olive oil on grilled bread. Amazing. The fact that prosciutto is a standard meat there instead of a pricey luxury blew my mind. I love prosciutto.

The streets of Rome were absolutely stunning with the flower beds, little twists and turns in the road.

My favorite little street we kept walking by.

And from dinner we went to see the Trevi Fountain at night...

Of course, me with gelato. This was a daily occurrence. That could be a contributing factor to how I gained 7 pounds on this trip. 

Piazza Venezia

The Trevi Fountain during the day is just as magnificent as at night. A quick tip, go early or go reallyyyy late, otherwise its filled with tourists. Where its situated in the city, its not a very large area so you can imagine the wall to wall people... all with selfie sticks.

Making a wish!

On that champagne campaign.

A gorgeous church we walked into while "rome-ing" the streets.

And then we got to some of my favorite designers...

I see you, Harry!

The Zara store was four stories and on top of that, there was more than one store in Rome. Retail heaven.

Dinner the second night was great too. Cannelloni and veal. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Yes, I did get multiple entrees at dinner some nights. I just really wanted to try EVERYTHING. When in Rome, right? ;)

ICE CLUB ROME - At -5 degrees Celsius. 

The following day we went to tour the Roman Forum and Coliseum after the Vatican... I will get to that tomorrow.

Its an absolute monstrosity. 

Finally got my ravioli and it was amazing. If you know me, I used to 'run on ravioli.' Since then I have broadened my pallet, but those little pillows of dough and cheese will always have a special place in my tummy. ;)

Gnocchi.

 Last night out in Rome. We went to a little bar and then ventured to a club called Shari Vari. It was SO fun and the best one we went to in Italy, in my opinion.