Roma!

Roma, Day Five.

My favorite day of the trip. We ran around trying to fit everything in, but also managed to get some good grub, a couple of beers and of course some gelato.

First up, St. Peters Square. As we walked up they were finishing up mass and I got chills.

The detail of the saints on St. Peters Basilica.

After we took it all in, it was only natural to go get some food. A cannoli and cappuccino to be exact. The hubs got a piece of pizza and beer.

At an outdoor cafe in Rome. Pretty perfect day.

After we refueled it was time for some more site seeing. We tried to fit as much as we could in one day which meant we didn't stay at one place very long. My next trip, I would like to take my time and take some tours but this was a good cliff notes day of Rome.

After I purchase my 'Rome Hat', we went to see ...

The Spanish Steps

The Trevi Fountain

Where we made a wish

A whole 2 hours passed which meant it was time for more food...

Pasta Pomadoro for lunch and then it was time for Rome's best Gelato.

Everyone else must have got this memo too. You have to pay first at the counter by the front door and then hope one of the gelato men will pick your ticket so you can then quickly scan the 2000 flavors and tell him what you would like. If you don't tell him quick enough, he raises his eyebrows and bangs his scoop, this is the italian gelato version of the soup nazi. Being the word's worst and longest decision maker, when it was my turn I frantically scanned the flavors and ended up ordering Oreo. Not my best decision, it was so rich I had to throw it out after only a few bites. I'm sure the bread, pasta, and wine in my stomach had nothing to do with it.

The hubs with his zabaglione gelato which tasted like it had a bottle of liquor in it.

The Pantheon

Piazza Venezia

Trajan's Market

(Thought to be the world's oldest shopping mall)

The Roman Forum

Another pit stop, for some beer.

And finally, the Colosseum.

It was a hot long day, but worth every minute of trekking around the city. Amazing history and delicious food. I can't wait to go back!

Italy-Day Four

Day Four included a trip to an olive oil tasting. The olive oil won 'Best in Italy' and since Italy has the best olive oil in the world, we concluded that we must be trying THE best olive oil ever made.

This is the tasting room where we sampled the olive oil, after we saw how it was made.

During the harvest the olives are picked by hand and made into olive oil the same day.

We learned how to properly taste the olive oil by heating it up with our hand over the glass.

The hubs, sippin on some olive oil.

Next, we were on to our second cooking class which was 'homemade pasta'

I'm really glad I learned how to make my own pasta with flour and eggs, I'm sure I will use this skill often instead of opening a super easy box of already made pasta......

See, it only takes me and one other person to hold down the pasta cutter. I think you can tell on my face how serious I am that I will no longer eat pasta from a box.

My masterpiece.

After slaving away in the kitchen, we decided it was only natural to go congratulate ourselves with more wine

Then dinner was prepared, pretty sure they threw out our pasta and used the stuff they made.

Happy at dinner.

After a few glasses of vino, I decided it was time to liven up the party.

Did I mention, their wine doesn't give you hangovers?

I made the hubs join in too.

Next up, Roma!

Italy-Day Three

Daily Three started off with a cheese and farm tour. We met a husband and wife couple who make their own Mozzerella and other kinds of cheeses. I love cheese, but I'm not going to lie, the place stunk.

Then we went to the 'cheese cave' and saw where the cheese aged.

Next we were brought to see the farm animals. They were so cute, until I realized they were the delicious sausage I had been eating....

The highlight of the tour was of course the food, we had a wine and cheese lunch. Heaven.

The view on the walk back to our villa.

When the guide told us the place down the road had gelato, Dan and I ran the opposite way to from the villa and told everyone we would meet them later!

What's a meal without being followed up with gelato? Banana and chocolate was the flavor of the day

Later we took a risotto cooking class at the castle.

The cooking class started out here. Where we met other guests staying at the castle and were served wine and bruschetta. My kind of cooking class.

After the demonstration, we were served our dinner here.

We ate our dinner with two couples from Belgium. Luckily they spoke perfect English, and we had a great time joking around with them over several glasses of wine.

Dinner also included bread, wine, sausage, salad, and dessert... just in case the two kinds of risotto were not enough.

YUMMO.

Italy-Day Two

Well, day two got off to a late start when I awoke at 3pm Italy time. Oopsie. So we ended up laying by the pool for two hours and then it was time to get ready for dinner! Yes, more food:)

The little suite to the right was where the hub's and I were residing.

We moved the chairs at the pool to view this.

We drove about 25 minutes away to Todi for dinner. We had to walk up a hill to get to the town.

Beautiful church in the background

This was the scenery on our way up.

Gorge.

After a few wrong turns and trying to understand Italian directions, we ended up at our dinner destination, Ristorante Umbria.

We had a table on the terrace that looked out at the stunning landscape. Are you starting to see a pattern here?

After dinner, it was time for gelato of course! I think my flavor for the night was hazelnut. Delish.

We took a different way home, down some side streets. The stone buildings were amazing.

And that pretty much sums up day two. Sleeping, laying and eating....with some pretty views. Don't worry it get's more exciting.