when in rome

oooh la la! This is our second trip to Rome. First one was six years ago. I came for a music festival for three weeks and then took a week to tour the country. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. And now after these very short eight days, I do think I will cry going back to Paris. Yes, Paris is, well, Paris. Beautiful, elegant, refined, cultured, but also very high maintenance. I am so ready to kick up my feet and take the corn husk out of my butt. The Italian people are extraordinary. I can't remember the last time I felt this alive and just so good! Men make you feel desired, women talk to you, and kids play nice. People smile. It's wonderful.

There is so much artwork around the city and in churches all of which are free including St. Peter's. We took the above photo in one of the churches we happened to enter. Michelangelo's Pieta is housed in St. Peter's Basilica, also free and utterly breathtaking. There are so many amazing sculptures by other artists as well, but there is really something to Michelangelo's works when you see them up close and in real life. It is like they have a living soul. Guess that's why he is so well known.

The Campo de Fiori has a pretty good market (photo) though small, and there are many piazzas, oblisques, fountains, etc. all around the city.

For Halloween we went to the Trevi Fountain. Mon petit fee dressed up as Tigger. People got a kick out of seeing him there. Since he didn't do any trick or treating, we had some gelato instead.
Oh, and we went to a few bars, had a few beers, relaxed, I had my FAVORITE shot - a B52. Sooooo good. And we even got some FREE food. What a foreign concept. I don't think they do that in France, at least not from our experience. And they don't really have bars in Paris, either except for a few Irish/English pubs. The local brasseries/cafes are no where near equivalent to a pub/bar either. Ahh, bring on the tissues while the corn husk is reinserted.
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/rome-st-peters-basilica.htm