Wedding Blog

Previously…
Part 1: The New Mrs. Toucan Gets In Trouble with THE MAN
Part 2: The Toucans Go to Venice
Part 3: The Toucans Go to Florence
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Remember that cute little Anthropologie dress I wore to the airport when I got into my pre-honeymoon scuffle with the law? Well, after wearing it on the long plane ride over to Italy, I discovered that it was quite comfortable for traveling. It was empire-waisted (and had an elastic back to boot!), and nothing was restricted. I determined that it was an excellent dress to wear on the way to Rome. However, I’ve discovered that said cute Anthropologie dress equaled bad luck for travel. No, I didn’t break any Italian laws (luckily), but the day we left for Rome, the rail workers decided to go on strike. Every now and then, they would cancel a train. And guess what? They canceled our train- 5 minutes before we were supposed to be boarding it!

So what now? We asked the guy at the information desk, who tells us we can use our tickets on the next train to Rome. We then were informed by one of the ticket checkers on said next train that there was no way we could get on the train because it was full.

Humph. What to do? Stowaway. We decided just to get on the train anyway- so what if we had to stand? At least we’d get to Rome. And we did.

Rome was by far my favorite city on the trip. There was just so much to see and do!

The Ruins of Rome:

The Colosseum (Note the phone-thingy I have to my ear. Instead of doing group tours, we usually opted for this route. This way we could go at our own pace, and not have to stand around massive amounts of people all the time)

The Roman Forums

Domus Aurea (Nero’s Golden Palace)

Domus Aurea is actually really cool. Emperor Nero built had it built for himself, however never really lived in it (if at all) because he died shortly after its completion. Instead of occupying the palace, the next owner decided to fill it with dirt and build on top of it! They are still excavating the palace today! The palace is huge, but only a few rooms are currently opened. Tours are very limited (we had a larger group of 10 people!), and very short (only about 30 minutes!). But the coolest part of the tour? They made us wear hard hats.

Very dark picture because we weren’t allowed to use the flash.

The Vatican:

St. Peter’s from afar

In front of St. Peter’s Basilica

Rafael’s “School of Athens” inside the Vatican Museum

There are A LOT of people that go to the Vatican

I made Mr. Toucan be a good Catholic boy and get holy water inside St. Peter’s

Michelangelo’s “Pieta” inside St. Peter’s

On the St. Angelo Bridge with Castle St. Angelo behind (okay, not part of the Vatican, but close by!)

And around Rome:

The Spanish Steps

The Pantheon

Unfortunately, some of the sites were closed. Note how sad Mrs. Toucan looks in front of the Fountain of the Four Rivers

And lastly, Trevi Fountain

We couldn’t leave the fountain without ensuring a future trip to Rome…

So, here’s to hoping we get to go back!!!