I am sure the right thing to do is say my favorite part of Rome was the wonderful history or architecture, but I am still thinking about those fabulous Italian meals even a week later. Same goes for Venice and Naples.

( In my true delayed blog fashion, we’ve  left Italy since my last update and have since spent a week in Greece. Oops! I keep holding out for my laptop charger to come through, but I am starting to realize I should get comfortable writing and posting from my phone.)

Rome was our first real encounter with heavy tourism, and the Vatican Museum was one of the hardest hit areas.

We had no choice but to literally ‘Go with the Flow’ as we traveled through the museum rooms with crowds. Besides getting a little too close for comfort with some of our fellow tourists, the museum was an incredible experience. I had a similar experience to the one in the National Portrait Gallery in London; works of art you’ve seen in textbooks and on posters your whole life are suddenly right in front of you. And it’s all real.

 

 

 

 

 

Italian Food

Any kind of backpacking food budget went completely out the window, as it should, while we were in Rome. My favorite thing about Italian food was that eating an entire pizza by yourself is not only acceptable… it’s encouraged. Several restaurants would not even allow us to order a pizza to share. We experienced Italian food from all corners of the city. We wandered down side streets to find the small local place for freshly made ravioli with a loving hand, and visited the tourist filled “Italian fast food” restaurant a block away from the Vatican. I wish I could say the sheer amount of food we’ve consumed has gone down now that we are in Greece, but shortly after our arrival we discovered gyros and tzatziki sauce.