When in Roma

It's been a whole year since Tom and I got married. To celebrate, we decided to spend a few days in Rome.

So off we went! It still boggles my mind that Italy is only two hours away from London.

After we dropped off our luggage, we headed out to experience a great Italian masterpiece. No, not the Colosseum. I'm talking about the FOOD! Yum!

The four cheese pizza was divine!

It was only after we had eaten that we explored the Colosseum (priorities, people.)

Amazing! But much more on that later.

We got a good night's rest to take on the Vatican the next day.

Unbeknownst to us, the Pope was speaking so the square was absolutely packed. Tom even got photobombed by a couple on their wedding day.

After a picture, we quickly ditched the crowd and headed to the Vatican Museum.

It was amazing to see such great works in person, especially after seeing tiny pictures of them in art history textbooks growing up.

The Sistine Chapel is breathtaking! Technically, you're not supposed to take pictures in there, but the way I see it, Tom was taking a picture of my hair and happened to snap Michelangelo's famed ceiling in the background.

Then we were off and stopped by an ancient castle on the way to lunch.

Seeing old fortresses certainly helped me work up an appetite. Italy has these amazing pizza takeaway shops where they cut off pieces with scissors and charge you by the weight.

Tom got one with pumpkin cream and goats cheese, while I went for the more traditional margherita pizza.

Then it was Pantheon time.

 Tom holding on to the oculus, which actually is just a massive hole in the top.

We had a stroll through the city and came across just mass ruins. It's crazy that there are large open areas all over that are littered with the derelict remains of ancient civilization.

They don't call Rome the largest open air museum for nothing!

Our day was nearly done, but not without another walk around the Colosseum. I told you it would be popping up a lot in this blog!

It was time for, you guess it! Dinner. Followed by my new favourite yummiest treat ever: GELATO! Gelato is amazing. We got it from one of the oldest gelato shops in Rome. Fun fact! The US army took over the shop during WWII to produce ice cream for US soldiers.

 Fresh mango sorbet with real cream on top. YUM!

Then it was off to rest before the next day's adventure.

We got up really early to go to the Trevi Fountain before all the crowds got there. I am unashamed to say I first heard about this Fountain when I watched The Lizzie McGuire Movie.

Tradition has it that if you throw a coin over your left shoulder into the fountain, you guarantee a return to Rome someday. I threw in two coins just to be on the safe side.

After the Trevi Fountain, we went to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. Absolutely stunning! It really is incredible to get a glimpse of ancient people simply from the buildings they left behind.

Then we were off for our underground tour of the Colosseum. Make sure you do the underground tour if you go to Rome. It's totally worth it!

Here's Tom standing on a recreation of the stage.

Growing up I've seen pictures of the inside of the Colosseum, and they looked like this:

I always wondered why it looked somewhat like a maze. Then I found out that what you're looking at is actually under the stage where they would hoist up animals through trap doors. The stage used to completely cover the maze bit so the audience wouldn't have been able to see it.

I was so excited when I found some ancient graffiti. 'Vindicomus' is the name of a gladiator, and there's a symbol also scratched on it that means death. Apparently fighting to the death wasn't great for gladiator morale.

Another fun fact about the Colosseum. There are massive holes cut out of it, but that isn't from wear and tear. It's actually from people stealing the rock and wire supports after the fall of the Roman Empire.

One of the biggest culprits was the Vatican, who took loads of rock and used it to make the lovely pillars below, found in the square just outside the Vatican.

After a fun-filled day exploring ancient Rome, it was that wonderful time of the day. Food time! 

We had an amazing few days in Rome, and a great time celebrating one year as a married couple. I love this man!