When in Rome...

New York ~ Milan ~ Rome I and Rome II ~ Prague ~ Amsterdam ~ Tokyo

Oh Rome. We were so glad that we took a train from Milan to Rome; I have been to Rome before but The Engineer had not and if you go to Italy, you have to go to Rome! There is so much history there. One of the things I remember quite vividly about Rome is that you can be walking along in the city and right in the middle of everything there is an excavation of ancient ruins.

Crazy. These particular ones were on our way the the Colosseum and the road was pretty much built right around it. You pass many others that are squished in between buildings, leading you to believe that pretty much everything is built on top of something.

Also on our way was the tomb of the unknown soldier. As in many countries, guards are posted 24/7 and the site is well respected.

On our way up to the top there were some old design drawings of the supports inside some statues. So cool. Those designers were so smart and it looks exactly like some of the stuff we learned in school. *Nerd Alert* Naturally we stopped to admire and take pictures. 

From the top we had a great preview of the Roman Forum and Colosseum, where we would spend the rest of our day. 

Of course it goes without saying that the Colosseum is amazing and awesome. But there it is, I said it just for the record. 

Can we just throw a few things out there? OK, thanks...

1. It's crazy that they could get those massive stone blocks hoisted that high back in the AD days. 

2. It took so. many. people. to build it 

3. Um...its still (mostly) standing. After nearly 2,000 years. Yes seriously. What?!?

4. Gladiators walked here (and sadly died here). 

5. I forgot, they actually built a retractable canvas like roof. Crazy smart!

I think I got most of that out. 

We spent a lot of time taking some of the cool features in. Like the fact that on some of the remaining exterior wall you can still see where staircases used to be. 

The Engineer now owns the place. 

When in Rome...

We headed over to Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum to check out the oldest remnants of the ancient city. 

I still think one of the coolest things about Rome is that there are ancient ruins intermingled with the modern city and that's completely normal. We don't have anything like that back home (partially because were not old enough yet) but I think its neato gang. 

We were commenting that the tickets which included the Colosseum and Roman Forum seemed very reasonably priced. Considering the constant restoration of these sites it is supprising that they don't charge more. Additionally there are many places where ruins have yet to be uncovered. So then we started to wonder where all the money was going. We knew a large portion went to the upkeep of the Colosseum, but we wanted to know where the rest was going and we soon found out. 

From the outside of the Roman forum our inner nerds were distracted by this...

The robust supports attracted our attention and from the inside of the Roman Forum (you couldn't get that close from the outside) we realized how large this building actually was. 

This was a part of the old shoppes in the Forum and one of the largest open structures that still had an intact ceiling so it was understandable that there would be a large effort to restore this area as opposed to digging up new areas first. It was impressive to say the least. 

The rest of the Roman Forum was mesmerizing as we wondered through imagining what it was like all those years ago. 

We spent so long in there that we enjoyed our lunch during a beautiful sunset. 

There was a little light left after our delicious meal, and we took our time looking at the portions of the Roman Forum that are across the street (out of the ticked area) and in the few surrounding blocks. 

Some of the areas had beautiful lighting that we got to enjoy once the sun dipped below the horizon. 

We headed to the apartment to take a short rest and then headed out for out for the evening. On our way out we passed by the Pantheon (which wasn't open and you want to go buy during the day to see the oculus (circular opening to the sky). It is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome so of course we went back the next day to go inside!

We were really aiming for Trevi Fountain which was one of my favorite places from my last trip to Rome and I wanted to make sure The Engineer saw it at night when it was lit up and pretty. Except that they were restoring it and it looked like this...

Total fail. I really missed the memo on those restoration dates ha! Oh well, next time ;-)

Jump to day two!

Ciao Milan

New York ~ Milan ~ Rome I and Rome II ~ Prague ~ Amsterdam ~ Tokyo

After a fun weekend in New York we flew to Milan, Italy.

We only spent the afternoon in Milan. We decided instead to take a train to Rome since The Engineer had never been there. You have to go to Rome if you are in Italy. So we had to pack it in during our afternoon in Milan. We trained it from the Milan airport into the city and right outside the train station you practically fall into Sforzesco Castle.

It was pretty and out in front there were some exhibits for an art expo behind a fountain which was beautifully illuminated in the morning light.

We wandered through Sempione Park which was pretty quiet. I imagine most people were at work, but there were still a few people running and walking their dogs.

The city itself is quaint and a little more quiet than I had expected. The architecture is so different from American cities which is one of my favorite parts of European cities.

We stumbled on this outdoor/indoor shopping center (it was really a fancy mall) that was pretty grand already and they were doing extensive renovations to upgrade it. You fancy, huh?

Finally we made it over to Duomo di Milano which is the largest cathedral in Italy (fifth in the world!). It is absolutely beautiful and insanely ornate.

We hung out for quite some time in the square and watched all the people in the square. There was this little boy feeding the birds and he got pretty excited/overwhelmed when they would fly all over him to get the food. It was pretty cute. 

We ate (a really really early) lunch on the square and it was delish! We waited as long as we could hold out but I think the time change got the best of us because we were starving. We were the only people eating food for a while but we must be trend setters because by the time we left everyone was eating lunch. 

It was fun to explore Milan for the day, it was a little bonus stop on the trip, but we were off to Rome before we knew it!

New York, New York

New York ~ Milan ~ Rome I and Rome II ~ Prague ~ Amsterdam ~ Tokyo

The first stop on our around the world trip was New York City. Our flight to Milan left on a Monday morning so we decided to fly up early to enjoy the weekend in the city. I have never been to New York city (I drove though it to catch a cruise which does not count). How un-American of me right? No worries though, that problem has been resolved.

The city is so so big! We had a great view from our hotel room on the 32nd floor.

We planned to see Les Miserables Saturday night so we just wandered around for a few hours. We passed through Bryant Park which had an ice skating rink set up for the season.

We also passed though Grand Central Station, which true to its name, is grand.

I really loved the newly married couple that was taking pictures smack dab in the middle. Those pictures will probably turn out pretty cool. We continued wondering and came upon Rockefeller Center. Can I just say one thing about it? It was way smaller than I realized. Way. I was really taken aback because I've seen plenty of concerts and holiday specials that have been there on TV. I was totally dooped. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't disappointed, I was just really surprised. They were still constructing the big Christmas tree but it was pretty cool to see what an undertaking it is...and I have no idea how it stays alive.

Really no idea because it is chopped up and clamped back together. That pile of seemingly scrap branches...yeah...that's still going on the tree. Mad props. I struggle just to keep thee little 7 ft. tree in out house alive.

Les Miserables was amazing in case you were wondering. Funny story though, they had a minor pause in the show due to some set issues (i.e. two pieces minorly crashed).  It was handled very well though and I loved going to a show there.

The next morning we ventured back to 30 Rock and headed to the top. We picked it over the Empire State because it was cheaper and you had a great view of the Empire State from 30 Rock. You really understand how big Central Park is when you see it against the rest of the city. It is huge. We spent a while up there picking out different buildings and landmarks,

We then headed south to see the 9/11 memorial. I thought it was so well done. There is a pool where the foot print of each of the towers stood. I thought the design preventing you to see the bottom of the inner pool was really unique and fitting. 

It was really humbling to stand there and imagine what it was like when the two towers fell. Amazingly, there was a tree that survived. It is still a little lopsided today, but what a trooper. 

 He was also refusing to loose his leaves like the rest of the trees.

The new World Trade Center One is impressive, and I love the design olf opposing triangles because if you are on a side with the point on top it looks like the building goes on forever.

We strolled through Central Park for quite some time and simply enjoyed it.

We passed by Times Square multiple times each day because we were staying so close to it. It is just as overwhelming as you would guess. 

Before we knew it we were heading to the airport to hop the pond. Stay tuned for the next part of the adventure.