Rome ~ part one

For those of you who don't know, Sean and I left Halifax on January 7, 2011 for three and a half glorious weeks travelling through Italy, north to Paris and finally London. Since we've been back, people ask 'How was your trip?'. I feel so mediocre saying ' It was great!!' or 'It was amazing!!' because it was so much more than that.

It was the best time of my entire life.

I had my new camera, my brand new 85mm 1.2 and my husband. It was perfect.

This is the view looking up the street just outside of our hotel. Our trip was planned in majority thanks to the most-wonderful Sharon Hallam of TPI - Travel Professionals International. We were absolutely blown away by the amount of time, thought and effort Sharon put into creating our trip-of-a-lifetime. If you're going anywhere soon - call her!! Seriously - she is AMAZING!!! The link to her website is www.travelanswers.ca.

When we got to Rome, we were exhausted - it had taken us over 24 hours to get there!! As soon as we checked into our hotel we both immediately crashed but not for long. I remember laying there looking at the ceiling and saying to Sean - 'We're in ROME and we're laying in bed. This is bullsh*t - let's go!!!' So we just walked and walked and walked.

Our hotel was literally a five minute walk from the Fontana di Trevi - the Trevi Fountain. Along the way to the fountain were beautiful little cobblestone alleyways filled with shops and ristorantes...

...and fresh thin crust Pizza Prosciutto in the windows!!

Oh my god - I had found heaven. I vowed before we left that I would attempt to eat my weight in prosciutto while in Italy - I think I may have come close.

Cool assortment of Grappa bottles - I would never touch Grappa but the bottles were so beautiful!!

Ummmm, a 5kg of Nutella? Holy sh*t these Italians really know what the heck they're doing!!

This is the top of the Trevi Fountain, which, by the way, is absolutely ridiculous (in the best sort of way). The entirety of this solid marble fountain is actually built onto the back side of a building. You'll see more a few pics down.

 

Ok, I was surrounded by prosciutto and my husband Sean was surrounded by high-end luxury cars like this Lamborghini - we were both in heaven!!

Kiss her now you fool!!

First dinner in Europe - Le Lanterne - recommended by our fabulous travel agent Sharon.

Ok, I know what you're thinking. It's a plate of prosciutto and fresh mozzarella - so what? Let me tell you - this was the most exquisite introduction to Italy for me. The freshly cut prosciutto couldn't have been more silky and perfectly salty - easily the best I had during the entire three and a half weeks. And that's not just any fresh mozzarella - it's fresh Mozzarella di Bufala. I kept repeating 'Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.' between every bite. I'm pretty sure Sean had to tell me to shut up a couple of times but I wasn't really listening.

Cobblestone lane beside the Trevi Fountain. One thing we learned very quickly is that the Romans love their twinkly mini-lights. They are literally strung across almost every street. SO pretty!!

THIS is the Trevi Fountain. Isn't it spectacular?

Two young lovers enjoying their gelato.

It doesn't matter what time of day you go to the Trevi Fountain - there will be hundreds of people milling about, taking pictures, eating gelato - just hanging out basking in the glorious sight of the fountain.

What are the chances we would see the exact same Lamborghini racing by us later in the evening? Pretty good by the look of it. Glad I was able to take this shot in time - cool huh?

Ok so this is Rome ~ part one. I have SO many more great photos to post you almost won't believe it!! They're coming soon so keep your eyes peeled!!

Ciao Ciao.