Roaming Roma: Siteseeing - Day 1

Yes, the misspelling in this post's title is intentional,

and you'll see why later.

First ever trip to Rome.....what to see?

We wanted to see the famous sites, but

we didn't want to 'do' them.........as in we didn't 

want to queue for hours to wander round with the hordes. 

When in Rome, do things your own way........

so we did!

We'd arranged to meet up with Maria at 7 pm on 

the first evening, so we had a few hours to kill beforehand.

Unpacked & having had a cup of tea (being English we do,

of course, take our own teabags with us when we go away),

we set off 'a piedi', armed with a map from the front desk.....

first port of call, Piazza Barberini & Fontana del Tritone;

not as famous as the Trevi Fountain, but at least it

wasn't mostly hidden by scaffold AND it had water in it......

Bernini's Fontana del Tritone

On the way to Piazza Barberini, we found ourselves in

Piazza San Bernardo, which is home to

Fontana dell'Acqua Felice, the 

terminus of the Acqua Felice aqueduct restored by Pope Sixtus V.

Again, nowhere near as impressive as the Trevi Fountain,

but an important part of Rome's medieval history.

Fontana dell'Acqua Felice

Walking back to the hotel, we passed the Teatro dell'Opera - this 

fast became our 'landmark' for knowing we were heading

the right way back. One of the stage doors was open, so I 

cheekily popped inside, camera in hand &

grabbed a few shots

before heading round to the front of the building for this pic...

Then our evening meet up with Maria gave us our 

first glimpse of the dome of St Peters, as we stood on

Ponte Mazzini at sunset

First sighting of  La Basilica di San Pietro

Roaming Roma: Seeing The Pope.....Sort Of

Sunset in Rome

It was our first evening in Rome & we'd set off 'a piedi' to meet 

Maria, the eldest sister of our friend Attilio. Needless to say,

we got lost, ended up getting a taxi, only to discover

that if we'd carried on walking for another 10 minutes

beyond Piazza Spagna, we could have saved ourselves

10 Euros.

Meeting up with Maria was like having our own 

private guided tour of the city - she was so full of enthusiasm

for Rome, the sights, the shops & life in general.

She walked us down to the Tiber (she called it 

'Roma's Thames') and that's when we got our first

glimpse of the dome of La Basilica di San Pietro, 

just as the sun had disappeared from view.

And I thought that was probably as close as we were

going to get to the Vatican.....but I was wrong.

Not only did I get to stand in Piazza San Pietro yesterday morning,

taking a 'selfie' with hubby, just to prove we'd been there....

Never thought we'd get here!

I also got a shot of the Pope!

Papa Francesco - he's awesome!

OK, so it's artwork on the wall at the Metro's Stazione Spagna,

but it's just so cool, isn't it?

And Today Is The Final Day......Or Is it?

Some days it was easy,

others it was incredibly difficult

& others I had more than one,

which explains why there have been more than

the allotted one hundred.

Thing is, I can't believe how quickly it's come

to an end, especially as it seemed

such a daunting task to make the effort

every day.

But maybe the fact that hubby became

one of the 72% who give up spurred

me on to see it through.

I am, of course, referring to #100happydays.

Today is the final day, and this is my final pic....

I'm going to miss hashtagging my photos

with #100happydays......

time to get used to the hashtag #365daysofhappy

Another Year Older

For those of you who may not have realised,

it was my birthday on Thursday.

Yes, the number on the page has changed from 56 to 57 -

not that I feel a year older. If anything,

I feel younger than I did last year - maybe I'm 

a female Benjamin Button?

This is my birthday, in picture form...

It started with fireworks at midnight

I went to bed at 1.30 am, only to be up again 

at 5 am, which meant I saw the blush of dawn

Followed by that perfect moment when the sun breaches the mountain

An afternoon walk along Via Flavio Gioia

Took us to Baffo, who makes the best gelato in Santa Maria....

I chose Menta & Cocco and it was absolutely delicious!

And in the evening we dined at Lo Sparviero, both opting 

for Spaghetti alle Vongole.....

It's been more than 12 months since I had that dish

& it was utterly mouthgasmic

Followed by a walk under the moonlight

Before going home to celebrate as couples who still love each other
to bits usually celebrate

Happy Birthday Dear Blog

So where did that year go?

Is it really 365 days since I tentatively 

explored Blogger & decided 

'What the heck, just go for it girl - start blogging!'?

Apparently so.

Happy Birthday Cilento Fairy Tales - hope you'll

join me in celebrating my birthday tomorrow