Roma, Italia and Palermo, Sicily

Our vacation! Where do I begin?

ROME

Okay, I'll begin in Rome. We got to Rome at 8am and found our way into the city, via train. Once we got settled into our "hostel" which was actually a lady's apartment (I'll skip that whole debacle) we headed into the city in search of the ancient ruins. We walked over 10 miles and saw almost everything. We waited 45 minutes to get into the Colosseum and stood in awe of it's grandeur. You really feel like you're in Ancient Rome and I love that it's remained intact and mostly unchanged over so many centuries. Overall, we found Rome to be crowded and dirty but so full of history that you can't not like it. Just watch your stuff. Everyone has a story of being robbed in Rome.

The next morning it poured. If there was a word more extreme than "POURED" I would use it. It was insanity. We decided that if we were going to get wet we might as well be in running clothes so we geared up and went out for a jog. We found a bank affiliate and took out some cash and then we got some coffee and went back to our "hostel". We had plans of doing some more exploring in town but the rain didnt let up much. Instead, we packed up and took the train to the Vatican. It was only sprinkling and we walked around with hoards of tourists until we had seen enough and hopped a train to Civitacchia to board the cruise ship.

We got on the cruise ship and really enjoyed our time navigating around this huge new home of ours. (By the end of the week I sort-of knew where everything was.)

PALERMO

We had no idea what to expect in Palermo but we were pleasantly surprised; Palermo was charming, run-down, and authentic. We found a quiet cafe and went shopping at some of our favorite Euro stores. Laer, we found our way into a neighborhood with a sidewalk market of old trinkets and antiques and it was awesome. The weather was warm and humid and in the afternoon we got caught in a crazy downpour. Running back to the ship, laughing, hand in hand with my husband, getting drenched and not caring at all.... was probably my favorite part of the day, possibly even the whole trip.

Just two cities for today... Ciao, bellas!