Colosseums, and Churches, and Elton... Oh My!

It's been SOOO nice to return to Roma! Of all of the places I've ever been, I believe Rome is my favorite city! There's so much to see and do, the people are so nice, and the atmosphere is just awesome no matter where you are or what the time of day! And on top of all of that, both times that I've been here, something unexpected and memorable has happened. Last Spring, the Pope passed away while we were here so I was able to see the city's reaction to that. This time, we happened to be here for a "one time only" FREE Elton John concert in front of the Colosseum! That was really cool!!! We didn't find out about the concert until Friday when we were doing tourist stuff, so we showed up about an hour before the show Saturday and stayed for the entire concert! He ended with "Your Song" which is one of my favorite songs of all time, so that was really awesome to hear in person from the Rocketman himself!

As far as the regular tourist stuff goes, because I was here so recently I still remember my way around really well, so Keith and I have been able to zip around to all of the sites! We arrived late afternoon on Friday and in the little time that we had that night we managed to see the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Ancient Rome, Torre Argentina (the Rome Cat Sanctuary), the Trevi Fountain, the Wedding Cake, the Colosseum, and the Spanish Steps... and yes Ben, we even drank from the famous Pinecone Fountain!!! :D Also, we went by the little cafe that was right outside of our apartment when we were here last Spring, and they actually remembered me (probably because we went there at least 2 times a day for 6 straight days!!!)!

Saturday, we got up nice and early and headed to Vatican City to see St. Peter's and the Vatican Museum. Then we headed to Villa Borghese (a beautiful park), and headed back to the hotel for a nap before heading back to the Colosseum to see Elton! Today we got up early enough to check out of our hotel and headed to a real Italian flea market (not the tourist kind... thanks so much for the book Fancy Fosness!). There were SO many awesome items there, but unfortunately we don't have the room for new antique Italian furniture, mirrors, and other heavy/large items in our bags! :( It was very cool to see though, and I did buy a couple of neat little items.

One more cool thing about Rome... I don't know if the hotel guy was pulling our legs or not, but supposedly Roman Holiday was shot in the very room that we stayed in! We were on the top floor of Hotel Navona. I'm going to do a little research later (and probably watch the movie again) to see if I can tell if he was telling the truth!

In just a few hours, we'll be moving on to Vienna, Austria. I guess our many meals of pizza, pasta, gelati, and Italian Icees will be over! :( I'm kinda sad to be leaving Italy, but excited to see even more cultures and countries.

Going backwards a little, there's something I've been meaning to report, but keep forgetting to write about. In Barcelona, we noticed that the Walk/Don't Walk guy for crossing the street had a HUGE chest... like he works out or something. We thought that was funny because so far he's been regularly proportioned in the other cities. :)

Arrivederci for the last time this trip, but hopefully not the last time ever (any takers to accompanying me for a trip back to this beautiful country???)...