Italy - Day 14 (Rome)

So far on our trip every hotel had offered us the same small, but quality, breakfast of fresh fruit, juice, pastries, and some very good espresso. Our Rome hotel, Il Granaio di Santa Prassede, offered the same types of food, but they definitely didn't uphold the same quality standards. The most glaring problem was their watery coffee that came from a self-serve vending machine. Although this machine didn't have the poker-print paper cups that drop down from the machine, it did serve coffee the same way: one squirt of concentrated coffee, one squirt of cream, and finally topped off with hot water. It was bad even by American standards.We found it fun to visit an Italian grocery store. Immediately, we noticed that their carts and baskets were different. From what I observed, they had 4 ways to carry their groceries: (1) a smaller, cuter version of the US shopping cart, (2) the same handheld basket, (3) the same basket set atop a walker, (4) a larger basket that is towed like luggage.

We were already fully stocked with wine from the previous day's vineyard visit, but we were hoping to find some new, more authentic, brands of pasta to bring home. This plan was spoiled when we found the pasta isle. By the look of this store's inventory, it would appear Italians eat Barilla more than any other brand.
By 8am, we had to meet our group for the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Basilica tour. When we arrived we saw that the line was easily a 1/2 mile long, wrapping around the Vatican walls. Fortunately, our tour guide had purchased tickets ahead, so we got in within a few minutes of arrival. (We later found out from friends that their Contiki tour didn't get to use the tour group line, so they waited in line like everyone else)....Inside the Vatican museum....I was surprised to find out that photography was allowed inside the museum. A big plus for photographers, but a definite minus for all the other people who get stuck behind people who photograph and pose in front of every exhibit.It wasn't hard for me to restrain from taking too many shots since most of the museum is one long, winding corridor of mediocre art. I'd be happy to never see another museum tapestry....
The wait was well worth it though. At the end of this corridor was a series of Raphael paintings. Here's Raphael's The School of Athens.... Immediately after the Raphael area, we entered the Sistine Chapel. The paintings were beautiful, but maybe due to the dim lighting of the entire room, the colors were not as vibrant when seen in person. A little bit disappointing.

No talking or photos are allowed inside, so I've taken this photo of the Sistine Chapel's ceiling from Wikipedia....From the Sistine Chapel there was a nice shortcut leading directly into St. Peter's Basilica, skipping yet another long line....This was the only time it rained on us during our entire trip.....St. Peter's Basilica. This is the largest church in the world, but compared to a large gothic church with its tall vertical elements meant to overwhelm the visitor, this place almost feels cozy. It's not until you walk around and look beyond the large pillars that you really get a sense of its size. My photos below don't do it justice. There are far better photos from the contributors on Wikipedia.St. Peter's Basilica is impressive in size, but it's not really beautiful. However, just inside the main entrance of the church, stood the much more beautiful Pieta by Michelangelo....Our first Swiss Guard sighting as we left the Vatican....After St. Peter's Basilica, the tour group disbanded, so Brooke and I found a nearby restaurant to have lunch and wait out the rain. For you to get a sense of the food prices, here's an itemized list of our lunch (which was fairly typical for our trip).....

8.50 Euros Meatballs w/ tomato sauce
5.00 Euros Sauteed artichoke hearts
8.50 Euros Pizza w/mushroom, bacon, mozarella
2.00 Euros Bottle of water
5.00 Euros 1/2 Liter of the house wine
4.00 Euros Cover charge (some places list it on the receipt as a "bread charge")
--------------
33.00 Euros (~ $46 US Dollars)
When we left the restaurant, the weather had cleared up, so we set out to visit a couple of churches, Santa Maria degli Angeli and Santa Maria della Vittoria.
Santa Maria degli Angeli (former home of the Roman baths)....
Inside Santa Maria della Vittoria is Bernini's St. Teresa in Ecstasy. I love Baroque sculptures and Bernini is definitely the best. Can you see the light coming from above? I had to pay 0.50 Euro for one minute of that....We had to go back to the hotel to get a new camera battery, so while we were in the area, we decided to visit just one more church: the Basilica Santa Prassede. Although it was just a small church, Brooke loved the Byzantine-style mosaics....Now that we had seen 5 churches already, we couldn't just stop. Instead, we set out on a walking tour of churches. Our next stop was San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peters-In-Chains Church) which houses Michelangelo's unfinished tomb of Pope Julius II with the famous statue of Moses and the chains that imprisoned Peter....Our next stops were the Church of San Clemente, Church of San Giovanni in Laterano, and finally the Scala Sancta (Holy Stairs) which may only be climbed on the knees. Brooke and I used the adjacent staircases.....City wall or aquaduct. We still don't know....We took the subway back to the Trevi Fountain area. As you can see it was fairly crowded that night.... The Pantheon (we'll talk more about it in a future post)....

By the Pantheon, at Osteria de Mario, we ate the worst $45 dollar meal of our lives . For every dish, salt was probably the #1 ingredient by mass. Our moods improved after we visited Gelateria Valentino. Of the 20 or so gelaterias we tried in Italy, this place was definitely the best, not only due to their amazing yogurt flavor, but also great fruit flavors that we hadn't had other places.

The Triton Fountain by Bernini. I loved seeing this fountain every night as we went to the Barberini metro station.....

Italy - Day 13 (Rome)

Day 13 was a travel day. We hopped on the tour bus in Florence, made a stop at another Autogrill, and before arriving in Rome, we made a stop at a winery near Orvieto. It turns out our tour guide, Cecilia, owns the Le Velette Winery....The vineyard with Orvieto in the background....

We got the tour of the property, including the cellar, and then got a great lunch and wine tasting....Before leaving she gave every couple a bottle of wine....We arrived in Rome at 4pm with just enough time to check into our hotel and catch the subway to the Spanish Steps for a sunset stroll.... With the tour group, we meandered through some quiet Roman streets. At some point on the walk we heard the sound of trickling water and a crowd of people in the distance, we rounded the corner of a very plain looking building, and set on the back wall of this building.....the Trevi Fountain! Here's a couple from our tour group throwing coins into the fountain. We were told to throw one coin if you wanted to come back to Rome, two coins to come back with the person you're with, and three coins to come back with someone new.....

Christmas - Part 2

After one week of being stuck in the house, the snow had cleared enough for us to drive around. One of the first things we did was meet my mom's side of the family for dim sum. Pictured below is my uncle and his daughter, Emily....Cousins Emily, Michael, and Serena playing Nintendo DS at the table....
Going to Skate King was an absolute time warp! This place has hosted every Seattle-area elementary school rolling skating field trip for as long as we can remember. We were probably Serena's age the last time we were inside. Fortunately, for the sake of my nostalgic side, the place hasn't changed a bit. It has a same mural on the back wall, the same old man showing off his skate/dance moves, the same tan leather skates, and with it, the same musty smell. Ahhh..it's good to be home.... At some point in this trip, I borrowed my brother's Nikon 50mm F/1.4 lens. All the photos in this post were shot using this lens. I love this lens for night time shots....Brooke and I spent a few hours just cruising residential neighborhoods looking for homes for sale. We'd love to get a place in the Wallingford or Phinney Ridge area for our eventual move back to Seattle. The pictures below were taken in Gas Works Park in Wallingford. The Fremont Troll tucked beneath the Aurora Bridge....Every conversation with my grandmother eventually turns to food. She's a great cook, so my trips home often include a cooking lesson. On this day she's teaching me how to make Ca Kho To (Vietnamese Clay Pot Catfish)....Cousins from my dad's side of the family were not so open to photographs...Our friends from San Jose were also up in Seattle to visit their family. Look how big their two boys have gotten....We spent a 20-something degree night walking through the Bellevue Botanical Gardens for their Garden D'Lights, where Christmas lights are arranged to look like all sorts of things, including grape vines, monkeys, peacocks, and jellyfish. It was definitely worth the visit, especially since it was free....