Rome, if you want to...

After a summer filled with PSA scans and surgeries, bad boyfriends and yucky prerequisites, the Mackh family was ready for a break. We decided the eschew our normal, lovely Thanksgiving for a vacation abroad. Mom almost didn't let us go because she was sure that my MBA-stressed brain couldn't handle it, but we did all right. I decided that Italy was the most digestible, and Rome and Venice were still on my list of places that I need to see, and soon. I also thought my history-buff dad would LOVE Florence and all the glories of ancient Rome, so off we went.

I was so pleasantly surprised by Rome. I feel as though with the Vatican at its heart, Rome has a tendency from the outside to seem immense, as though its reach is endless and one would become lost there. While the city does have modern-day sprawl to it, the heart of it operates like a bustling village. I suppose it helped that we were there in the shoulder-season, but really Rome was lovely, welcoming, and easy to meander through. Our first day, we didn't make it much farther than a late lunch and the Piazza del Popolo before jet-lag won, but it was still great fun. And we had this amazing torta di ricotta with dark chocolate shavings on top that, in itself, was worth the price of the flight. We got a little lost in the park, as we wended our way back to the hotel, but who's complaining? The moon was full and the storm clouds made the perfect Gothic backdrop - very Ides of March, heavy with foreshadowing (don't worry, we made it home).

On our second day, we tackled the Vatican, which was beautiful. Work never quite goes away, so I was madly text messaging my peer from the top of St. Peter's, which must be sacrilege, but I made it out, so perhaps all is forgiven. The Sistine Chapel, is swathed in low-light loveliness and hushed whispers. It is hard to imagine the years it took to perfect each gesture and symbol in the intertwined figures. Surfeit with art, we wandered back through Rome to the Piazza Navona and had a late, late snack in a cafe there. About halfway through the meal, a Chaplin-style clown set up shop in the center of the piazza, making fun of all comers. He was hilarious and soon had the whole crowd rolling with laughter. It was idyllic, and so not the way that Americans spend their evenings...just lovely. After our snack, we wandered through the Pantheon, which has been a temple to so many faiths, and listened to musicians playing in the piazza outside. I could truly live in a city with this type of culture. After the obligatory coin toss and wishes and the lovely Trevi Fountain, we ate dinner at Colline Emiliane, near our hotel and the Piazza Barberini. Everything was excellent, but the show stopper was my dessert: torta di ricotta, laced with amarena cherries, and crowned with a crumbly top...seriously one of the best desserts of my life; I must try to figure out how they made it.

Day three was all about Ancient Rome. We walked from our hotel to the Victor Emmanuel memorial, with it's amazing views of the city, and then went on to Colosseum. It did rain on us a bit, but the interplay of the storm clouds, shot through with the occasional rays of sunlight, did tremendous things for the ruins. It is amazing to think of the culture (and mayhem) that emanated from this tiny locus of Roman life. After Ancient Ro

me, we wandered through Trastevere on a somewhat fruitless search for restaurant that one of my friends recommended, and listened to part of the Mass in Italian in the local church. After a long walk back to our neighborhood, we had a yummy dinner at a local family restaurant and crashed early in preparation for our train to Florence in the morning. All in all, I really loved Rome and would go back again in a heartbeat. The people, history, and food were all amazing. We had an absolutely lovely time.