Italy trip part the last: Rome and Perugia

[sienamystic]

Nuns in Rome know where to get the good gelato. I'm sure we were paying twice as much because this was the fancy artisinal whatevers chain but oh my god, their flavors were incredible.



We opted to stay at The Beehive, a sort of hostel-ish hotel (or hotel-ish hostel) that is actually quite near the train station. You'd think it would be a bit of a mess, but you walk three blocks and the bustle (and more dubious people) are kind of left behind. You ring the buzzer at the door and step inside and see this:



People talk a lot about the quality of light in Rome.



That's because it's true. I don't know why, it just is.

I had no idea that between my last two visits, they merged the Forum and the Palatine and the Colosseum onto one ticket - the Forum used to be free. But while we were wandering around and I was being confused, we walked to the top of a hill and found San Bonaventure al Palatino, which had just hosted a wedding and was now open for tours. The church was ok, but what was best was the garden out back:









We took a day trip to Perugia for the chocolate festival. I had spent a lot of time there in 1998 for a summer abroad so it was nice to see the place again.



This is the street I lived on - turn left and my apartment was down the street a bit.



Back in Rome, we saw sights large:



And small:



(This was a birth announcement for a new little girl named Margherita.)



A fountain detail in Vatican City

And a wacky house up near the top of the Spanish Steps:







I'm already trying to figure out how to get back.

Comments

[genarti]

All of these pictures are gorgeous! The light and the gardens are just lovely, and all those little comical architectural grotesqueries are great.

[sienamystic]

We need more houses available with monster doors and windows, really.