We flew out of PHL w/the Pitt Womens Baskball team. Jackie was awestruck. Luckily I was wearing a Penn State shirt.

Piazza del Popolo

Easy on the Freudian comments

Pano - Looking over Piazza del Popolo

Romulus & Remus

the traditional founders of Rome, w/the wolf that raised them

Spanish Steps & Piazza di Spagna

"Fountain of the Old Boat" at the base of the steps

great place to get some water,

relax, and people watch. Also lots of expensive shopping within the area (Prada, Yves Saint Laurent, Fendi, Armani, Versace, Bulgari, etc)

cool sundial clock above the steps

While the girls were buying food for dinner, I bought every Italian beer I could find

S.P.Q.R.

SPQR: Latin for Senātus Populusque Rōmānus ("The Senate and the People of Rome" or "The Senate and Roman People"). It's now used as the official signature of the government and can be found everywhere around Rome.

McDonalds?

covered in marble and adorned with romanesque statues

McDonalds first restrauant in Italy (1986)

We had gelato at least once a day. Good stuff

Street artist

with a sense of humor / lack of patience from the tourists

Kappa does Heinz Ketchup

Trevi Fountain

Davide & Jackie enjoying our first real italian meal

Jackie getting Davide to make a (semi)serious face

Me & Carla

We're being whipped around in Davide's Yaris. He gave us an awesome night tour of the city, at high speeds no less.

We went to Coyote, a nightclub on Testaccio. Pretty cool vibe until a drunked bar tour group showed up. Sadly they were almost all Americans.

Davide's friend Gianmaria. Good guy; gave me a quick mixology less on the difference between a Negroni and an Americano. Hint: the Americano is weaker, we get club soda instead of gin.

Carla's apt building

There are water fountains everywhere in Rome. This one was next to the bus stop near the apt. It was great since the water is cold and it was pretty hot when we were there.

There were FOUR of these outside the Apothecary next to the bus stop

Trevi Fountain

Approximately 3,000 Euros are thrown into the fountain each day and are collected at night.

Pantheon

originally built as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome. Later rebuilt 125 AD during Hadrian's reign.

it contains the tombs of Raphael, Victor Emmanuel II

Dome & oculus

Piazza Navona

this square follows the plan of an ancient Roman stadium

you will see scenes from Dan Brown's Angels and Demons shot here

Fountain of the Four Rivers

One of the figures in the sculpture is looking up in repulse toward the church (which a rival of the sculpture built)

Piazza Navona

Many of the stores were closed during the middle two weeks in August while the Romans go away for vacation

San Salvatore in Lauro

The church was really dark inside spare this glowing green relic

Castel Sant'Angelo (Mausoleum of Hadrian)

Tiber

Italy's 3rd longest river and Rome's water souce

Foosball!

OK so they made the Porta-Shitter look nice, but it's still the same on the inside right?

Flush!?! It even sprayed (weakly) the poop plate (splash sheild)

Zidane. Possibly the greatest player I've ever seen. One of the most 'memorable' final moments of an athlete's career as well.

Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar of Augustan Peace)

2 lost soccer balls in a Roman ruin

The twins

Back at the Spanish Steps for some more people watching

Some tourists were more saavy filling their bottles then others

Local #1a

Flag of Italy shoes? Check.

Local #1b

Tight shirt exposing chest hair? Check.

Local #2a

Mullet? Check plus!

Local #1b

I've seen a lot of mullets in my travels, but never as many densely grouped as in Rome.

Piazza della Repubblica

they have some movie premiers here

Roma Termini

catching the train to..

Ostia

the beach. Only about 30min train from Rome.

Making dinner. Apparently fresh mozzarella made from buffalo milk is the way to go because "the poor people eat the cow mozzarella". Maybe my palette is unrefined because they all tasted great to me.

Do not let Jackie use the expensive wine glasses you bought in Milan. You have been warned.

There were a lot of bike trails along the roads in Rome. Did not see many people using them, but it was probably because of the time and heat.

Pyramid of Cestius & Porta San Paolo

Cestius probably intended the pyramid to serve as a commemoration to himself

Aurelian Wall

Rome has two sets of walls. The inner (Servian Wall) and outer (Aurelian Wall)

Pano - Circus Maximus

First/largest circus in ancient Rome. 700,000 Italians celebrated here after they won the World Cup in 2006. Usually it's cover in grass and people have picnics and play soccer, but it was too hot when we were there.