Roma, Italia

Here I am in glorious Roma! This city will be my base of operations for the next month or so, as I help Amelia with her wedding, and later travel around with Katie (both Georgetown girls, by the way, cleary we are a cosmopolitan bunch).

I've been taking my time, and slowly exploring the city, saving my characteristic mad rushes through urban centers for the surrounding towns.

Ah Roma! It's so full of ... old stuff.
Here I am spending an afternoon exploring the Forum:

The Pantheon is still one of my favorite monuments...

I've had lots of time to explore the charming tiny streets and beautiful churches of Trastevere...

Santa Maria in Trastevere has kick-ass 12th century mosaics:

And the place is just brimming with this kind of thing:
(please note: I did not pay these people to do this, Rome just makes everything romantic).

My extended stay in Rome is being made possible by the hospitality of the fabulous Amelia and her fiance, Matt (who clearly didn't know what he was getting into), who are having me to stay with them in their Posh Roman digs through their wedding this May.

Amelia poses before the excavated ruins at Largo Argentina (incidentally, also our tram stop).


Over a fabulous dinner of hand-made gnocci in thier marble-tiled apartment, Amelia and Matt try to kill me with cuteness: