Italy: Day 2

We woke up *somewhat* early on Sunday morning, and I was fighting off the Prosecco hangover from the night before. Regardless we hit the pavement and headed out for a lunch of pizzas which helped massively. On our way, Matt and I happened across the Armenian Church in Rome. Yes, we were there for less than 24 hours and Matt found the Armos.



We then headed to Barberini Square to catch the hop on-hop off bus. We took the full tour and saw the sites from the top of the bus.





Parking? Si!


Temple of Vesta - believed to be the oldest building in Rome.

We jumped off at the Colosseum and took one of the guided tours. It really was amazing to see this thing in person.




The tour also took us over to the Roman Forum, which was awesome as well. We stood up on Palatine Hill and learned about the stories of Romulus and Remus, how Rome was populated, and the wild parties that used to go on.


Looking down to the party spot. Did you know those who were of the highest social class would gather here for parties and then eat and drink until full to the brim, and would then stick a feather down their throat to puke it all out and go at it agian? Yeah, no thanks....


Here Kitty Kitty........ I was a bit disappointed that this was the only cat we actually saw. I had heard so much about how many cats there are in Rome!

After a long, LONG day, we headed back to our little bar in the hotel for Campari, and we were directed to this great little place right around the corner from the hotel by the bartender. Matt and I shared some Bruschetta and Pasta Cartoccio Frutta di Mare. For my second course I had some Veal Meatballs with a mushroom sauce that was to DIE for. And a nice bottle of Chianti, of course. Sadly, it was the one place we didn't pick up a business card for!

We crashed hard that night. Luckily we got to sleep in, but wanted to make sure we got up in time for breakfast. SO SO glad we did.

Italy: Day 1

After running through the Frankfurt airport at full-speed to catch our connector flight to Rome, Matt and I were whisked up by our driver @ the airport and driven down the crazy, CRAZY streets of Rome to our hotel.


My first view of the Colosseum.

Arriving totally wiped out and exhausted by the 24 hours of travel time, we were greeted by the sweetest sight ever: A bottle of Prosecco and chocolate cake.



We sank into the couch and ate 1/2 the cake and drank a glass of Prosecco, then promptly passed out for a couple hours (thank GOD dinner time is 830pm in Italy!) After we woke up we showered, drank the rest of the Prosseco, and headed downstairs to the bar for a couple of Campari & Sodas.


PS - Check out Matt wearing Cobblestone ;) His handknit sweaters got lots of use on this trip!

Our first night in Rome happened to be Valentine's Day, and we had this fabulous four-course meal already arranged for us. I fell in love with Italy walking through the streets that night!!!

Farewell Italia!

Beau - Just In Time To Catch Our Plane!

Details later - we're out the door to SF in 1 hour!

Proof: My Thumb is Black

Not only do I manage to kill almost everything I plant in my backyard, now I have proof that when I DO nurture something into growth, I can still screw it up.


I don't think Paperwhites are supposed to do that.

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Also: Sneak peak of a finished Beau... only 48 hours to spare!

An Almost-Beau

It's almost time for a seaming party!

Beau Progress

At least we know it will fit. Sorry for the crappy photo, it was nighttime and I was using my iPhone. Waddayah want from me?



I'm 1/3 of the way through the second sleeve. Serious knitting will be going on in the next 48 hours.

The Flag Re-Emerges

Nothing overly exciting going on around here lately. We're on a countdown to our Italy trip and trying to finish up all those little last minute things we need to do and no, we haven't even THOUGHT about packing yet. Except for my knitting because come on, we all know that's the only thing that is going to keep me sane on the looong plane rides, right? I'm taking all the yarn and such for Laurent on the plane, a skein of Noro Sock for a pair of basic toe-ups while we are making our way around the country, and 2 random skeins for some slouchy hats, which are special requests from some friends.

Speaking of the trip, I was home alone last night and managed to finish up the front of Beau, despite having to rip back and re-knit the entire yoke (I added 14 extra rows. Whoops).


This was dinner last night. Yummy homemade Tabbouleh and boxed wine. And a manic dog in the background who was staring at the ball she rolled up right against my foot.

Only one sleeve to go, but it needs to be done no later than Sunday. No pressure.

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The only other interesting photo I have to post is this one of my husband from Saturday night.



He broke out the flag again for the UFC fight; Karo Parisyan, to be specific. If there's one thing to be said about the Armos, they are very loyal people. I personally think he won the fight because he's a great athlete, but hubby claims it was because he was wearing the flag.