This was our second visit to Rome – the only city we duplicated on this trip from our honeymoon five years ago (which included Venice, Florence and Rome).  We arrived late afternoon, checked into this incredible AirBNB in Trastevere (the pics don’t do it justice), and set out for dinner.  Since we’d already seen much of Rome, our local friend sent over some suggestions for things we had not done.  She recommended a dinner of Roman-Jewish fare in the Jewish quarter at Giggetto, which turned out to be spot on.  For once, I got Ryan to indulge and we ordered crispy fried artichokes, fried squash blossoms filled with anchovies and cheese, and cannelloni ripieni – a sinfully decadent baked pasta filled with ground beef and béchamel.  Although rich, the portions were thankfully small, and we had enough energy for a night of wandering and sight seeing.   I was exhausted and dreamily reflecting on our first time in Rome as newlyweds. I couldn’t help but go quiet as Ryan tugged me through the streets of Rome taking in the sights until my feet ached.  He kept worrying something was wrong but the immensity and beauty of Rome is just so much to take in that I was simply overwhelmed!  We even worked up enough of an appetite for dinner 2 and stopped for late night snacks of burrata with caviar and a crunchy salad.

The next day, we took in more of the sights before a late afternoon reservation to visit the Vatican.  When we’d previously visited Rome it was over Easter weekend and the Vatican was closed for Easter services, so that was one thing I really did not want to miss.  I’m ashamed to admit I convinced Ryan to wear jeans even though it was quite hot, as I’d read everywhere that shorts were prohibited, only to find that tons of men were in shorts and a number of women were in super short shorts, tank tops, and even crop tops.    Oh well, at least I didn’t feel tacky or inappropriate….

The lines for the Vatican can be long but we made a reservation ahead of time and cruised right in.  The crowds are a bit overwhelming, but we both felt it was worth it.  Photos are not allowed in the Sistine Chapel, but I snapped a few in the Vatican Museums and Saint Peters Square.