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After our trip to Innsbruck, my parents set off for Athens while Ryan and I settled in to a very snowy week in Munich. Admittedly, it felt weird to be at work with so much snow outside. In Seattle, people would have freaked out long ago and headed home, and by headed home, I mean they got in their cars and sat on the freeway for six hours. Abandoning your car on the Freeway: a Seattle tradition unlike any other....

The blizzard from my office.

On Thursday evening Ryan and I flew to Rome where my parents would join us the next morning. We won the AirBnB lottery with our place - really the most fantastic two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment we've stayed in (and it was one block from the Colosseum!). Our host was also fabulous, giving us several amazing restaurant suggestions and even forcing the grocery store across the street to open their locked doors so we could get a bottle of wine for the night. But back to those restaurant suggestions!  For our first night we chose a close, family-run restaurant in the neighborhood where Ryan realized that he would rather marry eggplant than his fiancée. Truly, this restaurant was amazing. I even took the time to write a glowing review on Trip Advisor. I only give out 1 or 5 stars, people; there is no middle ground. While I could tell you how great the fried ricotta balls, bruschetta, or spaghetti carbonara were, that would just be wasting my breath (finger strength?). I will instead just cut to the chase: eggplant parmesan, roman style. We ordered this almost as an afterthought; a dish to round out our meal. However, it quickly stole the show with its melty cheesy goodness, delicious marinara sauce, and cooked-to-perfection eggplant. Ryan very seriously contemplated ordering one or two more of these dishes for dessert, but I convinced him that we were already full and should just try and come back another time. Although we did not return during the trip it certainly was not due to Ryan's lack of trying. Every day, every meal decision, he mentioned this eggplant and how we should go back there for "dessert." Yes, he wanted eggplant for dessert. 

Without knowing how good this was going to be, we did not snap a photo before digging in. This is a stolen photo from another user on Trip Advisor.

Since coming home from this trip we have made eggplant twice, trying our damnedest to replicate the dish. We are getting closer...

The next morning, my parents arrived and we hit the streets. Two nice strangers gave us their tickets to the Colosseum, mentioning that they were valid for two days and that they were leaving. We bought two more for my parents and waited for their arrival.

Buying tickets on a computer from 1998

After heading into the Colosseum, we discovered the "free" tickets had already been used so we were turned away at the turnstile. Oops. Rather than wait in the very long line to buy two more tickets, we decided to save my parents' tickets for another day and instead walked to Vatican City. We watched and subsequently made fun of my dad as he took selfies with his Nikon, and then headed to the Vatican Museum. Sadly, when I requested photos from him for this blog post, he did not offer that selfie up. While housing many beautiful and interesting works of art, including four papal apartment rooms painted by Raphael, the highlight of the Vatican Museum is the Sistine Chapel, home of the Papal conclave and Michelangelo's The Last Judgment. My sly father snuck in some pictures of this strictly-no-photos chapel.

Sunset outside of the Vatican Museum

Castel Sant'Angelo

St Peter's Basilica

After our first day's adventure we bought some more wine to enjoy in the apartment before heading to the next fantastic restaurant that our host suggested. This time, though, we went to an adorable pizza place that was decorated to provide the illusion that you were dining outside while inside. The pizza was very tasty (nothing tops that Milan pizza yet though). Have you guys noticed yet how all of my Italy posts revolve around food?

On Saturday, we joined a free walking tour, beginning at the Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Steps). Our guide was running late which meant my parents and Ryan wanted coffee. While exiting said coffee shop, somehow, someone hocked a giant disgusting loogie on to the side of my left boot. We are assuming it must have come from an apartment window above the coffee shop; it really was a mystery and I still wonder if it was my dad (just kidding). I immediately used a napkin to wipe it off, and then spent the next 20 minutes or so trying to stifle my gag reflex. I still want to vomit just thinking about it as I write this, three weeks later! You're welcome, everyone, for sharing this little anecdote. But at least the walking tour was wonderful.

Tour group

After the walking tour we explored a museum featuring the inventions of Leonardo Da Vinci. As you can see I was very proud of the bridge I built.

On our final night we used the good old combination of Trip Advisor, Foursquare, and Yelp to find our dinner destination. After turning a deaf ear to Ryan's pleas for more eggplant, we headed to another adorable Italian restaurant and enjoyed sharing lasagna romana, spaghetti carbonara, gnocchi with pesto, and a seafood linguine. All were fantastic, of course.

So now you're wondering, did we ever make it back to the Colosseum? Fear not, we saved the best for last. On Saturday we had discovered that the first Sunday of each month is free entrance to the Colosseum. Despite only having a few hours until our taxi would take us to the airport, we squeezed in visits to the Colosseum, Palatine, and Forum.

Cappuccino to start the day (for Ryan)

Everything was "so-called"

Time to say "Ciao!" to Rome and head back to Munich for Super Bowl XLIX. Here are some photos of us enjoying beers before our spirits were crushed like grapes. At least we had some fun with my parents on their last night in Europe.

Smiles now but the tears came later

Miss you guys and hope you can come again!

Until next time!

xoxo
L & R