loves of my life!

Two weekends ago I had more of my family come and visit. My grandma, my great aunt, my aunt, and my great aunt-in-law all made the trip out to Italy! And as a surprise to them my mom came in as well! :D It was sooo much fun having them all here. I'm going to break this down by days!

Also, expect MANY pictures! You get me and my mom together and you know the camera goes into overdrive! :D

FRIDAY:

Everyone got into Rome and I met them at the airport to help them figure out where to go and what to do. My mom stayed with me, but the rest of the gang headed off to their hotel. After some power naps by all, we went to the historic center for dinner. After dinner we walked to the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. To get everyone back to the hotel I introduced them to the public transportation system. My mom and me left around 10:30 to get back to my apartment, but didn't end up getting home until around midnight! Did I mention how much I love the public transportation here?

My grandma and Aunt Nadine in front of the Pantheon. Two of the greatest people I know!

Grandma and Jan.

Invisible man street performer.

Tossing coins in the Trevi Fountain. Lisa, mother, grandma, Nadine, and myself.

Pizza. I'm going to miss this when I get home!

SATURDAY:

Saturday everyone slept in and then my mom and I went to the hotel to have lunch with everyone. We were going to go out and about, but it was May 1st, which is Labor Day, thus almost everything was closed. So after wandering around for an hour looking for the restaurant that the hotel assured us was close, we gave in and just bought sandwiches and a bottle of wine from a street market. Since my family was going on a tour Sunday through Friday, they had a meeting in the afternoon. While they were at the meeting I took my mom to Aventine Hill. We had a fabulous time just walking around enjoying the weather. After we got back to the hotel I took everyone to see my apartment. We were going to go to my favorite restaurant for dinner, but they were all full. We ended up going to one down the street though, and it was delicious! After dinner I was going to take them back to their hotel by means of bus, because one conveniently lead from my apartment to their hotel, but after waiting 45 minutes for the tram, we decided to just get them a cab. Unfortunately since it was the holiday almost all of them were booked!! Luckily I was able to flag one down and get everyone home!!

Orange garden on Aventine Hill.

There was a wedding in one of the churches.

Dome of St. Peters.

Church courtyard.

Cute windows.

My beautiful mother.

Me and my grandma in my apartment.

SUNDAY:

Sunday was the first official day of my family's tour, so while they were touring Rome, I took my mom to Tivoli, Italy. We had such a good time! We went to Villa d'Este and the gardens were all in bloom! And this time almost all the fountains were up and running! It was great! We spent many hours just wandering around, then walked through town a bit before going back to the train station. Just our luck, since it was still considered the holiday weekend, the trains weren't running on the usual schedule, so we had an additional 2 hours to kill. We spent the first hour sitting by the river which was fabulous, but then it started to downpour! We finally got on the train but since everyone was headed back to the city after their weekend vacations, there were no seats available. When we got back into Rome, it was still down pouring! We got back to my apartment and got into dry clothes and then went to eat dinner at the hotel. We just picnicked in the hotel room and it was a really good time! That night we said goodbye to everyone, as they were headed off to Venice at 6 AM.

The water organ, if you look closely you can see the pipes. It is completely played by the water in the fountain.

Madre.

Fiori e fontana.

Photo shoot time!

Madre's turn.

Tulip.

Me being a Pegasus.

Oranges.

Oh how we love public transportation.

Can you feel the love?

MONDAY:

Originally my mom was going to leave on Monday morning, but since we were having too good of a time, she ended up staying an extra day! We started off the morning by going to Cimitero del Verano. It's one of the largest cemeteries in Rome. I know a lot of people think it's weird, but both me and my mother share an odd fascination of cemeteries. I find them very calming. After walking around there I took her to Arcibasilica Papale di San Giovanni in Laterano, otherwise known as St. Johns. It is the most important basilica in Rome, and is the Pope's church. After that we were going to go to the baths, but they closed early on Mondays. Instead we cooked lunch in my apartment. We then went back to the city center and I dropped my mom off at the Spanish Steps. I figured I would be a good student and go to at least one of my classes. After class, I located my mom at the Pantheon, we then dropped off our stuff and went to my favorite restaurant, Le Fate. We had a lovely meal and I even got a free shot of Limoncello (my mom's came with her meal)! I think they're starting to recognize me! That's probably a bad sign! After dinner, I had to pack. I sent almost everything home with my mom, as I didn't want to haul my suitcases around Europe at the end of semester!

Angel in Verano. Taken by me, edited by my mother. I'm pretty much in love with this photo!!

Verano.

Cat in Verano.

St. John's, I'll have another blog on this, so stay tuned!

Piazza Navona, taken by my mother.

Spanish Steps, taken by my mother.

Trevi Fountain, taken by my mother.

Tuesday morning my madre left and I had to return to reality! The joys of school.....speaking of which I should probably be studying for my final today! Oops!