Rome is a multidimensional city that has a lot to offer to all kinds of travelers.  We had a great visit, but didn’t even begin to get to know this gorgeous, history rich metropolis.  It always surprises me which memories become the standouts from a place and the thing that is surprising is the best memories are the unexpected moments, not the things on the list.  These are some of my favorite memories from Rome.

These are Moka pots, although I call them my little coffee soldiers, and they have been around since 1933.  They are like science in a coffee pot.   Water goes in the bottom section and in the middle is a little metal basket where the ground magic is suspended.  Steam pushes the boiling water up through the basket and coffee  appears as if by magic (but really it’s science) in the little second story pot.  Five minutes and viola, you have a really good cup of coffee.  There were a few problems though.  Bleary eyed and groggy from jet lag the first morning, I could not get the little fellows to work, but thankfully, there was also a Nespresso machine on the counter and Google on the computer.   There were a few extra pots and so I used them all!  They don’t make too much coffee at a time, so I needed to use them all a few times.  Everything was going great until Scott put them in the dishwasher and ruined them.  Lucia, our very sweet hostess actually apologized to us since she hadn’t warned us that the dishwasher would ruin them and told us to throw them away, but I used them anyway.  They just didn’t look as pretty.

This is Ashley surfing on the coffee table for her English assignment.  Our apartment was crazy beautiful and I had no idea how nice it was when we booked it.  I still can’t figure out why the price was so reasonable.  Maybe it was the six flights of stairs?  Anyway, Ashley had written a “How to Stand Up on Your Surfboard” paper for her English class right before we left home.  The next lesson (which I failed to read ahead for) was to create a presentation with pictures or drawings to go a along with the paper.  So, we improvised, and this coffee table made  a great surf board!

I loved this fat cat asleep on his scooter with the washing in the distance.  Never had I imagined that laundry could be a thing of beauty, but here it decorates the buildings and alleys like confetti of all shapes and sizes.

Ashley and I hung out our own Italian laundry.

I loved that the kids got to play on something built so long ago that has been seen by eyes and touched by hands for thousands of years.

Grant took this funny picture in the Roman Forum.

I want the pink scooter.

Grant’s favorite memory of Rome was probably his ride to the train station with our luggage driven by our very sweet and very beautiful hostess (don’t worry, he doesn’t read my blogs).  We left him here…

And found him here.  We walked.

Now on to the next adventure…Cinque Terre…with a stop in Pisa.