The Much-Anticipated Escape to Roma!

For those of you who don't know, Rome has been high on Mana's list in terms of cities to see since back in 2001 when she was studying abroad at LSE. At that time, two of her best friends were studying abroad in Milan at Bocconi while she was studying at LSE in London, so she made a 5 day journey to Milan, Florence, Venice, and Verona. There wasn't enough time to make a trip to Rome and it became a family joke that Mana went to Italy, but missed the most historical and significant city of Italy!

When she shared this with Sahil, he got really excited about the idea of taking her to Rome, since he had been there and LOVED the city. When it came time to propose to Mana, he decided that while logistically he did not think taking a diamond ring through security overseas would be conducive to maintaining the element of surprise for Mana, it would be a fantastic distraction that would leave Mana thinking she was going to Rome to get proposed to while REALLY she would be proposed to the most romantic place in the US as ranked by the book, 1000 Places to See Before You Die. While Sahil's proposal was perfect and a complete surprise to Mana because it was prior to their "alleged" Rome trip, the big joke that resulted from his proposal was that he never took her to Rome!

Two and a half years later, this past week, we finally made that trip! We flew in on Thursday morning and stayed at a hotel only 5 minutes away walking distance from Termini station, located in the heart of Rome. On Thursday, we took the Metro to the Colisseum and walked around the beautiful piece of history and architecture that was built in A.D. 80. Since it was late in the day, we decided we'd return on our last day to go inside and get a full tour, but in the meantime we spent Thursday walking to the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, and the Victor Emmanuel Monument. We took in the city, ate some yummy gelati from a gelateria, and at sunset, made our way to our favorite site in Rome: the Trevi Fountain.

Beautiful and magnificent, we stared at the gorgeous monument of Neptune whose chariot is guided by seahorses and the incredible fountain that poured out of this creation that took over 100 years to build. We then explored the small streets around this area near the Barbarini stop and found a quaint Italian restaurant with quite possibly the best Tiramisu we've ever eaten! While at the restaurant, we listened to Dean Martin's "That's Amore" album and Mana got nostalgic realizing that every song played on that album was a classic that she had grown up hearing her Dad sing! After the first of many wonderful meals in Italy, we then headed over to a wine shop before heading home to our hotel!

On Friday, we woke up early and headed to Vatican City, where we went through the Vatican Musuem first and saw one of the most beautiful works of art in history in the one and only Sistine Chapel. The Sistine Chapel is home to Michelangelo's frescos "The Last Judgement" and "Genesis". It is said that he hung from the celing for 4 years to paint the magnificent work of art and we were both mesmerized by the Chapel. Sahil discretely took photos even though we weren't supposed to so that we could share our experience with you - look out for them as we post photos!

We then headed over to St. Peter's square on the gorgeous sunny day (Italy is SO much sunnier than Paris and London!) and marveled at St. Peter's Basilica. It is stunning and grandiose with enough gold to feed the whole world! We took it all in, walked around, prayed as the Catholics do, and Mana even went to go get penance (though there was no father in the confession booth). We had an amazing time and after spending a few hours in Vatican City, we headed to the Spanish steps.

As we made our way to the Spanish steps, we both were so enchanted by how Rome was modern, metropolitan, romantic, historical, and culturally enriching all in one city WITH fantastic cuisine! We arrived at the Spanish steps and Sahil did a second proposal (after being married for a year and a half, but STILL so fun!) where Mana originally thought she was going to be proposed to! We laughed and ran down the steps into a perfect cafe which overlooked the Spanish steps for dinner and drinks. After a few hours of banter, laughter, and taking the city in, we made our way back to our hotel to rest up for what would be another amazing day in Rome. On Saturday, we headed out see the rest of the sites in Rome by foot. On another beautifully sunny day, we walked to Capitol Hill, then headed over to the St. Angelos Castle which is where we discovered a cute carnival with kids ice skating to Lady Gaga's Bad Romance, carousels, and gelati everywhere! We continued on our trek across the bridge and made our way to Piazza Navona where we collected a wall hanging for our home (we've now collected pieces from Egypt, Costa Rica,and Morocco) and then finally to the Pantheon!

By evening, we headed over to Tiburtino, a remote island that is surrounded by a dam, and then walked through the other side of the city, or what we liked to call "the wrong side of the island". While our concierge told us that was where the nightlife in Rome took place, we decided that it was where no tourists ever go because it looks nothing like the rest of Rome! While we enjoyed exploring the entire city and had dinner on the "wrong side of the island" followed by mojitos as a nightcap, we made our way back home and decided after seeing how CUTE the Pantheon area was at night for dinner that we would have our last dinner on Sunday night there!

On Sunday, we decided since we saw all of Rome that we would make a day trip by bus to the Tivoli Gardens in Tivoli at Ville d'Este. We walked around the Tivoli Gardens which had beautiful fountains and landscape even in January and watched the water organs play. While Sahil expected the organs to spit out water (not sure why), he was disappointed when we all simply stared at the water organs after waiting an hour! It was really funny watching him wait for it to spit water at him and finally realize that the marvel of the gardens lay in the sights themselves!

Afterwards, we sat and watched as another carnival took place there and about 20 teenage girls got up on stage to do a dance to AR Rehman's Jai Ho. Although its no surprise that the song is popular in Italy as well, Mana was thrilled at the thought of how well India was represented by Slumdog Millionaire and the sheer level of international fame and attention Jai Ho has brought to the Indian Arts!

In the evening, we headed over to the Pantheon and had SO MUCH FUN eating at a cafe and drinking fun drinks during happy hour. We met a Norwegian family that was really fun and we were amused as the parents both smoked while the 2 of their sons smoked with them. After getting to know the fun, modern, and totally European family, we headed home. We played cards, drank wine, and reminisced about our weekend adventures!

Monday morning we got up early, headed to the Coliseum and took a tour to get the full understanding of the significance of the stadium. We learned about the type of entertainment Roman Emperors and the Roman people amused themselves with: gladiators and slaves in battle mode! After we learned about this aspect of Roman history in detail, we took some photos acting like gladiators in the arena, and eventually headed straight for the airport. A few hours later, we were in our Paris loft catching up homework and reconnecting with the world!

Our five days in Rome were amazing and worth the wait, in Mana's opinion, and it's an experience we will remember for the rest of our lives!