Bella Roma

I pretty much always knew that I would go to graduate school. My parents both have advanced degrees (which is pretty inspiring) and I was always a good student, so the question was not 'if', but rather where, when, and how. During my two-year stint working in "Corporate America" (at that most corporate of companies GE, but in that decidedly not corporate of places Boulder) I had discovered the concept of historic preservation and adaptive reuse in a romance novel (I kid you not). I embarked on what I thought was a pretty thorough job of researching and visiting grad schools, ultimately choosing to write my own degree through the auspices of the Humanities Program at the University of Colorado at Denver. Ironically, though perhaps typically, it was only after I finished my degree and started working that I was knowledgeable enough in the field to wonder if I really should have pursued a different degree, like perhaps a whole program in Urban Design instead of a handful of classes. Hmmm.....

Casting any doubts aside, however, easily the best part of my post-graduate studies happened right at the end when I got to spend my final, summer term in Italy. Due to the professors' personal connections with the program, to be eligible one had to be a student at Temple, Yale, or...CU Denver. Pretty sweet how that worked out. My wonderfully-supportive boyfriend at the time, one Troy Raarup, encouraged me to apply for the long program--a two-week historic preservation supplement following a month of study in international preservation practice, urban design, and architectural history. Seemingly before I knew it, I was flying off to Roma. I lived in a sixth-floor apartment on the Campo dei Fiori with 9(!) other roommates, and spent the summer touring, drawing, water-coloring, reading, and generally soaking up the architectural masterpiece that is Italy. After the program ended, Troy flew over to meet me. We traveled for two weeks and got engaged in the middle of our trip! As you can imagine, Rome holds a special place in my heart--it was quite the life-altering summer.

Since we've lived in Europe we've gotten to visit a lot of places, including Italy. But, we had not made it back to Rome until just recently. In January, we sat down with our 2011 calendars and realized that between houseguests, apartment hunting, moving, and, oh yes, a BABY we only had a few opportunities to travel. So, in mid-March we seized the moment and set off for a long weekend in Rome.

We stayed in our favorite neighborhood, in a cute B&B overlooking the Piazza Sant'Andrea della Valle. We set off to find old haunts, visit some new places, and generally rediscover the city.



This was the view from our B&B bedroom window! After getting checked in, the first stop was the Campo dei Fiori and my old apartment building.



At top, that's me 7(!!!) years ago, posing in the doorway of my apartment building. At bottom, it's the recreated shot. It cracks me up that I am (coincidentally) wearing blue-and-black outfits in both these pictures.



Top is the 2011 shot. My apartment was in the tangerine building just behind my left shoulder, on 2nd-to-top floor with the balcony. The shot at the bottom was taken from the living room. Notice the balcony railing?



Pretty views of the market, taken from above back then...





And pretty views down in the market today. I used to buy my fruits and vegetables here almost daily.



In a city as old as Rome, things don't change that rapidly. And yet I found it surprising, and somehow comforting, when we discovered a particular old favorite was still in business. Take, for example, the Blue Ice gelateria and the "Campo Panini" sandwich shop in the 'hood.



At top, posing in front of the sandwich counter. The paninis were as good as ever! At bottom, well, that's a reference to a particularly ridiculous/moronic/funny-only-in-hindsight incident wherein I foolishly wrecked a motorino in what amounts to a parking lot. Today, the little piazetta is a bicycle-share station.

In addition to personal favs, we also walked ourselves silly visiting the major sites, like the Pantheon...

(Quick aside, but after we got back we saw a very cool special on CNN about recent research that suggests that the Pantheon might have been built as a sundial to mark the Equinox and coincide with the founding date of Rome! Click Here to check it out. Once you see it, this picture will be even cooler.)



The Spanish Steps...



Bramante's Tempieto in Trastevere...



Bernini's Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi in the Piazza Navona...



The Galleria Borghese, with its collection of stunning Bernini sculptures, as seen at dusk...



The truly incredible ruins of the Roman Forum, as seen from the Palatine Hill...



The Colosseum, the Arch of Titus, and the Forum...



(Hilarious and perfect baby bump shot. This was taken as I was walking down some stairs on the Palatine.)



The Ponte Sant'Angelo with the Castel Sant'Angelo at back...



Chiaroscuro shot of a fountain in the forecourt of St. Peter's Square...



We even had the unbelievably coincidental sighting of my tour guide, Davide Macchi, from way back on my first trip to Italy! Seriously, I met this guy when I toured with my choir in 2000!!!

We arrived on Italian National Day, marking the 150th Anniversary of the unification of Italy; saw the running of the Rome Marathon; ate several delicious meals and copious amounts of gelato; and generally had a ball rediscovering one of our favorite cities in the world. And, like always, we threw our coins in the Fontana di Trevi to ensure our return...



Rome Photo Album - Click Here