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 In March, I took a page from Melanie, my Hot in Cleveland alter-ego, and cashed in all my points and took my best friend to Europe. Unlike Melanie, we went to Italy – not Paris. I didn’t crash land in Cleveland – though Tom did grow up in that area – and I didn’t see my ex-husband on the plane.
Instead, I got engaged!
Our trip to Italy was special for so many reasons. Tom and I come from big Italian families and wanted to explore our heritage. We had both been working hard and wanted to take a much-needed break before a crush of big projects came our way later in the spring. Finally, who wouldn’t want to be in the most romantic place on earth with the one you love?
The entire trip was just extraordinary – starting with our flight on SwissAir out of Zurich. I gave Tom the window seat because I knew he would appreciate it more than I – but we were both blown away when we looked down below on the snow-capped Alps.
Landing in Rome, our first goal was to stay awake as long as possible and get on “local time” as quickly as we could. That first night, we wandered around Rome, looking for a place to eat and stumbled upon La Bruschetta, our first Italian meal in Italy.
I was surprised at how close everything is in Rome – it’s a very walkable city. The fabled Spanish Steps were right around the corner from where we stayed at the Hotel Eden. When I say that Rome is walkable, though, I don’t mean it’s easy to navigate. It took forever for us to find the Trevi Fountain because the maps were so confusing. Among the 1,200 pictures Tom took, there are quite a few of me with a cup of coffee in one hand and my face buried in a map.
It was worth it when we finally found the beautiful Trevi Fountain – a terminus of the ancient Roman aqueduct system. As is the custom of travelers throughout the world, we threw coins into the Fountain to assure our return to Rome – they say about $3,500 is dropped into the Fountain every day. Tom added about a handful – and come to find out, it’s believed that if you throw three coins into its spring-fed waters, you will soon be married. Imagine that!
Once we were on “Roman time,” we set out to explore the Vatican and all it has to offer. We hired Caligero “Jerry” Mancuso, a local tour guide who was a walking encyclopedia of art, architecture and history. He also knows all the wonderful, out-of-the-way places to eat a great meal or sip a glass of wine. With Jerry, we felt more like locals than tourists, and his knowledge enhanced our understanding of the Eternal City.
We tackled St. Peter’s Basilica first. The sweeping piazza buzzed with worshippers, tourists, workers and security, and inside, it’s even bigger: More than 60,000 worshippers can congregate inside St. Peter’s. You can climb up to the top of St. Peter’s dome for panoramic views of the city, but the line looked like it would take forever - we thought we would come back later to see if the line had died down, but we didn't get the chance. There is just so much to see and do.
The artistry in St. Peter’s is astounding – from Bernini’s altar canopy to Michelangelo’s Pieta. Everywhere you look, another beautiful artifact, painting or sculpture is revealed. Tom and I were fascinated by one out-of-the way alcove that appeared to be draped in rich textiles – in fact, it was carved marble!
And speaking of my future husband, Tom reveled in his Italian heritage throughout our trip – as he actively sought out every reference to his surname that he could find. We found San Vitale church. We found Via Vitale roads and alleyways. And then, at St. Peter’s Basilica, we found the ultimate Vitale: Tom’s name is carved on the back door. An artist named Vitale has a crucifixion scene on the back door to the Vatican - and the Bertinellis were nowhere to be found. Tom's never going to let me live this one down!
But St. Peter’s is just one facet of the Vatican. We were able to visit the breath-taking Sistine Chapel, but unfortunately we could not take pictures. We also toured the Vatican Museum, housing the major historic artifacts and artistic achievements of the Catholic Church.
The Map Room was my favorite part of the Vatican Museum. It was amazing. Here you can see how people viewed and explored the world hundreds of years ago. When they drew these maps, men literally walked the earth and documented their findings. They didn't have GPS or Google. I'm amazed at how accurate these maps were and they were over 400 years old!
Tom got a kick out of Nero’s bathtub. It must be nice to be the Roman Emperor: Nero's red marble tub sat atop a pedestal. Apparently, he would fill it with 20 or 30 women and light small fires underneath to keep the water warm.
After a long day of walking through St. Peter’s and the Vatican Museum - I wanted a long bath - but first, we stopped for what was the most indulgent meal of the trip: Homemade fettuccini carbonara. Prepared tableside, they cracked a raw egg over the hot pasta and sizzling bacon. The food was so hot, it cooked the egg. It felt so decadent, but we’d earned it – we walked 10 miles that day alone!
In the next few weeks, I’ll have another slideshow and more tales from our journey – so many wonderful and amazing things happened, it’s hard to know where to begin or end. I hope you enjoy these memories!
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Comments
surprise this is Bonifacio your friend from Rome, took me a little long but at the end I was able to get in touch with you.I have a lot things to tell but I'm so happy that I don't know where to start, first of all I hope you're are going to read my message,because I don't know if this is the right place to reach you, for now I want just say thank you so much for how you treat me, you were so kind so generous but above all so friendly,and I appreciated this even more when I realized you were such a famous people, WHY YOU DIDN'T TELL ME? I discovered it in a really strange way, I tell you how next time we write beacuse is a little long, the most important thing I want to say to you is that I'm wearing every day the beatiful Browns sweater you gave to me, making me very very happy. I really hope you are going to keep in touch with me so I leave my email address,it is:
carobebo@libero .it
A big hug to both of you,
Bonifacio
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