For our Anniversary and Dan’s 40th Birthday we will be going to Rome! We have been once before and I am beyond excited to go back. Of all the cities I have been to none have left such an impression on me like Rome. It is a magical place and it is hard to exactly describe what is so amazing about it besides saying everything. I am not a big beach person so I love big cities and I can see why a lot of people could like coast cities or Hawaii or other exotic tropical places but for me Rome has my heart. The people, the culture, the food, the way of life, I mean everything is exactly what I look for when I go on vacation. I love that it is a major city so there it so much to do but there is also something about just enjoying and appreciating everything around you. It is my favorite city to just linger and sit and watch. No one is in a rush and I know I sometimes need that reminder to just sit and relax. I love people watching and I already can’t wait to eat at some of the restaurants we ate at before and discover new ones.
It is funny how a city can leave such an impression. I tend to forget a lot because I just repress the memory or don’t bother to store it in a permanent memory but there are times I dream of walking the streets of Rome, of drinking an espresso at a counter midday, of refilling my water bottle in one of the hundreds of public water fountains, or sitting cooling off in a beautiful church, it all feels so real and like I am still there but then I wake up so sad knowing it wasn’t real. I have been to a lot of countries and cities but nothing stirs my bones or heart like Rome. I hope it is like everything I remember and more. I am so thankful where I am in life to be able to go to all these great cities now and I feel so appreciative to the world around me for making this possible.
A part of me wants to hop all over Italy but another part is happy we are staying in Rome. We will be there over a week and I am having so much fun planning this with Dan. It is funny because typically I plan everything here in Minnesota and Dan occasionally finds new stuff for us but with Rome he has sent me so many links on things he wants to do and has bought tickets for us and is doing most of the planning. I love that, because I get overwhelmed and my requests were just a food tour and Vatican again. I pray I can walk up those steps to the St Peter Basilica because I almost died last time and I am way older now but I am so excited to go there again and see the Vatican Museums.
If there is one thing I want my kids to do as they get older is to travel. Traveling just changes you. It opens you up to so much you didn’t know existed. It makes you appreciate so much and makes you discover yourself. I cannot wait to take the kids abroad and just waiting for Scott to get a little older or maybe just take Dylan and Logan because I know they would love it and I can take them to my favorite spots in each city.
Below are old pictures from our last Rome trip that I will surely be replicating this trip. It is funny, this past winter my closet literally broke and I gave away like 10 huge bags of clothes to the women’s shelter but looking at these pictures I have almost every single outfit still lolol. Whether they still fit or not is another thing but I love that I kept them because they just felt too special to let go and I can see why. I tend to keep all of my travel outfits in hopes to one day pass them down to my granddaughters and they can make me smile by wearing them and maybe one day visiting the city and spot I was at and duplicating my picture. In the meantime, I will try on the clothes and see what fits and maybe bring a shirt or dress back to Rome and see if maybe I can recreate the same picture too.
Adventures of Janet 