La nostra avventura Italiano (our Italian adventure)

Tuesday after arriving at Dusseldorf, we had one goal.. keep me awake until 8pm so that I could beat my jet lag. We figured I needed to stay awake until about 8-8:30pm, so Amanda and I went to work trying to find things to keep us busy so I wouldn't nap. 

Our first stop was the Geilenkirchen NATO base where Anthony is stationed at so that I could see the base. Then we headed to  Drielandenpunt, which means "3 places" in Dutch. This is sort of like the 4 corners of the US, except it's 3 countries.. Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. So for the first time this year, it was possible for me to be in 3 places at once. ;) This also happens to be the sight of the highest point in the Netherlands. Our next stop was Aachen, a cute city with a beautiful states building and a amazing dom (church). We grabbed starbucks (a must for staying awake) and then toured the town. It was getting close to dinner, so we headed back.  We made dinner and then began packing for our Italian adventure. I was able to stay up to 10pm so am not struggling with 

Yesterday (Weds.) we began the Italian adventure. We flew from Germany to Rome and Anthony's friend Neil (an Italian stationed at GK too) picked us up at the airport and drove us around Rome to our apartment. We are staying in a cute little apartment in the center of Rome just a few blocks from the Campo de Fiori . 

After unpacking and settling in, we headed off to see Rome. Our first stop was the Pantheon (previously a temple to the many Roman gods, and where you could buy things to worship the gods. Today it is a church.) It has the crypt of Raphael and Victor Emmanuel II (the 1st Italian king).  We then headed over to a couple other churches and then the Trevi fountain. We ate dinner at the Restaurante Pizzeria (that coincidentally happened to be in my Rick Steves guidebook but I was unaware until we sat down to eat). Real Pizza Fughi (mushroom pizza) was my meal. SOO good!! We watched the sun start to set and made our way to the Spanish steps. We walked those and began our trek back across town stopping at all the same sights to see them lit up at night. They were beautiful! We even grabbed Gelato (Dave Contreras, I thought of you! haha). After two very full days we're exhausted. 

Today we are headed to the colosseum and other sights on that side of town. Happy 4th of July everyone! :) 

3 places at once! :) 

Inside the dom at Aachen

Trevi Fountain at night!

fountain by the Spanish steps