Rome: Kelly Tourista

Our hotel is amazing. It's right downtown, about 50 yards from the best gelato place as well as this:
I've spent the last 2 mornings in by bright white running shoes with my camera+huge lens slung over my shoulder (absolutely screaming "American!" I realize). But my feet hurt! I don't know how these women walk around on cobblestone in spiky high-heeled boots all day.

Yesterday I did some shopping (well, drooling, really. There is a whole street lined with Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Missoni, you name it. . .), visited the piazza Popola and Spanish steps, and walked around about a million piazzas and churches.

Today was gorgeous:

I wandered through the Campo di'Fiori (one of the many markets). I want a market sells fresh pasta and artichokes the size of my head.

This is the road I ran on this morning for my morning run:

It's a little tough to run on the cobblestone, but I'm really not complaining. . .


I walked through the Roman Forum, which is one of the coolest places I have ever seen.


All of the oldest ruins (ie 60+ years BC) are made with this very thin brick. You can see it all over Rome, with new buildings built on top. It's amazing to see the beautiful buildings they were able to create. I can only imagine how impressive it would have been then.
I took a walking tour (thanks for the guide book suggestion, Kim) of all of the arches built by early Roman leaders. The sculpture on the inside of this one is incredible.
Throughout the ruins, there are these intricate marble pieces, just dotting the ground.
Next on the agenda: museums and then the Vatican and Colosseum.