Parents Visit For Christmas, Part II

We started off Monday having cappuccinos in Campo dei Fiori:



Cappuccino money shot:



Monday night we went to see a choral concert in a little church near the Pantheon. The church was beautiful and the concert was pretty good:



A "Lettere per Babbo Natale" ("Letters for Santa Claus") sign in Trastevere:



Looking at Villa Borghese, the most famous park in Rome, from the steps of the Galleria Borghese -- hands down THE most beautiful museum in Rome and probably one of the best in the world. It only has about 15 rooms total but they all have priceless masterpieces. No crap, like you'll find in most museums.



The Christmas tree at Piazza del Popolo. At first I wondered why all the xmas trees in Rome look kind of pathetic. Then I realized why - they don't use real pine trees! They use these droopy trees that look kind of Charlie Brown-sad:



View of the city from Villa Borghese:



View of Piazza del Popolo from the Pincio, a garden attached to Villa Borghese:



Inside Villa Borghese:




View of St. Peter's in the Vatican from Villa Borghese:



The Christmas Tree inside the Vatican. This one was a little less shabby:



A cool lamppost inside the Vatican:



Our little Christmas tree at my apartment. Yay!

Parents Visit for Christmas, Part I

My parents flew in Saturday Dec 20th for Christmas week. Here's the first set of pics from our giri (tours) of Roma.

Campidoglio, Musei Capitolini and views around and from Piazza Venezia:







Colosseum:



Roman forum:










Near the Quirinale, the Presidential Palace, we happened to see the Navy marching band giving a little show. From the Quirinale, below, picture of my parents with St. Peter's and Rome in the background:




Trevi Fountain:



Looking into the Pantheon from the outside:



Roman street with lights near Piazza di Spagna:



Piazza di Spagna:



In Piazza Navona:



There was a Christmas fair going on at Piazza Navona. Below, witches for sale hang from the stall ceiling:



One of the marvelous fountains in Piazza Navona:



Fair carousel:



After a long day, dinner at a little restaurant near Piazza Navona:

Nuovi Acquisti

I've mentioned to some friends all the fun stuff I've been buying over here so I wanted to do a little cross-Atlantic fashion show. My father's predictable response to my purchases: "I hope you're getting a lot of work to pay for all those clothes." Oh, Dad.

Summer dress:



Stripped wool lightweight sweater from Sisley, a popular chain here. I think we have a few in New York too:



Summer tunic with contrast stitching. It will be summer when I arrive in Uruguay....better be prepared:



Cross-body purse. Perfect for long walks around Rome:





Useful black leather water-resistent booties. They work both under and over jeans, and are perfect for the nighttime showers we sometimes get here:



Green pants I got for 7 euro. Thanks to Rachel for hemming for me:



This jacket is much cuter on - kind of a school-girl look with the bottom puffing out a bit, but it's hard to show the shape while it's on a hanger:



The inside has this really cute polka dot pattern:



Wool cream-colored dress also from Sisley. Again, hard to do it justice on a hanger and much prettier on:



Light, light blue Asics with bright yellow contrast pattern. They look white in this pic because of the flash, but in person you can see the blue:



The piece de resistance: my fabulous new winter coat. You can also remove a layer and the extremely soft fur hood to make it into a spring jacket. It's a little cinched under the chest so that it billows out ever so slightly at the bottom: