Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Valentine's Day in Rome (Day 3)

I love Valentine's Day. I've always loved Valentine's Day. I have very fond childhood memories of waking up to candy and sweet little cards from my parents, dressing up in pink, red and purple for school and then the excitement that takes over the whole school day when kids pass Nickolodeon character Valentine's cards back and forth before heading to lunch, where the cafeteria served heart-shaped sugar cookies (my favorite). As I got older, I started to love it even more because in my eyes, any day that calls for random acts of kindness and gestures of love, in any form, is a good day. And this year, being single in Rome, wandering around with my good friend, seemed like another pretty great way to spend my Valentine's Day! 
We started out the morning with a relatively brief visit to the Vatican, as I'm sure all people in the history of Rome tourism have. But of course we were far too lazy and inpatient to wait in line for however many hours to buy tickets and get into the museum (and as the Pope was elevating cardinals at the time, we also weren't able to go into St. Peter's basilica), so we settled for taking a few cheesy photos and then moving on.
There was a man on the bridge feeding the seagulls, and the swarm of birds was pretty impressive! It definitely wouldn't have been a good spot for someone with ornithophobia--I thought of my mom and her slight fear of birds. But I was pretty mesmerized.
Then we found it: AMERICAN BRUNCH. There are several different people I've met around Italy that could confirm how much I've been babbling on about the need for pancakes recently, and finally...I got them. We ordered some tasty iced coffees and the full american breakfast: scrambled eggs, sausage, 2 pancakes and 2 pieces of "french toast" (bread with a tiny bit of cinnamon on it: close enough). It was pretty tasty and satisfying enough to fulfill my intense american breakfast cravings, but I will also be SO excited to go back to the U.S. and order a gigantic stack of pancakes with a side of sausage and a cup of real drip coffee. LOTS of coffee.
At the end of the day we climbed to the top of one of the vantage points of the city, where of course we were surrounded by lots of lovey-dovey couples and their children running around. We just sat and enjoyed the view and the energy all around us. Of all the days on our trip so far, this was probably one of the most uneventful: we didn't go to any museums or specific sights, we just aimlessly walked around and enjoyed the day. That being said, it was quite possibly one of my favorite days of this trip so far.

For those who see Valentine's Day as an invitation to hate those who are happily in a relationship and hate yourself for not being one of those people, I invite you to please change your perspective!! Why don't we just think of February 14th as one more day to show appreciation for the people in your life, spread some love and positivity and look forward to the good things that are destined to come into your life. I hope you all had a fantastic Valentine's Day surrounded by friends, family and loved ones.
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2 comments:

  1. OK, so I've discovered that for some reason I can't post a comment from my iPad -- otherwise I would have posted "will you be my Valentine?"
    GW

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  2. Well, me too! Couldn't post from my iPad in Tucson. Now I'm home, so I can. Your comments about Valentine's Day are really inspiring, Audra. I believe that your words are a gift to those who read them. Some folks look at Valentine's Day as a day when they want/need to be loved. You are looking at the day as a way to give love to others while also reflecting on the times you've felt loved in your life. You're amazing. Keep spreading that love around Europe. The world needs you and lots more people like you! xoxo

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