Pizza Americana

As my dad so eloquently put it "I've been eating pizza for over 50 years and this is the best pizza I've ever had. No competition." They cut it in big rectangular pieces and make you a little sandwich out of it. Even mom couldn't say no. 

What I don't understand is this one kind that they have in Italy called "Pizza Americana" which has red sauce, cheese, and then french fries on top of it. I think we'd be really hard pressed to find any place in the United States with french fries on their pizza. We may have a high obesity rate and we may like french fries as a side to other greasy dishes, but we do not put them on pizza. Correct me if I'm wrong here, friends. 

I love the Trevi Fountain. It's really quite underwhelming in comparison to how it's portrayed in photos and movies, but it's quite cozy. Plus, it's surrounded on three sides by gelato shops. It reminds me of the Lizzie McGuire movie, too...I just can't help it. Here's Mom and Dad tossing coins in over their shoulders. I told them it was the cool thing to do.

Dad's first view of the Colosseum...from down the street. At this poit we were still a good distance away but that sucker is pretty big.

This place is what I like to fondly refer to as the "Big White Building". Apparently thats the biggest equestrian statue in the world...and the man riding the horses has a 5 foot long mustache. I wonder if that qualifies for biggest mustache in the world? But now I'm wondering if any of the guys on Mount Rushmore have mustaches... Apparently Mussolini used to give speeches from one of these balconies, but many Romans dislike it's huge whiteness. It does draw a bit of attention. Let me say though, it looked really impressive from the plane view. If you never visit Rome- at least fly into the airport to catch the view. It's not quite the same as recognizing the farm fields and baseball diamonds when you fly into Upstate NY.

Not only did I get both my parents to Europe, they were internationally texting from Europe. Either they are more popular than I am or they are still in the 15-year-old phone stage of texting. "I have to answer right away!" And "Jack needs to see a picture of this pizza, he'll be so jealous."

Yep, caught in the act. We've taught them well.

The ceiling of the pantheon is pretty awesome. They think it works as a natural sundial as well especially to tell the time of year. They say that on April 21 which is also the birth date of Rome as a city, the light hits right above the entrance to the building, lighting it up for a few minutes. We watched a whole show about it and it makes you wonder if the ancient Romans were smarter than the current ones. They continue to amaze us centuries later.

Snuck a shot of mom over my shoulder while at Plaza Barberini. Judging by her face, she knew I was up to something.

Here are the old walls that surrounded the city. I love the idea of someone having a huge key to just lock up an entire city at night to keep them all safe. I also want to see this giant key.