day 4: the wedding

The wedding day! After getting all dolled up at our hotel, we set out for the wedding ceremony at Santa Sabina.

The church is on top of one of Rome's hills, so there are amazing views from a park that neighbors the church. In true Italian fashion, the ceremony was a little late to start, so we had some time to take photos of the skyline. Kurt's zoom lens got some great shots of Saint Peter's.

Gorgeous bride!

Unfortunately, a lot of the groom's American friends weren't able to make the journey to Italy, but we were happy to represent and support Scott on his big day.

The reception was held at a hilltop venue outside of Rome in a small town. The views back to the city were gorgeous.

The food! Oh, those Italians know how to eat.

All of the bride's Italian friends were the sweetest. Towards the end of the evening, they all gathered together with a guitar and serenaded the couple. 

You know it's a good party when Kurt swipes a bottle of prosecco :) We had a blast!

day 3: rome

Oh, Rome. Looking back through these photos reminds me that I love it so much. On our first day touring, we walked from our hotel in Gianicolo through Trastevere and all the way to the Colosseum.

The Tempietto

Tiber River

Piazza del Campidoglio

One of the civic buildings at the Campidoglio is like our City Hall where couples can get married by a judge. Here a Mariachi band awaits a newly married couple to emerge!

The Roman Forum

Approaching the Colliseum

Italian friends!

Inside the Colliseum

After our tour, we stopped for some gelato and a drink in Piazza Monti before taking a bus back to our hotel

day 1-2: nyc-milan-rome

I'm finally getting around to posting some photos from our recent time in Italy. Besides getting engaged, it was a really incredible trip. Bringing home a ring was just the cherry on top of a couple fantastic weeks abroad. While there were certainly some ups and downs (I'll get to those later), it was so much fun and I can't wait to plan our next adventure. On with the photos!

We found a good deal and flew Air Emirates direct from NYC to Milan. It was pretty deluxe and made the long flight time more bearable. After landing in Milan, Kurt's friend picked us up and toured us around the city a little bit before we caught a fast train to Rome. We stayed with a friend our first night there, so we quickly dropped our stuff at her apartment, showered, then headed out to dinner in her neighborhood. The weather was so nice, we were able to eat outside and then met up with more friends in Trastevere for drinks in a piazza. Although it was a whirlwind (ie exhausting) couple days of getting on the right time zone, it was great to hit the ground running. Many more photos to come!

washington d.c.

Back in early October, Kurt, Erik, Silvia, and I took a quick weekend trip down to Washington D.C for a football game. It was the weekend before Kurt and I left for Italy, so we probably should have packing, but Kurt had been looking forward to watching Ohio State take on Maryland ever since he heard they were joining the Big Ten a couple years ago. You only live once! Packing can wait! While the boys went to the game, Silvia and I did some site seeing around D.C.

We saw the Capitol Building...

...toured around the Botanic Garden...

...used D.C.'s bike share to ride along the Mall...

...saw the Washington Monument...

...the WWII monument...

...the Lincoln Memorial...

...stopped for a bite at We the Pizza...

...saw a few exhibits at the Hirshorn Museum...

...and breezed through the Air and Space Museum just as it was closing.

The DC metro is so moody and clean in comparison to NYC.

We stayed at an awesome Airbnb in Columbia Heights which was convenient to Maryland's campus as well as central DC. The neighborhood was great and we found some great bars and restaurants nearby--Kangaroo Boxing Club for meat-heavy dishes, The Coupe for tasty brunch, and Meridian Pint for football watching on Saturday night and again for a quick breakfast before hitting the road on Sunday.

Thanks D.C.! See you next time!