Sunday, June 24, 2012

Rome in a Week

As I mentioned in my previous post we went to Rome shortly after the wedding. Mr. Honda had to go to Rome on a business trip and there was no way I was letting him go without me. I begged and pleaded with my boss to let me take yet another week off of work so that I could join my hubs in Rome. Luckily my boss was kind enough to let me take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity and we packed our bags for Italy.

3 course meal on the airplane
After a busy Friday at work we hurried off to SFO and hopped on a flight to Munich, Germany. Given that I get antsy and impatient on flights to and from Hawaii which is less than 6 hours this 11 hour hour flight was absolutely torturous. Although the food and service on the flight was top notch after a long day at work all I wanted to do was get comfortable and sleep which was absolutely impossible given the hard seats and extremely warm temperature. We had a short lay over in Munich before hopping on a short flight much more tolerable flight to Rome.

By the time we arrived at our hotel in Rome it was pretty late and we were famished. We wandered around aimlessly with no avail and ended up back in the hotel munching on goldfish and oreos that we bought at the airport. After such a long travel time we were so excited to just lie down on a bed and sleep it off. Boy were we disappointed when we fell into a rock hard bed with scratchy sheets. I thought I was just going to die.

1. Colosseum, 2. Hubs and I in front of  the Colosseum,
3. Pantheon,4. Spanish Steps




After the first night we met up with the hub's co-worker and wife to see some of the sights Rome had to offer. We had a tour of the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. It's simply amazing to see these structures that are 1000s of years old. We then ventured over to the Pantheon and saw Raphael's tomb before heading over to share some gelato as we people watched at Piazza Navona. Then we meandered through the streets of designer boutiques as we made our way over the the Spanish Steps.







1. Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiorie
2. Tartufo, 3. San Pietro in Vincoli
4. Chocolate crossant
5. Pope Benedict XVI, 6. YUM!









During the week while the hubs was away at work his co-worker's wife and I spent our days wandering the streets of Rome visiting churches, eating great food, and occasionally stopping to do a little shopping. The architecture and art in the churches are absolutely breath taking. And the food...especially the pastries and sweets were to die for. We even got to see the pope up close and in person as he blessed the crowd in St. Peter's Square. In the evenings we met up with the guys at the hotel and went out for dinner at places around the area we were staying in. Luckily for us we stayed in Trastevere which is an area well known for it's delicious eats.




























1. Piazza Barberini, 2. Vatican
3. St. Peter's Basilica
4. Ferrari store







Finally once the work week was over the hubs got to join me in some of the sight seeing. We took in Roman sites like Piazza Barberini, Trevi Fountain, the Vatican Museum, and the Sistine Chapel. A note to others planning a trip to Rome...visiting the Vatican during Easter weekend means that you will most likely not get to see St. Peter's Bascilica. We also spent quite some time strolling the streets drooling over all of the amazing designer boutiques.


























Trevi Fountai
There are no words to describe how amazing it was to spend a week taking in everything Rome has to offer with my new hubs. I never in my wildest dreams would have thought we would celebrate our 1 month anniversary as husband and wife in one of the most romantic cities in the world.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

The Past 3 Months


Today marks 3 months of married life and boy has it been one heck of a whirlwind. It feels like things have been going non-stop for the past 3 months.

After the wedding we jetted off to spend a few rainy days in Kauai for our honeymoon. Luckily even though the weather wasn't so great we got a few hours of sunshine to sail around the island and do some zip-lining right before we had to head back to Oahu.

About a month after we got back to reality and our real lives Mr. Honda needed to go jet off to Rome for a business trip. There was no way I was letting him go to Rome without me, so I begged and pleaded for some extra time off so that I could join him. We spent a week enjoying the sites, food, and shopping that Rome had to offer.

And today, on our 3 month anniversary we signed the counter-offer for an amazing house. A house that feels like it was made for us. If everything goes accordingly we will be moving into our very first home in about a month and a half.

I remember not long ago wistfully dreaming of the day that I would done with school and finally be Mrs. Honda; I couldn't wait to get married and start the rest of my life. And now, 3 months into married life it has far exceeded my wildest dreams.