I took this picture of St Peter's Basilica from the roof of Castel Sant'Angelo.

Here is a miniture of the castle

 
Picture of the outside of the Colosseum.

This is a picture of where the animal lived below the arena floor. I was on the built out arena floor.

This is the fontana delle Naiadi.  Very famous photo and busy traffic circle



We had an early morning tour at 7 am the spanish steps were empty.

Only

Trevi fountain same thing super early in the morning.

Sistine Chapel

Secret Room from our tour Bramante Staircase

Villa d'Este in Tivoli on our day trip from Rome.

We spent a week in Rome.  It was lovely.  My mom had a wonderful time.  It was an experience.  What did I learn or realize?  My kids would have been bored with all the history. I think I was a little bored with all the history.  Maybe when I'm older i'll appreciate it more.  But I thought it was nice.

I also think I prefer my history with some nature and adventure.  The ruins outside the cities I've seen before have excited me more.  But Rome was lovely.

The food was delicious but boring.  They did it all well.  But I was ready for something different by the end.  Overall it was a great trip. We stayed at the Martis Palace Hotel. I highly recommend it for the location and ease of use.  If my mom had been willing to walk things would have been even more amazing.

But overall it was a fantastic trip and something we might start doing annually.  We may start going away for a week to places to just me and my mom.  One day maybe the kids will join. But it was nice to see her and end the trip with mother's day.

Okay i'll write tomorrow and post photos of the trip.  

But for now a quick update.  Got the reimbursement from the insurance company.  They are dealing with the other two cars that were damaged.  We found a car over the weekend.  It was a Nissan Leaf 2019 SL with cameras and sensors.  Asking price was $10500.  Out the door it was $13500 with taxes and fees.  We bought it on tuesday after seeing it saturday and testing driving a chevy bolt on Monday.

Yes we told the kiddo that's not the norm.  Normal families don't just walk in and buy a car with a check without major deliberation.  We were on a time crunch.  I left for my trip the next day.

But that got me thinking.  That's what all of us save for and build for.  To have financial freedom and flexibility.   We tell people to build the 6 month EF and no CC debt and live below your means.  Doing so is what gives you the financial freedom that can't be had without it.  The dealer told us that someone had been in on Sunday and wanted to buy it but couldn't qualify for a loan.  Thus they were trying to figure out the financing.  But since we walked in and could write a check they would rather sell it on the spot than wait.

And that financial buffer we work so hard to build is the difference for most on here living frugally and budgeting.  They make a concerted effort to live below their means.   But we just have to remember how to spend.