Rome

The kids were off from school for three weeks so we decided (and by "we", I mean "I") it was WAY too long for the kids to stay home. So, we decided to head out of town and check another city off our list. If you are keeping track, we have been to Paris, London, Kos (Greece), Luxembourg, De Heeg (Netherlands) as well as smaller cities in Germany and Belgium. And, in just 20 months time.

Rome is warmer than the Netherlands by about 6 or 7 degrees Celcius and there are so many sites to take in! We booked it somewhat last minute. We left Jan 1 for 4 nights.

We started with the Vatican in Vatican City. Did you know that the Vatican is not in Rome? Nope, in its own city, Vatican City. I learned something new. Being raised Catholic, we appreciated the sites we saw. I think I was most impressed by St. Peter's tome/shrine in the Crypt. There were dozens of Pope's tomes, but Peter is the foundation on which the church is built. Anyone remember the song "Peter built the church on the rock of our faith, his banner over me is love! ? Well, that song stuck in my head for days!

We timed our visit to the Vatican with mass said by the Pope. We didn't go into the mass but were in the same building and could see it. We were too far to pick out which one the Pope was, but it was interesting to hear mass in Latin. (I took 4 years of Latin in high school....couldn't decipher a word!). The Pope also makes and appearance after mass in the courtyard. He waves out the window. We waited about 20 minutes and pumped the kids up to see the Pope (the Poke, as they kept calling him), but the angle we were standing at, we couldn't see him. Oh well. We heard the crowd cheer so we assume he waved.

Walking towards the Vatican

Next stop was the Colosseum. Gladiator movie was all I could think of. We learned that the wild animals used for fighting as well as the men were kept below the flooring in the cells/rooms until it was tine to appear. We also learned that the crowd often determined the fate of the warriors. With a hand motion (sort of a thumbs up or down), they decided if the looser should be finished off.


Andrew's favorite part of the Colosseum was climbing on the ruins and jumping off. Katie, like most ruins throughout Europe, envisions where the knights and princesses lived a long long time ago. Her theory, I believe, if it is old, princesses MUST have lived there.

You can see the new flooring to the left of the arena. It used to be entirely covered. And, you can see the walls of the cells/rooms where the animals and fighters were kept.

This slightly scary looking man with a hole in his mouth is the Piazza Bocca della Verita. Starting from the Middle Ages, it was believed that if one told a lie with one's hand in the mouth of the sculpture, it would be bitten off. Both kids were sort of scared to put their hands in his mouth. They watched cautiously as Ned and I stuck our hand in. Nobody got bit. Guess we are honest!

There were so many beautiful and typical (of what I envisoned) restaurant lined streets in Rome. Cobbelstones, red and white checkered tablecloths. Just, simply, Rome. This particular area was Trastevere.

There are so many ruins in Rome, that they didn't know what to do. So, this one (below) is a dedicated cat santuary. The kids liked finding and counting how many cats there were.

We sort of stumbled upon this Piazza. Piazza Navona. And, we lucked out. There was a big carnival with games, rides and lots of fair food. It was a perfect break from sightseeing that all of us, especially the kids, needed. We got cotton candy, played an overpriced game where the kids won a junky toy, and rode the carousel.

Next big attraction. The Pantheon, a temple to the gods that was rebuilt in 126 A.D. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. It was magnificent.


The Spanish Steps, Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti, climb a steep slope between two piazzas. The steps are the widest staircase in Europe.

Ned, with the kids, is waving halfway up

I love this picture. Katie was whining so out of nowhere, Andrew gave her a big kiss. Awesome.

Sitting on the steps

All throughout Rome, there were these running fountains. I saw various people washing their hands in them. I guess that is what they are for.

The last big tourist attraction was Trevi Fountain. it is the largest Baroque fountain in the city and one of the most famous fountains in the world. A traditional legend holds that if visitors throw a coin into the fountain, they are ensured a return to Rome. A reported current interpretation is that two coins will lead to a new romance and three will ensure either a marriage or divorce. Another reported version of this legend is that it is lucky to throw three coins with one's right hand over one's left shoulder.

Katie and Andrew threw plenty of coins into the fountain. We started with 5 cent pieces and finally empty my purse. (Euros have 5 cent, 10 cent, 20 cent, 50 cent, and then 1 euro and 2 euro coins). We all had fun and hopefully will have a very lucky 2011!
All in all we really enjoy this mini-break. Katie LOVES Italian food so she was in heaven. (Good Italian food is hard to come by in Holland). It sort of became a joke. She would order pasta at every meal, usually ravioli, and then rate it. As in, "this ravioli is the best in Italy." Andrew who loves (much to my dismay) typical kid food - mac and cheese and hot dogs - made a drastic change to a diet based soley on pizza with cheese. And, can't blame him. It was delicious. Thin crust, amazing tangy sauce, melt in your mouse mozzeralla.

Chow!