Rome

Italy was fantastic. A place we could visit over and over again. The history, landmarks, food, weather, people and overall experience were so enjoyable. Here are a some photos of our journey. If you are interested in seeing the entire trip start at the post labeled Formula 1.

Coin

The Vatican has their own euro. The guide books said they were not easy to come by because coin collectors snatched them up. Spencer, our resident coin collector was quite happy when he found one.

Orange Trees

The orange trees were in bloom in February! It felt just like spring. We asked our taxi driver if it was ok to pick an orange from the trees, but he said, "They-a no good-a to eat-a." Too bad because they are so pretty and HUGE. Our mouths were watering as we passed each tree.

Gelato

It really doesn't matter how much you have eaten there is ALWAYS room for gelato. We are hooked. Typically they allow you to choose two different flavors for a small cone and we tried pretty hard to try as many flavors as we could. Olivia's personal favorite is chocolate and mixed berry. Spencer is a cherries and cream fan. Clara always goes for mint chocolate chip and Lilly is a fruit girl...anything with mango, strawberry or lemon.


There is literally a gelato stand on every street. You don't have to walk very far to find a really good cone. How is then that we stopped into a shop for one last cone before heading to the airport and who should we see, but friends all the way from Salt Lake City?!!! Lynn & Kelly Brouse were standing in line behind us. We didn't have any idea they were traveling in Italy. Makes me realize that the world isn't so big after all.

Villa Borghese Park

Villa Borghese Park was a wonderful respite from pounding the pavement in Rome. It's full of natural resources, playgrounds and fun activities. We oped for the 6 man bike. How awesome is that!? Our entire family fit on the bike! Of course we had to take turns pedaling & steering.



After looking at so many statues Spencer decided to try posing as one himself.

Italian Open Air Market

I'm a big fan of open air markets. Living in Europe has been the best because there is always fresh produce just around the corner. Our first morning in Italy Taylor and I left the kids to relax in the apartment while we went searching for some Italian pastries and fruit for breakfast. You can only imagine my excitement when we walked right into a big old Italian Open Air Market. It was just like the market I used to shop at when we lived in Philadelphia. Not quite as refined as the markets in France, but really fun and brimming with all kinds of delicious food, household supplies and clothing. We took the kids the next morning and let them choose a variety. I think eating in Italy might be better than sightseeing! The food here is just fabulous!




We have a big population of wild boar that roam our forest in Fontainebleau. The Italians also have an abundance and they like to roast theirs for yummy sandwiches. This Italian butcher sliced a bunch for our breakfast meat. Lilly thought it was the best meat she has ever eaten. Olivia and Clara didn't like the thought of eating wild boar so they gave Lilly their portions.

St. Peter's Basilica

The first time I went to Rome it was summer. The air was hot and the lines were long. Can I just say that visiting Rome in February is fantastic! We literally walked into every single exhibit and the weather was perfectly comfortable. St. Peter's Basilica was huge and by the time we had used up the kids attention spans I wasn't sure we would get Lilly out of there without a fuss. She was most interested in sliding all around the marble floor and practically belly flopped herself around as we walked.
Thank goodness there were more stairs to climb. Lilly was once again "on board" as we climbed to the top of St. Paul's to catch an amazing view of the basilica and Vatican City. Clara kept reminding us all morning that we were in the smallest country in Europe and that even though we had traveled to Italy we got a double bonus by entering yet another country. Our visit to the Vatican was one day too early. The Pope was scheduled to appear the day after. Maybe we'll see him next time.

Vatican Museum

Museums with children can be quite daunting. Lets face it there are even times museums are overwhelming for adults. We usually take a "quick guide" approach. Any visit lasting longer than an hour requires treats and a good place to run around. We didn't even come close to exploring all that the Vatican Museum has to offer. The kids were excited to see a real ancient mummy and relics from Egypt. Then we trotted through the Roman art gallery and headed straight for the Sistine Chapel. Taylor tried to offer a little insight here and there. His high school European Studies teacher would have been proud. I was proud of the kids and how they had a pretty good attention span. The Sistine Chapel was amazing. The girls had done an art experiment at home and tried to paint a picture of an angel while lying flat on their backs. This gave them a greater appreciation for Michaelangelo and all of those amazing artists who's work we admire today.

The Spanish Steps

There are lots and lots of steps to count in Rome. I wish I would have worn a pedometer so I could account for all of the walking we did. It wasn't enough to run up the Spanish Steps just once, the kids had to do it a couple of times! Lilly asked "why are they Spanish steps? Aren't we in Italy?" Good question. They were a gift from the Spanish Ambassador.
A happy crew atop the Spanish Steps. I think their legs are made of steel because these kids can really walk and walk and walk!

Piazza

There are multiple piazza's in Rome. We loved walking to all of them, but perhaps one of our favorites was Trevi Fountain. Taylor guided us on a night walk. The lights were on, the air was warm and excitement was everywhere. Each of the kids threw a coin over their back and into the fountain for good luck. Someone is making a good profit with all of the tourists doing the same thing.

Ancient History

Ancient history is hard to comprehend. Even with the fall of Rome they have managed to keep so many relics, buildings, etc. in tact. Here Lilly is standing on the original cobblestone. Dating from 49 BC. Made us wonder which emperors, senators or soldiers walked on this path?

Formula 1

We managed a tight budget traveling to Rome this past weekend. As I mentioned in the previous post our plane tickets were only 150 euro for the entire family. The catch was we had to drive two hours to the airport. Since our flight left early in the morning we were worried about getting caught in Paris traffic. Our solution was to stay at the Formula 1 motel the night before. This was quite the experience for the kids. Basically the Formula 1 is a glorified youth hostel. The rooms are 32 euro a night and DO NOT include a toilet or shower (you have to go down the hall to take care of that business)! We arrived late at night and the place was hoppping with truckers, cheap travellers and a few punk rockers. Olivia's eyes about popped out of her face when we walked into the so called lobby. Luckily the rooms WERE clean. We tried to sleep, but the walls were so thin you could hear every footstep outside the door. Lilly slept like a log while the rest of us were a bit restless. I think we aren't ready to travel quite at this level. Maybe I'll leave the "youth hostel" traveling to the kids when they explore the world during their college years!
We were at the airport bright and early. It was a great flight and we even saw some snow as we flew over the Italian Alps.