The kids were out of school for the week after Christmas (which was on a Friday this year) so we planned ahead and booked a trip to Rome for the week! Rome is one of those cities that you need at least a week to spend in, if not more, to properly see everything, much like London and Paris.
And we're off! I think airplane family selfies are going to become a thing for us.
My dad was asking us to take pictures of the Alps from the airplane. So here you go, dad! I find it difficult to travel with my kids on airplanes. They really, really want to sit by the window, then they don't want to actually LOOK out the window the entire flight. They really just want to play on their tablet or eat snacks.
We finally made it to Rome, and took a cab to our little neighborhood near the Piazza Navona. Natalie brought her new Baby Alive, Lucy to Rome. Love the street we are staying on with the umbrellas hanging over the street. Which is kind of funny, now that I think about it because we didn't get a drop of rain the entire week we were there!
Now it's almost 2 pm and we are starving, so we went to a nearby restaurant for a Birra Moretti and some Caprese salad and pizza! Now we're talking!
After some lunch, we went out to start exploring Rome. My children are obsessed with chasing pigeons. I'm pretty sure everyone in Rome was annoyed by them. They thought it was absolutely hysterical!
The Bailey family at the Pantheon. We didn't go inside at this point because we were on our way to Trevi Fountain, so we just stopped for a moment to snap a few pics. And no, Rick Steves does not pay my 8-year-old anything to advertise his book!
Chatting with my friend Sara while we were there, and she said we HAD to visit San Crispino for gelato. OK, twist my arm! Here we are making the TOUGH decisions.
This picture is only funny in retrospect. Please note that we are all looking UP. The entire trip, I kept reminding the kids to look up "because there's SOOO much to see!" And then the proceeded to make fun of me for the rest of the week.
Trevi Fountain in the evening with the God, Ocean in the middle. (Many people believe this is Neptune, but it's not).
Walking back to our apartment, we came across the ruins (which is now just a façade) of the Tempio di Adriano, which was built in 145 AD. To which Grant promptly said, "This thing is three thousand jackpot years old!" Correct, young sir. Or something like that.
Rounding off day one with a nice bottle of Italian red! Now that's what I'm talking about!
The next day, we wanted to hit the big highlights of Rome. The first stop was Capitoline Hill. Here's Natalie (with Grant and Todd in front of her) heading up the famous Michelangelo steps, or the "cordonata." If you're like me, you probably would know them more for the scene in National Lampoon's European Vacation when Clark Griswold is chasing the man who kidnapped Ellen on his bicycle. In real life, they were designed my Michelangelo and lead up to Capitoline Hill.
Here's Todd and the kids with the Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius at the top of Capitoline Hill. He's kinda famous. This statue is actually a replica as the original (built in 175 AD) has undergone restoration and is now located in the museum next door. It's pretty cool anyway. Because he is shown here without any armor or weapons, he is thought to be a bringer of peace.
Things were all but peaceful when Natalie noticed that the backpack we carry was leaking water! Time to take everything out and dry it off! Oh you silly Griswolds!
Around the corner, still up on Capitoline Hill is the Mother Wolf with Romulus and Remus. The story goes that Romulus and Remus (the twin sons of the God Mars) were abandoned by their great uncle to die by the Tiber River. A she wolf found them and "adopted" them. (Later a shepherd and his wife found them, so they didn't grow up totally feral, of course).
Heading down the backside of Capitoline Hill, you see one of Rome's many fresh drinking fountains. The kids (and Todd) all drank from this one and filled up their water bottles!
Pretty much every picture we have of Grant from this trip looks like this. Superman at the Roman Forum.
Coming down from Capitoline Hill, you get these amazing views of almost the entirety of the Roman Forum.
Walking around the Forum, the Basilica is most impressive. Back in early Roman times, a Basilica was just a meeting place for politicians, such as city councils, as well as a Courthouse. The lawyer is lawyering to Grant here. At one point, this was MUCH bigger but earthquakes have caused some of its demise.
Behind a small façade, which Todd is looking at in the top picture is a little memorial to the (apparent) exact spot where Julius Caesar was burned and put to death in 44 AD (lower picture).
Looking up toward the Temple of Saturn. Saturn was the God of Wealth, so this served as the Treasury back in the day.
The Colosseum! The Colosseum!
The Bailey's at the famous Colosseum. (If you knew what it took to get this picture... Natalie couldn't work the camera at first, and then got frustrated, and finally someone offered to take our picture only to have a million tourists walk in front of us!)
I wasn't sure how this would show in the blog, but this is a panoramic shot of the Colosseum.
Interestingly, there are many corridors beneath where the flooring of the Colosseum used to be. (You can see the flooring in the far background of this picture). The lions, villains and other animals would be down here and then run up a ramp to fight on the main stage.
The kids mastering the Roman bus system. Looking cute too, I might add!
red wine = gelato chaos
In the evening, after we were completely exhausted, we consumed a few bottles of wine and ran around looking for more gelato. Oh we found some.
I promise we didn't give any to the kids though. Just jacked them up on sugar. The Baby Alive Lucy hanging out of Todd's backpack is a nice touch! Stay tuned for more showing what we did on our big Roman Holiday!
