Note – This has been in draft form for months. This trip happened in September 2016. We are now back from our Christmas trip to Germany, and I’m finally getting this published before starting on that entry. Hopefully Germany will be published soon.
We headed out for Eid Al-Adha on a 2:05 a.m. flight from Yanbu, with our usual Istanbul layover. Luckliy, this layover was much shorter than usual and we were landing in Rome around 10. We had arranged a van for the 45 minute trip into Centro Storico, and our driver provided some history lessons as we passed many of the sites we would be spending the next few days touring. We wound until we parked next to the Pantheon and pulled our bags through the Piazza della Rotunda to the flat. Our host was waiting on us and we quickly toured the flat and settled in. We all wanted a nap to make up for the fitful sleep on the flights, and a shower to remove the travel grime.
Our first stop was right out our front door to the Pantheon. It was a little crowded with the afternoon crowd, but we worked our way around the outside, craning our necks to take in the impressive dome. We hit the highlights and spent time looking for drain holes in the floor.
We walked up the Via Di Ripetta, which was a rather dull choice. We passed by the Augustus Mausoleum and had a forgettable lunch. But they had prosciutto ,so it could have been worse. We stopped for our first gelato at the Gelateria dei Gracchi and grabbed seats to take in the Piazza del Popolo. We then slowly strolled down Via del Babuino to Piazza di Spagna. The Spanish Steps had been closed for a few months for cleaning and such. I had hoped they would be opened back up, but we were still left with pictures of the steps without any squatters. Cade and I grabbed a curb seat while the girls visited Sephora.
We then meandered through the Roman streets to the Trevi Fountain. We shouldered our way down to the front and had the kids perform the obligatory coin toss. The crowd was decent here, with very little pushing or shoving, considering the numbers and the small space. We took in the fountain for a bit then made our way back towards our flat. As we walked we came upon the Temple di Adriano, which we didn’t have on the itinerary, but turned out to be a pleasant surprise. We were all still dragging a little, so we grabbed pizza and paninis from Bottega Rocchi for supper. We took them back to the flat, opened the windows, and enjoyed the sounds coming from the piazza below. A late night run to the small market took care of breakfast supplies and snacks for the night.
Our first full day started with a slow stroll to Colosseum, stopping to take in the first ruinous marvels we would see; Trajan Column and the Forum of Augustus. We quickly confirmed the postulate that a confident pedestrian is a safe pedestrian. Hesitation is not suggested. We walked down to the Colosseum. (Side note – I have waited for this moment for the better part of 30 years. After 3 years of Latin in high school, I was left with a great desire to visit the ruins of this once great civilization; to visit the ruins that still stood thousands of years later due to magnificent engineering. So, for me, this moment that I describe calmly as “We walked down to the Colosseum” was filled with trembling-stomach giddiness and the contentment of attainment of a major life goal. So I got that going for me, which is nice.) We had scheduled a timed tour of the Underground and Third Ring. We walked around the outside, killing time and stating “we already have tickets” about 378 times. We walked down and gazed at the Arch of Constatine. After a bit, we decided to wait until our timed tour to enter, so we made the walk to a gelato shop (surprise). We walked back to Colosseum to discover a security line had grown considerably during our gelato jaunt. Confusion reigned, fueled by the guys hawking skip-the-line entry. I found and asked Coop guide as time started running short and he sent us to the group entrance. We barely made 11:30 time, then waited for our guide to arrive.
The Underground and 3rd ring tour was well worth it. We started out with a walk out on the reconstructed floor on the south side. Our guide gave us some background before walking out into the heat, then we got some more lessons on seating arrangements and construction. We then headed down, underneath the floor and into the inner workings of the amphitheater. There was a full size model of an ancient elevator used to deliver supplies, animals, and gladiators to the Colosseum floor. We then made our way up to the Third Ring and took in the sites from up top. After catching our breath. We spent a few more minutes walking around after the tour had officially ended, then went to answer our rumbling stomachs.
We had a decent, over-priced lunch at Hostaria Al Gladiatore. As we left, dark storm clouds were approaching, and the sound of distant thunder prompted a walk to St. Clement Basilica in lieu of heading straight to the Roman Forum. We had this as a tentative in the plans, but we were all glad we visited. Built around 1100, the basilica itself is beautiful, but the real fun is visiting the excavations below. The first stop is the old basilica built in the 4th century, with many frescoes still intact. Further down is believed to be foundations from buildings believed to have been destroyed in the Great Fire of 64. We spent about an hour exploring, then waited in the cloisters for the rain to clear out. The kids requested another gelato for the walk back to the Forum, and us, being the benevolent rulers we are, granted that request. And got one for ourselves. The Colosseum and Forum tickets are good for 2 days, so we decided to make an exploratory trip to see if the rain had made the Forum too muddy to visit. We made for the Arch of Titus entrance. We climbed Palatine Hill (again, looks calm, but geez, WE CLIMBED PALATINE HILL). The puddles weren’t completely covering the paths, so we made our way to overlook Circus Maximus. We then took the long way and made our way to Farnese Gardens and the overlook point. We made our way down the hill passing the House of the Vestals and visited the various ruins. After deciding the rain threat was growing again, we made our way out by the Antonitus and Faustina Temple. We made a winding return to the flat, grabbing a few bottles of wine, pizza and paninis for the flat.
Day 3 was going to be an extremely lazy day. Our itinerary was: Trastevere. We slept in. I got up early enough to visit Piazza del Rotunda before the crowds showed up. After we all got ready, we made a stop at Sant’Eustachio for coffee. We followed the late morning crowds towards Campo de’Fiori, stopping at street vendors to see what they had to offer. We spent some time visiting the statue of Giordano Bruno, spice sellers, trinket peddlers, and t-shirt purveyors. And the kitchen tool guy.
We then walked across the Ponte Sisto in our destination. We aimlessly wondered around the streets for awhile, then settled on Gino in Trastevere for lunch. We were all happy with our meals and the sidewalk entertainment was excellent. After we ate, we made our way to the Visit Basilica of Our Lady in Trastevere. It immediately climbed into the top 5 list for beautiful churches we have visited. Worth a stop if you are in the area. We then made for a gelateria, seeing as it had been an hour since we ate and still hadn’t proven our love for our children by supplying them with gelato. Got some good stuff at Fior di Luna and made tracks to leave the Trastevere area by the Ponte Palatino.
We walked down the hill to the Bocca del Verita. The line to have your picture taken in front of the Mouth of Truth was borderline ridiculous, so we snapped pictures from the sidewalk and made for Campidoglio. We decided on the easy route up the hill to Campidoglio, Via Monte Tarpeo, with stopover Forum view. We settled on the steps and took in the people and statues. We walked to the Capitoline Wolf statue and overlook of the Forum of Caesar. We made another winding path back to the flat for a short afternoon nap. We were awoken by the sounds of a tenor in the piazza, belting out a few arias.
We refreshed ourselves and walked to Piazza Navona. We took in the evening crowd and the famous fountains. I walked in Chevy Chase’s footsteps. We went a block over for dinner at Navona Notte and had some great pizza for a decent price. On the way back to Piazza Navona, we stopped for gelato at Quinto. Even though Greene continuously proclaimed each new gelateria her favorite, this is the one that may have stuck for her. We spent some more time in the piazza, one of the best places to people watch in all the world.
The next day was planned solely around Vatican City. We had tickets for 9 a.m. entry into the museums. We left the flat and joined in the families biking and walking to school and the city slowly waking up. We passed the Castel Sant’Angelo and made our way to the museum entrance. The line for those without tickets already stretched down the block. We passed through security and picked up our audioguides. It was obvious from the start that the crowds would be substantial. We fast-tracked ourselves to the Sistine Chapel. We arrived to a smallish crowd and a few in our group were immediately admonished to not take pictures. We alternated standing/sitting for awhile. This is the one display of artwork that I have found impressive enough to warrant encouraging seeing in person above all others. I’m not much of an art critic – my art appreciation muscles are minuscule – but I was astounded by the beauty of the chapel. We all sat and stood in awe staring at the ceiling and walls, studying each panel and listening to the history. Afterwards, we couldn’t justify fighting the crowds to see the other pieces. There were a few that we really wanted to, but the crushing crowds helped make our decision to forego doubling back or starting over and instead heading for the exit. Honestly, after the Sistine Chapel, it would have seemed a disappointment.
We grabbed lunch at Panino Divino and gelato at Old Bridge. Both were very good and gave us just enough time to rest our feet before our next major challenge. We walked around to St. Peter’s Basilica. We didn’t enter the basilica, opting to head straight for the climb to top. Greene beat me to the punch and opted out, saying I could take the kids. I debated the possibility of letting Drew escort the others, but decided to accompany them. I did demand that we opt for the elevator option to get us past the first set of stairs. This leads directly to the interior walkway of the copula. Not having been inside yet, we were blown away by what we walked into. The enormity of the dome, the artwork, and the altar far below were quite a surprise. The height we had already reached was nosebleedish. We made our way around the walkway and headed up the various stairwells to the top. It included stone steps with the domed roof slanting in on you, metal steps that wound back in forth with limited headroom, and finally more stone in a winding staircase with a rope for a handhold. The view from the top made me shortly consider that the climb had been worth it. I’m still deciding. (Kidding – I would recommend doing it. Once. I wouldn’t if I ever make it back. I’ll opt out before Greene next time). We did have fun up top and on the way back down. We took the steps the entire way down, and emptied into the nave of the basilica. I texted Greene to join us, and we spent a few minutes taking it all in.
We then made our way out and decided to sit a spell in the square. The Pope was speaking the next day, so the chairs had already been set out. We picked a spot on the steps and made ourselves comfortable. We enjoyed watching people from all walks of life passing through the square. The fountains in the square had a surreal look, almost as if they were operating in slow motion.
We looked at Uber for a ride back, then haggled a taxi at the stand to save our tired feet. We had dinner at the Hosteria de Pastini, just around the corner from our flat. San Crispino for gelato.
The last day in Rome was spent without much of an agenda. We walked to Barberini, making another stop at the all important Sephora. We decided to continue the tradition of visiting Hard Rock, and arrived at opening to grab a table. Afterwards, we took a circuitous route back by Gelataria Valentino for our final gelato splurge. We strolled past Trevi Fountain again, this time to take in the whole piazza scene rather than just the fountain. We stayed back from the crowds and watched people pose for selfies, throw coins, and enjoy life. I think a picture of us at the time would have captured that; enjoying life, humbled, awestruck. Rome is almost overwhelming with the amount of history, art, vita, vino, and, of course, gelato. We feel so lucky to be able to expose our kids to so much of each. Especially the gelato. And not so much of the vino.
And now for the video:
From Tennessee To Texas to Saudi Arabia 