Rome

Italy was a surprise addition to our itinerary. It is a bit embarrassing to admit,  but it was only while in the south of France, looking at a map while on a road trip, that I realized just how close we were to Italy.  Like, literally the next country.  Oops, geography is not my strong suit.  To further sweeten the Italian attraction, I have a cousin who lives in Italy with her family.  And not just Italy, but Milan, the closest big stop to the south of France.  It quickly became a no-brainer that we should figure out how to go have a visit as one of the take-aways from our time away from home was that it was always such a sweet opportunity when we could connect with friends or family while on the road.

We looked into driving and taking the train from Marseilles to Milan, but in the end the incredibly inexpensive flight from Marseilles to Rome (30 Euro!) was how we jumped from France to Italy.

We don't have a great track record of loving big cities as a family, and Rome is a big city, but I think, with seven months of travel under our belts we were at least becoming more familiar with how to navigate big cities and perhaps exposure therapy has helped with decreasing some anxiety.

Riding the Leonardo da Vinci train in from the airport to city center.

We transitioned from the train to the subway and before we even stepped foot above ground we were  confronted with ancient Rome.  And it was so cool!  I felt optimistic.  Yes!  Look at my kids, the youngest in particular, so absorbed in ancient relics that were on display in the subway station.  Rome is going to be awesome! And it was awesome in many ways, not always predictable or typical, but awesome nonetheless.

I did not think Rome with kids would be fun.  I imagined heat, crowds, expense, old churches, art and sculptures, whining kids and frustrated parents.  There was all of that.  But that was not the dominant experience of Rome.  We spent four days there and I am glad we did.  Was it a must do on this particular trip? Not necessarily.  Did we do "everything" there is to do in Rome?  Not even a tiny fraction.  But we did walk the streets and soak up the atmosphere, see some of the famous sights, appreciate all our stops that did not include crowds, navigate another big city via public transport, oh, and eat gelato.  So much gelato.

We stayed in an apartment in a residential neighborhood.  Once again AirBnB allowed a big city to be affordable for the family.  We would, along with throngs of locals,  pick up amazingly delicious slabs of pizza from a shop down the road.  We'd point to slices behind the glass, the wood ovens blazing in the background, and then walk back to the apartment with a box filled with different slices. Once "home" we would eat on our terrace, the ancient city rolling out in all directions around us, steeples and domes of churches poking up among square buildings and apartments.

Vios gazing out from our apartment's terrace.  This is where we ate evening meals after days of walking and sight seeing.  It was nice to be able to retreat to "home" and not have to navigate restaurants while tired and hungry.

One of the advantages of the take it slow approach is it allows time to wander and pace the day to the moods and energy.  We enjoyed exploring the streets of Rome and finding our way to and from our apartment via foot and bus.  While wandering the streets we would stumble upon ruins nestled between modern buildings.  After awhile V started to say "just another ruin" in a laughing way because it was so absurd, in a cool way.

"Just another ruin"

Riding the bus around town.  

When you ride the bus around Rome this is the type of scenery you pass.

The downside of the slow pace and little advanced planning is that I had to battle my mind into submission.  At times I struggled with thinking about what we were NOT doing, rather than what we were doing.  And when the thing I had planned go sideways my feelings of self doubt rocket.   Trying to go to the Colosseum was like a gladiator fight to wrangle my mind.  The one "must do" that I wanted to do with the family was go to the Colosseum.  I remember it fondly from my visit to Rome as a teen and I thought it would be that elusive ruin that looks impressive and has a dramatic and glory history that would evoke interest and excitement on the part of the kids.  The night prior to our planned Colosseum visit, snuggled into our Italian apartment, we watched key scenes from the Gladiator movie, we saw recreations of the Colosseum, we got pumped to visit and headed to bed.  The next morning we logged on with plans to buy entrance tickets "ahead of time".  Oops.  The word on the web was that you had to buy entrance tickets days in advance.  Really!?  Cue stress and self flagellation.  Leo and I quickly went into damage control and started to look into tours.  Perhaps we could get in on a tour.  But those also appeared full and/or prohibitively expensive.  What to do!? After a couple of hours of hand wringing, web searching and kids on screens while parents were distracted we just decided to get out of the house and at least walk around the Colosseum.  Here is where the lesson in not worrying or stressing comes into play.  We get there and there are lots of available entrance tickets.  In fact, the line is not even that long.  What!?  Relief mixed with confusion as to how reality could be so different from the online message, we got into line and in very short order were inside the Colosseum.

The Colosseum was all the things you imagine it might be.  It is huge, it is ancient, it is infused with history.  There are crowds and groups of people and it is hot.  Leo eavesdropped on a few tours and then shared key nuggets with us.  The kids thought maybe they preferred seeing the ancient roman ampitheatre in Arles more than the Colosseum, but I wonder if that was partly because Arles was our first exposure to a grand Roman ruin, it was not as hot and not as crowded.  The Colosseum is truly an epic sight and I stand by that it was a worthwhile stop, if nothing else because I think it is amazing to be able to say you've been there and walked around those ancient walls.

The Colosseum was also featured in the big celebrations that happened in Rome while we were there.  It was the  National holiday known as the "Republic Day".  Among other events it is marked by a big military parade that ends at the Colosseum.  The grand finale is when the Italian Air Force's "Frecce Tricolori" performed a synchronized flyover the Colosseum, spewing  Italy’s national colors: green, white, and red.  We avoided the crowds for the parade, but we did watch the flyover from our terrace.  The kids loved it and somehow on this trip, along with becoming interested in fancy cars, we became keen to see air force feats of daring.  You can never predict what your kids are going to be into!

Rome is filled with opportunities to see ancient ruins and old art.  We lined up for the Colosseum and St Peter's Basilica, but those were the only two sights that we stood in line for.  We toyed with the idea of going into a few other churches and museums but elected to stay on the move rather than line up and we meandered the streets soaking in the sights and picking some key squares, fountains and streets to walk to.  We loved all the fountains and water spouts that are tied into the ancient aquaducts and still supply clear, drinkable water.  It was awesome to be in a hot urban centre and able to fill up our water bottles freely and often.

One of our destinations was the Famous Trevi fountain.  The fountain itself was lovely, but the immense crowd around the fountain was almost more compelling as a sight to behold.  We joined in the fun, tossing coins into the water, posing for photos, filling our water bottles, and laughing at the absurdity of the rules, or lack of rules.  All along the perimeter of the crowd were security guards with loud whistles.  They would intermittently blare their whistle while gesturing angrily at some unsuspecting tourist.  The reasons would appear to be for sitting on a certain section of the wall or putting their feet somewhere they should not.  But the hilarity came from the fact that there was not a sign to be seen that would explain the rules, nor did there appear to be any clear rationale for the rules.  People were sitting all along the walls of the fountain, but at some seemingly random spot it transitions to an area people are not allowed to sit.  The catch is, there is no way to know this except to be there long enough to see fellow tourists be scolded loudly and publicly.

The crowd was many people deep!

It is fine to sit here....

Tossing the coin.

Filling water bottle.

  

We walked the streets, loosely following a walking tour itinerary suggested by our guide book.  It took us past landmarks and important sights, down narrow streets and past open squares, along streets that were lined with tourist shops and street vendors.  We took our time, stopping when we saw something we wanted to look at, breezing by "must see" sights if they didn't appeal to the crew.  We stopped to watch some of the street artists creating paintings with spray paint and were amazed by the skill  with which these young men wielded the spray cans.  I couldn't help think about all the horrible fumes they were breathing in and wondered if  they were being pimped out to work by the older men collecting the money.  Seeing how people make their livings on the streets around the world always evokes an uneasy feeling and a reminder of how fortunate we are.  We often talk with the kids, prompting them to think about what it must be like to leave your homes and families to come and sell watches or plastic knick-knacks in a country many miles from home, and what life back home must be like if it was better to be on the streets of Rome, or any other European city.  Our walk ended at the Piazza Navona where  we watched magicians, musicians and appreciated the beauty of  the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi.

Spray Pain artist. 

One of the funniest items for sale.  A beefcake calendar of Roman Catholic Priests.  Or so they say...

The Pantheon was one of the sites that we decided the line was too long.  It hurt me to walk past but I used my mantra of "you can't do it all" or simply "it is not worth whiny kids"

Cool huge old doors

Piazza Navona:

Watching a magician

 

One of the most important cultural experiences we had in Rome was the partaking of ... no, not communion at St Peter's Basilica, but Gelato.  It truly was a cultural experience, and some may even say spiritual.  Since our apartment was a bit outside of the main tourist centre the gelato shops near us were frequented by locals.  I read in one article about visiting Italy that gelato is a food experience that is built into the fabric of Italians' lives.  It is not something that is only kept for special occasions but rather part of many people's everyday, or every week lives.  This may be true, or maybe not, but I latched right onto that and decided that we would go with it and treat gelato like a food group and a cultural experience.

Our first night we stumbled upon a neighborhood shop that seemed chic, popular and oh so incredibly delicious.  We learned that it is expected that you order at least two flavors, that fresh whip cream is always offered, for free, and at some shops chocolate or hazelnut sauce is added if you so desire.  Oh my oh my.

"Our" shop, as we started to think of it was not only chic and delicious but the young people working behind the counter were incredibly kind and patient.  They helped us learn the process of how to buy gelato (you pay for your scoops and get a ticket, then get in the crowd/line to choose your flavors), they helped us decide what we wanted and encouraged the kids to order on their own.  The shop became very busy as the night went on, but we went on the early side (only 9pm!) so there was the chance to hem and haw over choices.  On Sunday we decided to have a daytime gelato and tried another place near our apartment.  This was a smaller shop that was packed with families.  The ordering process felt like an intense high pressure event with arms waving tickets and people elbowing their way to the front, but all in a good natured way.  It was to buy gelato after all. 

The busy Sunday afternoon.

I think we would all agree that ordering and savoring the gelato was a highlight of our time in Rome.  It was all good.  Delicious, cold, and fun.

The final big outing that we did in Rome was to the Vatican.  We sold the outing to the kids as we were going to the world's smallest country.  That was intriguing and got us motivated.  We purposely decided to forgo the museums and incredible art that you can see at the Vatican museums, as that would be an intensely crowded (and expensive) undertaking and the significance would likely be lost on the kids.  It also happened to be closed on Sundays, the day we had left to visit, so that worked out in our favor. (Phew).

St Peter's square was relatively empty on the day we visited.  The line to enter St Peter's Basilica was long, but nothing compared to a busy day.  Seeing the square in person is always cool because there are so many memorable images of the Pope addressing crowds in the square.  These images are not something our kids have a reference point for, but both Leo and I can remember seeing photos and TV images of the square filled with people gazing up at the Pope, or the Pope addressing throngs of people below.

The famous Swiss guards were as entertaining as always.  The kids puzzled over their "uniforms" and we tried to imagine them as intimidating, but failed.

Our main purpose for visiting the Vatican was to see St Peter's Basilica.  We skipped many possible church stops during our time in Rome and even previously in France, but we decided if we were going to do one church, St Peter's was a good one to see.  And it was.  It is truly incredible.  The grandeur and size, the ornate decorations, the incredible art, the spears of light.  As you walk through the huge doors to the Basilica the sounds change to a hum, the air seems to buzz and you are overwhelmed with the size.  One of my favorite elements was the shafts of sunlight that shone through windows. It really felt like celestial fingers were touching the air.  Or like the beauty of the natural world was staking a place in a man-made space.

We had some good conversations about art, Christianity, faith, power and wealth,.  This was truly learning in context.  The younger two were completely taken with the sculptures, the gold, the crypts and the history.  The eldest puzzled about the hierarchy of power, and they all asked some good questions about Jesus and how he fits with all the gold and bling that we were seeing.

A mass was taking place while we were there.

I will sometimes give a kid the camera if I need to engage them in what we are seeing.  It is always so cool to see what they choose to focus on through the lens.  Often it is a detail I hadn't even noticed:

  

I have been known to not always be the most well behaved in places of worship, so I was doubly proud of my kids for being quiet, respectful and engaged with the surroundings. Yay us!

With the Vatican and St Peter's ticked off our list we felt like we had done Rome justice.  We had seen the inside of a beautiful famous important Catholic church, we had wandered the streets and soaked up the sights, we saw the Colosseum, we ate pizza and lots of gelato.  Really, our time was complete for this visit.  All that was left was negotiating our way out of Rome with a rental car.  On our last morning in Rome we made our way, once more via foot and via subway with all our stuff on our backs, to the main train station. 

There was lots of waiting at the station.  And in true Italian form, no signs to explain where to wait or what to do.

At the station we collected our rental car and navigated ourselves out of the city and toward the hills of Tuscany.  The process was remarkably smooth given the chaos that is Rome.  The funny thing during this car pick up was that they upgraded us to a bigger car and we kept trying to change back to a smaller one, but everyone kept saying some version of "you really don't want to do that".  In the end we drove off with a fancy Alfa Romeo car, bigger than we needed, but a fun ride for the roads of Italy.

Walking from the rental booth to pick up the car, many blocks and street crossings away.
  We laughed at the predictable lack of signs and also the lack of caring a damn about customers comfort or safety.  The Italian way.  Would not fly in North America!

Crazy packed car lot in a parking garage in downtown Rome. 
The most stressful part of the drive was getting the rental car out of the lot without a scratch!

Ciao Roma.  You were fun.

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