Roma!

Coliseum
Steve, AJ, Stefanie, Dominic, Rachel & Missy

Our trip to Rome after Christmas was terrific We visited with family, toured the city, went to museums, celebrated New Year's Eve and went to Mass with the Pope.

When we arrived from Pisa it was late afternoon on a Saturday. We were staying near the Spanish Steps so we decided to explore that part of the city. Following our Rick Steve's guide book we decided to start at Piazzo del Popolo and walk down the Via Del Corso. This is the Rodeo Drive of Rome and on a Saturday night after Christmas it was crazy busy! We worked our way along the street occasionally stopping to check out a street performer or go inside a fabulous church. Seriously, every church is fabulous. We ended up at Palatine Hill and now we were hungry so we worked our way back towards the Trevi fountain and found a cute little restaurant for dinner. The wine lining the walls sold me!

Via del Corso

Our next day started slow and relaxing with a leisurely breakfast and a late start, remember I'm trying to embrace traveling with teens and their expectations. What are their expectations? More relaxing, less site seeing! I convinced Rachel to look through one of our guidebooks and she found the Time Elevator, a 5d movie ride about the history of Rome, so that is where we started our day. The movie was fun and informative, and much more fun for the kids than listening to me read out of a book!

Rachel, Stefanie, AJ & Dominic

We headed to the Pantheon next and since mass was still in progress we did what anyone in Italy would do, found some gelatto.

Dominic, AJ (on tip toes), Stefanie & Rachel

In fact we found 150 flavors of gelatto. It was incredible. Seriously, Profiterol flavored gelatto? Awesome!

AJ, Rachel, Stefanie, Dominic & Missy

Then it was time to explore the inside of the Pantheon which really is amazing. Steve and I enjoyed the audio tour explaining all the nooks and crannies and statues. It is really incredible what the Romans were able to accomplish so very long ago.

Late that afternoon we spent some time exploring the Borghese Gardens and then Villa Borghese Museum. A tip about this museum, you must reserve your tickets in advance, it's the only way to tour it. We really enjoyed the scupltures! Cardinal Borghese created this museum as a place to showcase his art and entertain important guests. Also, Cardinal Borghese was not religious and was the nephew of the Pope. Hmmmm.

AJ, Rachel, Stefanie, Steve & Dominic

Album Cover Shot in the Borghese Gardens

Our next day was rainy but luckily we had mostly indoor activities planned, we just had to get there.  Our first stop was the Capuchin Crypts, Rachel had also spotted this gem. It has a small museum about the history of the Capuchins and then six rooms where the bones of about 4000 monks have been arranged in elaborate art displays. It is most definitely creepy yet really fascinating to see. The kids really liked it.

Stefanie, Dominic, AJ & Rachel

Next was Vatican City, we hopped on the Metro which was super easy to use and headed over to St Peter's Square. We were meeting Steve's cousins for a tour later but decided to have a quick look and some lunch beforehand. Even in the rain it does not disappoint. It really is amazing and HUGE and beautiful.

AJ, Stefanie, Dominic & Rachel

The paparazzi - or what the kids see all the time when we are traveling!

There was also a lovely creche for the Christmas season.

After lunch we met up with Steve's cousin Terry and her family, his cousin Dianne and their mom, his Aunt Marilyn. We also met some of their friends who were visiting Rome. It was so incredibly fun for us to be able to spend time with them. We had a tour of the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel and St Peter's Basilica. While the Vatican is home to beautiful and amazing art it wasn't the best day to be viewing it. Rome is busy at Christmas time, couple that with a very rainy day and you just sort of move with the crowd through the museum. We enjoyed seeing the Sistine Chapel and taking in the different paintings but it was different than any of us imagined. The kids were less impressed than they expected to be.

St Peter's Basilica on the other hand did not disappoint. It is truly an amazing church and an incredible place to spend time. The entire church is made of types of rock, literally the rock of the church like Peter is the rock on which the church was built. My favorite art work inside is Michelangelo's Pietà, which is Mary with the body of Jesus after he is taken from the cross. There is so much feeling and emotion that generates from this piece. Although I don't have a picture to share. It is behind glass to protect it and there was always a crowd so I have a book.

I had wanted to climb to the top of the Dome after our tour, but it ended too late, which turned out to be for the best. Steve and I returned early the next morning to do the climb. The kids had opted to stay back at the hotel and sleep in, and here is a highlight of traveling with teens, you can leave them at the hotel! Steve and I cruised through security and were thrilled there was no one in line so up the stairs we went. At the first level we stopped and walked around the inside of the Dome and took pictures.

Then we climbed the last 300 steps to the very top and the views were incredible. You look out over Vatican City and then further over all of Rome. On our way down we stopped at the gift shop at the halfway point - there's a gift shop! - and then made our way back to the kids

Steve & Missy at the top of St Peter's Basilica

It was a beautiful day so once we collected the kids we explored the Roman Forum, Capitoline Hill and the Roman Forum from the outside.

A shopping mall

Original floor

Favorite shot - Rachel, AJ, Stefanie & Dominic

Again we watched street performers and painters amaze the crowd with their different forms of entertainment. We found gelatto (how fortunate) near the Circus Maximus so we sat on the wall eating gelatto listening to the bands that would be playing there that night for New Year's Eve do their sound checks.

Then the kids humored me and we went to Santa Maria of Cosmedin church so we could see the Bocca della Verità - the Mouth of Truth.

People waiting in line to see if they are truth tellers!

If you have ever seen Roman Holiday, than you know why I had to go do this. Plus, it's always good to make sure your kids are truth tellers! There may or may not have been some slight hesitation putting their hands into the mouth to see if they were liars or not!

That evening we had an early dinner for New Year's Eve.

AJ, Missy & Steve

Dominic, Stefanie & Rachel

We celebrated the rest of the evening mellowly with a movie - Roman Holiday and games. Then we watched the fireworks at midnight from our balcony, preferring to stay out of the crowds! We lucked out and could see the fireworks over the Pantheon, St Peter's, the Spanish Steps and Piazza del Popolo as well as all the small fireworks shows being put on throughout the city. Just like in Germany, fireworks are easily available and everyone shoots them off with no real safety precautions. It is a little scary!

Part of the reason for our mellow New Year's Eve was that we had big plans with the Pope on New Year's Day. Read all about it here: New Year's Day and Mass with Pope Francis

New Year's Day was truly a fabulous day and we left Rome the next day but not before taking a guided tour with Steve's cousins of the Coliseum, the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. It is truly amazing what the Romans built and accomplished during the height of their power. Walking through the ruins and into the incredible parts that still remain are amazing. The Coliseum especially is amazing to stand in and imagine what life was like. We also saw this amazing church, I don't know what it was called and can't figure it out from the guidebook but the mosaic is amazing.

After a long goodbye with our fun cousins we had a quick lunch and headed to Verona!

Family!
Stefanie, Dominic, Rachel, Chris, Charlotte, Louie
Steve, Dianne, AJ, Terry, Missy & Aunt Marilyn