All Roads Lead to Rome
I have a brilliant idea.
Let's take the tourist bus that does the loop around Rome. We can hop on and off when we want and see a few sights that we won't want to walk to. Yes, I know the agenda is the Colosseum, but this will get us there....
Sounds good, but the Green bus I picked was a bit of a dog. Something like 60 Euro later we are sitting on the bus just outside of the Trevi fountain (for the first time I haven't thrown a coin in, I am panicking this doesn't mean that I won't return!!!) but it goes forward 5 minutes and stops at Piazza Barbarini and waits for over 20 minutes before moving on to the next stop (Termini) where it waits for another 20 minutes. The kids are not impressed. Randall is not impressed. OK, i am not impressed either! It's hard to watch the red but doing the same itinerary but moving continuously, without these 20 minute breaks!!
Getting our money back won't happen and I am still a bit of a Nazi when it comes to the budget so we stick it out on the bus, slowly passing all the most famous places in Rome (I don't think i will EVER get the monument to Victor Emanuelle, I mean really, what on earth did he accomplish in life to achieve such a grandiose monument??????)
Finally we hop bus at the Colosseo - the most famous Roman amphitheatre in the world. It was started by the Roman Emperor Vespasian in 72 AD and was finished by his son Titus in 80 AD. It has been home to the famous gladiator fights as well as all sorts of other spectacles to keep the Roman public entertained. What is the saying: Bread and Circuses?
We side step the long line for the Colosseum and buy our joint Colosseum/Forum tickets at the entrance to the Palatine Hill and Roman forum. It saves us a good hour of line waiting and with kids, that is ALWAYS a good idea.
We spend a full three hours walking through the ancient Roman forum and then up on the Palatine Hill. Centuries of trade and business happened here. The forum was where business was done. People prayed. Deals were made. There were celebratory arches for great deed done by emperors. Temples. It's hard to put your head in the space that the Romans were in back then. Large scale buildings to impress the might of the empire onto citizens and travellers alike. To see it now, it looks like a whole lot of marble that has been toppled. There are some walls still left, but most of the beautiful marble has been stripped over the years to create new buildings around Rome, leaving just the inner shell of bricks standing.
The big kids are really into the whole aura of the place. And the little girls are on the hunt for the Roman fountains that we are continually filling our water bottles from.
I just love the red Mediterranean poppies that are pushing out of all the ruins. The remind me of my mom and how much she used to love seeing these colourful little flowers whenever we came to Europe in the spring. They are a cheerful addition to the scene. Like they are saying to us that life goes on, no matter how old the ground is.
After touring through the Roman forum, the temple of the vestal virgins we wander through the Palatine Hill. As Liam is very proud to point out, it is one of the original seven hills that Rome was built upon. It is also the hill that the Roman emperors had their palaces on. There are so many ruins it boggles the mind.
Foot weary we toddle out of the ruins, to see the inside of the Colosseum, but alas, somewhere along the way we've lost our tickets!! No matter what we say they won't let us in, and there is no way we are going to pay the entrance fee a second time.
With sad big kids (they so want to see the inside of the huge building) and happy little girls (they are sooooo over looking at ruined buildings) we head back to the bus. We take the same halting type of trip back to our little region of Rome. On the way back we pass by the circus maximus and a good drive along the Tiber River a long stop at St Peters square. I make a quick hop off the bus at this point and manage to carry six gelato's back to the bus. I must look like a professional because there are tourists taking pictures of me carrying the six dripping cones as I dodge traffic to get back to the bus.
We finally exit at the bus at the tomb of Augustus Ceaser and head back to our apartment and one of the amazing cafes for dinner.
It's been a long day of sightseeing for these guys, and a well deserved pizza is always appreciated. Tomorrow is a new day. Sunday in Rome. We can relax a little.
I have a brilliant idea.
 |
| Trevi Fountain |
Sounds good, but the Green bus I picked was a bit of a dog. Something like 60 Euro later we are sitting on the bus just outside of the Trevi fountain (for the first time I haven't thrown a coin in, I am panicking this doesn't mean that I won't return!!!) but it goes forward 5 minutes and stops at Piazza Barbarini and waits for over 20 minutes before moving on to the next stop (Termini) where it waits for another 20 minutes. The kids are not impressed. Randall is not impressed. OK, i am not impressed either! It's hard to watch the red but doing the same itinerary but moving continuously, without these 20 minute breaks!!
 |
| Outside the Colosseum and Forum |
Getting our money back won't happen and I am still a bit of a Nazi when it comes to the budget so we stick it out on the bus, slowly passing all the most famous places in Rome (I don't think i will EVER get the monument to Victor Emanuelle, I mean really, what on earth did he accomplish in life to achieve such a grandiose monument??????)
Finally we hop bus at the Colosseo - the most famous Roman amphitheatre in the world. It was started by the Roman Emperor Vespasian in 72 AD and was finished by his son Titus in 80 AD. It has been home to the famous gladiator fights as well as all sorts of other spectacles to keep the Roman public entertained. What is the saying: Bread and Circuses?
We side step the long line for the Colosseum and buy our joint Colosseum/Forum tickets at the entrance to the Palatine Hill and Roman forum. It saves us a good hour of line waiting and with kids, that is ALWAYS a good idea.
 |
| All of us in the Roman Forum |
We spend a full three hours walking through the ancient Roman forum and then up on the Palatine Hill. Centuries of trade and business happened here. The forum was where business was done. People prayed. Deals were made. There were celebratory arches for great deed done by emperors. Temples. It's hard to put your head in the space that the Romans were in back then. Large scale buildings to impress the might of the empire onto citizens and travellers alike. To see it now, it looks like a whole lot of marble that has been toppled. There are some walls still left, but most of the beautiful marble has been stripped over the years to create new buildings around Rome, leaving just the inner shell of bricks standing. The big kids are really into the whole aura of the place. And the little girls are on the hunt for the Roman fountains that we are continually filling our water bottles from.
I just love the red Mediterranean poppies that are pushing out of all the ruins. The remind me of my mom and how much she used to love seeing these colourful little flowers whenever we came to Europe in the spring. They are a cheerful addition to the scene. Like they are saying to us that life goes on, no matter how old the ground is.
 |
| Clara in front of the poppies |
Foot weary we toddle out of the ruins, to see the inside of the Colosseum, but alas, somewhere along the way we've lost our tickets!! No matter what we say they won't let us in, and there is no way we are going to pay the entrance fee a second time.
 |
| Liana and Liam in the Forum |
We finally exit at the bus at the tomb of Augustus Ceaser and head back to our apartment and one of the amazing cafes for dinner.
It's been a long day of sightseeing for these guys, and a well deserved pizza is always appreciated. Tomorrow is a new day. Sunday in Rome. We can relax a little.
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