I ♥ Rome

Last Thursday we packed up the kids and hopped on a plane to Rome for 5 nights in the Eternal City!  Rome has been on the top of our list of "must-see" places while we are here in Europe.  We spotted a great deal through Brussels Airlines and despite our already hectic Spring schedule booked a 5 night get away. 

 

We took a late flight, beginning around 8:30 p.m., but the kids were troopers and thankfully the owner of the apartment we rented set up a taxi to pick us up directly from the airport. 

From our first moments in Rome, I fell in love with the city. Not so much for the ancient buildings, the charm of the bustling piazza's or the history that fills the streets, but because of the people. They were friendly, welcoming, accomodating and most of all they LOVED kids. It's a bit of a contradiction between their passionate personalities and conversations, but yet their firm desire to slow down, enjoy a cafe or meal together. They are a people who truly enjoy living life to the fullest.

Here we are on Friday morning preparing breakfast.  One way we save money with our travels is by finding apartments furnished with a kitchen so we cook several of our meals.  It is a win-win all around, first of all, we save quite a bit of money and can control our vacation diet a little more and secondly, any of my friends with little ones of their own know all too well how exhausting it can be with the kids trying to find a restaurant that looks suitable for families but is also affordable.  Jason and I have firmly decided that we are not on a "gastronomic tour" of Europe during this stage of our lives.  So any suggestions of fabulous dinner spots should be saved for another trip to Europe!

Our first day in Rome we headed straight for the Vatican.  Jason and I are not of a Catholic background, but it was still fascinating to see the history and beauty in this smallest of countries!

This is a view of one of the interior courtyards in the Vatican.

The Vatican museum was informative and the children were able to see an actual mummy in the Egyptian exhibit. 

The Vatican was filled with countless ornately decorated corridors and rooms. 

We wove our way in and out of these masterpieces while heading to the Sistine Chapel. 

The kids were such troopers through the entire day.  We would try to point out famous works of art and interesting sculptures, and they managed to keep their spirits up pretty well in hopes of a gelato reward for their efforts!

Ethan came up with this pose himself!

One of the corridors was filled with mural sized maps of the ancient Mediterranean countries. 

And finally, the Sistine Chapel!  Unfortunately, there are no photos allowed inside, so Jason snapped this quick picture just before we entered.  It's quite a modest entrance for something that has been so built up in my mind!  It was much darker inside than I imagined, but astounding to think that one person worked on painting this entire chapel for over four years of his life! 

 Here is the view of our next destination, St. Peter's Basilica. 

For how much I would say I was a bit underwhelmed by the Sistine Chapel, I will say I was completely blown away by St. Peter's Basilica.  The sheer size of this Cathedral was almost incomprehensible!  Added to that the lavish adornment, sculptures and decorations made it breath-taking.

This is a photo of the outer courtyard entrance to the Cathedral.

We were also able to see Michelangelo's famous Pietà.

There were nuns praying at one of the altars. 

As you can see in the photo above, it was high tourist time in Rome.  All of the places we visited were packed, but we were blessed with unseasonably cool weather in the upper 70's when it is usually closer to 90 degrees in June. 

Here is a view of the Basilica from St. Peter's Square. 

We explored St. Peter's Square for a bit...

cooled off our hands and filled up our water bottles in a fountain...

and enjoyed making faces on the "joker" guards at the front of the Cathedral!

Following our successful tour of the Vatican, we toured the streets of Rome for a bit in search of gelato. 

We found the perfect spot and shared a bench with some of the locals to enjoy our ice cream.

We still had three full days of Roman fun ahead of us!