Right after the kids got out of school for Christmas break we headed off to Rome. We took the train to Basel and then flew to Rome on EasyJet…such a great, inexpensive way to travel. We fell in love with this ancient modern city!
Day 1
After a 7 hours of travel we made it to Rome. We stayed close to the Colosseum in some cute little apartment. We dropped our bags off and headed for some delicious Italian food. And we found some right next to the Colosseum.
More Margarita pizza please.
Poor Clara was sick the first few days of our trip with a fever and such, so she just hung out in the stroller not in the mood to eat:(.
Got to have gelato!
All snuggled in the hide-a-bed! Seemed like the most uncomfortable bed, but the kids fought over sleeping in it.
Day 2
The Colosseum was amazing! Can't believe it is still standing! We went inside and explored with a self-guided tour.
Sammy taking in the view.
Allison and Clara wanting to climb on every rock & column they found.
Wow!
Seriously amazing! You can feel what it might have been like back in the day of the Romans!
Looking out to the Roman Forum from the Colosseum.
Kids taking a break and eating a snack.
After a quick lunch from a side vendor we headed to the Roman Forum. Nothing like playing on some old Roman ruins!
There were pieces of history everywhere!
How did these columns last 2000 years?
In the Colosseum bookstore we bought a kids guide to Rome and it was fantastic. We used it as a guide through the rest of Rome!
The book had a map of the Roman Forum touching on the highlights. The kids loved learning about each building and Allison loved playing in the rocks.
Temple of Saturn and George.
Taking in the view and some silly faces!
This was her best smile today:)
Roman Forum from up high.
Capital Building…everything has a touch of ancient Rome.
As we wandered through Rome there were ruins of Ancient Rome everywhere! Yet another view of Ancient Rome!
Day 3
We headed off early to the Vatican. Their subway was SO busy! We know now to not take it during busy hours! We met our tour guide who took us through the Vatican Museum, through the Sistine chapel, & into St. Peter's Basilica. There are very few pictures because we weren't allowed to take them. But the Sistine Chapel was beautiful. Smaller than I thought it would be, but amazing. St. Peter's was huge! The biggest church we've seen so far! The visit was such a highlight!
You can see St. Peter's Basilica dome in the background. The kids loved the tour. It took us through some highlights of the museum, which was perfect for the kids.
With my angels in front of some angels in St. Peter's.
St. Peter's Basilica and some tired children ready for lunch.
After a delicious Italian lunch we went to wander through Rome.
There seems to be obelisks in every square. So fun to see the familiarities between all the European cities. Paris also had a obelisk, but only one compared to Rome's 18!
Piazza San Giovanni looking up to the Borghese Gardens.
We rode on one of these through the Borghese Gardens. The kids loved it! A great way to get around!
We found a playground in the gardens and stopped for a little play time!
It was a great afternoon in the gardens!
Then we wandered our way home through the amazing streets of Rome past the Spanish steps and shopping.
Day 4
The Pantheon was so incredible and so well preserved! One of George and I's favorites!
Piazza Navona…we always have to ride on the merry-go-rounds.
Trevi Fountain!
The kids are ready to through in their money to make sure they get to return to Rome again!
More ancient Rome!
The Mouth of Truth.
The legend goes that if you put your hand inside the mouth only those with a clear conscience will leave with their hand.
Luckily we all still have both hands!
Afterwards to wandered to Circus Maximus to see where the old chariot races took place. I think we seriously walked all of Ancient Rome…and the kids were great!
On the way home we found another great gelato place.
Even though it was freezing and dinner time we couldn't miss another chance for some gelato!
Day 5
Today was our tour to Pompeii…a once in a life time opportunity and we loved it! After meeting up with our tour group at 7:00 in the morning we headed on a small bus to Naples. Here they have an archaeological museum with items from Ancient Rome and Pompeii.
The huge statues…Hercules.
The Pompeii exhibits were incredible! These are some of the walls. I can only imagine how colorful the city was and even Ancient Rome as well.
After the museum we headed for lunch near Pompeii and I had the best pizza I have ever eaten! The whole family agreed that Naples pizza is the best!
Pompeii. We had a tour guid leading us through and he was full of wonderful information. The kids loved listening and seeing how life was back then.
Their old theater.
So big!
These are stones they used to cross the roads which were often dirty. Three stones means it was a big, main road.
Inside a Pompeii home…there is still some color on the the walls.
The spa/bath house.
Pompeii!
You can see how big this city was. This was the main road running through town!
Not all of Pompeii has been excavated…and some may never be.
Pompeii's Forum and main town square.
Allison was asleep most of the time or just wanted to sit in the stroller, so poor George had to either carry or try to maneuver the stroller through these old streets!
We were 1 of 2 tour groups there. It was so quiet and made it easy to explore. Pompeii was amazing!
Day 6
After a quick trip to get the tea cup and saucer I wanted from Piazza Navona we headed back to the airport and the back to Basel and then back to Zurich and then back to home. It was a fantastic trip! One to never be forgotten!
