Things to Do - Random Links & Cherish This Day

T hanging out at the Colosseum (I have SO MANY photos of T looking over railings throughout Europe, I need to make a collage).

HAPPY WEEKEND EVERYONE!! Don't forget to check out this week's photos on Cherish This Day.

RANDOM LINKS:

* The top 23 most beautiful American campsites. Assateague made the list!! (Click here to see photos from our last trip there).

* It's not you, it's them. FUNNY!!!

* Isn't this fantastic midcentury modern house (for sale) in Arlington wonderful? (at a great price too).

* Song's from your mother's station wagon, a spotify playlist.

* The world's coolest kindergarten (link via Bleubird).

* So I'm totally in love with hipster Barbie.

* NPR's the storybook project ("We asked some fascinating parents: What are your five favorite books to read to your kids?")

Places to Go (Vacation) - ROME, ITALY PART II (Days 13 & 14) - Dragging Our Kids Through Europe, Part VIII

We began our second full day in Rome with a walk to Castel Sant'Angelo, which Roman Emperor Hadrien built sometime around 135 A.D. as a mausoleum. Eventually the building was repurposed as a fortress and now it's a museum, which, according to Rome with Kids: an insider's guide, consists of "a wonderful labyrinth of some 58 rooms" where "children can bound up its ramp and ramparts, roam around gorgeous papal apartments and discover old weapons, flags and cannonballs." Sounds awesome, right? And all in all it was, but the heat of the day made us all a little cranky. Oh well, serves us right for visiting Rome in the heart of summer.



Luckily, smoothies on the walk back made everyone feel better.




We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing at the apartment, trying to get our energy up for the Vatican. One Friday night every month, the Vatican Museums reopen at 7 pm so you can tour the galleries at dusk, which is awesome because several key rooms don't have air conditioning and cool down considerably once the sun starts to wain.

First stop, St. Peter's square.




In case you're wondering, the walk from St. Peter's square to the Vatican's entrance is much longer than it appears on the map. Luckily, there are walls to jump on.







I really thought T would melt down at the Vatican (I even searched the map for escape routes if things truly went south), but T ended up LOVING the Vatican (you can't plan this stuff). The kids' scavenger hunt/audio tour proved to be one of the highlight's of Rome (the adult tour, on the other hand, was somewhat dull).

Of course, having the children listen to an entirely different tour than us made for some interesting conversations. My favorite being that T's tour told him to prepare because the next room ON THE TOUR would contain "the most famous ceiling ever". But the next room we visited was not on the kids' audio tour, so T spent quite a few minutes staring at a blank white ceiling before finally asking us, "I just don't get it. why is this ceiling so special?"

And then there was F's comment on seeing the Sistine Chapel, "which one is supposed to be God?"




The walk home = positively gorgeous. We actually felt lucky that no cabs would take us.



Day 3 - Dan has become completely addicted to cappuccino and wonders if he can ever return to American coffee.






We spent the rest of the morning checking things off our "holy crap, I can't believe we haven't seen X yet" list. First stop, the Pantheon. Yes, it really is that gorgeous. I almost hoped for rain so I could see the light on the drops as they made their way inside.



The kids had taken a few days off from souveniring but after the Pantheon they resumed with full force.



The Trevi Fountain was under construction, so I only photographed the top.



T decided he needed a new hat. I thought P would yell at him for copying her, but, somewhat oddly, no fights occurred.



Group shot in front of the Pinocchio store.


Hats are important during Italian summers.






In the afternoon, we walked past the Colosseum to the Basilica San Clemente for our underground Rome tour through Context Travel, possibly the coolest thing we did in all of Europe. Under the twelfth century church was an even older church (from the 4th century), completely hidden from any passerby (no signs or anything you just walk down a staircase and suddenly you're in a early Christian church). EVEN COOLER, under that church was a pagan temple. WHO KNEW? There are literally worlds upon worlds under Rome. Ancient houses. Old streets. Amazing stuff.

We learned a lot about the Cult of Mithras and their influence on Christian tradition. We also toured a few more hidden underground marvels. Old homes far far under the city. I cannot say enough good things. Unfortunately, no photography was allowed, so you'll just have to trust me (google images also has some cool photos if you're curious).






The tour ended next to a beautiful park, whose name I can't remember, but which provided the perfect uncrowded oasis away from the craziness of the city.



Random souvenir activity book purchased during the walk back.



I didn't bring my camera out for our last night in Rome, so I made Dan pay a few euros for this polaroid souvenir. If it didn't look like we were squeezing P out of the photo, this would probably be our Xmas card for 2015.

I'm still sad that we missed out on some great stuff (in particular, we never made it to the Spanish Steps), but all in all Rome was a blast. And way more kid-friendly than I ever would have assumed.



The next morning, we began our crazy day of travel to San Sebastian, Spain, which involved a flight to Madrid followed by a 5 hour train ride north (why didn't we just fly into Barcelona or San Sebastian? Because I couldn't get a flight, as in AT ALL. So we took the long way).




When we arrived in Spain, I wanted to take a taxi from the train station, but Dan insisted on walking (our apartment was only about 1.5 miles away) and he was totally right. Sunsets like this are NOT meant to be experienced through car windows.
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HAPPY WEDNESDAY EVERYONE!! I'm going to take a few weeks off from the Europe posts so I can focus on other stuff that we've been doing lately, but eventually I'll post some photos of Spain. I hope you're all having a good week!!

Places to Go (Vacation) - ROME, ITALY PART I (Days 11 & 12) - Dragging Our Kids Through Europe, Part VII

This is ancient Rome, where we had a wonderful (though super hot) time.




But to get there, first we had to leave the wonderfulness of Lake Como, with it's gorgeous morning fog and bakery down the street (luckily, almost everywhere in Europe has a bakery down the street). I know Italian's are famous for pasta, but they can really rock dessert.



Then we had to take a ferry . . .



To a train . . .



To another train . . (Just when P started complaining of homesickness, she received a facebook message (through my account) from her best friend. So. much. happiness. They spent the rest of the week sending stickers and emojis to each other).

To a taxi (as much as we loved Rome, I have no desire to ever be in a car there again. Complete chaos. I'm not sure how anyone survives) . . .



To our new apartment . . .

Up until this point, we opted for larger apartments on the periphery of cities, but in Rome we we stayed closer to the center of the city, right off Campo di Fiori Square (click here to see our rental). We loved the proximity to everything, but it was a small space for five people.




After a whole day traveling, we couldn't wait to walk around and enjoy the city. So. much. history. everywhere we looked (also, so many crazy scooters and near death experiences).

Rome is the only city I've ever visited where several very busy four lane roads don't have stoplights, rather they just have crosswalks. So you wait until a large enough group of people comes together and then you all start walking into MOVING TRAFFIC, hoping that the cars will stop moving. Often they skid to a stop about three feet from you. Good times, good times.









Our first stop - Piazza Navona, which, according to Rome with Kids: an insider's guide (possibly my favorite travel book ever, I wish every city had something comparable), the kids would love. And the book was right, in the evenings the square is full of street artists and performers. Everywhere you turn, there's something crazy going on. Plus, two toys stores bookmark each end of the square. P and T fell in love with everything in the very expensive Al Sogno and we ended up coming back here several times during our trip.

We could have stayed out all night. Seriously, Rome is definitely a "stay out all night with the kids" type of city. But we had to be up early for a morning of gladiator training.









When I planned/researched this vacation, I clicked on a video for Rome's (somewhat cheesy) Gladiator School. T, who was playing in the next room, happened to wander in and was immediately smitten. So gladiator school become our one "must do" activity in Europe. My favorite question being, "Mom, if we're going to Italy, how come everyone at gladiator school speaks English?" My reply, "because only American tourists are silly enough to travel the world to take their children to gladiator school." Oh well, by this point in our vacation, the kids really needed an activity geared specifically for them.

The first half of gladiator training involved a tour of the "gladiator museum" and a lecture on the history of the profession. Dan and I found it pretty interesting, but our guide's accent was rather strong and the kids had a hard time understanding him.

Before long we found ourselves wearing togas and sweating through an obstacle course (okay, so I mostly just photographed this part). Then sword training. And, finally, combat!! I proved a pathetic gladiator, whereas P and Dan dominated everyone they came in contact with.



After an exhausting morning, these fruit cups tasted like heaven.



In the mornings, the square outside our apartment becomes a giant market, dating back to 1869 (before the market, Romans used the square for public executions so it's always been a social center of the city, just a gloomier one). I don't have many photos, but it was fun to see all the fresh produce and crazy knickknacks (then in the evenings, after the city cleans everything up, the square turns into a great place to people watch over cocktails/gelato).









In the (very very hot) afternoon, we walked to Trajan's Column for our kid-friendly group tour of ancient Rome and the Colosseum. So many ruins. And where were the cats? We didn't see ONE CAT our entire time in Rome. Where have they all gone? (Seriously, does anyone know? I've tried googling but couldn't find much).

This is my second visit to Rome (the first was after college) and I always alternate between fascination and boredom when touring the ruins. They just look so, well, ruined. For lack of a better term. Learning about the history can be fascinating, but it takes a lot of imagination to picture these things in their former splendor. Sort of like used car lots. Or junkyards.





The afternoon started off crazy hot, but a storm moved in and we arrived at the Colosseum minutes before the rain started, which cooled the city down considerably. The walk home felt amazing.



And, of course, we ended our day with another night to Piazza Navona (followed by drinks on Campo di Fiori square), with another visit to the toy store, where P purchased a puppet. And we watched the amazing Swizzle dance squad perform.




Wait? Who's that dancing with the Swizzle's? Yes, they picked T out of the crowd to dance with them. And, super shy T, actually danced!! At one point they started cartwheeling, flipping in the air around him, but I didn't get a good photo of that (probably because I was cheering too much). Possibly the highlight of our whole vacation!!!
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Happy Labor Day!! I can't believe my kids finally start school tomorrow!! I'll be back on Wednesday with more photos from our last two days in Rome.

If you have a chance, check out Not-So-SAHM's Rome posts, her family visited this summer too and had a great time!