"17 Again"

May 15th--Don't we all wish we could be 17 again? Well, after our climb up the St. Peter's dome yesterday, we woke up this morning wishing that a little bit. No, just kidding. As we mentioned , it was actually one of our easier dome climbs. I do think that MeMom and Gilda wished they were 17 again though after all the walking they've done over the last week. With that said, we took it pretty easy today. We did go out to eat lunch at a restaurant close by our apartment. It was good and cheap. It's nice to be outside of the tourist area where things are much cheaper. All 6 of us ate for 22 Euros. After lunch, it started raining so we headed back to the apartment for inside activities. Mike, Abby, Austin, and I left the apartment about 4:00 to head to see the movie "17 Again". All that the kids knew was that "Troy, from High School Musical" was in it. The theater we found that shows movies in English is right off Piazza del Popolo. There is a scene from the movie "Angels and Demons" that occurs in a church in this Piazza. So we had some time to kill before the movie so we stepped inside the church to see the Chigi Chapel. Unfortunately, it was under restoration (much like in the movie). We looked, but we didn't find any dead cardinals inside. We left the church and walked across the Piazza to the theater. After getting our popcorn and Coke's, we sat down to watch the movie. The movie was really cute and was enjoyed by all. After the movie, we went to the McDonald's by the Spanish Steps. It was a really big McD's and the adults first time to eat McDonald's in over 100 days (the kids 2nd time). It was late when we finished up dinner so we headed back to the apartment for bedtime.

Roaming Rome

May 14th - We have spent the last three days hitting some of the more historic (and candidly blog boring) sights. Therefore, we are going to combine them into one blog. On the 12th, we woke up so tired from doing the Caesar Shuffle the day before, that we decided to take it easy. We headed out of the apartment just before noon and made our first stop lunch. We ate at a nice restaurant near Termini station. We then walked over to the National Museum to see the great collection of Roman sculptures. This visit almost didn't happen because it is the first museum on our trip that they charged the kids full adult price (because they were non EU children). Most everywhere we have been is free for kids and we couldn't imagine paying full price, especially for Austin. So we initially refused to pay and walked away. We then decided that we wanted to see the sculptures and didn't want to have to leave anyone out, so we went back and paid (although I firmly told the lady I was paying for them under protest...like she cared!). Once inside we saw many Roman emperor busts, The Discus Thrower and original Greek statues. After leaving the National Museum we headed over to the Baths of Diocletian. The former public bath structure was originally sprawled over 10 acres. Today, all that remains is the former main hall of the baths which is now the Church of Santa Maria delgi Angeli. The main hall alone is the size of a football field and 7 stories tall. This gives you an idea of how large the original baths were where they could cleanse 3,000 Romans at once. That's a lot of dirty Romans! That pretty much wrapped up the day (other than our afternoon gelato stop). On the 13th, Amy decided that she would stay back with the kids and let them have a "play day", watching movies, coloring and spending time at the park. I decided that I would take my mom and Gilda to some of the historic churches in Rome. As we were getting ready to leave, Austin decided that he didn't want to stay back, so he ended up coming with us as well. We started off at the San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter-In-Chains). This church, one of Rome's oldest founded in A.D. 440, houses St. Peter's chains and Michelangelo's Moses. Michelangelo's statue was originally supposed to adorn the tomb of Pope Julius II. Pope Julius originally hired Michelangelo to build his massive tomb but then ordered him to paint the Sistine Chapel. Julius died before Michelangelo would ever finish the tomb. We then headed to San Giovanni in Laterano (with a brief stop for lunch along the way). This was the first Christian church in Rome, opened in about A.D. 318. It served as the home of the popes up until the Renaissance renovation of St. Peter's. Still today it is the home church of the Pope. We had planned to visit the nearby Holy Stairs, but arrived during the afternoon closure. We opted for gelato instead and headed back to the apartment. Since we were home early, Amy and I decided to have our first date night in 100 days (but who's counting). We decided on dinner and a movie. "Angels and Demons" was opening in Rome today and we thought that would be a perfect movie given its setting and content. We found a theater right off Piazza del Popolo that was showing the movie in English. It was very cool watching the movie and seeing the sights we have been visiting in the movie. After the movie, we walked down Via del Corso and had a nice dinner (sans kids!). We spent some time talking about the movie (I have read the book; Amy hadn't) and mapping out sights in the movie that we haven't seen, but want to. We finished up the night at the bottom of the Spanish Steps before catching the metro back home. Today, May 14th, we decided to visit Capitol Hill and the museum there and then re-visit St. Peter's. After another late start to the day, we began with a climb up Michelangelo's grand staircase to the center of Capitol Hill's main square. We entered the Capitoline Museum and started with a nice lunch on the terrace. We then made our way through the museum seeing many famous works including the original She-Wolf statue (this is just the funniest statue / city symbol to us), Marcus Aurelius, the Dying Gaul and the Boy Extracting a Thorn. We also were able to get some good views of the Forum from the Tabularium. We left the Capitol Hill area and took the bus to Vatican City. At this point we split up so that we could climb St. Peter's dome. My mom and Gilda decided they were not up for the climb, so they did a little shopping instead. This was one of the easiest dome climbs we have done because an elevator took us up to the base of the dome. All we had left at that point was a nice, easy 320 step climb to the top of the dome. From the base, we were able to walk through the interior of the dome and look down on the massive interior of St. Peter's. From the top, we were able to see spectacular views of Rome's sights in the distance and the plush gardens of the Vatican below. After seeing "Angels and Demons" last night, it was neat to be so close to many of the sights today. We then climbed back down the dome and met up with my Mom and Gilda. From there we went down below the church to the Crypt. Here we saw tombs of many of the former popes, including St. Peter and Pope John Paul II. We then exited back in the center of the nave of St. Peter's. It was again, shortly after 5pm and mass was being conducted. We wandered through the church some more just trying to take in all the surroundings. Having spent so much time in various churches, it is amazing what kids, including a 3 year old, will pick up on. As we were leaving, Austin noticed a very large, but plain cross on the Holy Door. He whispered for Amy to come over to him and then said, "Mommy, Jesus isn't on the cross". He seemed very worried by this...but luckily, we are not!

The Caesar Shuffle

May 11th - Today we decided to continue our tour in the heart of Ancient Rome. We started our day today at the Colosseum. The Colosseum was built in A.D. 80 when the Roman Empire was at it's peak. Inside, it's three levels could accommodate 50,000 fans. We started on the arena level where we could view the underground passages that once carried animals and warriors beneath the playing surface. The arena was covered with a wood flooring that was then covered with sand. We then made our way up to the second level where we had more views of the arena floor area and this massive structure. After making our way around the Colosseum and imagining Ancient Roman life, we exited on our way to the Roman Forum. We stopped off at a nearby restaurant for a nice, cool lunch. While the temperature is only in the 70's here, when out in the open, the sun can become quite warm. So going inside in the cool restaurant was a nice break. Once we had all recovered, we headed into the Roman Forum. The Forum was the center of Ancient Rome with the most important temples and halls of justice here. We wandered through the ancient ruins seeing the remains of many of these buildings. This included the 3 remaining arches of the huge Basilica of Constantine and the Temple of Julius Caesar, where he was burned after he was assassinated. We ended near Capitol Hill with the Forum Square and the remains of the Temple of Saturn. We left the Forum and walked up Palatine Hill. This hill contains the ruins of the former Imperial Palace. The palace was huge at over 150,000 square feet. It is hard to imagine it's size based on the remains but certain markers allow you to understand its enormous stature. By this point, we had been in the sun all day and everyone was tired. Luckily, Rome has many public fountains that produce cool drinking water so we were able to periodically fill up our water bottles for hydration. We exited back down Palatine Hill and made our way to the metro for our return to the apartment.

The Pantheon

May 10th -- We decided to spend some time around the Pantheon today. We took the metro to the Termini station and then a bus to Largo Argentina. Then it was just a short walk to the Pantheon. It was almost 11:30 when we arrived and mass was going on inside. We spent some time in the Piazza della Rotunda looking at the massive 40 foot columns that are made from single pieces of granite. It's amazing to think this was built somewhere around A.D. 120. We then ventured towards the door to observe the mass going on inside. This once Roman Temple is now celebrating it's 1,400th anniversary as a church. You would have thought that the Pope was leading the service the way people were crammed at the open doors taking pictures. So as not to be left out, we also piled in and started snapping away. After a few minutes the service ended and the Bishop came out to bless the crowd. As soon as he was finished and had left, the entire crowd started moving in. It was a good thing we actually wanted to enter because once the crowd started moving in, we had no choice but to go with them. Upon entering we were once again struck by the amazing architecture of this ancient building. The dome has a 30 foot oculus in the center and with it's mathematical perfection is a testament to Roman engineering. It is 142 feet tall and 142 feet wide meaning a 142' diameter ball could fit perfectly inside. The dome served as the model for the domes on the Florence Duomo and St. Peter's Basilica. The interior also includes the tombs of the artist Raphael and modern Italy's first two kings (Victor Emmanuel II and Umberto I). We exited the temple and walked a couple of blocks to a nice restaurant for our "Mother's Day" meal. We had some more good Italian food and wine. We then left the restaurant to visit some of the churches nearby the Pantheon. The first one we came to (San Luigi) was closed for restoration work. We then walked back through the Piazza to visit the Bartolucci wood working store that we had visited in Florence. It was here that we experienced our first true traumatic experience of the trip. This next part is not for the weak of heart ("G", stop reading here). We were all in the store looking around. I had exited and was talking to Gilda outside the door. Amy came out and asked if we had Austin and we both said "no, he is inside with you". Amy went back inside and immediately came back out and said "no, he's not". I figured he was just right outside the store since we had been standing there, but he was not. We looked around a bit and then I took off back down the pedestrian only street we just came from and Amy took off the other direction. What happened next is honestly just a blur but I will tell you that we were all running in separate directions calling for Austin. At one point I passed my mom and Abby and they were yelling something about the police. It was difficult because we were on pedestrian only streets and they were packed with people. I tried looking into some of the stores where he might have been but there were just too many. I went back to the wood shop store entry and Amy was walking towards me yelling at me to talk to the police (who were right behind her) as she couldn't do it. She had obviously began to talk with them as they knew his name and that he was missing. One was speaking in Italian on a phone and the other was asking me questions in very broken English. I was trying to stay calm and alert. I saw a beggar sitting on the ground outside the store and began questioning her (to no avail). The one cop was pointing up in the air like there were either cameras or a helicopter looking for him. I remembered that I had just taken a picture of Austin in front of the store so I pulled out the digital camera and showed the police his picture. I was describing his hair color and the clothes he was wearing to the one police officer and then he was translating to the other who was talking on the phone in Italian non-stop. I felt like I was having some sort of out of body experience. We were standing in the middle of a small plaza area and I remember looking at all the people around who were looking at us. They all seemed to be completely frozen. All of a sudden I hear Amy scream and look up to see my mom coming around the corner with Austin in her arms. He had a look that was a cross between confused and scared. My Mom had gone down the street to the huge Piazza by the Pantheon (about 100 yards from where we were) to get the police and ran into a lady who had found Austin and was in the process of returning him to the police. I must say, this was only about a 10 minute ordeal but I could not have imagined it going on any longer. Somehow Austin had wandered out of the store and walked down the street. He, of course, had no idea why everyone was so hysterical. He had his camera with him and had ventured off, I'm sure, to take some pictures. The police took down our information and then off they went. It took everyone a little while to get over the trauma of what had just happened. It was the classic situation of with so many adults, everyone thought someone else was watching Austin. After calming down a bit, we started back on our path to the churches around the Pantheon. We visited the San Ignazio which was full of Baroque perspective illusions (and a praying Abby thanking God for Austin's safe return). After leaving the San Ignazio, we stopped at a gelateria for a much needed Gelato. We sat on a wall near the Pantheon and enjoyed our treat. We then visited the Santa Maria sopra Minerva and finally the Gesu church. By this point, we were all pretty much exhausted and so we caught the bus / metro back to the apartment. It was definitely a Mother's Day that won't soon be forgotten!

Shopping in Rome

May 9th--We were supposed to take it easy today since we had spent so long at the Vatican the day before, but that wasn't necessarily the case. We started off by going to the Spanish Steps. This was our 3rd trip here. But the real reason for being in the area is to buy Abby's purse. Ever since we've been in Italy, she got it in her head that she wanted an "Italian" purse. Now, I use the word Italian and purse very lightly. She really just wanted a purse bought in Italy. She had already been scoping some purses out and decided on one that she wanted MeMom to buy for her. So, our first stop of the day was at Carpisa. This is a store that carries all sizes of purses and luggage. Their products are all very cute and Abby decided on a small purse with an animal print all over it. She is very proud of her purse and really hasn't put it down since purchased. After buying the purse, we sat down for a light lunch of sandwiches and salads. Then, we walked the entire "shopping triangle" area. We looked at shoes, purses, gloves...everything Italian. The girls had a great time while the guys keep standing outside of shop after shop very patiently for the first few hours. Then, Mike and the kids headed back to the apartment to play on the playground while us women continued to do what we do best, shop. After a little while though, we dragged our rears back to the apartment. We all enjoyed a light dinner of meat, cheese, and crackers.

The Vatican

May 8th -- Well after a few slow days in Rome we broke out with a bang. We decided to tackle Vatican City...the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. We had read that in order to avoid the long lines it was better to go right after lunch, avoiding the early morning tourists groups. So we took our time getting up and going (which was fine with mom and Gilda after a long day of travel the day before). We took the metro and spent some time window shopping in the various shops lining the streets. We decided to stop for lunch since once we entered the Vatican museum, it would be a long time before we exited (although at this point, little did we know how long!). We found a nice restaurant that seemed to have all your basic Italian food...meats and cheeses, pastas and pizza. You would think that after being in Italy for a couple of weeks now we would have the food down, but somehow Amy and mom made quite the ordering fiasco. They had decided to order a couple of different items and share them. To make a long story short, they ordered the wrong things (and didn't like what they got) and so then tried to correct their mistake. There was a couple next to them that had a dish that Amy wanted so she got the waiter and pointed to it. Little did Amy realize at the time, but that "dish" was part of the entire antipasto on their table. So when the waiter brought it out, it included about 5 plates of food. Gilda and I were at the other end of the table with our simple pizza and lasagna dish respectfully, laughing at all the food on the other end...half of which they had no intentions of eating. We were afraid what the bill was going to be but told them it was up to them to work that out! We had a good laugh. Once we finished with our lunch, we walked to the Vatican Museum. We walked straight in with absolutely no line. We entered the museum and begin our journey. It would be 3 hours before we would finally make it to the culminating room...the Sistine Chapel. Throughout the 4 miles of displays in the museum (which was originally the papal palace), we traced history from the ancient times to the Renaissance. After seeing Egyptian artifacts and Greek and Roman sculptures and Renaissance art, we finally made our way to the Sistine chapel. We had downloaded an audio guide onto our iPods, so we sat down for about 20 minutes and listened to a descriptions of the frescoes in the Chapel. While the room itself is not that grand from a pure size perspective, it is absolutely amazing to think that one man, Michelangelo, painted the frescoes by himself. After just 5 minutes of staring up at the ceiling your neck starts to hurt...and to think that he stood on scaffolding for 4 years looking up and painting. After our audio guide was finished, we took Rick Steves' shortcut out of the Sistine Chapel directly to St. Peter's. It was a great decision because we exited out of the chapel, took a short walk and were on the inside of the gates to St. Peter's. No line...no more security checkpoint right into the Basilica. It saved us about 30 minutes of walking time! Now talk about going from amazing to more amazing....wow!! We entered St. Peter's just after 5pm local time. They had just begun daily mass and the sun was shining down through the windows creating some beautiful sunbeams into the church. The music from the mass could also be heard (although softly at first given the distance from the entry). As you enter the door, you are struck immediately by the grandeur. At over 2 football fields long with a capacity of over 60,000, the size of the church is almost indescribable. When you realize that the main altar with canopy that stands under the dome is 7 stories tall, you then can get a perspective for how tall the dome is (equal to a football field standing on end). We had planned on climbing the dome, but after a long day, decided that we would have to come back another day. We "wandered" through the church and then stood near the altar and St. Peter's tomb to enjoy the music from the mass and take in the beauty. As we were exiting, we stopped to view Michelangelo's Pieta..another unbelievable sculpture from Michelangelo. We then exited into St. Peter's square. Here we were able to look back at the massive church and see the top of the Sistine Chapel and the Pope's apartment. We were tired and more than a little hungry since it was now almost 7pm so we decided that we needed some Gelato. I know....it was dinner time, but just another excuse for Gelato. After our Gelato dinner we made our way back to the apartment and had some cheese and crackers for our "real" dinner. It was a long day and no one had any problems going to sleep!

MeMom arrives

May 7th - I got up this morning and took the metro and train to the Rome airport to meet my mom. She is traveling with her friend, Gilda and they will be staying with us for the next 10 days before leaving Rome on a Mediterranean cruise that ends in Venice. We will meet them again in Venice before they fly back to the US. When I met them, they were tired but in good spirits. They were to the point that everything was funny and they just kept laughing. It was a good thing because the airport is a 30 minute train ride into Rome and then a 15 minute metro ride to the apartment. Of course there is walking between each of those so they got their exercise for the day. We took them to the local pizzeria for lunch and then walked over to the park for the kids to play and to enjoy the sunny day. The girls all then headed back to the apartment for a nap while Austin and I played for a little while longer. We had a light dinner of cheeses, meats and crackers from the deli and called it an early evening. After a couple of slow days in Rome, we are looking forward to beginning to see the sights.