June 20-21, 2007

Roma, Italy

the CAST:
Tina Wilcock Melissa Wilcock Austin Wilcock Jennifer Takacs Gideon Takacs Karin Yamada Kebra Roxstrom Annamarie Pontius Kim Cole Ross Smith Jane Smith Bethany Smith Kristin Smith Megan Smith Ben Smith Ammon Smith

Well, school is out and we headed off on a whirlwind tour of Rome! The last time I went, I didn't take the kids or Jacob. This time, the kids came! Poor Jacob, he couldn't get time off of work. :( It was another early departure - we left at 4:00a for the 6:10a flight. We packed two lunches, seeing as I knew we'd be hungry by 9:00a!

We arrived at Ciampino airport and took a bus tino the center of Roma. This time, we had to wait for a bus, which kind of stunk but gave us an opportunity to have 'first breakfast' (a little LOTR humor there!) ;)

We arrived at the Termini and walked to our hostel, David's Flat. After checking in (which took forever due to the amount of people we traveled with ... 16!) It was decided we would try to walk to Vatican City the first day, see the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain, then on Thursday, we would tour the Roman Colosseum and Roman Forum. Well, the best laid plans went astray this time. We didn't account for the heat. HEAT (I say again). It was hot - 86 and humid. Remember, we came from England and it's been in the 60s recently.

First stop - GELATO! I had the yummy caramel whilst Austin and Melissa had the 'After Eight' (mint chocolate chip). Smooth, creamy and delicious!

Onward to the Vatican! (ha) Well, we stopped at a large white building which turned out to be a military museum. In front was the Italian version of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It was a beautiful building! We all decided to take some pictures and whilst I was clicking away (351 total pics at the end of the trip, fyi), Austin decided he needed to sit in the shade. Of course, the shade where everyone else in our group was sitting must not have been good enough. Well, I couldn't find him. Ross and Ben went to look for him up in the museum while I looked around the steps and lo and behold, there he was. Copping a squat just as cool as can be. I won't even get into the horrendous thoughts I had of my son wandering the streets of Rome by himself ... there were a few tears (me) when he was found and a quick prayer of thanks.

After that fun, we continued our trek. It became quite apparent after this that the sun and heat was getting to everyone, so we scratched plan A and went to plan B - to the colosseum and forum!

We arrived at the colosseum about ready to wilt. The queue was a tad bit long and an emergency meeting was held. It was decided that only those who wanted to go into the colosseum would go, and those who didn't want to, went to the forum. The only people who opted to go were Annamarie, Kristin and Austin - I volunteered to go as the token adult.

The inside of the colosseum is a little anti-climactic. I believe Annamarie said we could have gotten away with paying 5 euro instead of 11 euros. She was right - but she didn't want to go all the way to Rome and not see it, so hence the entrance. I took many pictures of Austin there ... hopefully someday he will appreciate the visit! ;)

Heat stroke ... that's what a couple of people may have suffered from! We made our way back to the hostel via a place to eat. Did you know you can buy pizza by the hectogram there? I have never seen this ... cool! We had some margherita pizza and some blessed cold drinks. There were some who ordered the lamb kebab and it was thought to have been awesome! hmmm ... too bad I don't eat lamb. ;)

The next day, we really went to the Vatican - we left early enough to try to avoid the blistering heat. After a nice red orange juice and a pastry, we headed off. Did you know there are public drinking fountains (and I mean fountains, not bubblers) and the water is cold? Thoughts of Montezuma's Revenge entered the mind, but we haven't suffered from any ill effects yet. Now, there is a lot of graffiti in Rome and it's not the cleanest place I've ever visited; however, Vatican City was strikingly clean. We went to St. Peter's Basilica and made our way to the Sistine Chapel. I was unaware that the Sistine Chapel was in the Vatican Museums. WOW! You had to go through a lot of museum to get there! Pictures were prohibited - BUT, being the rebel I am, I snapped a shot or two. I will repent (one day). ;)

Then came the part that everyone had waited for ... shopping! (okay, maybe not everyone) Knockoff purses, glasses, belts - you name it! We did warn everyone - you buy it, you carry it! Seeing as we were only armed with a backpack, purchases had to be limited. Austin bought a hat, a shirt and some sunglasses. Emmy bought two purses. I bought Jacob a shirt and two purses.

Making our way back to the airport was actually a highlight - we didn't walk, we took a bus (for 3 blocks) and the Metro (underground). The metro was air-conditioned and a welcome relief! ;) Our plane was an hour late (card games abounded) and the customs line at Stanstead stunk, but we arrived home around 3:00a, totally exhausted, totally grimy, totally happy to have had the chance to see such a remarkable city with friends we love! ;)