Rome Part Two - Fountains, Vatican, Coming Home - {Italy 2017}

The rest of our time in Rome was not as ideal as we would have liked. It poured rain nearly all day Sunday but we decided to try venturing out anyway. We donned our rain ponchos and headed to a nearby museum. Unfortunately, they were closed due to the rain so we waited under an archway for a while and then just headed back to the hotel. After some lunch in the hotel bar and a nap we headed out again as the sun was breaking through the clouds. 

We took a cab across town to the Spanish Steps and Topher loved it! One of the annoying things about traveling with a child who sits in a car seat is that you have to haul those heavy things around wherever you go. We knew that nearly all of our travel would be on public transport or walking so we didn't bring his seat with us. We rented a car seat with our rental car and that worked really well for our trip between Tuscany and Rome. Pro tip: call the car rental agency when you book your car and double check the week before you travel to verify that they really do have one for you to use.We returned our rental car the day we got to Rome and knew we were taking a cab to the airport so we we made a calculated risk to leave the car seat at home for this trip and just let the little one wear a regular seat belt for a few minutes. 

I really loved this area of Rome, it was still very touristy but I think the rain had cleared a lot of the people out so it didn't seem so hectic. We stopped by a bunch of fountains this day and Christopher threw in lots of coins. This is a skill he honed in Italy- making fountain wishes!

Here we are at the Trevi Fountain throwing in what was left of our Euro coins.

And here is Christopher eating more gelato to keep him happy.

Me: Wow, look at this amazing tower and beautiful architecture!
Topher: Look at this hole on the ground filled with a tiny bit of dirty water! Also, I bet I could lick this metal plate if I tried real hard!

From the Trevi neighborhood we wandered over to the Pantheon. We hadn't originally had this on our list of things to see but a friend of mine recommended it and I am so glad we made it over there. Christopher did so much walking in general on this trip but especially this day he just wanted to be out of the stroller and free!

Trying to reach the ceiling!

That night we had dinner at a little cafe where we met the cutest Roman family with a whole crew of young boys. They made quick friends with Christopher and we talked with the parents for a while. It was fun to meet a real local family and pick their brains about living in such a famous city.

Early the next morning - our last full day in Rome - we struck out for Vatican City. Maybe it was the rain or the fact that we took the wrong bus on which Topher screamed the entire time, but when we arrived I was sort of over it already.

We had to hurry to the entrance to make our ticket time but I wasn't sad about that- it was about to start raining again! Christopher doesn't have a very long attention span for museums but he was always very good to walk with his hands behind his back and not touch too many things. Keeping off the grass however, was a different story ha!

We also discovered that he loved the recorded tour headset. He thought it was his own little telephone and was amazed that he could push the buttons and someone would talk to him on it. That thing kept us sane in here!

We had to take the stroller route to get to the Sistine Chapel which took us winding all the way around the building. When we finally did get to the chapel it was packed like sardines! We could hardly push the stroller through the tour groups milling around. It was breathtaking though! I was so surprised at how vibrant and colorful it was. I expected it to be much more faded but I was wrong

One of my favorite things at the Vatican Museum was the Hall of Maps which has Di Vinci paintings covering every inch of the ceiling- it was incredible! I could have spent all day looking at that ceiling!

Christopher could have spent all day sitting on the floor pouting!

On the way back to the hotel we stopped for sandwiches at some little hole in the wall and it was a very good idea! The meat, the cheese, the bread! Italy does it all right!

That evening was our last in Rome and I was torn between never wanting to leave and being so ready to be home. We stopped at a couple more fountains and chased Topher across the cobblestones. He found a closed toy store and threw a mega tantrum because he couldn't get in there and play with the dump truck in the window. We ended up just catching the nearest cab, throwing him in screaming and yelling and headed to the hotel.

Very early the next morning we packed up our things and headed to the airport. The hotel bellhop was so confused that we only two backpacks and a diaper bag. After a very speedy taxi ride to the airport we were on our way home again!

Thomas is doing a post soon about how we scored our business class airline tickets on points so look out for that! I was so glad we flew this way. On the way there and back Christopher ended up having his own seat since that cabin wasn't at capacity. He loved having the space to move around and I loved having a lay-flat seat for him to sleep in! The cozy socks and delicious food were nice too.

This vacation was definitely a great one! It was a long time to be away from home but I have to say we all did a pretty good job dealing with that. Christopher was such a champion and he learned so many new things. I was happy to fulfill a lifelong dream of seeing and eating my way through Italy. And Thomas got to learn more about travel hacking and points collecting. If you ever get a chance to go to Italy- take it!

To Sienna, Rome and the Colosseum - {Italy 2017}

When we left Borgo Pignano we decided to make a quick stop in Siena for lunch before really hitting the road to Rome. I was so glad we decided to stop here! Each town we visited had it's own unique flavor distinct from all others. In Siena the ceramics shops were to die for! I so wanted to buy a big platter and bring it home with us but it just wasn't feasible with our extremely light packing. Next time! 

Siena had narrow roads with no sidewalks and cars zooming in and out of them. There were crazy colored street lights attached right to the sides of the buildings. Such a cool little place!

The town features the blinding white Duomo di Siena and a red brick clock tower in Piazza del Campo. You don't see a lot of red brick in Italy but this place was full of it!

We had lunch at a cafe on the Piazza and Topher enjoyed pasta and a lemon before beginning to totally melt down for nap time.

Christopher really was so good for the most part on this trip but this was one of his big melt-downs. Must have been too much sun and walking around this day!

When we arrived in Rome we went to see the construction of the new LDS Temple there. We thought we would be able to pull in and see it but we had to settle with zooming by on a crazy busy street and finding a view from a nearby neighborhood.

We decided to stay in for dinner that night at the hotel since we were all just pooped. Topher took to his bed with the TV remote and telephone where he refused to do anything but watch cartoons for the rest of the evening.

First thing the next morning we headed to the Colosseum. I have to say that while this place is one of the most iconic sites in the world, I didn't really enjoy it that much. I know that might be surprising but let me explain. The place was absolutely crawling with tourist! The worst part though is that there were so many people trying to sell you tickets and tours. We couldn't take more than a few steps before someone else jumped in front of us asking if we had tickets. Luckily, we did have advance purchase tickets but even then had a hard time figuring out which line to wait in and where to go. It was just so chaotic that I was already super stressed out by the time our tour started.

We had booked tickets for the underground tour which was really cool! We got to see where the animals and gladiators were kept before entering the arena and how they ran the whole place. It was really interesting but Topher wasn't having any of it. He wanted to run away and put his toes in the water and to climb down up and down the walls. It was a little stressful.

We wound our way all the way to the tippy top of the arena where the views were unbeatable. By this time Topher had calmed down a little and was content to play with his construction trucks in the dirt.

We stopped for some lunch at a restaurant that happened to the same one Thomas had eaten at many years before on his last trip to Rome. We wandered through the city for a while just taking in the many sites and ruins. Rome reminded me so much of New York City but with way more old stuff sprinkled in.

Here is a little travel tip for you- gelato can always buy you a few minutes of happiness in the stroller. Most days we had at least one cup of gelato but more often we had two helpings.