Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Let's Rome together


I hope you have a minute... because this may take awhile. :-)

I told you I would put lots of pictures up, and I wouldn't want to disappoint you. Take a stroll with me, or should I say "Rome" with me as I tell you about our trip to Italy. 

We spent a mere two days there and took in just as much as we possibly could. When we arrived to the apartment we rented, we did the natural thing and looked around and checked everything out. The kids explored and then we took a couple of pictures out on the balcony.

Shawn and Melanie (she  looks a little afraid of heights)

Braaten with Cooper (left) and Grant (right)
It was all going smoothly until we met

These guys...

I think we are a little ignorant or perhaps naive. As we were walking alongside the Colosseum, we bumped into these guys, or should I say they practically grabbed us. We, being the nice people we are, obliged and posed with them thinking they will be really cool souvenirs to have one day. They have this posing thing down to a science I might add. I think we shot 6 pictures in 2.2 seconds. Anyway, Shawn and I were quietly discussing that we would be more than happy to give them 1 euro each for being so kind. As we were handing it over, the guy on the right says we would like 5 euros each. Huh? What? Oh, no, here you go. As we quickly walked away, he said something like... "You are vetty nice-a people!!!" in a very sarcastic way. He might have even been tempted to throw those euros back at us. 

That taught us a valuable lesson for other dressed up people in the very near future! 

Let's move on, shall we?

This is just outside the Colosseum. It reminded me of Washington Square Park in NYC.

Time for a little shade. It was really hot there. You can tell by how flush they all look. In England, the high temps are around 75 or 80... maybe. It had to be between 90 and 95 degrees. Not that I'm complaining.

We found a double decker bus to ride around the city as our friend, Phil, had suggested we do. He said we could then get off at the places we really wanted to explore.

Melanie

Braaten

Austin and Cooper

Shawn and Grant

We got off the bus to see some really great places.

If the kids could have swam in there, they would have.

We caved and bought these cute parasols,

and ate at cafes like this one.

We had great Italian food, which is my absolute favorite type of food, at this cafe. It was pizza or calzones for all of us.  Right before eating, we visited

Here...

What a quaint area to walk around at.


That was a real guy dressed up. Can you imagine how hot he must have been?

Local artisans were selling paintings and sketches. If we weren't heading on a cruise, I would have gotten one. They were beautiful.

I love all the architecture and the warm colors of the buildings.


This is quite a fountain!

Look at the seagull on his head

Shawn and I 

Good family photo

I'm really bad to not know the name of this beauty. 

Isn't it a sight!

Loving the colorful flags.

After walking lots, taking the bus on occasion, and stopping to go to the bathroom, we stopped here at the

Pantheon

The inside of it was covered in marble and gorgeous paintings

This was outside of the Pantheon




Hopefully you aren't tired of "Roming" with me yet. Because it's time to try and cool off at the 
Trevi Fountain

Pure, delightful, cool water...
My kids wanted to jump in, but if you so much as put your finger in it, you get a loud 
whistle blown at you. Ask me how I know, huh, huh?


Don't do it, Coop. You're going to get that whistle.

My lovely girls and I

And my handsome men, of course!

After the whistle was blown at us, it was time for a different kind of cool.

Ah yes, ice cream!

Towards the end of our day, and before our bus pass ran out, we practically ran to see our last sight. 

The Spanish Steps

I think we spent all of 3 minutes here. Our kids get tired after awhile when we are sightseeing so much. I'm just sayin'.

We had the idea to have an "Italian" breakfast at the apartment; one that included ham, salami, prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, bread, and then we threw in a watermelon. It was all so good.

Thanks for taking the tour with me. Ciao Bellas and Fellas!!

8 comments:

Andrea said...

Thank you for the beautiful photo journey through Rome!

Blessings,
andrea

Joyce said...

Your photos are beautiful! You cannot believe the rain here...I'm jealous of all that lovely Italian sunshine (and food!)

The monument without the name is the Vittorio Immanuel...I loved it. I think they call it the Wedding Cake.

Looks like your time in Rome was fantastico! Can't wait to see more pictures. Ciao!

fullertribe said...

Carol thanks for letting us "Rome" with you. The pictures are fantastic. I can't wait to see the rest from the cruise. I have two dream vacations one is to go on a cruise and the other is to go to Hawaii. I hope to have both filled on our 10th wedding anniversary which is only 4 years away!!!

Heart2Heart said...

Carol,

Such beautiful pictures as I have always wanted to visit Rome. Since studying history more now that I am homeschooling, it has taken on new meaning for me than it did when I was taking history in high school.

Love the fountain the kids are sitting underneath. It reminds me of the fountain in the movie Under a Tuscan Sun where a lady is splashing about inside it.

Love and Hugs ~ Kat

Tara Steffen Fotos said...

That post took you awhile!!! I love the gladiators! Cool!

LisaShaw said...

What a beautiful tour I had going through all your photos. Looks like everyone had a great time in Rome. Love the photos!

Blessings to you dear sister and your precious family.


P.S. Love that Italian breakfast!

Rachel said...

Wow - what memories!!
I love the guys trying to get 5 euros. . . gotta love a bit of pushyness, huh?

And I love the picture of them all up against the fountain!

It looks like y'all had an absolutely awesome time!!!

Laughing Momma said...

So glad I finally made it to a real computer to catch up on your life. Thanks for checking in on me while I was taking a blogging break. Rome looked wonderful...I know all about taking a gazillion photos.
Enjoy your summer

April