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!!