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Published: September 11th 2009
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Colisseum
Rising out of the street front. Final installment so you won't be getting anymore email reminders out there. We will be quiet for another year LOL.
I don’t think any of us were completely prepared for what greeted us at the Rome train station. Walking down the platform, the immensity of Roma Termini is incredible taking on much more of an airport feeling than a train station. To be completely accurate, it is more like Vancouver International meets Metrotown and Canada Line. You walk and walk and walk to get anywhere. We bought our Roma passes (a definite must for those visiting Rome: http://www.romapass.it/?l=en) and needed to make a phone call to Carlos to let him know we were in town. This is one of the downsides of staying in an apartment: you need to make arrangements for someone to meet you. We made the phone call, followed his directions (which were incorrect) and managed to get to the apartment anyways. The apartment was right opposite the metro station at the Piazza Barberini which made it ideal for getting around town. We were immediately struck by the shear number of people in Rome. The metro came and went every 4 minutes. There were typically 8-10 cars
Water anyone?
Everywhere in Rome you can wet your whistle for nothing. on each train. Every train that we were on during our 3 day stay in Rome was either packed or fairly full no matter when we traveled. Every 4 minutes, people flowed like water on and off the various train cars and we were effortlessly swept along with the current. This would provide some wonderful entertainment and enjoyment throughout our stay with the kids pleading with us to stay on the trains and ride them to the end of the track. It should be noted that we never waited for any public transportation for more than 4 minutes during our whole stay in Rome (whether that was a metro or a bus). We would sometimes just get on a bus to see where it might take us. The adventure of Rome was simply walking, taking a bus, taking the metro and enjoying the experience that is just “being in Rome.” Matthew was our in-house Rome expert and took us to all of the key sites. These highlights included:
• The Trevi fountain with it’s beauty and size
• the sun casting a warm glow as we posed for pictures on the Spanish steps
• the enormity of the Colliseum and
Trevi fountain
Huge statues, big fountain, lots of water and hundreds of people all around us. its seating capacity of over 50,000 people along with its sordid history
• the incredible Vatican City (smallest country in the world) with its unparalleled collection of art and amazing history (we participated in an organized tour here and it was worth every penny: http://www.viator.com/) - our only one of this trip
• the Piazza Navona and its captivating energy with artists, musicians, actors and tourists creating a nightly spectacle
• the Capitoline Museum which has housed large number of ancient Roman statues and artifacts; a collection of medieval and Renaissance art; and collections of jewels, coins, and other items since 1471 (the kids even found this museum pretty cool) - Capitoline Hill is pivotal in Rome’s history and overlooks the Forum (central area of the ancient Roman city) and the Colliseum.
Our time in Rome was short but much was accomplished while still having loads of fun. The time was winding down very quickly and we definitely had mixed emotions. Rome was one surprise after another, none being greater than the WATER: Did you know that you are never more than a couple blocks from pure fresh running water in Rome? This was flabbergasting to us but became
Victorious gladiators
Much easier being a Christian nowadays. The only Lions are wearing football gear!! a wonderful game as the 40 degree heat meant that water was everpresent on our minds. The kids would delight in finding another fountain to fill our bottle in wherever we went. This game rivaled the locating of cheap ice cream places.
We were ready to go home as we spent our final evening basking in the ambiance of Piazza Navona. Everyone found an area of fascination: Matthew watched a young man on a Hang Drum (
), Courtney enjoyed the portrait painters, Sydney watched a “spray paint” magician, and Marla eyed the beautiful classic paintings that were spread throughout. It was the perfect ending to a magical trip.
Whenever the end of a trip approaches, our thoughts are carried towards home and the expectant joy of reconnecting with family and friends. We have been very privileged to have this wonderful adventure but our true hearts are at home so it is with anticipation that we return to our “real lives” and the blessings we have in British Columbia.
Kids Corner:
Courtney:
Florence: Hey Michael..the next time you carve David could you put
underpants on him!!!
Rome: I could drink this water all day. Hey, there’s
Shady Characters
Marble heads in the Capitoline Museum another fountain,
can I fill the bottle up? Ummm, can someone tell me, where is the nearest
bathroom??
Sydney: Can we ride the metro again, and again, and again and again. Hey guys, look at
me, I am train surfing.
Matthew: This was an actual conversation
Matt : Mom can we go get some ice cream?
Mom : No of course not. It is eleven in the morning. We’ll get some later.
Matt : But why do it later? I quote Mr. Turtle “Tomorrow is a mystery, yesterday is history but today
is a gift, that is why they call it the present!” So really there is no time like the present!
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Annette McComb
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NOoooooo! Not the last installment
No this can't be the last one. Awwwww...can't we have one more....please!! Just kidding!! So where are we going next?? Trevor I think you should dress up as a Swiss Guard for Halloween!! :-) Thanks everyone! What a wonderful vacation. Thanks so much for sharing. Annette