Rome With Grandsons, Day 2

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We only had 2 partial days in Rome so had to make the most of them.

Today we had a tour of the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and the Forum. This was supposed to include the underground but, apparently no one could go underground today so the tour started in the arena area. The arena is where the contests took place, man vs. animals in the morning and the gladiator against gladiator in the afternoon. Apparently, it was a convenient way to hold executions. Hungry lions that had not eaten for a day face a person. Sounds like a real equal matchup!

Boys were really interested in the lifts that lifted animals and people to the arena and the guide was great with explaining where they were located.

From the Colosseum we went up to Palatine Hill. We spent a whole day there last year so this quick tour was fine. But Palatine Hill is really a great place to learn about Rome and its beginnings and the boys were impressed with the Circus Maximus. We ended the tour in the Forum but I’m guessing that the significance was lost of the boys. They were becoming more interested in chasing the pigeons.

Before going to the Colosseum, we’d asked the boys if they wanted to go back to the Pantheon and they’d said yes. After touring the Colosseum and Palatine Hill they were not interested in walking back to the Pantheon. It was hot, we were sweaty and hungry and ready to go to Modena.

We started walking towards the hotel and boys had been behind us, usually running amok, when Fynn asked “where is Emilio”? We turned around and there was no Emilio. In a panic, I ran back to where I thought I’d last seen him. No Emilio.

I found a security person who did not respond to me. I then went and found another staff who took me seriously. We walked back to the entry of the colosseum and the site of the police car where a small group of people were protecting Emilio. We were not separated for long but it was scary. He’d been a few feet away the entire time.

From the Colosseum we picked up our luggage and headed for the train station. Now for the reason we came to Italy: the cars and balsamic vinegar.

After dropping off our bags in Modena I told Dale, lets walk to the main street and find a restaurant. These places pop up in the evening. Sure enough, we found an outdoor restaurant that had cheap but great wine, cheap but good food and a plaza for boys to run until food arrived.

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