Italy with Kids - Rome

---

5 Sept 08

Today we opted to go straight to the Borghese Gardens, the northeast side. It was in much better condition. We hired bikes for €4.00 each and rode around. Note: very hilly so Liam struggled.

Liam found a musical stepping toy at the small playground, and further down by a small lake we watched the filming of a movie called something-Grand Amore. Of course we had a gelati at the gardens! €3.00 ea outside the Zoo.



Next a bus to Barberini Piazza, and then a short walk through town and over the Ponte Umberto to the Castel St Angelo.

There was a small market beside the river selling some souvenirs, turkish scarves, dried fruits and lollies, and so on. I bought a collection of dried kiwifruit, papaya, mango, ginger, melon, prune, apricot, kumquat, cherries and coconut. I think the only fruit I didn't see there was apple! The boys had lollies, of course.



Castel St Angelo was great (entry free with Roma pass), but after yesterday's sights it paled to insignificance. The kids loved the small armoury room, and oohed and aahed over the swords. Afterwards we checked out the playground outside on the castle grounds.

Having a bit of spare time, we decided to go to the Parco Gianicolo to see a puppet show, so hopped on a bus heading around the river. But then we were Rome-ified. We hiked up and down numerous alleys, trying to find our way into the garden only to reach a lot of dead ends. Eventually we gave up and hopped on a different bus back to our room. Note to self: always ask directions before leaving!

I took the opportunity that night to load up the first set of journals and pics. An internet shop just around the corner charged €0.50 per 15 minutes. Beware the keyboards! Our US style keyboards are different to the Italians. Their @ and symbols are on different keys and activated by a Ctrl-Alt sequence.

We went to Angelo's for dinner, a small restaurant along the road. Covercharge was €8.00 each, although the meals were reasonably cheap. We weren't impressed with the food apart from Joseph who was served an enormous pizza.



The boys also had a coke each, which set them off into fits of silliness. Oh well, at least they had a good time.

---