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Last Tuesday we took it easy and took care of things at the lake. Giac had arranged for me to go to Rome to meet with someone while Tim and Ethan were here, so they could go to Rome with me. We had to leave early the morning of July 4th, so we went to the train station to purchase our tickets on Tuesday. Tuesday afternoon in the pool Ethan cut his foot and complained that he did not want to go to bed early to ride a train. He only wanted to stay at the lake and swim in the pool. Tim and I were beginning to wonder if it was a mistake to take a 6 yr old to Rome......
Wednesday morning we drove to the train station at Desenzano about 5:00 am to catch a train to Brescia and then another train from Brescia to Rome. Ethan slept most of time on the train and we arrived in Rome about noon. On the train we had discussed the importance of holding our hands and staying with us at all times while we were in Rome. (Anyone who has met Ethan knows why...) But we may have
overdone it just a bit. When we left the train he had a death grip on my arm and started to panic if I needed to move my hand to adjust my backpack.
We found our "hotel" easily since it was only 2 blocks from the train station and then headed to the nearest pizzeria for lunch.
After the pizza we went to the Santa Maria Maggiore. I was as amazed with Ethan as with the Cathederal. He held my hand, looked at all of the artwork in awe, and whispered the entire time we were in the Cathederal.
From there we went to the Coliseum. July 4th is the brithday of a Roman leader, whose name I forget now, but anyway, they waive the admission fee to the coliseum in honor of this birthday, which leads to long, long lines to
get in. We decided to go with a tour group to get priority entrance and a guided tour of the coliseum. Once inside, we knew 6 is old enough to appreciate Rome. Ethan loved the Coliseum! Many times he exclaimed "awesome!" or "cool!" and he was constantly pointing out things Tim needed to take a picture of. He listened to the tour guide and pushed to the front of our tour group so he could see better every time he got a chance. At the end of the tour we decided to stay inside the coliseum and explore some more on our own. Ethan kept pointing out places where the lions were kept, where the gladiators fought, and where the spectators would have been seated. It also helped they they have many slabs of rock and fallen columns that he was allowed to climb on and touch. (We highly recommend Maximus tours of the coliseum)
We took a break after the coliseum to rest and have a snack before joining the tour of the Roman Forum. We sat on a short rock retaining wall and Ethan shared part of his snack with the ants in the grass behind us
and the pigeons on the sidewalk in front of us. Then he watched the pigeons take the pieces away from the ants. That is just one of the many things you see only when travelling with a 6 year old boy.
As soon as the tour of the Forum started, Ethan needed to use the restroom (should not have let him have so much to drink with our snack) so we left the tour in search of facilities. It would have been nice to hear what the tour guide said, but we appreciated the forum without one and explored all the way from the Palatino to Piazza Venezia. Once again, Ethan was pointing out sections of the roman road and finding awesome things for Tim to take pictures of every few seconds.
At this point we were all tired, and decided to head back to the hotel to clean up for dinner. We ate at the restaurant next to our hotel that our host had recommended and there was no pizza on the menu, so Ethan decided to eat spaghetti. Tim and I decided to have a full 4 course meal, but we only ordered one item to
share between the two of us at each course so we would not have too much food to eat. We had a variety of bruschetta, risotto, squid and mushrooms. Since Ethan thought he could find room for dessert, we ordered tiaramisu and caramel creme for the three of us to share.
After dinner we tried to find an open pharmacy since Ethan's foot seemed to be infected and I was breaking out in hives. But we didn't make it in time so we hoped for the best and headed back to our room. Ethan wanted to lay in bed and watch TV while we got ready for bed. I tried to tell him that he wouldn't understand anything since it would all be in Italian, but there was a circus on TV, so the language didn't matter.
Since we were so pleased with our tour on Wednesday, we got up early on Thursday to take the tour of the Vatican and Sistene chapel. We checked out of our hotel and walked back to the train station to catch the metro to the Vatican. That was a bit of an adventure due to the morning rush hour, but we
managed quite nicely despite the chaos. The tour group of the Vatican was not impressive. It did allow us to avoid the long lines to get in, but the tour itself was miserable. Each room was filled with people standing shoulder to shoulder and we spent the entire time trying to keep track of our tour guide rather than appreciating the artwork all around us. At the Sistene chapel we decided to turn in our radios and finish seeing the place on our own. It turned out to be a marvelous decision and we wish we had done it as soon as we got inside. Our recommendation is to try to find a day when crowds are lighter and tour the Vatican on your own.
Unfortunately, we had to check our bags while we were there and we left the camera in one of the bags, so we did not get any photos of the Vatican or Sistene chapel. We did buy a book with photos that Ethan would love to show you, but I cannot post them on the blog.
After the Vatican we took the metro back to the station and walked across the street to
eat in McDonalds. Ethan was a little surprised that the foods selections were not the same, but he was quite content with his chicken nuggets and french fries. Then it was almost time for our train back to Brescia, so we spent an hour at the Wii display in the train station.
Many of my well-traveled friends were disappointed for me when you learned I was not planning to see Rome while I was in Italy. I just did not get it--I was going to have a marvelous adventure in northern Italy without Rome. I want you all to know that, now, I get it! No one should come to Italy without seeing Rome. Tim and I have decided you need at least three days to even begin to feel like you've seen Rome, but a week would be even better.
We are getting a strong hail storm here in Brescia as I type this. It is the first time I have seen any rain since the day I arrived. I have the windows open and the cool air is a nice change from the heat.
I'll post more later,
Julie
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Pam Noblin
non-member comment
Hi Julie!
Hey, Julie, we got to see Tim and Ethan in church on Sunday and all reports were great. Hope you have a safe trip home! See you soon. Pam