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Published: July 20th 2009
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Break in the Shade
Photo taken near Piazza Venezia with an archeologocial site in the background. This portion of Rome is full of sites like this and the city carries on around them. Second day in Rome. Slept past nine and it was hot when we woke up. Cleaned ourselves up and headed back to Piazza Navona for “breakfast” of croissants (called by their Italian name cornetas) and very tasty coffee. We took it slow and lingered at the shaded breakfast table, ordering a second course of pastries and coffee before heading off towards the Colosseum. The walk was a little bit over a mile, but we took it slowly and deliberately as we stopped at many sites and made an effort to keep ourselves in the shade. On the way we passed through many parts of the city, including the impressive Piazza Venezia. Around every corner was the juxtoposition of the archeological and the functional. Ancient buildings originally exquisitely carved and constructed of massive marble and concrete sit side-by-side with run-down buidlings constucted of stucco only a few hundred years old and both types of structures are simply appropriated into daily use - as Churches, government offices, fast food outlets. It was certainly quite hot, but relatively dry and really not so bad if you could stay out of the direct sun. We were well baked by the time we got to the
Spanish Steps, at Night
"I'll need more gelato if you want me to climb those again!" Colosseum. We located the rest rooms and Lauren had the idea of taking an empty water bottle, filling it from the restroom sink and poking a hole in it to create a make-shift squirt gun. The play got a bit rambunctious, but the cool water was a welcome way to cool off in the blazing heat. We first wandered through the forum which was interesting but a little flat without any posted signs (we had skipped the audio guide) so we moved on quickly to the Colosseum itself (got the audio guide this time!). The kids were troopers and made the best of it they could. Parents were fascinated by the history and the phenomenal building. We looked at the remaining structure as well as dioramas of how the place worked 2000 years ago with winch-operated trapdoors to pop wild animals onto the arena (arena apparently is the latin word for sand which was used to cover the wooden floor of the Colosseum). Kids now totally spent, we headed back towards home and chilled out for a while before dinner. For dinner we headed out toward the Spanish steps and had an unremarkable dinner at a sidewalk café. Although the
Innovation
Lauren's approach to beating the heat and adding some kid-friendly fun to the hot hot day. heat is constant, there is often a nice breeze which is usually apparent if you stop to eat at one of the cafes. After dinner we made our way to the steps despite Lauren’s badgering “so we’re going to see some stairs? We have stairs in San Mateo!” Kids lightened up a bit when they saw the mob scene at the Spanish steps - took some photos by the fountain and then climbed the steps. Tried some nighttime photography then headed home with the compulsory stop for gelato. Briefly unwinding with a movie and then bed. Tomorrow the Vatican. Need to be up by 8…
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non-member comment
What are the Spanish steps?