For our first two days in Rome we took a guided tour around the important parts of the city and The Vatican. This turned out to be a great way to get a lay of the land all while getting a lesson in the history of the city.
Our guide Lara was a lifelong Roman and had the best accent ever. The girls loved her. She has a background in art history so she was very knowledgeable about the architecture and art throughout the city.
We started out our first morning with a trip to the Pantheon, an ancient Roman temple that dates to the first century ad. I had very high expectations for this famous building but was still in awe at its size and grandeur.
Our next stop was the Church of St. Peter in Chains. This church displays a set of chains that were supposedly used to bind the apostle peter while he was imprisoned in Jerusalem. While the chains are a fascinating part of the church, the bigger draw for us was Michelangelo's statue of Moses. This statue, which depicts Moses coming down from Mt. Sinai, is so masterfully sculpted you can't help but just stand there and marvel. The emotion and the fluidity of the piece is so beautiful, all of us left Rome thinking this was one of our favorite sights during the entire trip.
Our next stop was the famed Roman Forum. The girls were surprised to hear that there are ruins in this square that are nearly 3000 years old. An interesting tidbit for kids: all around the forum there are remnants of old Roman games carved into the stone. This one was a pebble/nut toss game played by servants and slaves waiting for their masters outside the basilica. It's harder than it looks!
Here is Wonderkid in front of the Umbilicus Urbis Romae, the site that ancient Romans believed was the center of the world. All other cities and roads were measured by their distance from this point. According to legend, that door on the side of the building led to a passageway into the underworld.
One of our favorite sights in the forum was the house of vestals. The girls found the story of the Roman vestal virgins very interesting. Vestal virgins began their duty as little girls at the age of six and were required to dedicate 30 years of service. These women had many responsibilities including maintaining the fire of Vesta which was never allowed to go out. Their palace in the forum was beautiful and many remnants of the once ornate building still remain. We were even able to see some recently excavated Mosaics.
Before we left the forum we stopped by a local watering hole and learned how ancient Romans drank from the fountains.
Our next stop was a tour of the massive Colosseum, where the ancient Roman gladiators once fought. The entire building is marked with huge pockmarks where poor medieval Romans gouged into the stone to collect metal. Before this visit we didn't realize that during the middle ages the colosseum became a small village where people could rent out areas for homes and shops.
After our trip to the forum and colosseum our guide drove us up the nearby Aventine hill where we stopped outside of the walled entrance into the Knights of Malta headquarters. The entire area is surrounded by high walls, but one of the wooden doors has a keyhole that affords an impressive view. Since the Knights of Malta property is considered a sovereign entity, the view through the keyhole (which shows the Vatican and Rome as well) allows one to look into three separate states all at one time.
Later that night we stopped by a local Italian restaurant where we ate fried artichokes, focaccia bread and pasta. Not long after we arrived the restaurant filled with locals who were celebrating the birthday of a girl MJ's age. Our girls enjoyed watching these girls who acted very similar to the way they act with their friends (giggly and loud).
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