Rome, Day 1
We were only in Budapest for a few short days before we took off on an adventure around Europe. Our first stop was Rome, and our flight from Budapest left really early so we had to get up at 5:00 am! Although we brought a ton of luggage to Budapest, to Italy we brought three carry-on bags and three backpacks. Each kid also got a small Eddie Bauer cross body bag to keep their water bottle, camera, and treasures in. The flight to Rome was pretty easy and everyone got some rest on the plane, even the kids who ‘weren’t tired’. Once at the Rome airport, we had to show proof of vaccine for the adults and proof of negative Covid tests for Ronin and Zoey (Willow was exempt because she is under six). We took the sitbus from the airport to the central terminal in Rome, where we then had to find tickets for the bus. That was quite the ordeal, where I ran around the three stories of the train terminal trying to find the one place that sold bus tickets while everyone else waited outside. We finally got bus tickets and made it on the right bus to go to our apartment. Unfortunately, the SIM cards in our phone that we bought in Budapest that were supposed to work in the whole EU did not work, so we got a little lost getting to our apartment.
This is the street our apartment is on. It is a quaint side alley a few blocks off the main road. Rome is full of these small alleys where you can just walk and explore and get lost. In fact, we did get lost several times thanks to me trying to use a paper map instead of GPS on my phone. I thought I was pretty good with a map, but man was this hard!
Our apartment here is so cute; I found it on booking.com. When looking for places to stay I tended to go for the cheapest available, and I was pleasantly surprised by this place. It is two stories with the bedroom and bathroom upstairs. Downstairs is a pullout bed big enough for the three kids and another twin bed for my mom, along with a table and small kitchen. It is the perfect place to spend a few days. The only problem was that the first day the hot water wasn’t working, so I had to give the kids freezing cold showers. That was no fun at all and we had three crying kids (and a crying mommy too—that was cold!!!). But they came and fixed the water so it was better the next day. We just told the kids it was part of the adventure.
After we got settled in the apartment we went out for a long walk around Rome. Our first stop was the Piazza Navona where we saw lots of big fountains. Ronin’s favorite was the guy killing the octopus, and Willow’s was the horse with the fish tail. The kids were each had cameras so they had fun taking pictures of all of the sights. It kept them entertained and interested in what we were doing. Willow didn’t understand you had to stay still for a second after pushing the button, so most of her pictures are one big blur. And many of the other kid pictures are…interesting, to say the least.
After a few wrong turns down some alleyways thanks to my paper map and subpar navigational skills, we finally made it to the Pantheon. Looking at pictures from pre-Covid times, I expected this to be super packed wall to wall with people. Although there was a line to get in, the inside was pretty open and empty. This is such an old building that doesn’t look like much from the outside but was really impressive inside! Since it is a traditional house of worship, you had to make sure your shoulders are covered; we saw them making people cover up before they could enter. Although your knees are supposed to also be covered I was surprised that they let the kids in with their shorts.
After a much-deserved gelato break, we walked to the Trevi Fountain. Now this was so beautiful, but as you see by the pictures it was definitely crowded and where all the tourists were. I felt bad for the polizia who had to keep blowing whistles to keep the tourists from climbing on the fountain, putting their hands in the water, and walking in the street. I wish we could have come back at night to see the whole fountain all lit up with the LED lights, but that didn’t happen this trip.
The next stop was the Spanish steps. In Italy, most of the water from the fountain spouts is drinkable. You will find these little water spigots everywhere in the city and we just fill up our water bottles. Its cold and pretty good water too! These steps don’t look to high, but man were they a workout! And yes, that is Zoey in a boot up to her knee. She hurt her ankle last week and is in a boot. I kept asking her if she was okay or was hurting and she kept saying she was fine, but I just think she didn’t want us to leave her behind. We try to keep it elevated when we aren’t walking to keep the swelling down, and I hope all the walking is helping to strengthen it and not hurt it even more.
Our last stop for the day was the Borghese. Although on the map it looks like the Borghese is right next to the Spanish steps, that couldn’t be farther from the truth! We walked through the entire gardens and park to get to the Gallery, which took quite a bit of time and the kids were tired before we even made it to the Gallery. We also had no idea where it was so we kept having to ask people which way to go. We were so glad when we saw the big building! We had tickets for the Borghese Gallery at 5:00, and you had to be there on time and only had 2 hours in the gallery. The gallery is booked up weeks in advance, and I was surprised how much the kids loved going through the museum. Of course my mom and I could have spent another few hours there to look at each piece several times and read all the descriptions, but travel is a little different when you have little kids! The kids loved taking pictures of the pictures, and when Ronin’s camera ran out of battery I gave him mine to take pictures with. I ended up with mostly blurry pictures. On the way back home we found a restaurant where Ronin got to try his first pizza in Italy and he loved it! Zoey had lasagna, and Willow had a plate of french fries. It was a long day and we were all exhausted when we got back to the apartment, but it was great!
