Rome
When planning this trip, I really wanted to see if we could make a trip to Rome work. Turns out we were able to squeeze in two full days. We stayed at a place called Quiet Trevi Fountain which was set back in this courtyard behind two gates and was perfectly situated next to the Trevi Fountain (as the name would suggest).
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| Trevi Fountain |
Upon arrival to Rome we took a cab (fixed rate 60E) to the city center from the airport. This was not a great experience. In fact, because of this we opted for the 25 minute walk with our stuff in the heat to the train terminal and the 30 minute AirPort Express train to get back, which actually worked out well. Also, I can’t say much about the food in Rome, you just have to look up google reviews and try places, but we did have some good pizza and pasta while we were there.
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| Pompei |
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| Pompei |
The first day we took an express train from the main terminal station to Pompeii. There are two ways to get to Pompei that I can tell. The fast train that lands at a station 6 blocks away or the slower trains that get to the closer Pompeii Scavi station. We opted for the 2 hour fast train with a single stop/train swap in Naples. It turns out that the main terminal station in Naples and the Garibaldi Sation are basically connected and easy to move between, just make sure you look for the right level for Garibaldi Square (level 2?) and then the correct platform.
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| Pompei |
However, we had our hats and fans and we listened to Rick Steves guide us though some of the most interesting sites. Note the guide is a bit out of date but it was ok as the only main issue was the plaster casts which are now moved to the garden entrance (the one we skipped but did exit from) and attached to the bookstore. If it wasn't so hot, we would have enjoyed staying longer and I would even consider a personal guided tour next time to learn more about the history.
The kids loved visiting Pompei, especially since Max did a presentation and report on the city just a month before for school.
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| Roman Forum from behind Piazza del Campidogilo |
On the train ride I’d been looking up guided tours of Rome, and I found a free evening walking tour through What About Tours and Guruwalk. You just tip at the end what you believe is fair. So we got back, made a quick stop at the apartment, then quickly hurried over to Piazza del Calcarari for the start. The tour was really informative and the kids enjoyed most of it, even if it was a 2 hour after an already long and hot day in Pompeii. I would definitely recommend this to anyone. We got a rich history of Rome, learned a lot about Ceasar, and oversaw the Roman Forum from a vantage point I’m not sure I remembered from last time. That night both kids fell asleep at the dinner table :)
On day 2 we packed a lot into our last day. We had a light breakfast at a coffee and pastry shop around the corner before visiting Trevi Fountain (again), the Cappuccini Crypt, Spanish Steps, Bocca della Verita, Pantheon, and, of course, the Colosseum.
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| Cappuccini Crypt |
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| Colosseum |
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| Bocca della Verita (Mouth of Truth) |
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| Pantheon |
We listened to Rick Steves audio tours at both the Pantheon and the Coliseum and got lucky with a break in the weather for most of the day (except of course the 2 hours we roasted at the Colosseum). I was able to get arena level tickets and advanced tickets for the Colosseum so that made things easier but I wasn’t able to secure the underground experience as it sold out as soon as it came available. Note that the Pantheon also now requires tickets and we almost missed out because I didn’t know that. Although you can buy them same day, you must be in the ticket line by 5:15/5:30 as they close the line at a certain time even if you've already been waiting for 30 minutes.
The kids really enjoyed the Coliseum, especially Jesse who said it was the highlight of the whole vacation. They both took more pictures than I did :)
And with that our family vacation came to an end. It was an amazing trip and a great experience.
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