Around the World in 43 Days! 2007-2008

New Year’s Day was a holiday (meaning all attractions were shut) and, while the kids slept in, we decided to take in some sights via the economical walking method. Popped up to the Popolov Piazza where on the way we ducked into a few doorways … and these led to enormous churches. I mean, enormous. This was after our first introduction to real coffee – cappuccinos drunk whilst standing up and consuming pastries, of course.

After collecting the children, we saw the Pantheon, which had the largest concrete domed roof in the world until 1962, even though it was built in xxxx. Then it was off to the Colosseum,

where we all went ooh and ahh. On the way to the Colosseum, Rich sat up on a carved marble statue at the xxxx for a photo - and copped a full dressing down from the Italian policeman standing nearby!! The remains of ancient Rome we passed along the way to the Colosseum just had us all amazed.

At this stage I need to let you know that EVERYBODY loved Rome!
The parents loved the morning cafe crawl, sometimes consuming a Cappuccino and a Macchiato plus pastries from separate cafes before the kids had even woken up.
The children loved the gelato and pizza from their favourite Roman snack bar in our street.
The females loved all of the fashions and high end shopping in our local area.
The boys enjoyed the challenge of taking photos with unusual characters on the streets.

Of course we did do all of the major sightseeing events. We did the Colosseum tour, which was a “pinch yourself that you are really in the Colosseum” moment.

We also toured the Roman Emperor’s palace (Palatine Hill) and got a glimpse of the grandeur in which they lived. He had a chariot race track (Circus Maximus) that could seat 300,000 people!!

Sue had Zita had booked us into a “Crypts and Catacombs” tour. The first part turned out to be quite a surprise as we walked through the crypts of the Cappucian monks (can you see a theme building here??) who chose to decorate their crypts with the bones of earlier monks whose bodies were exhumed after a period. (See link…)
The Catacombs part of the tour took us outside the Roman wall and deep down into the earth. We saw hundreds of empty “graves” – holes dug in the sides of tunnels where bodies previously lay. It was a truly amazing experience as we descended deeper and deeper through a labyrinth of tunnels, finally ending at two first century mausoleums that have been brilliantly preserved. Our tour ended back in Rome at a church that sat on a church that sat on apartments that were very, very old. (I can’t remember, but take it from me that they were ancient!) It was then that we finally understood how layered a city Rome really is, and the value of archaeological digs.

As if we hadn’t had enough history, our next tour was through the Vatican Museum. Talk about art overload!!! Benj felt like he had completed all two years of his school art subject in one 3hr visit. It is not possible to summarise our visit to the museum, and to St Peter’s Basilica (the largest in the world) and then to St Peter’s Square. You will just have to look through the 100s and 100s of statue photos yourself..


What better way to end your Roman holiday than to have a - Toga Party! The ladies organised Roman tucker, everyone chased up towels and sheets and whatever they could find for costumes, and the kids prepared Roman entertainment. It was a definite hoot, and ended with the kids going down for Gelato in their togas at 10.30pm, causing plenty of strange looks, with one old lady even exclaiming, “Mama Mia”!

Next we head to Florence and Venice.