When we first got to Rome, my kids were not excited. They wanted to spend their whole holiday playing games or something. Sean and I had different ideals of course and so we drug them around the city, and we pushed them to do quite a bit of walking. We walked 3-5 miles everyday.
When Sean saw the boots that I brought, he joked with me that "those boots better be made for walking"! Lucky for me, they were, I ended up wearing them all week.
The kids did seem to enjoy the trip, at the beginning of the trip they were awful and terrible whiney about all the walking and such that we forced them to do. Sean and I were a bit put out by them and we kept telling them how lucky they were. They did not really seem to believe us though.
Thankfully, they all seemed to learn something as well. Take Cian for instance. When we were in Pompeii, the guide talked to us about the Roman bricks and how they are a distinctive part of Roman buildings and how they were a sure way to tell that the building was Roman. One day, when we were walking through Rome, Cian suddenly yells, "Those are Roman bricks!". It was a proud Mommy moment for me!
Liam realized when we got back home how cool Rome really was. He and one other boy went to Italy over half term. The other boy went skiing. Liam's teacher wanted to hear about his adventure. So, he was happy to oblige. One night, later that week he was sitting beside me while I was on the computer looking up things for my pictures and posts. He got to see other people's picture and descriptions of things that we had seen in person. It totally dawn on him then that Rome was pretty cool! So cool, in fact, that he asked me to send an email to his teacher in the US to tell her about where we went. I also included a picture of him in Rome to share with the class.
We had fun at our dinner at Dine e Tony's. We all had a giggle there at Cian and Tony. We also enjoyed our lunch after our Colosseum tour in which my shrimp had their heads attached. Liam was not impressed. We also laughed at the antics from the staff and how the owner thought Liam an Cian were twins.
On our last site seeing day, Sean and I had a bit of a row that turned funny, when in frustration I turned and yelled "NO" really loudly at a street vendor who wanted us to tour the Vatican. The vendor was appalled that I yelled so loudly and rudely at him and told me to "Be nice" in a thick Italian accent. The kids and I laughed and laughed all the way back to the hotel. The street vendors, we all found quite annoying. Mark in particular was very uncomfortable with them and the kids asked me why I did not yell at one of the more annoying ones instead of the poor tour guide! Which, set us all into more fits of laughter.
The kids really got a good idea of city living. In places there were lots of graffiti and garbage was kind of all over. The cars were parked in a mismash of places and we saw a Smartcar with the back window broke out. They were exposed to the really poor, homeless, the beggars, the annoying street vendors and just a different culture all the while listening to a different language. It was different then Fort Wayne or even where we live in England.
As for their favorite place to visit? They all really enjoyed the cat rescue in the ruins. It was hands down their favorite place. They thought that the Colosseum was impressive and they loved the gelato and crepes. Cian, though, I am not sure where he comes from, he was the only one that did not have lemon gelato. He only ate chocolate the whole time. What?? Really???
They were also all fascinated with the different currency. Italy is on the Euro. I think that everyone found a few Eurocents on the ground. Colin was ever hopeful to find an Italian trading card store in hopes that he could find some Italian Yu-gi-oh cards. But, in all of our wanderings, one never did turn up.
We ended our trip Sunday morning. We checked out of the hotel and headed to a place where Sean thought we could catch a shuttle to the airport. The city was very quiet, I imagine that everyone was at church. The shuttle was not a shuttle but an advertisement and so we were with out a ride. We did manage to catch a taxi, and this time it was a cheap one. We headed to the airport and got onto our plane, which was weird.... the boarding in Rome is not typical.
We checked in, made it though security and grabbed something to eat while we waited to board. When boarding time came, were shuttled onto buses and then taken to the plane. When we were finally let off the buses to board the actual plane, there was a panic with one of the staff member, she screamed that we could NOT board the plane until fueling was complete. Really? I know that I have been on planes in the US while they were fueling, but ok. So, back on the buses we went and then, we were finally allowed to board. We arrived in Heathrow and since we did not have Europe or UK passports, we had a short line. Our only mistake was not filling enough customs papers out. So, fill them out we did!
We finally made it to the car. We were happy to see the snow was gone and the tire was still holding air! Yeah! After we were loaded in the car and starting out, the same Suzanne Vega song came on the radio that we heard when we arrived at the airport, "My Name Is Luca". Hmmmm....
We got home safe and our doggie seemed to have done well with his doggie walker. So, all in all or trip was a good one and hopefully the kids will have fun memories for a long time. I know that I have tons of pictures, and some of the ones that they took I need to ask then about! We missed the Spanish Steps and I would not mind going back and looking though the Vatican again. Our guide rushed us through so quickly...
By the time we left Rome, the kids seemed to really be getting into the site seeing. I hope that when we make our next big trip, that they will have a good time as well. It looks like we are headed up to Edinburgh, Scotland over the next break. We hope to start in York, head up to Alwick Castle (think Hogwarts Castle, where Happy Potter 1&2 was filmed), go to Edinburgh where I will hopefully catch up with a Kentucky classmate. We will finish our vacation and head down to Centre Parks where we will celebrate Cian's birthday.
When Sean saw the boots that I brought, he joked with me that "those boots better be made for walking"! Lucky for me, they were, I ended up wearing them all week.
The kids did seem to enjoy the trip, at the beginning of the trip they were awful and terrible whiney about all the walking and such that we forced them to do. Sean and I were a bit put out by them and we kept telling them how lucky they were. They did not really seem to believe us though.
Thankfully, they all seemed to learn something as well. Take Cian for instance. When we were in Pompeii, the guide talked to us about the Roman bricks and how they are a distinctive part of Roman buildings and how they were a sure way to tell that the building was Roman. One day, when we were walking through Rome, Cian suddenly yells, "Those are Roman bricks!". It was a proud Mommy moment for me!
Liam realized when we got back home how cool Rome really was. He and one other boy went to Italy over half term. The other boy went skiing. Liam's teacher wanted to hear about his adventure. So, he was happy to oblige. One night, later that week he was sitting beside me while I was on the computer looking up things for my pictures and posts. He got to see other people's picture and descriptions of things that we had seen in person. It totally dawn on him then that Rome was pretty cool! So cool, in fact, that he asked me to send an email to his teacher in the US to tell her about where we went. I also included a picture of him in Rome to share with the class.
We had fun at our dinner at Dine e Tony's. We all had a giggle there at Cian and Tony. We also enjoyed our lunch after our Colosseum tour in which my shrimp had their heads attached. Liam was not impressed. We also laughed at the antics from the staff and how the owner thought Liam an Cian were twins.
On our last site seeing day, Sean and I had a bit of a row that turned funny, when in frustration I turned and yelled "NO" really loudly at a street vendor who wanted us to tour the Vatican. The vendor was appalled that I yelled so loudly and rudely at him and told me to "Be nice" in a thick Italian accent. The kids and I laughed and laughed all the way back to the hotel. The street vendors, we all found quite annoying. Mark in particular was very uncomfortable with them and the kids asked me why I did not yell at one of the more annoying ones instead of the poor tour guide! Which, set us all into more fits of laughter.
The kids really got a good idea of city living. In places there were lots of graffiti and garbage was kind of all over. The cars were parked in a mismash of places and we saw a Smartcar with the back window broke out. They were exposed to the really poor, homeless, the beggars, the annoying street vendors and just a different culture all the while listening to a different language. It was different then Fort Wayne or even where we live in England.
As for their favorite place to visit? They all really enjoyed the cat rescue in the ruins. It was hands down their favorite place. They thought that the Colosseum was impressive and they loved the gelato and crepes. Cian, though, I am not sure where he comes from, he was the only one that did not have lemon gelato. He only ate chocolate the whole time. What?? Really???
They were also all fascinated with the different currency. Italy is on the Euro. I think that everyone found a few Eurocents on the ground. Colin was ever hopeful to find an Italian trading card store in hopes that he could find some Italian Yu-gi-oh cards. But, in all of our wanderings, one never did turn up.
We ended our trip Sunday morning. We checked out of the hotel and headed to a place where Sean thought we could catch a shuttle to the airport. The city was very quiet, I imagine that everyone was at church. The shuttle was not a shuttle but an advertisement and so we were with out a ride. We did manage to catch a taxi, and this time it was a cheap one. We headed to the airport and got onto our plane, which was weird.... the boarding in Rome is not typical.
We checked in, made it though security and grabbed something to eat while we waited to board. When boarding time came, were shuttled onto buses and then taken to the plane. When we were finally let off the buses to board the actual plane, there was a panic with one of the staff member, she screamed that we could NOT board the plane until fueling was complete. Really? I know that I have been on planes in the US while they were fueling, but ok. So, back on the buses we went and then, we were finally allowed to board. We arrived in Heathrow and since we did not have Europe or UK passports, we had a short line. Our only mistake was not filling enough customs papers out. So, fill them out we did!
We finally made it to the car. We were happy to see the snow was gone and the tire was still holding air! Yeah! After we were loaded in the car and starting out, the same Suzanne Vega song came on the radio that we heard when we arrived at the airport, "My Name Is Luca". Hmmmm....
We got home safe and our doggie seemed to have done well with his doggie walker. So, all in all or trip was a good one and hopefully the kids will have fun memories for a long time. I know that I have tons of pictures, and some of the ones that they took I need to ask then about! We missed the Spanish Steps and I would not mind going back and looking though the Vatican again. Our guide rushed us through so quickly...
By the time we left Rome, the kids seemed to really be getting into the site seeing. I hope that when we make our next big trip, that they will have a good time as well. It looks like we are headed up to Edinburgh, Scotland over the next break. We hope to start in York, head up to Alwick Castle (think Hogwarts Castle, where Happy Potter 1&2 was filmed), go to Edinburgh where I will hopefully catch up with a Kentucky classmate. We will finish our vacation and head down to Centre Parks where we will celebrate Cian's birthday.
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