Rome, Italy

After stopping at McDonald's in Pisa, we continued on the road to our next destination: Rome. It was about a 6 hour drive. The kids and Trisha slept much of the way and I enjoyed the Italian countryside.

Our first stop upon arriving in Rome was the Rome Temple site. Because my brother, CJ, served his mission in Italy, I have been watching the temple progress ever since it was announced a few years ago. Also, when my family picked me up from my mission we spent some time in Rome and we were able to visit this site. The church has owned the land for a long time and back when CJ was on his mission, he lived on this exact site where the temple is being built. How cool is that?! It's pretty cool. The area is not at all like I remembered it. It is more developed now with a massive shopping center just up the street. None the less, it is a beautiful site for a temple. The outside structure of the temple appears to be almost complete. We were sad that we couldn't see more of the site due to the wall they have up around it. Still, it was a cool place to visit and we are excited for the Italian people to get a temple! It is going to be beautiful! I believe it is scheduled to open in 2014.

The temple and surroundings

Another view of the temple

Another 30 minutes into downtown Rome and we arrived at our temporary home for the next 3 days. We stayed at a nice hotel in the Trevi Fountain area of Rome. Actually, I would say the hotel was right next to Trevi Fountain. We could walk out of our hotel, turn to the right, walk down a small alley for about 30 seconds and there was the famous fountain. It was spectacular. We could not have picked a better hotel in Rome.

Because "Ciao" is a common greeting in Italy, we heard it all the time. It only took Sam a few times for him to catch on. Only he didn't really understand what it meant. He thought that "ciao" was the name of the bell boy (man) at the hotel that was so nice to us everytime we saw him. So he would ask us where "ciao" was and he loved to talk about his friend "ciao." What a cute little kid.

Trevi Fountain in the daytime

After visiting Trevi Fountain for a minute and checking out the surroundings near the hotel, we found this pizzeria. Perfect to continue the celebration of Sam's 2nd birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAMMY!!!!

He got this pizza and a sprite and he loved every minute of it

Sam eating his birthday gelato. Does it get any better than this? Eating gelato in Rome on your birthday? I don't think so. He looks pretty happy with his life.

And then the day was over. Kate and Sam crashed on the bed!

We had 2 full days to spend in Rome, which is sufficient, but we knew that it would be 2 long days if we were going to see everything that we wanted to see. We woke up very early the next day and headed to the center of the city and prepared to see the ancient sites of Rome.

We took the metro (subway) to the colloseum. We were just looking around when we were approached by the half million people there trying to sell tickets to the tours inside the structure. We decided that it would be really great to have a guided tour through the colloseum and it was combined with passes to the Roman Forum. The tour inside the colloseum turned out to be mostly a bust for us because Kate decided that she needed to eat at the begining of the tour. We missed most of what was said but that did not at all take away from the amazement of being in the colloseum. This structure is thousands of years old and yet it still stands in the middle of a modern and busy city. It is remarkable to think of how they were ever able to build something of this magnitude. We loved it!

The exterior of the colloseum

The interior of the colloseum. Look at how detailed and well planned it is

Our family picture at the colloseum

Another view of the interior

The collesum from further out

The colloseum on our way to the Roman Forum, which happens to be across the street. After our tour of the colloseum didn't turn out quite the way we thought, we were nervous to continue the tour into the Roman Forum but we had already paid for it and we decided to do it. Our kids were getting a little restless and it was incredibly HOT and we didn't have enough water and we were getting ever closer to lunch time. Once we met the tour guide for the Roman Forum, we knew we had to keep going. She was a teacher by trade and she loved giving this tour. She was upbeat and shared the most fascinating details of the Roman Empire and the structures that resulted from this time period.

View of the colloseum from the Roman Forum

Part of the Roman Forum. Trisha pushing Sam in the stroller and carrying our backpack. I was carrying Kate on my belly. It was a real challenge to push Sam around in that stroller the whole time we were in Europe, but the Roman Forum was not made for US strollers, we thought for sure we would lose a wheel or two this day. We lucked out and came out with an intact stroller. This picture also shows that the Roman Forum is still being excavated and new discoveries are still being made at the site.

When we were getting to the end of the guided part of our tour, the tour guide brought us to this beautiful overlook point which was above most of the Forum and we had an almost 360-degree view of the place. It was awesome. So, just as she is saying her goodbyes to all of us, a lady in our group starts to act distressed. Her daughter says, "My mom needs help." The older lady looked as if she was going to pass out. She was pale and disoriented. She was not doing well. I hurried over to help. Several other people gathered around as well and we lowered her to the ground just as she was passing out. She was so lucky that she didn't pass out right there cause she could have really hurt herself on a stump that she was leaning up against. We laid her flat on the ground for a minute. The tour guide immediately got on her phone and started making phone calls for help. A few minutes later, a doctor from the Netherlands joined us and started helping. We elevated her legs a bit, poured some cold water on her head. She started to feel better almost immediately once she was on the ground but you could tell that she was still disoriented. Her daughter and her husband were shocked and scared. They were trying to give information about drugs that she had taken and give a medical history but it was difficult with the language barrier. We were worried about how we were going to get this lady down and out of the Forum. We were in the very middle of the site, we had climbed many stairs to get there and we had no idea if the help coming would be able to make it up that same trail to find us. We got word that they were on their way so at least that was good news. We got her sitting up and we gathered some cookies from some other people in our group (which happened to be another Mormon family). At this point the lady started to feel much better but she was not back to normal. She was perched up, laying her back against my knee while we waited for help to arrive. We had determined that the culprit was probably dehydration and we rounded up some gatorade type drink to get some electrolytes in her system. She had been eating and drinking, but it was so hot and she must have been losing all of her electrolytes through her sweat. Poor lady. Finally after about 30 minutes, we heard the sirens and saw an ambulance drive right up next to the garden that we were in (huge relief). I continued to help support the lady and pass on information to the paramedics. They evaluated her for a few minutes and her husband and daughter decided to have her taken to the hospital for evaluation just to be safe. She was able to get up and walk away with them, with their help. I am sure she ended up just fine but it was reassuring to know that she was headed to the hospital for evaluation. I was so grateful all day that we had been there to help her. It was interesting that there were probably 20-25 people in our tour group and within about 5 minutes of her passing out, there was only her (and her family), me (and my family), the other mormon family and the tour guide. Everyone else just left. Trisha and I were proud of the mormons that stuck around just to make sure everything was okay. It seems at times that I attrack situations like this, and it makes me so thankful that I have some medical knowledge and I have been through CPR and First Aid training. These skills have been needed and used several times. I hope that if something ever happens to me, that someone will be there to help me.

One of my favorite parts of the Forum was back in a corner of the site. It was where Mussolini had one of his residences during a roman invasion. This is a courtyard in front of the house.

Another view looking out from the Mussolini house

Some sort of arena area at the south end of the Forum

Looking North across the Forum

After all of the excitement, Sam got really tired and fell asleep before we finished looking around

Doors to an ancient building in the Forum

More of the Forum ruins

Just outside of the Forum is the Victor Emmanuel Monument

A little bit further up the road is the famous Pantheon

Sam with his cheesy, sunburned smile

This was the story of our lives. Washing bottle in the sink and letting them dry on a towel overnight.

After a long day of walking around in the heat. We returned to the hotel. Trisha snuck out to check out the Trevi Fountain all lit up at night

The next day was another very early morning. We were going to tackle Vatican City and its surroundings. Everything I read and heard (and remember from my last trip to Rome) said to get there early to avoid all the long lines. We got there about 15 minutes before the Vatican Museums opened. We started walking toward the line which was already formed along the outer wall of the Vatican. All of a sudden a lady approached me and said, "I'm sorry to approach you, and I don't know if I should tell you this, but did you know that you can skip this line if you have kids? It is a Vatican rule to let all families with small children to enter immediately into the museums." WHAT?! Really?! Worth a try at least. She was right. The gaurds looked at our two kids and let us right in the building, before it even opened to the public. It was crazy---We LOVE the Vatican! No better way to start a long day than not waiting in line. We were really excited for the museums.

This is a courtyard inside the Vatican museum compound.

The otherside of the courtyard.

You can see St. Peter's dome in the background.

This was one of my favorite dislays in a hallway of faces. The creepiest face I have ever seen.

Looking out a window, a view of Rome.

This is the hallway of maps. Look at the solid line of people. This hallway leads to the Sistine Chapel

After we were done with all the museums, we took a break in a cold room of the museums before heading back outside into the blazing heat. This is Kate chillin for a minute.

St. Peter's Bascilica and Square

St. Peter's dome, inside.

St. Peter's

Sam pouting on the floor of the Cathedral

The spanish steps, a few blocks from our hotel

Sam and Kate hanging out in their diapers. This was a common occurrence when we would go back to the hotel rooms because it was so hot! They loved it

More time chillin on the bed

This is my favorite thing that I saw at all of the souvenir shops. I find it hilarious and accurate.

Our last afternoon in Rome was a laid back one, we didn't have anything scheduled. We ended up doing some window shopping, seeing some of the sights for a second time and just walking around Rome. Also, trying to find some last minute souvenirs.

This is another view of some of the ruins at the Roman Forum

One last view of Roman Forum

My favorite view of the Collosseum. I like it because you can see the massive road, the large amount of foot traffic, modern buildings on one side of the road and this massive, centuries old building that is standing in the middle of all the bustle. It's amazing!

One last small trip to McDonald's and the Spanish Steps before we headed back to the hotel room to pack up and prepare to leave in the morning.

We absolutely LOVED Rome!! It is beautiful! I am sure we could have spent several more days there but we were happy that we were able to include it in our itinerary. It was clean and beautiful! The people were friendly and kind!