Rome

When we arrived to Rome, we checked in and headed out to explore the city. We started with lunch at a self serve restaurant called Auto Grill. We then walked up to the Borghese Gardens on the north end of the city, which was close to our hotel. On our way to the gardens, we passed the Spanish Steps and stopped for a few pictures and to cool off at the fountain. (I don’t think we ever got used to walking around in a full sweat all day – it’s nice to be back to cooler weather in Zug.) The Borghese Gardens kind of remind me of Central Park (just not as big or nearly as nice). In the gardens are several fountains and grassy areas, as well as a kids’ section with a carousel, train ride and games, and a zoo. We strolled around for a while, enjoyed the view of Palazzo de Popolo, and then went back to our hotel for a quick break since it was nearby.

That evening, we followed the Rick Steves’ Heart of Rome walk. It started at Campo de Fiori, then went to Palazzo Navona, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. We took the bus down to Campo de Fiori, grabbed dinner nearby, and then followed the rest of the walk. My favorite two spots were Palazzo Navona – lots of restaurants, site of Four Rivers fountain and great for people watching – and Trevi Fountain – which is just a beautiful piece of artwork, especially at night when it’s all lit up.

A couple scenic pics from our walk

Campo de Fiori

Palazzo Navona

We found a cute, old fashioned toy store here and Westin picked out this dominoes game

Four Rivers Fountain

The Pantheon (we returned later in the trip for a full tour inside)

Trevi Fountain

Cooling off yet again at the Spanish Steps fountain

The next day we woke up to find out that there had been some credit card fraud on our brand new credit card, that we had specifically gotten to use in Europe because there are no extra fees to use it here. Well, someone got our card number and was using it along the east coast. We literally had the card for two weeks and didn’t use it anywhere but LA and Zug, so I’m not even sure how the card number gets spread around like that. Anyway, Ryan had to call and report the fraudulent charges, which meant they had to close the card, send new ones to Ryan’s parents and then they would send them to us. So we’re without that card for about a week, which isn’t doesn’t completely stop life from going on, but definitely puts a damper on it and just means we’re using cash for a bit.

Anyway, once all that was figured out, we ventured out to the subway to get to the Colosseum. This was Westin’s first trip on the subway and he seemed to like it quite a bit. I think he likes any kind of transportation where he doesn’t have to be in a carseat. Since we got away later than planned, it was already pretty crowded. Luckily, we had the Roma pass, which is much like the Florence card, and went straight to the front of the line. This was also the only morning that it was a bit overcast, which was perfect timing since we were in a location with little shade. And to no surprise, we pulled out another Rick Steves’ audio tour, which Ryan listened to and gave me the highlights while I entertained Westin. W was a little more interested in this place than the museum, so he actually paid attention when we told him the history of it. If you ask, he’ll probably just tell you there were bad guys who fought each other in the arena.

Arch of Constantine

Westin was over pictures at this point and specifically said he did not want to be in this one

A quick lunch, and then we walked over to the Forum. This site is really neat to walk around, especially with an audio tour or tour guide to help you know what you’re looking at. However, it’s not an easy place to get around with a stroller. It certainly helped that we had our huge American BOB, but it was still a pain to get through. Westin loved running around in the dirt and jumping off the stones. Half the time he was trying to play soccer and kicked dirt up into the air. Needless to say, he was covered in a layer of dirt and looked like a poor homeless child by the end. At least he had some fun and got out of the stroller.

These doors are original doors from 1,700 years ago - impressive!

Keeping himself entertained by jumping off the different ruins

This is the site of the most sacred temple in the ancient Roman city

Palatine Hill

After all that time in the heat, we took the subway back to our hotel and I took Westin swimming while Ryan worked out a couple more credit card things. That night we had dinner and gelato near the Spanish Steps, and I got to Facetime with Mandy!

Quick note about the gelato – that was the night we found our favorite. Ryan’s parents told us about this place called Venchi’s on Villa della Croce. The flavors we tried: dark chocolate and coconut. Individually, each was decadent. Together, they were out of this world. To give you an even better idea just how delicious this gelato was, I made Ryan go back and get us another one to share after we each had our own. It was that good and worth that many more calories!

Friday morning, Ryan woke up early and headed off to the Vatican for a private tour. I had done a similar tour with the Philpotts about eight years ago, and didn’t think it was a place we could take Westin and truly enjoy. So I suggested Ryan go alone, while I took Westin swimming again. We met up after lunch and went down the road a bit to tour inside the Pantheon and some surrounding churches. We then walked up to Palazzo de Popolo, and started our walk down the main street of Villa De Corso for the Dolce Vitta stroll. This street pretty much shuts down to cars in the evening, as people walk around shopping and dining. There were a couple more historical sites we saw along the way, and we ended at Capitol Hill. 

We finished yet another night with gelato at Venchi’s and a Skype sesh with my mom.

Pantheon

Insides of some other famous churches nearby

On our Dolce Vita stroll along Villa Della Croce

Palazzo de Popolo

Day shot of the Trevi Fountain

End of the Dolce Vita stroll ended at Capitol Hill

Westin taking more pictures

Just dying to take his shirt off (the shirtless obsession is getting ridiculous - the second we walk in the door after being out all day, he wants to take it off).

Saturday we traveled back to Zug. It was quite the travel day. We took a 40 minute cab ride to the airport in Rome, took a 90 minute plane ride to Basel (northwest Switzerland), rode the bus to the train station there, hoped on a train to Zurich and then another to Zug. In total, it was about 7 hours of time. It would have been about the same amount of time with a transfer in Milan, if we had taken the train the whole way from Rome. It just would have been easier to do the train, probably cheaper too. Not sure what we were thinking when we booked the flights. Oh well. Now we know. The train is the way to go around here.

We’re back in Zug now. Ryan started work Monday. Meanwhile, Westin and I started reading lessons (I’m using the book “teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons,” and the lessons are only about 15-20 minutes per day). We’ve also started getting more acquainted with the town – have checked out the different grocery stores, found a decent park for Westin, as well as a beach area by the lake, bought a local phone, finally got internet in our apartment (we’ve been hanging at Starbucks for WiFi access in the meantime). Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned the best part of apartment, aside from our sweet bed sheets, that is. To make up for that, I get a cleaning lady once a week! Wahoo!!! She will clean the apartment and wash our towels and sheets. She comes tomorrow. Can’t wait!