Roaming Cohens

We woke and Noah was feeling slightly better and there was a bit of color in his complexion. He argued to stay in bed with a Harry Potter book, but, hey, we were in Rome and you know how Rachelle and I felt about the room. Let me just point out that we are not uncaring parents, but we figured Noah could feel ill in the room or feel ill out in one of the most culturally rich cities in the world. Easy choice.

So, off we went to the Coliseum and Roman Forum and walked around the ruins, statues, columns, and historic structures. If you ignored the many tourists, the loud throng of chanting students who filled the streets on some kind of anti-government strike and demonstration, and Noah’s complaints about wanting to return to the room, you can really imagine yourself in ancient Rome. It is a magical city, and even Noah eventually lost himself in the wonder. That evening, Liv and I ventured out to get pizza, fruit, bread, olives, tomato-rice dish, and water, and we had dinner in our room.

Friday morning found all Cohens healthy and ready for a Roman adventure. As we headed out, the Spanish mother-daughter travelers from next door were heading out. We bonded over our distaste for the accommodations as we walked with them to the Metro. I had a chance to practice my Spanish, which was muy fun, and our motley group of foreigners found our way to an office to purchase Roma passes (3 days of free travel and entrance to 2 museums).

We then headed to the Vatican and into St. Peter’s Basilica, which was overwhelmingly beautiful. Noah and Rachelle enjoyed using the audio guides as Liv and I explored the vast Church and eerily beautiful tombs. From there, we had a great lunch at Antonio’s, a restaurant that our friend Dom had recommended. Next was the Vatican museum, which wound through rooms and rooms of mosaics, tapestries, sculptures, and painted walls and ceilings. The final room contained the Sistine Chapel. As was becoming our mode, Rachelle and Noah were tuned into the audio guide headsets, which toured them through the building as Liv and I meandered on our own. Needless to say, the Sistene Chapel was incredible. We all stood in complete awe. Noah actually wanted to go back, especially because we didn’t spend much time in the other areas of the museum as we had a little one with us and attention spans were somewhat limited.

Following the advice of Liv’s teacher, Ms. Mumford, who used to live in Rome, we headed to Piazza Novana and found Trescalini of the famed ice-cream chocolate ball. Along with hot chocolates, which were thick enough to eat with spoons, we had our chocolate quota for … the day.

Next, we walked to Campo de’ Fiori – a hip and bustling square filled with students and yuppies - and found a great little restaurant. Liv picked it out because it was one of the only ones with Halloween decorations (it was October 31). The waiter taught them how to say, “Scarito o Dulcito” (“Trick-or-Treat”), and they used it to get some candy from 2 stores, which was an accomplishment as the Italians do not seem to really do the Halloween thing… Liv also was introduced to spinach and ricotta ravioli, a delight she asked for every day there after.

We took a very long and windy walk home, thanks to getting quite lost, and stopped to pick up some groceries along the way. The kids were great troopers, when we finally arrived home, the parents were a bit sore, but not the kids.

On Saturday, we joined our Spanish friends and went to the Coliseum for a tour. Noah and Rachelle used the audio tour headsets and immersed themselves in stories of the emperors, gladiators, and games. Liv was not in a site-seeing mood and I multitasked between keeping her out of trouble and wandering the Coliseum and listening to the audio tour. We soon discovered that any time an audio guide was available, Noah really got into the museum or site. We were really proud of ourselves for making this discovery early on.

Next we headed to a wonderful park in the Northern section of Rome (the Borghese Park). After Liv had her fill of climbing trees, we rented a 4-person bike cart. It was an odd vehicle in that you could peddle, which then started an engine that only worked as you pedaled. The front 2 seats had steering wheels, but only the left one worked. We took turns steering and barely managed to avoid running over people and dogs enjoying the sun and the park. Liv did most of the steering, Lindsey was in charge of the braking and Rachelle just covered her eyes as we nearly missed several elderly people.

For dinner we went on a quest to find a restaurant recommended by Dom, which was located near Campo de’ Fiori. After a long meandering hunt, we found Trattoria der Pallaro, which is a family-run restaurant. There is no menu and after you sit down, they start bringing out food and more food. After 3 hour and at least 7 different delicious dishes, pie, mandarin juice, and a large jug of wine, we rolled home.

Despite going to bed close to midnight, we woke early to get to the Borghese Gallery, a wonderful little museum filled with Bernini statues, Titian, Raphael, and Caravaggio paintings, and other wonderful Italian art. Although the fearsome twosome protested vehemently that they had had enough site-seeing from the moment they woke until we entered the museum, they both enjoyed the visit. Rachelle, Noah, and I all used the audio guide headsets and Liv enjoyed viewing the art on her own schedule. The kids were particularly impressed with Bernini’s statues of David and Apollo and Daphne, as well as Caravaggio’s David and Goliath painting (David is holding Goliath’s severed head).

We wandered our way on foot all over Rome taking in many more locales including the Piazza del Popolo, the Spanish Steps (we sat on the steps and let Noah work on his school homework – a PowerPoint presentation about the Smoky Mountains), the Treve Fountain, the Pantheon (Rachelle and Noah enjoyed the audio tours while Liv and I counted the holes in the floor that drained the rain that could come through the opening in the dome, it was truly amazing), the Vittoriono (the Wedding Cake or Urinal building), and a great gelatteria. We decided to come back to our hotel for a siesta around 4:30 before heading out to dinner in our neighborhood.

For our final day of Rome we took the Metro to the Piazza Barberini and found the Capuchin Chapel, which contains a crypt where the bones of 4,000 dead Capuchin Monks and several shriveled skeletons wearing monks’ robes decorate the 4 dark small rooms lit by handing lamps made of bones. The final room has a skeleton on the ceiling holding a scale and a scythe. This visit was both creepy and beautiful.

From there we snaked our way through Rome and had lunch at ‘Cul de Sac’ in Piazza Navonna based on Ms. Mumford’s (Liv’s teacher) recommendation. From there, we crossed the Tivere river and found the Trastevere neighborhood. We enjoyed popping in to the 12th century church of Santa Maria. We walked around and the kids were especially amused by my re-telling of Seinfeld episodes. We crossed the river, pausing briefly on Tiberina Island, climbed to the top of the Vittoriono for a great view of Rome, and made our way back to our grisly little hotel. We ventured out for a yummy dinner of pizza and éclairs and said goodnight to Rome.

There is a saying, “Roma, non basta una vita”, which translates to “Rome, one lifetime is not enough”. Well, after 5 packed days, we were close to having our fil of Rome. Liv said she has a tough time picking one favorite part of Rome, but she was especially fond of the park and quad-bike ride and the Sistine Chapel. Noah said the Coliseum, Sistine Chapel, Borghese Gallery, and the park were his top Rome picks. We will all surely miss our daily dose of pizza, pasta, gelato, and pastries. However, if we had continued at the above mentioned pace, we would have needed to stop in Milan for some new fashionable clothes in new extra large sizes.