That was a refreshing break . . . !

After a couple years . . . back at it.  At least intermittently.

More Fun With Cousins

More photos re the blog post below. (The "gladiators" is one of my favorites!)

How the time flies!

Reviewing the blog posts over the last month and noticing how irregular the posts have been. Also noticed (!!) that we haven't posted on Romain, Heather, Jonathan and Gabe's wonderful visit, which was just shy of one month ago. (The fact that we left for Venice shortly after their departure surely had something to do with the ommission.)

Their visit was a great boost for us, as I think we were all in something of a "third month funk." Hard as it may be to believe, we had done and seen a lot already in Rome, so the original excitement of being here had worn off. On the other hand, we were still looking at another solid month before returning to the States. Having family visit was our chance to "rediscover" the city, and even see things that we hadn't yet!

Things got off to a rough start for Romain and Heather, unfortunately, as they were the victims of a clever scam in which two men (masquerading as assistants helping them unload their bags at their apartment) made off with a backpack containing valuables. This is the side of Rome you are warned about in travel guides, etc., but it was not something we had encountered, until then. Thankfully they were able to recoup some of the loss. But still . . .

The week went by in a whirlwind of activity. The kids, I think, would have been content to spend much of the time playing in the apartment (which they did anyway), but we were able to do at least one major activity in and around Rome per day. The pictures above capture some of the events.

The visit to the Colosseum/Forum/Palatine was especially fun--though it was an incredible amount of walking!--because it was our first time on the Palatine too. The Palatine (one of the seven hills of Rome) flanks the ancient Roman Forum. It was the site of the emperor's palace (our word "palace" is, in fact, derived from the word "Palatine"), which was opulent indeed. Very little remains besides the ruins, of course, but even these are enough to give you a sense of the magnificence of the place.

From the Palatine we wound our way (through the rain!) to the Bocca della Verità, which we had also not visited before then. This large marble circle was probably a sewer drain cover in antiquity, but it was made famous in Roman Holiday, and now crowds line up to test their "truthfulness" (or the cleanliness of their consciences) by putting their hand into the "mouth of truth." Legend has it that if you have a guilty conscience you lose some digits. Good news: we're all livin' the good life. No loss of limbs.

Our major excursion outside of Rome was a visit to Ostia Antica. If you recall from an earlier blog post, we had travelled here for a day trip back in late February, and fully enjoyed ourselves with a picnic lunch. On this visit, however, we really saw far more of these ruins than we had before. (And there's still more to be seen!) Pompeii gets all the press when it comes to excavated cities, but for my money Ostia's just as good and in some respects even better; in Ostia, unlike Pompeii, there are many places to lounge (and picnic) in the grass under shady pines.

Instead of returning directly to Rome we decided to take the train further down the coast from Ostia Antica to the Ostia Lido stop, "Lido" being the "beach." After about a fifteen minute walk from the station we made it to the shore. This was our very first time to dip our toes into the Mediterranean. It was too cold to swim (though there were a few young women braving it), so we basically just spread the picnic blanket and enjoyed the view, while the kids covered themselves in sand.

The grown ups had one night to themselves, and we spent it at a well known and celebrated Roman restaurant "Vecchio Roma," just around the corner from the Theater of Marcellus and the Jewish district. It was a splendid meal "al fresco" on a lovely Roman evening.

But alas, all good things--at least in this life--must come to an end, and we bid family adieu on the 27th. We look forward to sharing the memories sometime soon, whether in St. Paul or Lake Bluff!