We came. We saw. We conquered.

Just like the Romans before us.

After the incredibly hot, tons of crowds, lots of walking, day at the Vatican, we started our day off on golf carts with RollingRome for a private, off the beaten track, get down all the narrow cobblestone alleys made of lava rock, tour of Rome and all of her historical wonder.

RollingRome

Giulia and Eugene were our guides, historians, ambassadors of beauty and they were absolutely magnificent. With them, we were able to get away from the throngs of tourists at the main sites and tuck ourselves onto the stairs of a small church to get an up close and personal view of Trajan’s Column and his Forum.

Augustus

The one thing that I’ve failed to mention so far that has been a highlight of the trip, is the significance of Augustus’ name, particularly in Germany and in Italy. Through our tour guide at Linderhof Castle as well as Guilia and Eugene in Rome. Augustus the Strong in Germany and Augustus Caesar in Rome are both revered leaders in the histories of both countries. When we shared his name, they all shared that he should be proud and “live into your name, it is powerful, it is strong.” For a kid that’s gone by Gus his whole life and not really understood why we named him what we did, this trip helped to shed light and provide clarity for him. Pretty cool.

Here he is standing before the Forum of Augustus, one of the 15 obelisks that Augustus brought from Egypt to Rome (this one is in Palazzo Popolo) and finally, in front of the Monument to Augustus which is under construction.

Aside from Disneyland Paris, the boys were most excited to see the Colosseum. We perched up above it in a small, unassuming park that had perfect light for our tour guide/budding photographer, Eugene, to snap some of the most epic pics of the trip. Don’t be surprised if you see a few of these again on a Christmas card later this year!!

The kids all raced around the Circus Maximus (Joe to post in his last Ramblings entry) and were blown away by the fact that over 300,00 spectators would venture to Rome from far and wide to watch the chariot races. Eugene got them excited and enabled them to visualize what the site once was by showing them a clip of Ben Hur, amazing!

We climbed, I mean our golf cart climbed, one of the seven hills of Rome to the Piazza Fiorenzo Fiorentini, one of the oldest churches in Rome that also happens to have a very romantic orange garden with the most beautiful views of the Roman skyline. That’s St. Peter’s Basilica in the distance on the left of the skyline in the first pic. The last pick of Tessa and Joe is one of my most favorite of the trip, melts my heart.

Nasone aka Big Nose

Nasone’s are a thing in Rome. An awesome thing! There are over 2800 of them in and around the city center and they run 24 hours a day 7 days a week. They even have an app so that you can locate them, ahhhh technology. They keep Romans and droves of tourists alike hydrated and manage to keep a few euros in your pocket by not needing bottled water which is still so mainstream in Europe. There is an art to how to use them like a local and we all had so much fun doing it and then spotting them throughout the city thereafter.

We drove through a number of squares and piazzas, prayed in many of Rome’s over 900 churches and ate some of the best pizza, pasta (Cacio e Pepe and Carbonara), gelato and seafood of our lives. A few collages for your eyes to feast on! Oh and Tessa and I might have made our very own Magnum Bars while the boys were at Gladiator School, hehehee!

Rome was the perfect city to cap off the Traveling Anderzoo’s summer adventure. It was bittersweet to leave and to complete a trip that has been months in the making and in my thoughts and dreams for so long. The adventure exceeded my expectations and honestly, words and photos do not capture all of the feelings that I experienced – most notably, the even deeper closeness that I feel with Joe and each of the kids and the achievement of my goal from the outset, to start our kids on the path to being compassionate, aware, global citizens.

It was a beautiful trip and I am beyond blessed and fortunate to have had the space and time to enjoy every minute. Thanks for following along with us, for all of your likes and comments and the occasional FaceTime calls, they kept us all from missing home too much and brought smiles to our faces.

Until the next Traveling Anderzoo adventure . . .

Xoxo, m