Rome

The Fowler Family Europe trip finally begins! After waiting forever to get checked into the apartments we rented, (customer service just does not really exist here) we set out to meet Kellen's family. It was so exciting seeing them from a distance and meeting up on a random street corner in Rome!! As usual, food came first and we got some delicious pizza for lunch. Then we piled  into the metro to head to the Catacombe de Priscilla catacombs.

The catacombs are old underground cemeteries where the Christians were buried during ancient times in Rome. We all really wanted to play hide and seek in the cold dark tunnels instead of listening to our tour guide who was not our biggest fan due to two crying babies. What can you do?

After touring the catacombs, we headed to the old Site of the Roman Baths.  During the Renaissance, these were converted into a beautiful church that stands above the ruins of the ancient baths.

As the sun began to sink into the blue sky and the weather went from blazing hot to a nice warm evening, we headed for a stroll through Rome. We saw a few great sites along the way including:

We finished the day with a pasta dinner and gelato. Then, all exhausted from lots of traveling, headed to go to bed.

Day 2:

Day 2 started with a bit of a mad dash. We had arranged for a guided tour of the Vatican set for 8:45 am. When we went to bed we figured that we needed to leave our apartment at 8:00 in order to make it on time. Imagine our surprise when we woke up to find that it was already 7:48 am! Kellen and I had both assumed that the other had set an alarm (neither actually had) and Landon had slept right through his! We jumped out of bed, threw on our clothes, got the babies dressed and ran out the door. Courtney and I both had the awesome opportunity to feed our babies on the crowded morning Roman metro ride. At the Vatican we rushed through security (good thing our passes let us skip all the lines!) and made it just in time to join our tour group.

We had a great tour where we got to explore the Vatican museum, Sistine chapel, and St. Peter's basilica. Some of our group also climbed the staircase to the top of the dome for a beautiful view of the city. 

After the tour of the Vatican we were all a little bit worn out.

We then decided to walk around Rome and see all the "highlights" of Rome starting with the Spanish steps.

Next stop was the Trevi Fountain which is usually my favorite spot in Rome, but it is being renovated for a year and is covered in scaffolding and had no water. It was such a disappointment as we were not able to throw a coin in the water to make a wish. The renovation will not be finished for a year so if you're headed to Rome this summer don't get too excited to see this site. Next, we headed on to the Pantheon. Built before the time Christ and originally a Roman church, it stands as one of the most impressive sites in Rome.

Last stop of the night was Piazza Navona. It is a huge square lined on one side by a church designed by Borromini and a large fountain sculpted by Bernini in the center. (This fountain is featured in The Angels and Demons movie).

The exciting event of the night was that Maddie said, "Da da" for the first time sitting in Piazza Navona. It was a busy day which, of course, ended with gelato!

Day #3 June 24th 2014

The morning took us to the Villa Borghese Gallery. The museum is in an enormous mansion with impressive frescoes, beautiful paintings, and lots of really cool sculptures.  Most people's favorites were the Bernini sculptures.

After the museum the long awaited time arrived to go meet Nicole and Blair. They were not with us yet because they had run into some trouble with Blair's passport at the Salt Lake City airport. When they went to check in for their flight, they learned that they couldn't travel to Europe because Blair's passport expired two weeks after they were going to arrive back in the US and it needed to be good for 3 months after arrival home in order to enter the EU. After this devastating news they figured out they could fly to NYC, go to the passport office, and get a same day passport. After a hectic and exhausting trip to NY, he got a new passport and they headed to Rome. So we saved the best for last - The Coliseum - so they could come with us. 

After our Rick Steves audio guide tour we headed to the Roman Forum. It is amazing to imagine the Roman civilization that existed thousands of years ago. 

One fun thing we have been able to experience this year is being in Europe during the World Cup. Italy had a game while we were in Rome and we got to watch it on a big screen with thousands of Italians just outside the Roman Forum. Even though Italy lost, it was exciting to be there with all of the fans!

We ended with the best gelato we tried during our entire trip at a place called Giolitti's. Creamy, rich, mouth watering gelato piled high on a chocolate dipped cone = perfection!!

When in Rome eat like the Romans!!