Sunday 1st half

Rewind back to Sunday. We started the day at church. There was some stumbling around trying to find the time of Mass. We figured out the right time, then got to church and found out we were 30 minutes early, even though their Mass times list says we were correct. We've since discovered this is just how it works here. Flexibility is key (not my strong suit). Somehow, everyone else knew what time to come? Whatever. Anyway, we wandered a bit, perused the church, then enjoyed Mass in Italian. They baptized a baby boy too! It was fun to see how much we understood and how well we could follow along. The church was like everything else here, extravagantly decorated and intricate.  

Then - gelato!

Next was the Castel Sant'Angelo. Its a castle a few blocks from our hotel. I didn't take a picture from far away, so I plagiarized this one from the internet:

It was cool place to visit, highly recommend. Good signage, an obvious path, and stuff that all of us found interesting.

This was a our lunch cafe, on the 2nd floor of the castle. Yes, it was as beautiful as it looks in the picture. and delicious!

Cool ramps to climb

Archangel Michael on top

Guard towers to hide in

Amazing views. Hi Pope Francis!

Bridge over the green Tiber (its actually kinda gross)

We continue to look for different papal coats of arms. This one's mine with the fleur de lis

very tiny doors

cool and cave-like

After this, we went back to the hotel for some chillin and jet-laggin

Max 4 people

Our hotel has 2 teeny tiny elevators that are probably not Gramma Ann friendly. But when I show you the view from the breakfast terrace, she might be convinced to tough out the claustrophobia.

More beach day

In case you haven't heard, there's good gelato in Italy. Like, everywhere. Seriously.

We found our favorite today, in Ostia, on the walk back to the train station. It was enhanced by a day in the water and sun and the nice guy serving us.

We paid to go to a private beach, which included an umbrella, 2 deck chairs, toilets, and changing rooms. Totally worth it the small fee. Lunch was at a bar at our beach, they made the kids fresh fettucine with tomato sauce, Jim had a variety of seafood, I had a rice ball and fried tuna steak (I think). Delicious and filling and even Adam liked the noodles.

He's been easier to please food-wise than I expected. He doesn't really love noodles or tomato sauce and thinks Little Caesars is the best pizza ever. And A week before we came here, we started to suspect he was having issues with dairy. Great timing before coming to Italy, huh? So we tried lactase pills before pizza and gelato and it seems to be helping a lot.

Laura just loves it all. She got tortellini in broth the other day and absolutely raved about it. Noodles, tomato sauce, cheese, the girl is in heaven.

Dinner was at home after stopping at our mini market for a refresher of fruits and Italian chips and beer and salami and provolone.

Ostia Lido

We changed our plans today and made it the beach day instead of Colesseum day. There were lots of reasons: jet lag, weather forecast, and Adam's sanity. It was a good decision.

Now we're just chilling at the Mediterranean. It is cold water, but no worse than San  Diego or lake Superior.

It took about an hour to get here on a bus and a train, but it was easy to navigate, then we just walked towards the smell of ocean.

It's really fun to listen to children speak italian. :)

Great day, but it's late...

So I'll just leave a picture of a photobomb in front of the Pantheon. You're welcome.

Happy Birthday to this guy!

Day one, getting settled

We took a train from the airport into Rome, then a bus to our hotel. I'm not gonna lie, I was feeling pretty dang awful during those rides - jet lag, carsick, tired of everyone. But we were so successful dealing with buying tickets, finding the right bus and train, and attempting Italian, that I deem it an overall happy memory.

Our hotel is ridiculously lovely - more pics to follow. Front desk is super helpful and kind, we already have a favorite bodega across the tiny cobblestone street who picked out a free tomato for us to eat with our mozzerella di bufala. Laura loves to look out our window and say ciao to passersby. Breakfast on the terrace is beautiful and delicious and we can eat breakfast 'with the Pope' cuz we can see St Peters dome.

We were out strolling (read: trying to stay awake) and happened upon Vatican City (as one does). :) So we wandered thru St Peters square, stood on the spots that make the 4 layers of columns look like one, took a spin thru the post office giggled at the uniforms if the Swiss Guard, and marveled at the enormity of the whole thing. We walked along the Tiber River, had some gelato, and started to figure out the neighborhood. Love the cobblestone streets, but make sure you flatten yourself against a wall if a car comes, cuz they're basically alleyways with very little extra space. Tiny cars everywhere!

Lest we be all sunshiny and rosy, I feel I need to report that the kids spent most of this stroll wondering what the big deal is, why is it so crowded, why are we walking with no destination, this is nothing like I imagined, can we go back to the hotel, I don't like gelato, it's too sunny, why do you walk so slowly...

But we did hug a column at St Peters on Adam's recommendation (it takes Jim + Laura + Adam + about a foot of me to make it around), spotted some Papal crests, including Laura's fav (we each picked one to look for), and started a fountain counting contest for the week.

Dinner was a hamburger for Adam and paninis for the rest of us. Actually, I just realized Laura never ate hers and it's still sitting on the table. Oops. But she had a juicy peach from the market, so she'll survive.

Looking forward to feeling better tomorrow, Mass in Italian, touring Castel Sant'Angelo, and doing Rick Steve's recommended Heart of Rome walk (he's our guru).

Waiting for the Leonardo Express from airport into town

Safe and sound, this part of traveling is rough, looking forward to getting in town to see something cool, and settle in the hotel.

JFK is not Minnesota nice

So grateful we didn't move to the east coast. This is how you switch terminals are JFK.

It begins

On our way to a layover in NY. Very last row, baby!