Roma

We just came back from spending a few days in Rome and Venice.... We had a wonderful time, but were graced with a scorching heat wave!! Even I, with my mediterranean skin, had a hard time coping with it...!!! Needless to say, the heat and the fact that my children are not used to standing in huge lines and walking for miles and miles daily, made us all a bit cranky and impatient!! My 7-year old son decided to become Garbage Man, as he became fascinated and started picking up (despite our begging for him to stop) all kinds of garbage from the floor, especially cigarette butts!!  Whenever we would start fading, we would just hop onto an open deck bus and enjoy a ride to replenish our energy!! Or we would take refuge in the Hotel until we felt ready to take on the city again. In all, we were able to see pretty much all the landmarks we wanted, including St Peter's Basilica (even got a glimpse of the Pope!), the Vatican and Sistine Chapel, the Colosseum and Roman ruins, the Fountain of Trevi, the Pantheon and much more!

St. Peter's Basilica

Our Pope, Benedict XVI

... a view from the Basilica's cupola, which we reached entirely by foot!!

Vatican Museum

... love this detail of a Vatican hand-painted closet...

We stayed at a recently renovated hotel at an excellent location just a few blocks from the Vatican. The rooms were a bit small - tiniest showers I have ever seen, but they were very clean, the staff was very friendly and the price was great (for European standards...)!!!

Colosseum

Roman Forum

Fontana di Trevi

... I don't know who wanted this pink scooter more, my daughter or me...!!!

Yes, I can say we walked away from Rome happy and hoping we will be back soon!!