Roma, Italia by Kev

24.7.2025. Up early, breakfast, finish the last bit of packing and off to the train station. Where we wait, because our train is late. Not like India late, this is Italy late, so only 10mins or so. On we hop, no struggling trying to get the big bags into the cargo space above us. Not since the last train where we noticed people put the big bags on the floor, between the seats. It's not like it's clearly labelled with a bag sign or anything like that. The trains in Europe, so far, have been really good. Andrew noticed at one point, that we were travelling at 250kph. It was smooth as too. We got to Rome, Roma to the locals. Discussed whether we should get an uber or try a local bus. Much to Emma's dismay, we decided on the bus. Uber was gonna be €30, the bus was €3. I'll take a bit of whinging for that kinda discount. The bus really wasn't bad as it was not as crowded as I thought it would be. We got to our new apartment and met up with the owner. He let us in and showed us around. Gave us a few tips on the very near area then shot through. We settled in a little bit, which means we spread shit everywhere. It's now just after lunch and we need supplies for the stay. Grabbed some bags and headed out. We found a small food place, they serve you pizza by weight. They make long rectangular pizza, then cut off how much you want with scissors. We all had pizza, except Emma who tried some spring rolls and crumbed potato things. All fed for just over €13, and the spring rolls were a hit with Em, so we'll be back. We did some shopping, pasta and breakfast stuff for a few days. We headed back, I put stuff away while others blogged. Had a couple beers, then shared a bottle of wine with Mel. A Pinot noir made in Italy, it wasn't great, won't get that one again. Made dinner, watched a movie and went to bed.
25.7.2025. Kids had noodles for breakfast again, it's starting to be a favourite. We stayed in a bit this morning as we had nothing planned. So what did we do? Why we caught up on some of the kids favourite activities, blogging and schoolwork, yay. At lunchtime we went back to the little pizza place we found yesterday and gave it another crack. After that we hopped onto a tram and headed towards the city centre. Where are we headed to? What has Mel booked for us this Arvo? Stay tuned for the next episode to find out! It's the Colosseum, we're going to the Colosseum. We were cruising along in the tram, watching all this ancient Roman stuff pass us by, thinking, there really is a lot of stuff to look at here. Around the corner we went, and there it was. Bloody huge, and it only got bigger. My first thought after getting a closer look at the place was, that must have taken a lot of people to build. It's 189m long, 156m wide and 48m high. As I already said, bloody huge. The main pillars on the outside holding everything up are about 4m thick. There's holes chiselled into them everywhere too. We found out later that they used to have sheets of marble covering everything, and used these holes to fit everything up. Must have been spectacular back in the day. Still pretty spectacular now. Once inside we made our way around, reading most of the info they have placed around the joint. The whole thing was built between 72-80 AD. So they didn't muck around. We learned in the 5th century, the Gladiator fights were banned and animal hunts stopped in the 6th century. At the end of the 6th century a small chapel had been built inside, and there are records up to the 12th century of the rooms under the seats and arena being rented out. It was even used by one family, the Frangipani’s, who fortified it and used it as a castle for a while. I enjoyed walking around the Colosseum. I like looking at old structures in partial ruin, and imagining what it must have been like to see it in its prime. Tickets were free to families of the area, and were distributed using a class system. You sat where you were told to sit, owing to your social status. We finished our visit with a look through the gift shop. Some more postcards and another magnet to add to the collection.

26.7.2025. Today we're headed to a kid museum Mel found. It's a timed activity, you get 1h45m to let your kids run around silly. There were a few things there that the kids enjoyed, some water stuff and a production line thing. The production line activities proved to be the most popular with our two. It involved moving small balls around 7 different stations, from one to the other. There were a few other things that held their attention for a bit, but not a lot going on. Outside the centre is a flying fox, the kids played on that for ages. Then I got hungry and we had to go. After food we walked to Piazza del popolo, a massive open area with an obelisk in the middle. Afterwards, we walked to what is called the Spanish steps. There's a fish fountain thing at the bottom that is very popular, the kids lined up to get their picture taken. We walked up the steps to the top and visited a small chapel at the top. We checked out the views on the way back down. Next stop, we walked to the Trevi fountain. Huge fountain, and it was very popular, there were people everywhere. Lots of sculptures amongst the several fountains. On our way to the next destination, we came across a small wax museum. Not my cup of tea, but the others seemed keen. We saw lots of Italian people I have no idea about, and a few celebrities. It was pretty dodge, but it got us out of the sun for a bit I suppose. To finish the day, we ended up at an absolutely massive building, built as a Monument to Victor Emmanuel II. Who was the first King of a united Italy. After all that, we're knackered. Time to hop on a bus and head back. Showers, dinner and a little tv. Then bed.
27.7.2025. This morning we're headed to something Emma found. Called the Colour Hotel, who knows how this is gonna turn out. Pretty good is the answer. We started in an elevator, not a real one but had screens to make you think you were. After that we went into a massive padded cell. Mel called it a mattress room, it had a huge blow up floor and walls. After chasing and being chased, I was stuffed. Right, what's next? Into a room full of yellow balloons, we played keepy uppy for a bit, popped at least one balloon and moved on. Next was a pink fluffy room, with dress ups and a couch. Got hot wearing a coat, not to mention how many people had worn it previously. Next, a toilet room, you slid down a toilet into a huge ball pit. Lots of rooms, lots of fun. A big white room with sculptures that you could draw on with whiteboard markers. There was a big double ping pong table, some basketball hoops. At the end the kids played with some big foam block things and built a fort. We finished up, found some lunch. When we got back, it was time to blog and rest. Later that evening we went out again. Mel found a show, some Queen/Freddy music mixed with opera. It was a good show, the guy on the piano was good, one guy singing was pretty good, and there was a lady singer. She stole the show. Her voice was amazing. When she really let go, the whole place shook. Mel said they got goosebumps. After that, home and sleep.
28.7.2025. This morning we're doing something Andrew found. What did he find? A video game museum, that's what. We spent a couple hours there, playing a few different games. I saw the first game console I ever owned. A sega master system. Andrew really liked Mario cart world. Emma really got into super Mario world, I had to drag her away from it at the end. After that we went to another country, the Vatican. We have now been to the two smallest countries in the world. The Vatican being the smallest and Monaco the second smallest. We visited the museum, lots to see. So many paintings, so many sculptures. Everywhere you looked there was art. The walls, the roof and the floor. Finished with the Sistine Chapel. Lots of paintings on the walls and ceiling. Lots of mostly naked, ripped dudes covering one of the walls. Lots of people. Not allowed to take pictures in the Sistine chapel, but with that many people, I saw plenty taking them anyway. After that we called it a day and headed back.
29.7.2025. Today is a day I planned, we'll see how that goes. We started with visiting the Pantheon. Apparently, it's the only building in Rome still in its original state. It's said that's because it's the only building to have never been abandoned at any point, so it has always been looked after. There's a big oculus in the centre of the roof, approximately 9m in diameter, which is from the original design. It was never closed up, they just let the weather in. After the Pantheon, we walked and found a small book fountain. A better description would be, a fountain with book sculptures in it. After that we went to Piazza Navona, another huge open area with 3 large sculpture fountains. We found the place to get our tickets for the next stop. Which was not very far away, actually underneath the piazza. The place? The Stadium of Domitian, an ancient stadium built by the emperor Domitian in the year 86 Ad for athletics competitions. Here they did chariot races, foot races, javelin, discus, boxing and much more. They didn't just offer physical sports, but mental sports as well, with poetry readings, singing and instrumental competitions. It was 276m long and 106m wide and seated around 30,000 people. It looked like an elongated horse shoe. It fell out of use in the latter years of the Empire. It's believed to have still been in existence in the 5th century as it in documents, tho it is believed to have become a place for the poor to live. Later, it fell into ruin and ended up covered and built on-top of. The Stadium now sits 4.5m below steer level, and only part of it has been excavated. After the stadium, we found some lunch and headed back to the Vatican. We want to see St Peters cathedral. When we got there tho police had closed everything off and said it wasn't reopening until 4pm. Well bugger. We walked to another chapel and had a look then came back. By now there was a lot of people waiting. As it got close to 4 there were more and more. Mel looked on their phone, apparently today there is an extraordinary mass for a youth Jubilee. The longer we waited the more people turned up and the crazier it got. As all these people started to push towards the gate, even tho it's not open yet, it got crazier and crazier. People pushing past others into somewhere already overcrowded, bumping us out of the way as they went. I had to hold Andrew, to keep him up and safe. At some point we said stuff it, and we let the loonies have their fun pressing up on each other, I just hope no-one got hurt. After watching the huge amounts of people pouring into the Vatican, we gave up. It sucks to have not seen the biggest chapel in the world, but it was not meant to be. We decided to go and see another chapel, and it was beautiful. Then we got gelato, because why not? After that we visited a cat colony. We saw 1 cat, we were expecting more than that, but you take what you get. We then walked back to our apartment, did the evening thing and went to bed.
30.7.2025. Today is moving day, we're off to Pescara today. Packed and headed for a city bus. Onto another bus, then wait at the intercity bus station until our bus turned up. 2.5hrs later we're in Pescara. We found our stay, not as great as we'd hoped but it'll do. Blogging in the afternoon, probably go out for a light dinner later.
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