Roma

Ciao!

Yes, Italy is on my mind even though we have been back for a week now!  I am just sitting down to catch up on my blogging.  I know some of you have been checking often for the latest editions.  Vacations are so wonderful, but we always come back to the calendar full of to-do's!  This past week, all the books from the first book order arrived at the school so my partner and I, along with several wonderful volunteer helpers sorted and distributed almost 800 books!  I am so glad to have the first one behind me!  In addition, I did my usual volunteering and also had Kyla's first 3rd grade class party.  But the good news is the next week (at least now,) looks slightly less daunting :)

Anyway...ROME was AMAZING!!!  We loved it!  And the kids, who weren't nearly as excited as we were also had a great time :)  (Although I must say that could have had something to do with all the gelato and pizza they were able to eat!)

We flew out early on Saturday, Oct. 8 and were rewarded with two of what may be the easiest flights ever!  No drama, no delay, no lost luggage...we arrived to find our driver waiting for us and were taken directly to our lovely hotel - Bailey's Hotel, Roma, Italy.  We were greeted by reception where we dropped off our luggage, asked some questions, picked up a map and headed out to begin our adventure.  First stop...yep, Hard Rock Cafe, which was only a 10 minute or so walk from the hotel.  We were again rewarded...burgers and fries, frozen margaritas...Yea! for the 'All Access' card!  And the kids asked the waitress if they had anything from Metallica...and...

Yep, my little metal heads...

After lunch we wandered a bit through Villa Borghese, which is a huge green area and park with fountains, statues, food carts, bicycle rentals...you name it.  From there we made our way to the Spagna (Spanish Steps.)  It was quite busy being a Saturday afternoon, but that made it all the more fun to see people lounging on the steps and enjoying the beautiful day.

Kyla loved the ear covers on the horses...had to share a picture!

From here, we headed back to the hotel to re-group and check out our rooms (adjoining and lovely, by the way.)  We asked for a recommendation on gelato and enjoyed our first of many... we then continued to wander and came around to Piazza Della Repubblica, the first of many Piazzas around the city.  This one was really quite close to our hotel and was a great starting point for many of our outings.

We continued to make stops in the areas near our hotel into the evening and saw some beautiful views of the city.  We ended up back in Villa Borghese park and then at a little restaurant near our hotel for a bite of dinner before we turned in for the night.  What do you think the kids ate...you guessed it, pizza! I don't think there was a day in Rome that they didn't have pizza at least once and some days twice!

We saw this in the park - these guys were amazing!

A few observations...the mopeds and scooters are EVERYWHERE!  We were cracking up - by the end of the week we were calling them the "scooter gangs!"  Oh, and driving and parking in the city...wouldn't recommend it!  There are also many people that approach you trying to sell you all sorts of things.  But, you get used to seeing them around and just ignore and keep walking if you aren't interested. Oh, and we LOVED the restaurants - most all had outdoor seating on the sidewalks with little canopies or glass walls.  We ate outside most every meal!  

And, in case you couldn't tell, the weather was PERFECT!  

So off to bed so we could rest up for tomorrow's adventures!