CHRISTMAS IN ROME: AWESTRUCK AT THE COLOSSEUM!

the kids loved taking the bus all around rome! but on our next trip we would like to utilize the metro train service! getting from point a to b quickly will definitely make for a more pleasant vacation!

soooooo, i convinced chris to buy a selfie stick from one of the street vendors! he is not a big fan of street vendors – and gives them WIDE berth whenever we walk by as they can sometimes be quite pushy with their selling tactics. i, on the other hand, really don’t mind having pleasant conversations with them to chris’ dismay. haha! but honestly, they look so defeated a lot of the times and i start thinking that they are out there trying to earn money to put dinner on the family table and i have this need to buy something, anything from them.

chris was skeptical and concerned (and rightly so as it did eventually become too loose to securely grasp our phone) the stick would probably end up dropping our phone. but i told him it would be worth the risk to get the precious family photos that we would forever fondly look back upon when the kids are all grown and gone. that sealed the deal! and here it is: our very first group selfie with the stick – we managed to get all of our faces (and my goodness can my smile get any BIGGER??!) in the shot – in front of the iconic rome colosseum! success!

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just LOVE this breathtaking horse sculpture made of bronze, marble, iron, resin, wood, and granite. created by mexican artist gustavo aceves.

a little tip about purchasing tickets to see the colosseum: purchase them online, print (if you forget to print them out at home, i’m sure your hotel will be happy to do that for you!) and bring them to the ticket window located just outside of the colosseum by this gustavo aceves horse sculpture (or probably another fantastic sculpture by the time you read this). the line there was practically non-existent. we picked up the actual tickets and also paid for audio guide headsets (retrieve those inside the colosseum located near the elevator after you breeze through the express lane). your ticket to the colosseum also includes the roman forum and the palatine hills.

we are a family that can never seem to get that one perfect photo! haha! but that’s okay, we’ll treasure all of them.

let’s talk about the great stroller debate! up until the night before we leave, we always debate whether or not to bring a stroller for kate (age four). for day trips, we leave it at home. but for trips lasting about a week, i always like to bring it, although chris will like to argue that she can tough it out (in which case, i remind him that he ends up carrying that heavy little load towards the end of the day!!). so for this five day trip to rome, we brought the stroller, but for days two & three we did without – AND she was plain exhausted by late afternoon of day three during our trip to the vatican city. needless to say, the stroller dutifully came along with us today and we were ALL the much happier! 🙂

before heading inside, we walked across the street towards the metro, up these cool stone steps to a nearby cafe for brunch. afterwards, we were ready and thrilled to explore this ancient amphitheater!

you can never go wrong with cacio e pepe – a very yummy cheese and pepper pasta dish that is very much like mac and cheese! i love it so much when chris makes this dish for us at home! we pair it up with quick oven roasted asparagus (with olive oil, salt and pepper) – a simple and delicious dinner!

i ADORE mac lipsticks! here, i am wearing a combination of russian red and diva (first i line my lips and then fill in entirely with the mac cherry lip liner, then apply russian red lipstick, and finally the diva lipstick). russian red is the PERFECT red lipstick – very classic and timeless and looks great on any skin tone. diva is like a reddish burgundy. and let me tell you, they have amazing staying power – even after i finished off a plate of cacio e pepe, eggs, toast with jam, cup of water and coffee, the colors stayed put! which is especially useful on vacation when after a meal i am usually rushing off to help kate with potty and don’t always remember to re-apply lipstick. plus, i found that a lot of these bathrooms don’t even have mirrors!

i’m not the best at taking selfies – where are you exactly supposed to look when taking phone selfies??

this view of rome (below) is one of my favorites! so much so, i printed the b+w version above and framed it for my living room wall!

the colosseum. THE colosseum. to stand there in person, to touch the structure with our very own hands. to imagine the horrors within this ancient amphitheater, the courageous sacrifices made. it was all so very hard to take in… we felt despair, compassion, and hope – sometimes all of it at once. we were amazed and humbled. it was an experience we will never ever forget.

i think there is nothing prettier than a herringbone pattern! especially one that is over a thousand years old.

we picked up the audio guide headsets from that glowing yellow kiosk to the left. the elevator is just beyond that. both kids were fascinated with the audio guide and intently listened to it the entire time! here are ten facts about the colosseum that kids may find interesting!

rome is such a beautiful city with such warm hearted people. the artistic juxtaposition of the majestic monuments and beautifully decorated shop windows made for an exciting discovery every corner we turned and every street we walked down.

when we first got here, we were a little lost finding our hotel (i pinned the wrong hotel on google map and we searched for over half an hour dragging our suitcases + tired and hungry kids AND parents + late at night) and people bent over backwards trying to help us out! we are half way done with our trip to rome and already planning our return trip next year!

i was admiring this very nice arrangement of fresh artichoke bouquet and plump vine tomatoes, when the owner of the restaurant came out and greeted me with the warmest smile and the kindest crinkly eyes (the kind that comes from laughing often!). ahhh, rome and the people of rome have completely won over my heart!

chris found this irish pub for us to have our dinner. at first, i was thinking an irish pub in ROME?? but we were all so hungry at this point that i didn’t argue. we stepped inside and WOW – it felt like we were in a harry potter movie set. it wasn’t quite dinner time yet, but they gladly welcomed us! while waiting for our food, i looked around mesmerized by the artfully displayed display. we especially enjoyed the upside down christmas tree!

okay, the food. it was SO SO delicious. we had the perfect fish and chips, super fresh chicken salad, the most moist burger, and flavorful meat and creamy potatoes! and the presentation – sigh!! – martha stewart would have been proud!!

if you want some delicious, most satisfying food that is not pasta, head over to shamrock irish pub (via capo d’africa, 26D) for dinner. what an amazing find this was!!

we had such an amazing day today. as we sat there under the heat lamps enjoying our little snack, we talked about what we saw and ate today, what we learned, and where we were going to go tomorrow! our simple itinerary includes a stroll through the spanish steps (we previously saw it during the evening) and a visit to the pantheon. and, of course, plenty of gelato, beautiful alleys and streets in between! when traveling with young kids, we found it best to plan one or two big things to see and then play it by ear from there!

wearing this black lady day coat, old zara blouse (loving this similar red floral top!), bp booties. chris is wearing this black overcoat, this grey herringbone english tweed blazer; we are carrying the clifton and brixton ona bags in antique cognac. kate’s red coat is from the gap (drooling over this darling red wool bell-sleeve coat!) and jack is wearing this black wool peacoat.

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