Forty Seven Inch Life: Roman Holiday

I can not tell you how many times I have seen the old Audrey Hepburn movie and day dreamed of one day seeing Rome, so it was a thrill to finally be off for our quick weekend. Of course seeing Rome on Easter weekend and with two little ones meant my trip would be nothing like the movie! We certainly did not see all that Rome has to offer but I loved (almost) every minute of it.

The night before we left we realized that the Easter Bunny and the Mimi Bunny were entirely too generous for us to pack and bring with us, so the Easter Bunny decided to make an early stop just for us. So early Friday morning E-rie and Wildman were delighted to find a table full of presents.

Every day for a whole week leading up to our trip E-rie asked if she could ride the train, so you can only imagine how excited she was when we finally said yes. I swear she made no fuss about putting on her coat and getting out the door, in fact I think she even volunteered! Since our trip I have told everyone I know that I will not get on another plane if it isn't necessary. There is all kinds of space, a large table, internet, a much nicer bathroom and coat hooks too.

My husband and I both love to explore new cities and try to find what we call "the real feel" of a place. We try to get away from everything tourist and see what the normal people do. So it came as no shock to me when he suggested we walk to our hotel. It was only a couple of miles away and we got to see some amazing sights. We even stumbled on the changing of the guards (though much less impressive than the ceremony at Arlington National Cemetary).

Do these uniforms remind anyone else of the costumes from a musical?

We spent the next couple of days just meandering around seeing the Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, Piazza de Fiori and of course the Vatican. I'm pretty sure E-rie's favorite thing is the fountains where she throws the "mooneys" and Wildman is always a fan of food.

Mama look there is lots of mooneys!

I definetly want to buy some fruit from this guy!

This man loves him some gnocchi! And yes that is E-rie in the background in timeout for pitching a 2 year old fit :)

I think I will always be in awe of how modern cities just build up around some of the most important sites of the ancient world. I swear I walked around a building and there was the Pantheon! No fanfare, no signs even just a centuries old building with a law office next door!

We walked around the corner and there it was- the Pantheon!

Apparently I was so excited to see the Colisseum that I closed my eyes!

And everywhere we turned there was another church. They truly were neighborhood churches that seat at most 100 people. Each one was more beautiful than the last with art and altar decorations that were hundreds of years old.

Of course the main reason we were there was to celebrate Easter Mass in Saint Peter's Square. And it was every bit at awe inspiring as I could have ever imagined. The Pope, the Latin and the people. It is definetly something I will do again once the kiddos are older.