Weebly seems to get a little confused about what day it is (don't we all?). The day labeled "Una grande giornata fuori" was actually the 17th, Thursday.
Friday the 18th: Castel Sant'Angelo
We looked into the square at St. Peter's again on Friday, but the line was again too long. So, we decided to go to the Castel Sant'Angelo. That is a very fun mausoleum/fortress/papal palace to explore. It's got a little bit of everything, from drawbridges to frescoes, and they had a very interesting exhibit of ancient art as well. It's a good kid-friendly place to explore, and the views were amazing.
Saturday the 19th: Rest
This day, we rested. We seem to need a day of complete slacking every few weeks. We did force ourselves to go out to the neighborhood shops, but other than that we stayed in and vegetated.
Sunday the 20th: Appia Antica, Epica Failica
We had a really great plan. A nice walk and picnic on the Appian Way (2300 year old Roman Road), with walking minimized by taking the hop on, hop off Arceobus as recommended.
The less said about this misadventure the better, but I'll just say we ended up calling it the "Arceobust" and walking 7 miles total that day.
What saved the day from being a total failure was visiting the Catacombs of Saint Callisto. The guide for the English language tour was really a good guide who provided a lot of context and meaning, and the catacombs were very interesting. 500,000 Christians buried in 20km of tunnels on 4 levels. Of course we only saw a little bit of that. Highly recommended. And something the kids will remember.
The less said about this misadventure the better, but I'll just say we ended up calling it the "Arceobust" and walking 7 miles total that day.
What saved the day from being a total failure was visiting the Catacombs of Saint Callisto. The guide for the English language tour was really a good guide who provided a lot of context and meaning, and the catacombs were very interesting. 500,000 Christians buried in 20km of tunnels on 4 levels. Of course we only saw a little bit of that. Highly recommended. And something the kids will remember.
Monday the 21st: Trevi fountain, 3 churches, and a whole bunch of bones
Some things you just have to see for yourself, and I think the Trevi fountain is one of them. It was pretty neat.
We also explored some famous churches near the Four Fountains. My kids seem to have developed a surprising amount of tolerance for visiting churches.
Then we went to the famous ossuary in the Capuchin crypt at Santa Maria della Concezione. The Capuchin monks do a really good job of capturing you before you go into the crypt and explaining their history and beliefs. Good for them. The crypt was as creepy as you might expect. The general message I got was, "Get over yourself."
[Note: Columbia got the catacombs and the crypt confused when she wrote her blog post. The crypt contains the bones of 4000 people, not 500k. That's the catacombs. But you don't see any bones in the catacombs, because tourists kept stealing them. Seriously.]
This high point was followed by excellent gelato and Luigi getting chewing gum all over his hands, and then everything went downhill till none of us were speaking to each other. Apparently the Capuchin's message was lost on us.
We also explored some famous churches near the Four Fountains. My kids seem to have developed a surprising amount of tolerance for visiting churches.
Then we went to the famous ossuary in the Capuchin crypt at Santa Maria della Concezione. The Capuchin monks do a really good job of capturing you before you go into the crypt and explaining their history and beliefs. Good for them. The crypt was as creepy as you might expect. The general message I got was, "Get over yourself."
[Note: Columbia got the catacombs and the crypt confused when she wrote her blog post. The crypt contains the bones of 4000 people, not 500k. That's the catacombs. But you don't see any bones in the catacombs, because tourists kept stealing them. Seriously.]
This high point was followed by excellent gelato and Luigi getting chewing gum all over his hands, and then everything went downhill till none of us were speaking to each other. Apparently the Capuchin's message was lost on us.