ROME DAY #1: HELLO ROMA!
We left some good family memories in Venice and viewed some incredible countryside on our way to Rome on the train. Our Rome train was a bullet train and the kids were every excited as we pushed speeds up to 110 MPH. I am writing this segment of the blog in our apartment in Rome with a small expresso I made from the kitchen machine and sitting in the large TV room with the windows open and just listening to Rome speak to me at 5am in the morning. I can’t fathom the history that was made in this City though I’m enjoying the sounds of birds, trains, people and morning happening right in front of me.
We left Venice around 8:27am and arrived in Rome around 12:20pm. The station was a good half mile away from our apartment, but not knowing our surroundings and guided off a printed map from Yahoo Maps, we attempted to walk with 3 large suitcases in about 89 degree weather. Did I mention that one of our suitcase handles broke off? Hey, I need the exercise and we finally made it after getting directions from a Canadian pushing Tours in front of the Rome Termini.
So, it’s about 12:45pm and you could tell that all of us are getting hungry. IMPORTANT NOTE: I HAVE THE BEST KIDS AND WIFE IN THE WHOLE WORLD. My family are troopers and they are sticking through this journey without any complaints. Back to the story and sorry for the sidebar. So, we arrived at Hotel Cortina and we’re not staying in the hotel, but in one of their apartments. This apartment rocks with a major living room, two bedrooms and two bathrooms and a large kitchen and hallway. The owner of Hotel Cortina is Angelo and such a wonderful man. We checked in and immediately went downstairs to eat at this little Irish Pub and Ashley and I had hamburgers, Leslie had a Caprice Salad and guess what Ryan had? That’s right--PIZZA!
Before the trip, I booked a tour with the company ItalyWithUs.com and this tour was about St. Paul and his journey, life and death here in Rome. We arrived at the tour meeting place near the Vatican and our tour guide was in a car accident and the tour was cancelled so we got our money back and no hard feelings. And, we had some of the best Gelato ever made near the tour office. We were extremely tired and went back to our apartment to chill and gather our strength back. The kids played; Leslie continued reading her book and I scanned through 1,400 channels on our satellite TV with eventually taking a nap. We spent about 2.5 hours in the apartment before grabbing a quick dinner around the corner and returning to our apartment for the night. And Ryan didn’t have pizza for dinner :)
We have a tour planned tomorrow and will visit Ancient Rome: The Colosseum, The Forum and Pantheon. Enjoy the pictures and video and more to come for sure tomorrow.
ROME DAY 2 & 3: HOLY ANCIENT HISTORY, BATMAN.
So sorry for the late entry and 100% the blame is on Vodafone and it’s sparatic wireless service which comes on and goes off just as fast, but who’s complaining on vacation (not me).
Amazing two days and more like a crash course in Ancient World History 101. It blows my mind to think of such a powerful, dominant civilization the Roman Empire truly was in history and how the City of Rome was the epicenter of the World starting in 753 BC to the fall around 476 AD. The tour we did today visited important, historic sites in Ancient Rome: The Pantheon, The Roman Forum, The Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Novana and Capitoline Hill. In short, the Renfro Family took a walk through Rome’s 2000 year history and our expert was a Roman Archaeologist from the University and I can’t tell how many side-stories we heard during our tour. Leslie and I was extremely impressed with Ashley as she hung with the tour guide all day and didn’t leave her side (we might have a little Indiana Jones on our hands). Ryan did terrific as well and made the most of it, as you can see in the photos. My favorite place was the Colosseum and the whole time I was in awe. How could a people, without any machines or electricity, build a structure like the Colosseum? And, all the blood that was spilled in this place, not to mention Nero’s persecution of the Christians and how the Colosseum played it’s part. Leslie and kids like this placed as well and thank goodness we skipped the lines because the line was long and it was hot outside. The kids did so great that morning, we gave the choice to pick an activity for the afternoon and they elected to go to the beach. So, we packed our suits and headed to Rome Termini not knowing on how to get there. I bet we asked 25 people on how to get to the beach with all us acting out like a “swimmer” in hopes to help convey our question. All we heard back was “Platform 25....Platform 25”. We went to platform 25 and got on the train. On the train, we met a lovely couple from Perth, Australia who were on a 3 month world cruise and was heading back to the Port after an excursion to Rome. Craig and Cathy had 6 grandchildren and ran a family business which their two daughters were handling while they were gone. Ashley had a great time with Cathy and told each other jokes while we speeded towards the coast. We ended up getting off in Civitavecchia and reminded me of an Italian Port Aransas town: Old beach buildings, businesses and resorts. The beach was not a Texas beach and mostly 99.9% with big rocks, which was difficult in getting out into the water. Leslie took advantage of the down time and read her Nook as we swam. The kids had a great time and that’s all it mattered. We swam for about 1.5 hour and then decided to head back. We grabbed McDonalds and then headed back to the train station. The ride back to Rome took about an hour and ten minutes and my wife wrote the book on how to keep kids occupied and played with them the whole trip back. We decided to stay in our neighborhood for dinner and Ryan had pasta that night (can you believe it), which he didn’t like and my Seafood Risotto was incredible and I shared with Ryan. It was a great day and I had a wonderful time with my kids and best friend Leslie.
The next day and 3rd day in Rome, we had our Vatican Tour scheduled a 9am and once again, thank goodness for skip the line tickets. Our guide was a young Roman man named Fernando and he a welcomed smile on his face. We had about 25 people in our group with 3 families from Texas. One in particular, was the Brown Family from the Woodlands and they heard about Cole and Chase in football. The daughter was Mattie Brown and she attended some Private School in the Woodlands, but said she knew of Cole and Chase. Her dad was in the Hospital Startup Business in Houston and knew of Bobby and eCardio--small world.
We toured the museums in Vatican City and Sistine Chapel, St. Peters Basillica and St. Peters Square. Here is a quick history lesson we learned that day:
“Our Lord and Savior, Jesus, is crucified and his best buddy Peter starts his mission and decides to go to the most powerful city in the world to spread Christ’s Love and Word--Rome. Rome is ruled by a tyrannical, greedy wacko called Nero and who is blamed for the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD. Nero denies arson and blames the Christians and starts persecuting them. Peter gets crucified upside down and after Nero dies, Christianity becomes more and more popular and the Gospel spreads. Emperor Constantine makes Christianity the official religion of the Empire and builds a church over Peter’s grave.”
After the tour, we needed to find a Chase bank and ended up a JP Morgan branch location which had no personal banking services. The lady was nice and helped us in the right direction. We had lunch at a small pizzeria in this neighborhood and the best Pizza I’ve ever put in mouth. It was so good that Ryan said the same thing and we all know how much he likes pizza. That afternoon we wanted to get some much needed rest and spent the afternoon in the apartment getting our luggage in order and watching movies. Rome was great and our next trip is up to Milan for the day and destination route to Zermatt, Switzerland. Back to you all shortly and the kids are doing great on this trip...very proud of them. Chow!
