RTWAdventureFamily: Downsized in Europe

On Feburary 9, 2014 only four, of the traveling five, took off for Europe. With work deadlines looming and the office in need, Bob headed back to Philly. He plans on working very hard for two weeks with our future travel plans in mind. Meanwhile the kids and I plan stops in Rome, Barcelona and Sevilla.

After Southeast Asia was cut out of our itinerary we decided to head in the other direction, slowly making our way back home. With Roman's birthday coming up we searched the FC Barcelona soccer schedule and lucky us they have a home game scheduled on February 15th---Roman's birthday.

Voila, a plan was made.

In order to travel without Bob some serious downsizing of our travel bags needed to take place. Thankfully, I was able to put both boys clothing into one backpack, get rid of all warm weather clothes, all the extra stuff and newly purchased items. Bob took off for JFK through Moscow with a grand total of 4 checked bags. A quick check on 'cheap o air' showed that the extra baggage could cost more than the flight ticket. Lucky Bob worked some magic and got it down to only 50 euros.

Meanwhile the four of us now travel easily with only this....

Traveling from Dubai to Rome we had a connection in Amman, Jordan and thus are able to add another country to our list.

Royal Jordian Air. See we actually were on the ground in Jordan.

Landing in Rome mid afternoon we were through the airport, passport control and baggage claim in record speed. We caught a shared van into the city centre and went to our apartment. Here we met with our first disappointment with Booking.com. I have used that site and others to make most of our hotel reservations. With plans to get even further ahead with the boys school work, we needed space but at least a table and chairs. As you can guess, while the photos and description showed a kitchen and dinning table, in reality they did not exist. After some discussion we left that apartment and headed over to the Piazza Navona to eat and plan our next move.

With food in the boys, they were happy to sit in the beautiful piazza, while I ran around to see some local hotels. I was able to find a very good space with a kitchen, dining table for school work and all we need.

Raining In Rome

Monday Feb 10, 2014 started with the boys doing school work and thus I was able to wander the cobblestoned streets of Rome alone. Ahh, nice even in the rain.

When the boys were finished with their school work for the day we headed out to walk around some of our favorite sites which also happen to be the most touristy. The rain and off season proved to allow us freedom and excellent views.

First stop, the Pantheon. On my morning walk I was able to download an Apple App which gave a couple of audio facts and lessons about the patheon. Separately, Roman and Mabret,while listening to the App, were able to enter on their own and following the prompts moving around the Pantheon learning the highlights. This gave them freedom and independence. The lack of crowds made it possible.

The Pantheon was built in 126 AD by emperor Hadrian as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome. It is one of the best preserved of all Roman buildings and is still in use today. The building is circular with a portico of large granite Corinthian columns under a pediment. A rectangular vestibule links the porch to the rotunda, which is under a coffered concrete dome, with a central opening (called a oculus) to the sky. We were actually fortunate enough be in the building during the rain. As the rain falls silently in, it drains just as unobtrusively into tiny holes in the marble floor.

Roman listening to the Patheon App.

Next stop, the Trevi Fountain, originally designed by Italian architect Nicolas Salvi it is the largest Baroque fountain in the city and one of the most famous fountains in the world! The theme is Taming of the Water, but coin throwing is the major attraction. Many many films feature the fountain, but the most famous is Three Coins in the Fountain. Now everyone who wishes to someday return to this eternal city

must throw a coin into the fountain. An estimated 3,000 euros (over $4,000 USDollars) are thrown into the fountain each day!

Boys tossing their coins in the fountain

Boys looking for some of those 3,000 euros.

A late lunch and then our final tourist stop, the Spanish Steps and the Piazza di Spagna. This monumental stairway of 135 steps was built in 1723-1725 with funds bequeathed by a French diplomat linking the Spanish Embassy and a church also funded by the Bourbon kings of France. Really, it is just a cool place to hang out. Eating lunch here however is prohibited by Italian law. Don't ask me why.