Andiamo Adventurer's: A 2014 Viva Italia Trip Report - Complete!

[mare1203]

Nope! In my experience, your assumption would be wrong. The Adults Only trips tend to get a wide range of people and ages. I've done 4 of them, and we've had young couples, folks taking their young-20's Adult children on special trips, older couples, middle-aged couples, singles of all ages, etc. I've only had one trip have an actual elderly couple, but they kept up really well.

Interesting and good to know!

 

[mare1203]

2 hours later we forced ourselves to get up and headed out to explore Rome. While all roads may lead to Rome, the Roman roads do not lead in a straight line (built on a grid this city was not!), so we found ourselves “lost”, confused, and turned-around many times. However, we weren’t really in a hurry, so this was all part of the fun. For our evening journey we did manage to find:


the Piazza Navona,


the Pantheon,


and the Trevi Fountain,

soooo...success! The Trevi Fountain has just begun a restoration project expected to last through 2015, so there was no water. However, we were lucky enough to see it before the scaffolding covered it completely. Along the way we walked through many little streets lined with restaurants and shops, though we didn’t go into any of them at this time.

Both Bob and Kathy and myself had brought along guidebooks, so before leaving the hotel earlier in the day we decided we wanted Roman pizza for dinner. My guidebook recommended a place called Pizzeria Bafetto located near the Piazza Navona. As luck would have it, one of Kathy’s best friends had also recommended the place separately. Well, that sealed it, Pizzeria Bafetto was our goal for dinner. Now, to find the place… Since we were at the Trevi fountain, we did our best to backtrack. Twisting and turning down streets we did make it back to the Pantheon, but found ourselves a little hungry. Time to stop for some gelato!


That's me and my dad, and the other pic is of Kathy.

We picked a place right by the Pantheon and it ended up being one of our favorites of the trip. I chose straciatella and miritti as my flavors (also known as chocolate chip and blueberry), and I will say that that blueberry was awesome! If you love blueberries and see Miritti as a gelato option then do yourself a favor and get some because it’s totally worth it. Straciatella was a family favorite throughout the trip. Kathy got fior di fragola (a strawberry flavor) and a caramel creme. Bob got the caramel and something else. He said this was his favorite spot overall. Our bellies feeling happy with gelato we continued on our way to dinner.

Consulting the map, we were confidently striding towards Roman pizza. Unfortunately, we were confidently going the wrong direction. Darn map! We came upon some ruins and tried to find where we had gone wrong. Turns out we went left when we should have gone right. No matter, Rome is not a large city and our 10 minute detour in the wrong direction did not end up putting us too far off the path. Plus, we were at least on the right main street, so we turned around and continued on. Good thing we had that gelato after all.


We finally found our side street and at the end of it was the pizzeria, success! This small street ended up being a gold mine of restaurants and, funny enough, our general landmark for the rest of the trip when we were between Piazza Navona and Campo di Fiori! If we hadn’t gotten lost or if we were coming from the hotel, the pizzeria is only about a 5-10 minute walk, for anyone interested. There was a line to get in, but this is not a place where people do a lot of lingering, though as in all of Italy they do not rush you. It’s quite touristy, but we ended up being seated with and standing around a number of Italians as well, so it is not a tourist trap by any means; just good pizza.

We waited about 30 minutes for a table and were escorted upstairs. The place is way bigger than it looks at first sight. The menu is in 4 languages, which confused the heck out of my dad who was like, well what is different about the British menu and the Italian one?? Just the language Dad! Haha, he thought they listed different options! Nope, just easier to read if you’re in the English section.


We decided to split 2 pizzas, the Baffetta special and a prosciutto pizza. It was filling, but we could have each ordered our own as the pizza is very thin (just how we like it!).


The pizza at Via Napoli in Epcot is cooked in the same manner as this pizza, for context. Most parties seemed order one for each member of their group. The party next to us (we were seated at long tables shared with others) ordered bruschetta to start and it looked quite yummy. Since pizza and beer go so well together, we got 2 Moretti’s as our beverage and my sister got a Coke. Oh, we are Coke Zero fans and weren’t sure if it was a “thing” overseas. Well, I’m happy to report that it is and it was as easy to find throughout the trip as it is here in the States, maybe even easier! This was one of our favorite meals of the trip. By the time we finished dinner it was after 10 and we headed back to the hotel to sleep!

All in all, a successful first day in Rome. What will day 2 bring (hint: we get lost again, lol!)

 

[Cousin Orville]

That pizza looks awesome. Looks like you had a great day!

 

[Sarabi's Cubs]

Really enjoying your trip report so far!!! Looking forward to the next installment!

Laurie

 

[mare1203]

Hello Adventurer's! After a few busy days at work it's time for another Italy update!

The next morning we woke up and went down to breakfast, which was included with our stay. They have a very nice spread with what I thought to be a nice variety of choices. There were a number of breads to choose from in addition to fruit platters, a salad bar, cured meats and cheeses, and some hot bacon, sausage, eggs, tomatoes, and potatoes. My absolute favorite? Making my own ricotta and honey bruschetta. So, so yummy. The waiters will give you coffee Americano, cappuccino, or espresso among other options for drinks. Sorry, we don't seem to have any pictures of breakfast!


The previous evening we had received our Adventures by Disney welcome gift. Inside it said our adventure guides would be available throughout the day to meet and say hi. After breakfast we went to the lobby to do just that.


When we arrived we were met by one of our guides, Troy. He gave us some information about the welcome happening that evening and took our menu orders. We also sat and talked for a few minutes. One of the things he recommended was to go out the gates of the hotel and turn left rather than right. Up the hill was a children’s hospital with a park that he said offered a great view.


Some pictures from the hill. He said there was an even better view from further up, but we never made it.

As I previously mentioned, the hotel offers a shuttle across the river. After speaking with Troy the shuttle was set to leave in about 20 minutes, so we went up the hill and then came back down to give it a whirl.


The shuttle dropps you off at Museo dell'Ara Pacis. It houses an alter from 9 BC dedicated to peace. We did not go in.

While talking to Troy he had recommended the Piazza di Popolo as a place to head that day. We had booked tickets a few days earlier for the Borghese Gallery and saw that the Piazza was near one of the park entrances, so we decided it would be a good use of our morning to head that way. From the shuttle we walked to the Via del Corso, a major shopping street in Rome, though not the designer shopping. The boulevard led straight to the Piazza, so we couldn’t get lost, yay! We strolled down the street, popping into shops and admiring the city.


We decided to stop into a church, the San Carlo al Corso (we made sure to be dressed for it. Though no one was checking, there were signs) and were stunned to see an absolutely gorgeous interior!





The church was home to the relic of the heart of St. Charles, which is pictured. Also, it had an amazing organ (nerd alert!) and I would love to have heard it in action. It was my second favorite of the trip (after St. Peters). After that we were hooked into just popping in and seeing what there was to offer since you never really knew!

In order to maximize pictures, I am going to end this post here. I'll post the 2nd half a little later this evening!
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[mare1203]

When we got to the end of the street we hit the Piazza del Popolo, which was a nice place to sit and enjoy people watching for a while. Not incredibly busy, but bustling with activity nonetheless.


You could also climb the stairs for a panoramic view of the city and the Piazza below. In this picture you can see people doing just that.


We also took the time to visit the Basilica Parrocchiale Santa Maria del Popolo (phew, that's a mouthful, isn't it?). Here is Kathy in front of the church.

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This church was restored by Bernini in the 1600’s and features a number of works of art by Raphael and Caravaggio. I also believe it was featured in the movie Angels & Demons, making it a popular destination. We found it busy, but not overly so.


It was nearing noon and with our tickets for 13:00 we knew we should get some lunch. We had seen the Panini e Porchetta shop near the end of the road, so we decided to give it a try. They specialized in pork panini’s and would slice the pork off the larger roast as you waited. You could also get other types of panini’s or just take some meat to-go. There were 2 guys working and although they didn’t speak much English we were able to convey our wants and ended up with a nice panini.


We took our panini’s to the Piazza and ate for a bit before deciding to finish them as we walked towards the gallery. The pork was nice and juicy with a crispy outside. I believe the pork was cooked with herbs inside and that gave it a nice flavor.


Now, I knew going in that the Borghese Gallery was deep within the park, but everything to that point had been fairly close together. This walk, however, seemed to take an eternity! I would not recommend walking from the Popolo to the Borghese Gallery, though it is a beautiful park to stroll through and take some pictures. Just not when you aren’t entirely sure of where your final destination is located.


We followed the signs, made a few wrong turns, and finally came across the Borghese Gallery. You can pre-purchase your tickets on-line for a strict 2-hour time window in which to view the gallery. I think there were still tickets available when we went, but when I went online to buy them a few days prior there were some times that were already full, so I would recommend buying them early.

By this time we had been walking for a long time time and my sister especially was getting tired (and her feet hurt), so I do think it impacted our experience at the gallery. That’s not to say we didn’t enjoy it; quite the contrary, it’s just that we didn’t spend the whole 2 hours since there aren’t many places to sit down for a spell. Had we been “fresh”, we could have easily spent 2 hours admiring all the rooms.


Some of the paintings were incredible, especially the ones on the ceiling. The gallery is also home to a number of Bernini statues, most notably the Apollo and Daphne. Sorry there aren't more pictures. Honestly, this was one of those places where the pictures just wouldn't do it justice. One of our guidebooks recommended starting upstairs with the majority of paintings and then heading back down for the statues to avoid the majority of people who start at the bottom.

While I was there I saw a couple who were with a guide and I caught some of the information she was giving them. I’m not sure if it was a local guide or a special guide you can book, but either way, next time I’m definitely looking into it, because the bits I heard were fascinating. We all think it would have been really nice to have context and history behind the art, even with being tired. They do provide some information in the gallery and as we learned after, there is also an audio guide you can rent.

Either way, we thought it was a great use of our free day since it was the one thing that we continually saw recommended that Disney wasn’t actually going to do.

We left the gallery at around 2:45 and with the intention of going back to the hotel. The only problem was how to get back to the hotel. In hindsight we should have just taken a taxi, but we did not. On the edge of the Borghese Gardens is this wretched traffic circle (that's actually not fair to the traffic circle; it's very nice and I'm sure quite helpful if you know how to get out).


We reached this traffic circle with relative ease. However, it quickly became the bane of our existence, as we couldn’t for the life of us figure out how to get OUT of the traffic circle to a street that was safe for pedestrians. We went down one road and about a quarter mile down the sidewalk ended and it being a busy street, we turned back. Another road seemed to go in the opposite direction from what we wanted and we couldn’t figure out a thoroughfare through the park. I believe if we would have walked through the ruin wall and into the neighborhood and toward the hotel we would have run into it, but we couldn't tell on the map and didn't want to get further lost.


We spent a lot of time doing this, haha!

By this time we were tired, hot, and frustrated! Should have just taken a taxi. Or I should have eaten the data and pulled out my phone to use the Google Maps feature to get us back. At any rate, we made the decision to basically retrace our steps to the Piazza and go from there. Certainly not the most direct way back, but at least we knew it would get us there. It probably took us an hour to get from that wretched traffic circle (which we would see again) back to the hotel on foot. We were all in decent footwear, but Kathy was feeling pretty sore, even at the Borghese Gallery. By the time we made it back to the hotel I think she was feeling pretty miserable. We did stop for some gelato on the way back, though, so it wasn’t a complete loss. This gelato was pretty good, but not as good as the one we had the day before.

I don’t think it helped that basically all we wanted to do was get back to the hotel. When we stopped for gelato we were on the right track, close to following the river back to our bridge. We’ll look back and laugh about our misdirection from the night before, but I don’t think we’ll be looking back and laughing at this one. I can tell you, though, we were READY for Adventures by Disney to take over!

Finally, we made it back to the hotel. I don’t have a picture, but another “landmark” we used throughout our time in Rome to note our location was the Gran Melia parking garage. The Gran Melia is great when you’re heading across the river because you’re going downhill and fresh. Coming back...not so much. That hill was tiring after a day of walking! The parking garage was about ¾ of the way up and whenever we saw it the leader would call out “parking garage!” almost there! Kind of silly, but something we enjoyed. As soon as we got back Kathy took her shoes off and relaxed.

My dad and I, however, decided to go BACK down the hill (we’re gluttons for punishment, apparently) to see if we could find a small convenience store for some wine. The night before we had wandered into a cute little grocery/convenience store with a nice wine selection and I had wanted to find it again to get a bottle. Unfortunately, it wasn’t in the direction we were going earlier in the day and I certainly wasn’t going to try and find it again, so we just turned right at the bottom of the hill instead. There is a little store just a few doors down where we purchased a bottle of wine and some water.

It worked out well and would be good if you needed something small and definitely cheaper than you could get at the hotel. Returning to the hotel we had about 30 minutes to relax and then it was time to meet our fellow adventurers and start the welcome event! ​

 

[mare1203]

Hello Again! After our long afternoon of trapsing all over Rome it was finally time to start our Adventure. Without further ado,

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The welcome event for our adventure was to be held at the restaurant in the hotel. We were asked to meet in the “library” next to the lobby before going over. So, at 5:30 we headed down to the lobby. We were greeted by Troy and our other guide, Marco, who gave us name tags along with a card listing all the members of our group. There were 41 total adventurers. We took a seat in the middle of the room and waited for the others to arrive. As the families trickled in there were a few side conversations going on, but for the most part everyone seemed to keep to themselves. We struck up a conversation with a couple and a solo traveler and had a nice chat.

This is what everyone was waiting for!​

About fifteen minutes later Troy gathered everyone together and then guided us to the restaurant where the festivities began. We were told that for the welcome event only, they had pre-assigned our seats at the various tables. As we walked in there were small tables set up with bowls of chips and nuts as well as a bar in the front. Since an appetizer, entree, and dessert were coming I don’t think people really touched the food. Also, meeting in the library prior to going to the restaurant gave little reason to stand around the high-top tables and everyone headed toward the tables instead.

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We found our table, dropped our purses, and then headed to the bar to fill up our glasses. They had a variety of choices of beer and wine in addition to water and pop/soda, and it was included with the dinner. During this time we also took the opportunity to introduce ourselves to our table mates. We were seated with a family of 4 from Southern California who had just arrived. It was also their first time on an Adventures by Disney trip.

After giving everyone a chance to get a drink and introduce themselves to their table mates our guides began the evening.

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Troy was the emcee of the event and started by welcoming us tour our Italian adventure, but prefacing that it wasn’t the first adventure for everyone. He then acknowledged families who had been on other adventues by giving them pins and had them tell us where else they had been. There were 2 families on our trip that had actually met on a previous adventure in Costa Rica and then decided to do the Viva Italia together. Another group had been on the London/Paris Adventure. Another adventure group had been to Greece, China, and one more I don’t remember previously with ABD. Finally, there was one adventure couple that had been on 6 previous adventures! Troy said they had to special make a pin for them, so i don’t know if they have the official title of most adventures, but if not, then they are close! I can’t remember where all they had been but the ones I do remember are Italy/Switzerland, Ireland, Arizona, and Montana.

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Once the previous trip pins had been given out we were all given our welcome pins and asked to introduce our family and what they were most looking forward to/why they chose Disney. Our group was from all over the U.S. and even a family from Bermuda. At the end of the introductions were our guides: Troy and Marco V. (aka Marco the Fifth as we dubbed him).

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When he isn’t doing Italian adventures, Troy lives in Seattle, Washington. It is his first year with ABD and this was his 4th or 5th group.

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Marco V. is currently completing his 7th Year with ABD and when he isn’t adventuring he lives in Vietnam, but he’s from Milan. He was very fun, especially with the kids.

We thought both guides were wonderful throughout the trip and they worked well together. They have different personalities that complemented one another.

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For dinner we had a primi piato choice of risotto or gnocchi. My dad and I both had the risotto and thought it was very good. The rice was light and the portion was just right. Kathy chose the gnocchi and said it was okay, but not as good as the gnocchi from our lunch.

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The main dish was a choice between steak, fish, and pasta. We all chose the beef and thought it was good, but not overly memorable. I apologize that I don’t remember what dessert was, but it wasn’t great. I would have preferred to forgo dessert and get gelato after instead. The welcome dinner ended around 8 as people began to head up. Here are a few more pics from the welcome

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Many had arrived that day and were ready for some rest. Plus, we knew we had a busy day ahead.

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We decided to go back to the hotel room ourselves and had a night in with the bottle of wine we had purchased earlier in the day.
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[figment52]

This trip is under consideration for 2015 o I am most anxious for your report. Thanks for taking the time to recap your trip for us.

 

[twentyco]

[Now, I knew going in that the Borghese Gallery was deep within the park, but everything to that point had been fairly close together. This walk, however, seemed to take an eternity! I would not recommend walking from the Popolo to the Borghese Gallery, though it is a beautiful park to stroll through and take some pictures. Just not when you aren’t entirely sure of where your final destination is located. ]

Fantastic trip report -- thank you for doing it!

We did the trip immediately after yours, and did the Borghese Gallery on our arrival day (which one might think was a little nuts, but ...) For those who may be reading this who may want to do that, it's reasonable to get there via the subway as another option -- it does seem like it would be an incredibly long walk from the hotel without using a subway or cab. To get there by subway, you go to the Ottaviano subway stop, which is about a 15 or so minute walk from the hotel. From there, you take the subway to the Barberini metro stop. (Subway costs 1.50 Euros per person each way; just use the machines to buy tickets, one per person per trip (so for us, with two people, it was four tickets total). They accept cash for sure, and I think credit cards as well. It is easy to do). Exit the Barberini stop to "Via Veneto," which is a beautiful tree lined street. Right at the Metro entrance is the Capuchin Crypt, if you're so inclined (my daughter wanted to do it, so I did -- but I could have gone the rest of my life without seeing all of those bones). At the end of Via Veneto is the traffic circle that is in Mary's pictures; you go through that into the park, and then turn right and walk to the end of the park where the Borghese Gallery is located. It was a pretty walk, and not too bad from our perspective. On the way back we got gelato, which helped.

In terms of tours, we did not do a guided tour of the Borghese Gallery, because I thought it would be too much for our first day. However, Context Travel offers small group tours of various things in Rome, including the Borghese. We did one of their tours to Ostia Antica the day after we arrived (day the adventure started), and it was fantastic. I would really recommend them. Our tour guide was an American who has lived in Rome for about the past 25 years and was incredibly knowledgeable. There were only five people on the tour (their maximum is 6). Really learned a lot and enjoyed them; if I had it to do over, I might consider doing them for the Borghese as well. Frankly, I wasn't sure if we'd be able to get there the first day, and didn't want to eat the cost of the tour (as opposed to just the tickets) if we could not.

The only other "off schedule" thing we did was the Uffizi museum in Florence, also without a guide. We had a 4 p.m. reservation, which worked out perfectly. We finished with the ABD Palazzo Vecchio tour (the guides put us in the first group through) at about 3:45, and it's about a five minute walk over to the Uffizi. It was well worth it for us because my daughter is very in to art ... she was absolutely in awe at the Uffizi. More than once when we walked into a room, she would say "is that the real ...." (And I would immediately say, "I don't know, I have to check the plaque," since I am absolutely clueless about art). We spent all the time we wanted to there and were able to make it back to the meeting place, a very short walk away, to get the earlier of the two shuttles back, which I think was at 6:00 or 6:30. We then had dinner at the hotel in Tuscany. Made for a full day of sightseeing, and we missed out on shopping in Florence, but from our perspective it was worth it. And of course we could have stayed in Florence until the later shuttle back to the hotel and done some shopping, but we were just too tired.

Both the Uffizi and the Borghese Gallery have to be booked in advance, but you can book the tickets online. The Uffizi is harder than the Borghese to get tickets to; I booked it right after the 70 day cancellation window passed. I certainly could have booked it after that, though -- I think Rick Steves recommends that you book a few weeks in advance, for what that is worth.

Hope this helps someone! Thanks again to Mary for the awesome report!

 

[DDuck4Life]

Just found your trip report and am following along. Sounds amazing so far and can't wait to read and see more. We have our trip coming up in a couple of months so I'm loving everything in your trip so far.

 

[mare1203]

Just found your trip report and am following along. Sounds amazing so far and can't wait to read and see more. We have our trip coming up in a couple of months so I'm loving everything in your trip so far.

Glad you are enjoying it!

Fantastic trip report -- thank you for doing it!

We did the trip immediately after yours, and did the Borghese Gallery on our arrival day (which one might think was a little nuts, but ...) F
The only other "off schedule" thing we did was the Uffizi museum in Florence, also without a guide. We had a 4 p.m. reservation, which worked out perfectly. We finished with the ABD Palazzo Vecchio tour (the guides put us in the first group through) at about 3:45, and it's about a five minute walk over to the Uffizi.

Hope this helps someone! Thanks again to Mary for the awesome report!

Thanks for the wonderful information! We did not end up doing the Palazzo Vecchio (we were a bit 'arted out' at that point), though it's one small regret I have as the pictures looked awesome. Looks like the Palazzo Vecchio and Uffizi are great reasons for us to go back!

This trip is under consideration for 2015 o I am most anxious for your report. Thanks for taking the time to recap your trip for us.

Glad to have you reading along!

 

[mare1203]

Hello again adventurer's. I hope you're all well rested and ready for some history, because this Roman tour was non-stop and action packed! Today's first lesson? Rome is like a lasagna! Let's go, shall we?

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For our first full guided-day in Rome we got an early start. I had heard from prior reviews that this was going to be a long day and boy were they right! Make sure to dress comfortable for the day; we were glad we did. My dad and I got up early and went for a run down by the Tiber River. There is a nice path the runs along it and it wasn’t too hot, so we enjoyed the path. Troy is also a runner, so he recommended a couple paths to run in the morning. Afterwards we got down to breakfast so we would have time to eat before meeting the group in the lobby. When we got to the lobby we also noticed a new member of the group. She was impeccably dressed and a bundle of energy…must be our local guide!

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Cristina was our local guide and she has been working with Adventures by Disney groups for a number of years. She studied for 5 years to get hour tour license for Rome. Our entire group just loved her. She was no-nonsense with a bit of spunky and smart-alecky attitude that worked well with both the kids and the adults in the group. I think everyone was ready to put her in our pockets and take her with us for the rest of trip. Plus, I think us ladies would have also killed to go shopping with her!

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The guides gave us all radios and headphones to help us all hear Cristina even when we were moving. It made touring easy because it allowed for us to wander a bit and take in the sights without feeling like we needed to be right next to the guide the whole time.

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At this point we headed toward the bus and met our driver, Angelo. During the ride Cristina gave us information about the city and began our history lesson. This is when she told us that Rome is like a lasagna, with lots of layers.

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It is thought that Rome is on about it’s 7th layer, but archaeologists continue to find more and more relics and artifacts as they dig down.

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Remember this traffic circle? We certainly do! Well, we drove right by it on the way. The driver dropped us off about a 5-minute walk from the Spanish Steps.

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Cristina told us a little about the history of the Pope’s and how they influenced the city. Since Pope’s were unsure of how long their rule would be, they took the power while they had it to build the wealth of their families. If the Romans didn’t invent nepotism, they perfected it, and made sure to reward their family with titles, work, and power while they reigned (hmm, that doesn't sound familiar at all …)

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We arrived at the Spanish Steps and Cristina began to tell us about how/why the Spanish Steps got their name. Although ultimately built with funds from a French Diplomat the project was originally suggested by the French in the 17th century, but not approved for another 100 years.

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The stairs connect the Piazza di Spagna next to the Spanish Embassy shown here to the church and piazza above (which were also once owned by the French (sorry France, another loss, as Cristina would joke).

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We maaaay have had a little fun on the steps along the way down! I think we’re a pretty good looking group, don’t you?! The junior adventurers were asked to count the steps as they went down to see who got the right number (apparently this was also on the Amazing Race recently?).

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It was here where one of our Adventurer's got a special surprise. Turns out, it was Bella's birthday! Since this is Disney, she got a card and we all sang her Happy Birthday. Yeah, we aren't having any fun at all on this trip...

From the Spanish Steps we began our walk toward the Trevi Fountain. On the way Cristina said we were walking through the main Roman designer fashion district. She joked that Adventures by Disney deliberately comes through this area before all the stores are open because otherwise we might lose some lady adventurer's! Probably true!

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We arrived at the Trevi Fountain where our Adventures by Disney guides handed out coins for each of us to toss into the fountain. Although the fountain is currently dry and being covered in scaffolding you can still throw a coin in. Of course my Dad was the one who threw his coin and bam! hit the plastic wall, haha! Don’t worry, he made it over the second time. At this point the guides gave us a break of 20 minutes.

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They recommended a coffee and gelato spot next to the Trevi fountain that had a nice bathroom. Not the best gelato in the world, but the staff was nice and the bathroom was clean. I got an espresso, my sister a strawberry gelato, and my dad a gelato espresso drink. I tried it and thought it was rich, but very good.

Okay all, apparently we only made it through half the morning! I am going to end it here for today, but don't worry, there is still much to come!

 

[mare1203]

Okay Family! It’s time to continue our Roman walk. From the Trevi Fountain we headed toward the Pantheon. Along the way we hit 3 spots.

The first was a shop featuring Pinocchio, where we took some fun pictures.​

The second was one of the famous Roman water fountains. The water in Rome is pulled in from the aquifers and is absolutely safe to drink. If only the water at the Magic Kingdom could taste this good. It was a warm, but not overly hot, day in Rome so the stop was welcome to fill up our bottles.

Cristina and Marco demonstrating how to properly use the water fountain!



Then it was our turn!

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We also made a stop at a church. This is the Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola and it is dedicated to Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits.

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There were some lovely frescoes on the ceiling. The main draw is the fact that it is all a play on the eyes. Although it looks to be domed and vaulted this is all effect and the ceiling is actually completely flat.

Our next stop was the Pantheon. I’ll be honest, I was not paying as close attention as I should have been at this point. It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed people watching along with listening to Cristina.

I remember something about Hadrian (we heard a lot about him) and that it is one of the best-preserved of the Ancient Roman buildings.





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We went into the Pantheon and admired the open dome and got a chance to roam around a bit. The last picture here is of the draining feature of the Pantheon, which catches the rain. Even though the dome is large and open, the rain does not flow any further than is roped off. Pretty amazing.

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We saw the remains of Raphael, who was considered beautiful, a bit of a playboy, and enthusiastic about life/Rome in addition to being a genius, unlike Michaelangelo who was a recluse and not so pretty (as I type it’s all coming back to me!). Cristina was a big fan of Raphael and I must say, I was as well. We’ll see more from him later.

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We also saw the remains of Queen Margherita of Italy, for whom it is rumored the Margherita pizza was named due to her preference for a pizza topped with the colors of the Italian flag: basil, mozzarella, and San Marzano tomatoes (most likely not true, but a fun story nonetheless).

After the Pantheon we headed toward the Piazza Navona, one of the busiest squares in Rome. It was built on top of an old stadium and built to follow the form of the stadium. There are a few well-known pieces of art and architecture in or on the piazza.

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First is a family palace (a quick Google search reminds me it is the Palazzo Pamphili) of Pope Innocent X (who I am sure was quite innocent throughout his reign...right).

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Second is the Fountain of Four Rivers done by Bernini. It was a beautiful statue. Cristina gave us quite a bit of information about Bernini and especially a few facts about his feud with Borromini, which, in true competition, drove the two to create amazing works throughout their life.

At last, we headed toward the Campo di Fiori for lunch! I think we were all craving some down time about then. When we arrived the market was bustling with activity.

Our group ate a restaurant called Obika, mozzarella bar.​

We sat down to large platters of antipasti. The caprese salad was phenomenal and my favorite part of the meal. The mozzarella was fresh with a wonderfully mild flavor and the tomato was big and fresh. We also received a grilled veggie and charcuterie plate to share.

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There were then 4 different types of pizza delivered: veggie, quattro formaggio, margherita, and prosciutto. For some reason our table didn’t receive the margherita pizza, but the other 3 we pretty good. We did not think it was in any way superior to the pizza we had at Pizzeria Bafetto. This pizza was a bit thicker, but still quite tasty. We did notice that most of the kids didn’t seem to each much. Water, soda, and coffee were included with beer and wine available for purchase, which many took advantage of. One thing I liked about all our lunches with ABD is that it did not feel rushed.

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They gave us plenty of time to eat, relax, and converse with one another. It was nice to take a break and we made sure to take advantage as our afternoon was going to be just as busy! There was time to stop by the market before we left, but our family chose not to do so.

Once we finished lunch Cristina led us from the Campo de Fiori to the bus.

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On the way Cristina stopped to point out the French Embassy (she took any chance to take a swipe at the French which I enjoyed fully for amusements sake). During her explanation she told us that, due to a contract loop, the French only pay 1 Euro per year to use the building. We also walked down the Via Giulia, which is the most expensive street in Rome. Thankfully, the bus was right around the corner.

North, South, East, West, All Roads Lead to Rome (don’t you miss that iconic line from Spaceship Earth sadly cut during the latest overlay???). Stay tuned as we head back in time to the age of the ancient Romans!

 

[disneyphx]

Loving reading this.....and would enjoy hearing about the people watching too!

Michele

 

[RSM]

Great report Mare1203. Brings back alot of fun memories of Rome for us.

 

[mare1203]

Welcome back, Family! It’s now time to learn about how the ancient Roman’s lived. I want to preclude this by saying I love history, so take that as a warning for what’s to follow (you already know I’m wordy). I was looking forward to the Coliseum and Roman Forum for the afternoon. It was about a 30-minute bus ride to the Coliseum during which time we took a bit of a drive around the ancient city and learned about the history. This is what I took away from the discussion: After Rome fell they pillaged the marble...recycling!

Okay, so that’s definitely not all I took from the discussion, but I did find it fascinating that much of the marble/travertine/etc. used in churches and other monument’s around the city was built using marble that once covered the structures of the ancient world. I can only imagine it was incredible to see the Baths of Caracalla or the Coliseum covered in bright marble.

Anyway, before I get to that we went by a few other notable sights. First up, the Largo di Torre Argentina.

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This is sight of Roman ruins which houses 4 temples and an ancient opera house. The opera house, Pompey’s Theatre, is where Julius Caesar was killed. Although Shakespeare’s play has Julius Caesar assassinated in the Capitol, it has been determined that he was actually assassinated in the square of Pompey’s Theater. Cristina told us a few different theories about Caesar, but the only one I remember is that Caesar may have known he was sick and had the assassination arranged rather than die from his sickness. The Largo di Torre Argentina is also notable today because it is a cat sanctuary for homeless cats. Rome has many homeless cats found throughout the city.

We continued our driving tour towards the Coliseum at the Piazza Venezia, located in the heart of Rome. Although you could visit here on your own, it is very busy with vehicle and bus traffic. We only stopped briefly for pictures while still on the bus.

The National Monument to Victor Emmanuel II was built in honor of King Victor Emmanuel.​

Apparently, this horse is large enough to hold 40 men for dinner. They know because some of the builders ate in the horse after it was built.


This is also where the tomb of the unknown soldier is located in Rome. You can see shades of the flame in this picture.​

While we made our way, Cristina gave us a history lesson in ancient Rome. Ancient Rome’s city center was made up of 7 hills. I believe this is Esquiline hill and the location of Emperor Nero's golden home. The 7 hills were joined together by the Servian walls and this is where the vast majority of people, rich and poor, lived in ancient Rome.​

One of the main meeting points was the Baths of Caracalla. Like most public works during that time, the baths were built for political propaganda. The idea being that if people enjoy themselves and feel happy, then they will attribute this happiness to the place of pleasure and thus, the government. The baths were used until the hydraulics were destroyed and the aquifers no longer fed water into them, forcing people to move. When Rome fell, this is how most people were eventually run off. The baths were home to a number of gyms, pools, and areas to converse.​

Also notable is that the Baths of Caracalla are currently home to the Rome Opera company during the summer months. They were getting ready to start the summer season when we drove around.

Although once covered in marble and adorned with statues, the Baths were pillaged of their outward layer after Rome fell...recycling! Most of this marble can now be found in the various churches of Rome and the Vatican. You can see from the pictures there are holes in the facade where the marble was once secured. This will be more noticeable at the Coliseum.

We also drove around, but did not go in, Circus Maximus. Sorry, I don't have any pics of this. The Circus Maximus’ was the chariot racing stadium in ancient Rome. It held a number of large events and served as a main entertainment venue for the public. When we saw it, it was serving much the same purpose. That weekend, the Circus Maximus was to host the Rolling Stones and it was closed to allow time for the production team to set the stage and get ready for the concert.

After driving around some of ancient Rome we came upon our next destination: the Coliseum! Since there were 41 in our tour group, it was decided we were to split up with half visiting for the Forum first and half visiting the Coliseum. Our group stayed with Cristina and Troy and went to the Coliseum first. But, not before taking a few pictures!

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The Coliseum is where we first felt the full effects of the Disney advantage. It was hot and, unsurprisingly, the Coliseum was jam packed with people. Of course, Disney had pre-booked our tour time and we slipped right by the giant line into the pre-paid ticket and tour line, no waiting. Our own personal Coliseum Fastpass, whoo hoo!

When we got to the end of the line we came upon a padlocked gate...but never fear, Disney had taken care of that and the padlock was opened just for us. Goodbye, regular people! Here we were introduced to our Coliseum tour guide, Francesca, who gave us the history of the Coliseum.​

We happily sat on some stone steps to listen.​

The Coliseum is the largest amphitheater in the world and considered one of the iconic works of Roman architecture. It was completed in 80 A.D., taking 10 years to complete. The structure was originally known as the Flavian Amphitheater in honor of the 3 Flavian Emperors who oversaw the building, opening, and completion of the structure, most notably Emperor Titus. The Coliseum could fill in 20 minutes and used an entry system imitated by the vast majority of stadiums today (the efficient and safe ones, anyway). Rome was all about efficiency and had it down to a science. As Cristina says, Rome may not have invented much, but they perfected a lot (why reinvent the wheel, right?) Even the steps were engineered to be extra steep so the masses of people had to slow down while going up or down the steps. I found this ingenious. Games were held in the Coliseum for anywhere between 80 and 120 games per year, decided upon by the reigning emperor. Like the baths and the Circus Maximus, it was all used as political propaganda and was originally covered in Travertine. All that remains is the interior walls, but Francesca did have pictures of what it is thought to have looked like in the first century.

To be continued, adventurers...

 

[mare1203]

Okay, adventurers, lets continue our tour of the Coliseum!

Our first stop in the actual Coliseum was the underground tunnels. Also, there is no mortar between those stones; they just stay like that due to the pressure.


They led the gladiators and animals to beneath the stage (imagine Kathy, only with less light).

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Having gladiators come in under ground allowed for the dramatic entrances to enthusiastic audiences. Spectators did not know where the gladiators would emerge from as the stage was covered in a variety of overlays and had a number of entrances the general audiences could not see.

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Also used was a system of elevators and pulleys to add in props or other elements for the show. There is good evidence that early games had a hydraulic system enabling the stadium to be flooded, but historians cannot be sure. The Gladiators trained at gladiator schools and audiences would clamor to see their favorites compete. Gladiators were enslaved and had to win a certain number of battles to earn their freedom. Unfortunately, this was generally impossible since the best gladiators were kept out of competition or the games fixed to have him lose.

Here is us having some fun underground! I was lucky and Kathy saved me from being executed. I'm not sure I would have done the same, LOL (juuuust kidding!)​

The stage is being built, so we did not go on it, but were able to explore all around it. I thought it was really incredible to get to experience this rather than just walk around inside. From our vantage point below, we also had a view of the cross placed in the Coliseum.

This cross is significant because it marked a blessing by the Church and stopped all pillaging of the edifice. It is believed that had the structure not been blessed the Coliseum may not be here today as it had been used as a quarry. Other destruction is due to earthquakes.

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From the area below we made our way to the 3rd tier of seating for a birds’ eye view of the stadium. Most tourists are on the 2nd level. We were told about how guests were seated, the Coliseum filled, and Francesca noted that there used to be an awning above to shade some sun.

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We also got to take some pictures. I thought Francesca was an amazing guide and she did a great job. She is originally from Chile, but moved to Rome to complete a Masters degree in Museum Studies. Although she also volunteers and works at a nearby excavation site and museum, she “makes a living” by doing tours of the Coliseum. Cristina joked that, like so many ladies, a Roman man kept her here (Francesca did not disagree!). If she trained for her tour license, I think she’d make a great Disney guide.

Remember how I told you about the homeless cats of Rome? Well, here’s one who has made his home in the Coliseum. His name is Nero ​

One thing to note is that we did not have time to stop and look in the gift shop or tour much on our own. If this is something you would like to do, just be aware that you may or may not get the opportunity. I am sure there is an online gift shop and there are countless other shops to get your souvenir of the Coliseum. I found this true for nearly our entire trip. If you want to do souvenir shopping it will either be during your breaks or plan for it ahead of time. Next, it was off to the Forum!

 

[Sarabi's Cubs]

I'm just loving your trip report! So much detail and great pictures! It's getting me even more excited for our adventure in September.

Laurie

 

[DDuck4Life]

Loving all the pictures and info! can't wait to see more. I can just feel all that history there through your pictures.

 

[tufbuf]

It's great ABD go down the Coliseum tunnels now. Viva Italia was our very first ABD, 6 years ago! Great trip report and it's so sweet of you to give your dad a very special gift.