Today was a really fun day of exploring. We took the Rome Hop on Hop off tour to see the sites and hear more about the city. There was also a marathon going on! We toured the Coliseum- it was crazy and confusing, but very cool once we got inside!

We then visited with my high school teacher, Sr. Marie who lives in Rome. It was so nice to see her!

Dinner was next (pizza of course) and some dessert (had to). We wandered around a bit and found the Trevi Fountain.

It’s New Year’s Eve so there’s been lots of fireworks and people celebrating! Happy New Year from Rome!

Today was a travel day. We left our amazing place in Florence and headed out to take a train to Rome. But first the boys had gelato (finally!). We arrived in Rome and found our new home for the next few days. It’s beautiful!!

After settling in – and getting pizza for lunch – Chris, Paul and Heather headed out to find a local laundromat. When they returned we went to the local supermarket to pick up food for the next few days and dinner. We decided on a quiet dinner in after all our traveling. We had pasta of course.

Looking forward to seeing the sites in Rome tomorrow!

We were up bright and early today!! We went to see the David at the Galleria Accademia. We had heard lines could be long but luckily we got there early and didn’t have to wait much. In addition to the David we looked around for a bit and saw lots of amazing artwork. There was also an exhibit about instruments that Aidan really enjoyed.

We had wanted to visited the top of the Duomo but that line was super long! So we walked around outside and took some pictures of the building. It’s huge and pretty spectacular. Then we headed to the Leather Market and saw all the vendors. While looking for a hat for my dad we met the owner who makes his own scally-type hats. Turns out his wife went to Boston College so he knew a bit about Boston!

We went to the Central Market for lunch (pizza and gnocci) before heading to the Boboli Gardens. What an amazing place! There were lots of stairs but it was very cool. There were statues and lots of unbelievable views. The kids really liked having the space to explore. And the weather today made it a perfect day to go there.

We enjoyed more pizza from the place next door while we started to pack up and get ready for tomorrow’s trip to Rome. We will be sad to leave Florence- it’s beautiful here. And especially sad to leave our very cool apartment!