The weekend is so great. It is strange to think, even though we are finishing our third week in Italy, this is the first, and most likely the only, full weekend we will spend in Rome.
We began the day and had a goal of going to see the Roman Forum, which we didn’t have time to see when we last went to the Palatine Hill and the Colosseum. However, since Rome seems to be getting busier by the day, it’s getting tougher to book something the day of, so the earliest available times were in the afternoon. No big deal, we decided to just flip the day and get ready to head out to the playground in the morning.
After grabbing a quick breakfast, we settled in at the playground. Beren found his favorite motorcycle toy and Silas found an unbalanced toy baby stroller, which kept making him fall. Allison and I settled in on a bench and relaxed. It was a beautiful day with a bright blue sky. It was a little warmer and breezier than the previous day, which made it a wonderful day to sit at the park.
As the boys were playing, we noticed another nearby dad speaking English to his kids. He noticed us too. Before long, he leaned over and asked us where we were from. We told him we were from the U.S. and struck up a conversation. He said his name was Gianluca, and he and his partner were both from Rome and had grown up here. I mentioned he spoke very good English and he laughed and said he worked for a company based out of Boston.
Allison and I enjoyed the conversation immensely. It was mentally and emotionally stimulating to talk to another adult person face to face outside of the two of us. We met Gianluca’s children and before they left the park, he graciously asked us over to their house for dinner before we leave. We exchanged numbers and are currently trying to coordinate a day. In coming to Italy, this was something we thought would be a moonshot, but were hopeful we would make a connection. We’re excited to hopefully get to join Gianluca and his family for dinner!
After the park, we excitedly came back to the apartment for lunch and nap. While the boys were napping, we talked about going to Venice again. As part of our conversation earlier at the park with Gianluca, we had asked him if there was anything we should do before we leave. We mentioned being on the fence about Venice and asked his opinion. He spoke kindly, but his sentiment seemed mixed. Instead he suggested that we think about Capri on the grounds that it’s closer, exceedingly beautiful, and more relaxed. So we did some quick research and decided to alter our plans.
The boys were tired and we ended up waking them up from their naps. I went in to Beren and said, “Hey buddy, it’s time for us to wake up to go.”
He stretched and said, “To the Palatine Hill?”
And I replied, “Uh, actually yeah.” I never expected my four year old to remember that.
It was 3:00 PM on a Sunday and we couldn’t find a place open to get bus tickets, so we risked it for the biscuit and just hopped on a bus hoping we wouldn’t get caught. We made it and began walking along the opposite side of the hill than we did last time. Soon you start to be surrounded by ruins of ancient Roman apartment blocks and shopping areas, then we rounded a corner and the ancient Forum, then center of Roman life, law, and politics came into view, illuminated by the afternoon sun. We wound our way through the large cobblestoned roads through the ruins. Allison’s magical elastic ankles seemed like they were bending at all angles on the uneven path, but somehow they made it without ever giving way.
I did not appreciate from the pictures I’d seen of the Forum prior to this, the scale and breadth of the complex. A lot of it is just scattered ruins with only a few columns of temples and arches dotted about, but the columns that are still standing are huge and imposing. To imagine this area at the height of its splendor and power is with all of the buildings and temples would have been overwhelming.
We wandered in and out of all of the roads and ruins and quickly the boys got tired, so we had to stop and grab some snacks out of a vending machine before continuing. Even then, Silas refused to go on and would exclaim, “No more walking!” The last half of exploring the Forum consisted of us carrying the boys either in arms or on our shoulders trying not to trip on the rocks.
There were a lot of people around and lot of seagulls too. There were more than a few times, as the seagulls swirled overhead, I thought it felt a bit too much like a Hitchcock movie out here. To paint the picture, these seagulls are not the small, skittish seagulls I’m used to. These seagulls are giant brutes with three or four feet wingspans.
We watched the seagulls for a bit and then Beren pointed and said, “Look! That seagull is giving the other one a piggy back ride.” We looked to a couple seagulls in the distance. Indeed giving the other a “piggy back ride”. We then decided to move over to a different rock out of view to sit down and let the boys play in the dirt.
They were enjoying themselves playing, when all of a sudden a barbarian seagull swooped down from behind smacking me in the back of the head with its wing on its decent. It landed a few feed away from the boys playing on the ground. I think it thought they had food. It opened its wings and its mouth and started making a menacing squawking sound sound as it started inching toward them. The boys looked up at it, not sure what was happening. With me still bewildered by being unwittingly struck in the head by the winged beast, Allison stood up to protect our children and confronted the seagull until it flew away.
We decided it was time to leave and get gelato. We found a place close by before walking back to the bus stop and coming back to the apartment before dinner.
With each of us working during the week, we haven’t had many chances to go out for dinner and do a full meal, so we wanted to take advantage of that tonight. We walked to a traditional Italian restaurant near our apartment called Da Bucatino. We sat outside under some umbrellas and it rained pleasantly while we ate. The boys made little “museums” out of their bread crusts and we enjoyed our huge bowls of pasta and tiramisu.
People eat late in Italy, so the kids are already a ticking time bomb, but this is compounded by the fact that, once you order and get your food, the waitstaff don’t check on you again. The reasoning is so you can enjoy for as long as you’d like without being interrupted or pushed out. It’s nice in theory, however, so far in reality this seems more of a function of only one person serving a dozen tables rather than being thoughtfully courteous. Once you order and get your food, we have found out, don’t expect to get anything else, because it is challenging to get anyone’s attention after that. Getting someone to come to your table feels like hailing a cab. They may be waiting a table right next to you and won’t even glance in your direction just to check and acknowledge you.
Finally, my hailing technique was successful and we were able to head out from our two hour dinner. Thankfully, all things considered, the food was pretty delicious, the wine was good, and the boys were well behaved.
Allison and I finished the night together hanging out on the couch, watching TV, and reminiscing about the day.