![\"SONY](\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/DSC05275-3.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nCivitavecchia has been the main port of Rome for centuries and the ruins of the original fort are still standing.\u00a0 The drive from the port is a long one, but the scenery was beautiful.<\/p>\n
Our guide picked us up after lunch and we saw more of the city by car (passing the Pantheon, Piazza Navona and St. Peter\u2019s Basilica) on the way to the Vatican.\u00a0 We were dropped at the Vatican and left to do a self-guided tour which we really enjoyed.\u00a0 We did almost every exhibit in the place including the Popemobile exhibition, vast art collection and of course the Sistene Chapel (which I found a bit disappointing.\u00a0 It was dim, crowded and noise is not allowed, nor are pictures).\u00a0 The visit was looooong and a lot of walking (with no buggy) but well worth it though we were all pooped by the end of the visit and ready to go relax in our hotel!<\/p>\n The next day we were on our own and started our day at the Castel Sant\u2019Angelo which was just down the street from our hotel.\u00a0 The former Fort and residence of Popes from long ago was not on our original itinerary but I am so glad we went.\u00a0 We spent hours wandering around, swirling our way to the top and exploring all the nooks and crannies then took a few minutes to take in the view over the city before working our way back down.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The rest of the day was spent wandering ALL OVER Rome.\u00a0 We walked along the river, visited the Spanish Steps, had some gelato, did some shopping (I had to leave Rome with some awesome new clothes!), ended up back by the Victor Emmanuel Monument before stopping for some diner and heading home (with a full-on gladiator kit).<\/p>\n Since it had been a long trip and we were headed home in the evening, we decided to take it easy the last day.\u00a0 We started by wandering through Piazza Navona (and buying our last European painting) and heading to the Pantheon which was spectacular, the history in those walls is amazing and you can feel every second that building has lived (which has been used continuously since it was built almost 2,000 years ago!)<\/p>\n We stopped by the Trevi fountain (which was waaaaay too crowded with tourists who wanted to take my children\u2019s picture) before we headed to the Il Genio di\u00a0Leonardo da Vinci<\/em>\u00a0Museo which is a small museum which houses a collection of working apparatuses built based on the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci.\u00a0 Honeybun had so much fun wandering around, trying all the machines and exploring.<\/p>\n<\/a>\u00a0Upon arriving in the city, we did a short driving tour of some of the outlying sights like the Circus Maximus and Palentine Hill.\u00a0 We then made our first stop at the Roman Colosseum.\u00a0 Probably one of the most famous sights in the world, this is truly where history was made!\u00a0 I love visiting old ruins, imaging life during it\u2019s time and experiencing the vast history a place has witnessed and the Colosseum definitely did not disappoint.\u00a0 While partly in ruin, the structure is largely intact and I love and appreciate the respect European cultures have for their history.<\/p>\n<\/a>Our tour guide had pre-arranged our tickets for us at the Colossuem so dropped us out front and we were able to walk to the front of the line to collect our tickets.\u00a0 We were then free to wander the Colosseum and surrounding area at our own leisure so after finishing the Colosseum we walked past the Roman Forum and the Victor Emmanuel Monument on our hunt for lunch.<\/p>\n<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n