In the morning, we wrestled the crowds for a glimpse at Trevi Fountain only to find it empty and covered with scaffolding in the middle of a facelift. But the shops around it were more than open for business and at the kid's insistence, we turned them loose in the streets of Rome to shop, while Kel and I found a little alleyway cafe to enjoy a glass of wine and the aforementioned pizza. In the evening, we headed off through the winding streets toward the bohemian neighborhood of Trastevere to meet Hannah, our neighbor from Boulder who is studying in Rome this semester. A few more pizzas later, we were watching fire-breathing women and shadow puppet theater in the square and immensely enjoying time in the civilized climes of the urban landscape.
Rome is an amazing, overwhelming place. The sheer scale of the Forum is mind-blowing, stories tall and city blocks long and all under one grand (and now collapsed) roof. To walk through the grandeur of the Colosseum and picture the history and tragedy that happened there is sobering. And to stand on the curb and imagine safely making it across the intersection in one piece amid the screaming cabs and death-mopeds is like taking part in a game of Frogger. Here, it seems, traffic signs and lane lines are mere suggestions for the sheepish. Rotaries contain snarls of cars, busses, scooters and pedestrians, all vying for an edge by seeing who will blink first. And I admit, begrudgingly, that leaving the car in Chiusi was a wise idea.
We're checking lots of adventures off the list, and watching as the unchecked days on the calendar shrink toward our return home. I think the girls are a little tired of looking at collapsed piles of marble rubble and weathered statues. But we do our best to intermingle the cultural moments with spontaneous moments of fresh fig gelato. Next weekend we head to London and the thing that has the girls the most excited is the fact the Chipotle has opened a location near our hotel. The capital of the British empire and all the kids can think about is a naked chicken burrito. But I guess that's part of the benefit of this adventure. When you miss the things you take for granted–the simplicity of getting together with family and friends, or stopping at Target for shampoo at the hour of your choosing–it makes those things more apparent and you appreciate them that much more.(Note to family and friends: we will always value you more than shampoo).