My 'Roman Holiday'

I'm no Audrey Hepburn, but today I felt the same happiness exploring Rome as the actress did in her movie, Roman Holiday. I watched the movie last week as I like a little fiction to jazz up a real place! It was a sunny, happy day, and everything felt like a new adventure even though we've been here for days: the kids were well rested and well fed, the transit worked in timely manner, the sun was warm, the there was money in our pockets, and it was fun to explore with friends.
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We intended to explore a local Sunday market this morning, but weren't exactly sure where we'd find it. At 6am however, Barry could hear a lot of commotion and wondered if the American students in the apartment next door were wrapping up their Halloween party, but he looked out the window and realized hundreds of vendors were setting up their booths starting right under our window. After breakfast we toured it for an hour, but the only thing I bought was a tea towel to replace the one I ruined this morning by melting it to the Italian coffee maker handle. Thank goodness the coffee wasn't ruined.

Our next stop was at the Colosseum - Classic Rome! 
The kids were intrigued by the gory stories of mass slaughter of animals and humans. I find the architecture fascinating, but the reason for the building's existence is repulsive to me. How could people have been entertained by such wasteful violence? I tried not to think about that as we listened to our informative audio tour.

​We spent the afternoon strolling through downtown Rome, eating, visiting churches and fountains and enjoying each other's company. 
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Another fun day, and unlike Audrey Hepburn, I got to take the nice guy home.