First day in Roma

Our hotel in Rome was right on the coast.  In fact, it had a view of the ocean from our room windows.  It was pretty awesome.  However, While it was right on the beach and incredibly close to a metro stop, we did not feel it was in the best neighborhood.  If we had gone up the street half a mile, the neighborhood looked so much safer.  It was kept up better, cleaner and less graffiti, then the area we stayed.  That being said, our hotel staff were amazing.  They went out of their way to helps us navigate around Rome, giving us tips, maps, snacks for the kids.  They were wonderful.  

 Our first day in Rome, we arrived just after lunchtime.  So the first order of business was finding lunch.  While exploring the beachfront resturaunts, we came across this wonderful pier.  My family loves to walk along piers, so we walked out.

 With the Sun out that day, and rain with cooler temps in the forcast, we decided to make this our beach day.  Staying in a hotel, with the ocean as a view, it was just too much temptation to pass up.  We HAD to go to the beach.  I don't know why we didn't take more pictures.  There were all these cool lava rock formations in the ocean, not many shells to be found, but a lot of smooth rocks.  The coolest part, was that it was a black sand beach.  The first we have seen, and pretty cool!

 After cleaning up from our jaunt in the ocean, we took the train into Rome.  We got some dinner, and then we went on Rick Steve's Rome night walk.  I think this was our favorite day in Rome.  There was no rain, it was pretty decent temp., and there is just something magical about seeing all these awesome sights lit up at night.

Here we are sitting on the Spanish Steps.

 In front of the Trevvi Fountain.

We all made wishes, maybe we will find ourselves in Rome again someday?

 Matt and I being goofballs in front of the fountain

 The Pantheon

 Victor Emmanuel Monutment

 The highlight of Rome for Anya...

The Colosseum

or 

Flavian amphitheater

After this we hopped on the metro at the stop right across the street and headed back to our hotel for the night, to rest up for our next day in Rome!