Go ahead, take the kids to Rome

By John Frenaye

Travel columnist

updated 7:54 p.m. ET Nov. 10, 2006

John Frenaye Travel columnist • Profile • E-mail

I have a family tradition with my kids. In third grade (theirs, not mine), we go one-on-one to some place cool for a bonding vacation. The kid gets to choose the destination, with some guidance from me. My son chose China and my older daughter chose Barcelona. Elizabeth, my youngest and the next up, was torn between Serbia and Rome. That’s when the fatherly guidance came into play. After a brief discussion, we were making plans for a trip to the Eternal City, beginning with a trip to Borders Books & Music to get some guidebooks.

Uh-oh. All the guidebooks told the same story: Rome is not the place for kids. Well, I was never one to follow instructions too well (just ask any of my schoolteachers), so off we went to prove the naysayers wrong.

As soon as we landed in Rome, I knew my worries were for naught. We were in the very center of the ancient world, the mother church of Catholicism, the birthplace of pizza and gelato! Now, from my four years in college (OK, it was actually five years), I knew for a fact that man can indeed live on pizza and ice cream alone. So I set a challenge for my 9-year-old daughter: Find the best pizza and gelato in Rome. Of course, she would not realize that in the course of that quest, she’d get a lot of culture and history, too. Shhh, it’s still my secret!

Our hotel, the Hotel Arcangelo, is a small hotel within easy walking distance of the Vatican. The rates were right, the room was fabulous, the daily breakfast was more than adequate and the service was sublime. The hotel sent a car to pick us up at the airport and also handled our return. The hidden gem of the hotel is the rooftop “piano” (OK, I admit it, I did look around for a piano on the roof, but I never found one. Apparently “piano” is the Italian word for “top floor terrace” on an elevator button. Who would have thunk it?) Via Boezio 15 – 00192, Rome.

Elizabeth and I soon ventured out with an agreement not to spend a lot of time in “boring” museums and long lines, and rededicating ourselves to our mission (Pizza! Gelato!). Here are some highlights of the trip:

• The Vatican and the Sistine Chapel
  We thought we had gotten a jump on the line to see the Vatican Museum, which included a trip inside the Sistine Chapel, but our jump was not enough and the wait to the door was more than two hours. So off we went to explore on our own and wound up at the Basilica di San Pietro (St. Peter’s), the spiritual center of the Catholic Church and a major destination for Catholic pilgrims. We weren’t pilgrims, but we were plenty awed by the art and architecture. We were especially drawn to the dome, which was designed by Michelangelo with an outer shell to protect the gold-encrusted interior dome. Between the shell and the dome is a spiraling (often dizzying) walkway that we climbed all the way to the cupola, which overlooks Rome and Vatican City. It was a tight and slanting climb, eerily reminiscent of a carnival fun house, but it was definitely worth the effort. The basilica itself is spectacular, and not only for another Michelangelo masterpiece, “Pieta,” which lies behind bulletproof glass. The tomb of Clement XIII by Canova was also very interesting, with just enough creepiness to make it especially kid-worthy.

• Chiesa di Santa Maria in Cosmedin
  This basilica is famous for its Bocca della Verita (Mouth of Truth), a former Roman sewer cover now embedded in the portico wall of the church. Tradition says the “mouth” will bite off a liar’s hand. (My daughter survived the test, and I have adapted to typing with one hand.) The church itself is often overlooked by the throngs of people lined up for their turn at the Mouth of Truth, but its Early Medieval architecture, frescoes, mosaic floors and Masonic imagery are also well worth a look.

• Circo Massimo, or the Circus Maximus, was built around 600 B.C. Billed as one of the largest venues built purely for entertainment, it is said to have seated 385,000 people. The long, oval field was the scene of chariot races and contests between gladiators and wild beasts. Today, only a small section of ruins survives, on the south end. It is a large, lovely park frequented by joggers, lovers and my daughter and me with a picnic lunch.

• The Flavian Amphitheater
  Huh? Or, for you non-Romans, the Coliseum. This was the site of ancient gladiator battles and is one of the prime symbols of Rome. Throughout the years, various popes quarried its marble, so this once-majestic building is more run down than it should be. Still, its size and history are breathtaking. Admission was a bargain, but the lines were long. The experience is worth the wait, however, so long as you avoid the hokey faux gladiators that surround the site (believe me, they are only interested in modern currency!).

• The Forum
  This was once the political and religious center of the Western world. Today, the Forum consists of fragmented columns and ancient pockmarked streets. However, even in this condition, it is a testament to the ingenuity of Roman civilization. The must-sees in the Forum are the Sacred Way, the Via Trionfale (where generals paraded with their soldiers and prisoners) and the ancient Senate House. Scattered around are smaller basilicas, temples, monuments and arches. It was here that we made friends with many of the stray cats that seem to have taken up residence in a house dating from the first century B.C.

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