new years in roma

we spent the last day of one year and the first day of the next year in a city that has been glorious for many years.

lingering jet lag meant that gabriel and i had been up together many times throughout the nights we spent in rome. to help me get more sleep, ian cuddled up with the baby in the wee hours and then took the boys out on some adventures in the morning hours. i was a little jealous that he got to see roma in the pretty dusk before allllll the other tourists came out. but i was much more glad to get in a bit more zzzzzs!
 
we spent the later morning of new years eve in the colosseum! ian was pretty pumped about this (he loves experiencing famous significant landmarks).

mo thought it was all pretty cool, too.
 
here's a view from inside the colosseum to the arch of constantine.


 
i loved how we could see some of rome's colourful building facades peeking through the colosseum's arches.

we spent some time trading off with the boys at the roman forum (which isn't super stroller-friendly...). this was one of my favourite things we saw in rome. the views from the top of palantine hill were amazing!

and the views of the colosseum from the edge of the forum was perfect to snap some family pictures.

 
 
i spy st. peter's!

we went to a fun restaurant where we could watch fresh pasta being made through the window while we waited for a table. and once we were in, gabriel loved sitting on the table while we waited for our order to come out!
 
at the end of the day we strolled through rome's christmassy streets and then along the river. a perfect little goodbye kiss to 2018!


 

we had booked an airbnb that was on the top floor of a building in hopes to see some of the many fireworks shows that go off around rome when the clock strikes midnight on 31 december. after the boys were asleep, i furiously read the book of mormon to try to complete my goal of finishing it by the end of the year. i finished at 11:50pm! and then ian and i got out some bubbly drinks, turned off all the lights, and looked out the windows in the kitchen and living room, waiting for fireworks. it was so fun to excitedly rush between the rooms taking in different colourful shows in the sky. some of the firework displays were pretty close to us! and others were evidenced only by the flashing reflections in the windows of buildings around ours. we briefly opened a window and took in the booming sounds filling the thrilled air. it was a memorable new years eve for sure!

the next morning ian took the boys out again (first thing in the morning, in their pajamas!) so i could sleep. he took them first back to trevi fountain and then back to the spanish steps. hardly anyone was out!

when i woke up, i met them back at trevi fountain (my favourite spot in rome for sure). it was so fun to find this little elf there and then together toss in some coins. the long-held tradition is that if you throw a coin in trevi fountain, you are destined to go back to rome one day! moses was so excited by this and was jumping up and down in those candy cane striped pajamas saying, "i made a wish! i come back to rome!"
 
he was also pretty thrilled to just examine walls of magnets (one of his favourite things in the world) at souvenir stalls.
  
after packing up our bags at the airbnb, we went out for one last meal. the fresh pasta and pizza at da francesco was sooooo yummy. and it was great fun to sit outside on the cobbled street chowing down and taking in our last bits of roman magic. i had decided by this point that i did really like rome after all ;)
 
gabriel looooved the ravioli!
 
we got one last gelato. here's the face of an incredibly excited two year old whose mom has asked him to smile for a picture but he just wants to eat his ice cream right now so so much!
 
 
moses napped in the buggy once we got to the airport (sweet kid was exhausted after that morning of so much fun and sun!) and then we enjoyed some amazing views of the french alps on our flight home to london.
 
 

grazie roma, for a fantastic end to a blessed year and an exciting start to another year ahead!