Roman Entertainment for Kids!

While Rome isn't big on parks as we know them back in the states - though we are thankful to have found one by us - they have other ways to bring enjoyment to their children. We experienced two of them today.

Costumes: In Rome, Halloween is not limited to October 31st. Every Saturday and Sunday (and even some weekdays frankly), you can find kids of all ages running around Rome in costumes. Now when I think of a kids costume, what comes to mind is what our children prefer - Augustine loves his one piece batman suit (with mask and cape) and Celia has too many princess dress up dresses to count (though she prefers the blue cinderella dress her cousin Molly gave her). Those are understated compared to what you'll find in Rome. Today we saw several princesses carrying wands, wearing crowns, and dressed in costumes that did not cost 14.99 at Target. And the boys... we saw a power ranger, several super heros (of all shapes, ages, and sizes), and the most elaborate Zoro and Joker costumes (with masks and face paint) than you could imagine. And where did we see all these costumed children? Just out with their families. Walking in a park on the Janiculum Hill. Not doing anything special. Just enjoying a Saturday. What was humorous is that although I had a hard time getting Augustine to remove his batman suit from October through December, we've yet to wear it out of the apartment in Rome. (We did bring it). And Celia doesn't have a single one of her dresses with her. Fortunately, her Nana and Pop plan to bring one over the Easter holiday when they visit. (We'll see if we can hold her off until then).

Puppet Shows: We are fortunate that Romans love outdoor entertainment and have been blessed with listening to many good street performers already. Today we watched our first outdoor puppet show. There are a few places in Rome that you can catch puppet shows - one of them being on the Janiculum Hill most afternoons.

Celia and Augustine loved the show. You can see them rivited in the picture on the left. Of course, the kids and I had no idea what the story was being acted out. All we got was that one of the puppets kept hitting every other puppet in the head with a hard stick. (I hope the other characters were telling him his behavior was not appropriate. I had to whisper that "he isn't being very nice." Since Augustine is prone to repeat something like that!)

It was very neat though. I concluded that it is an older couple that run the show. They all showed up together (about 5 people in a tiny fiat moments before the show). You can see the husband in the seat to the left of the puppets that are for sale after the show. The wife walked around with a collection plate during and after the show. And their adult daughter controlled the puppets.

By the end of the show - maybe 10 minutes - a pretty large group of children and adults had gathered.

Our children talked about the "muppet" show (as Celia kept calling it since we've watched the muppets recently) the rest of the day.

While there are certainly things the kids miss from home, I think these are two things they would take back with them!