Birding and sightseeing Rome

Hi everyone, Rome was an AWESOME experience. We stayed for a little over 2 weeks and had a great time. One of the coolest and most popular sites in Rome is the Colosseum. Back along time ago the Colosseum was where Gladiators fought gladiator battles. Each gladiator had weapons and tried to kill each other for peoples entertainment. Some gladiators also fought animals, such as boar, lion, and bear. The animal keepers did not feed these animals for 3 days so that the animal will get really angry at the gladiator. Rich people got to sit at the bottom of the arena and the poor people sat at the top of the arena.. People came to the Colosseam for the entertainment and the free food. It was a place where people relaxed. After many years the Colosseam  turned into ruins and luckily the gladiator battles stopped. Now the Colosseam is a beautiful ruin that I was lucky to see. Here is a photo of the Colosseam with a Christmas tree being put up in front.

Our neighborhood, Trastevere, was awesome. We walked over the river Tiber many times which is in the center of Rome and near Trastevere. Here is a shot that my dad took of the River Tiber.

Eventually my dad took me birding and we went to Villa Doria Pamphili Park. The birds were so cool, but sadly most of them were domestic ducks, which I can not count on my life list. Here is a photo of me birding at Villa Doria Pamphili.

Here are some of the ducks and other domestic waterfoul species below. Well, I think most are domestic. Here is a photo of a MUTE SWAN below.

EURASINAN WIGEON below.

MANDARIN DUCK below.

PINK FOOTED GOOSE below.

GREYLAG GOOSE below.

Awesome looking unknown domestic duck below.

Unknown goose species below. Any help? Thanks!

My dad and I also saw EURASIAN BLUE TIT, ROSE RINGED PARRAKEET, and I think LONG TAILED TIT.  Small cool white geese below.

We also visited Vatican City, the smallest country in the world surrounded by walls in the center of Rome. We walked through the Vatican Museum to the Sistine Chapel. On the celling of the chapel are many paintings by Michelangelo, who is the most famous artist of all time. The paintings were beautiful but unfortunately  the guards would not allow photos. In the Vatican is Saint Peters Cathedral, the most important cathedral to all Catholics. We climbed over 500 steps to the top. Then we had to climb 500 back down, so it was not the most pleasant thing in the world. Here is a shot of the cathedral that one of my parents took.

The Gelato and the food here are AMAZING! The great thing about Rome is that you can get great pasta, pizza, and gelato, but since it is a big city you can get anything! Here is a photo of me and my sister eating the best gelato of our lives. If you are passing through Rome, DEFINETLY go to Punto Gelato!!!

Many cars here are as small as this and I am small.

Another great part of Rome is that we had a botanic garden just a few meters from our apartment. My family and I decided to check it out, and believe it or not, Orto Botanico is the home of over 7000 different species of plants. I do have some bad news though. Remember when I saw Muscovy Ducks in Lisbon, Portugal? Well, those were domestic too. Since those are not countable, my life list got smaller. The good news is that I had 2 lifers in Orto Botanico! One was a bird called a FIRECREST a tiny bird that has a bright orangish red color on the top of its head. The other one was a beautiful GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER. This is a really cool bird that was so thrilling to see! Love this bird! I have always wanted to see one. I also got another life bird called an ITALIAN SPARROW. Guess what? Life bird 300!!!!! Here is a picture of me at Orto Botanico.

We all had a fantastic time in Rome and my parents think Rome is the most beautiful city in the world. I would love to come back to Rome some day!

Bird List For Rome                                                           Life List 300 (3 life birds in Rome) - Muscovy Duck
                                                                                         (Domestic)

Italian Sparrow X Life Bird!
Grey Wagtail 2
Firecrest 1 Life Bird!
Eurasian Blue Tit 5
Rock Pigeon X
Great Spotted Woodpecker 1 Life Bird!
Monk Parrakeet X
Rose Ringed Parakeet 1
Long Tailed Tit
Black Headed Gull X
Grey Heron 1
Little Egret 1
Eurasian Moorhen X
Eurasian Wigeon 1
Goose sp. 4
Mandarin Duck 1
Duck sp. 2
Mute Swan 2
Greylag Goose 1
Pink Footed Goose 1
Black Redstart
Eurasian Blackbird X
Hooded Crow