European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 29, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Viewing the world through a child s Eye parents need to carefully prepare Agenda to enjoy travels with the Young crowd by Pat Gerber los Angeles times As we stood in the Shadow of the pantheon one of Rome s greatest architectural treasures my husband and i tried to explain to our 6-year-old about symmetry and space about the wonder of a building that has remained intact for almost 2,000 years about poetry set in Stone. She yawned then started whining about the Sticky heat. She pointed out the myriad Gelat Erias ice Cream Parlours lining the Piazza Della Rotonda in front of emperor Hadrian s Temple. I told her of the pantheon s history hoping that this first grader would be impressed by something built before Christ was born and which had withstood greedy Popes and two world wars. Blank. Then i told her it had a big Hole in the roof. Her eyes widened. What happens when it Rains she asked. I imagine it gets wet i said. Can Birds Fly in  she beat us to the huge Bronze doors to View Antiquity through a child s eyes to seek out the kid Friendly Side of Art architecture and culture. The payoff of course is not Only that the kids won t spend the entire trip whining for hamburgers but also that the adults gain insights they never imagined. And when imagination fails it helps that there is at least one Galateria on every Block. Towing our children along to Italy last August also provided us with a neat and advantageous insight. We were no longer an Anonymous american couple but that most sacred of italian institutions a family and were treated accordingly. A tour of Florence by a horse drawn Carriage is a sure fire Way to keep Young travellers Happy. In Italy that meant waiters were warmer bureaucrats were friendlier and shopkeepers seemed to show an interest in us not just our credit cards. Several times subway attendants simply waved us through when they saw us grappling with coins kids and a ticket machine that was invariably malfunctioning. We arrived in Rome from los Angeles at midweek and spent a few Days there at Villa Lituania a roman Catholic monastery that doubles As a modest pension for tourists. On the weekend we headed to Florence where we had rented an apartment for two Weeb near the Ponte Vecchio the famous 12th-Century Bridge that spans the with a Little imagination the colosseum comes alive for Young children. River Arno and is lined with jewellers shops. Then we returned to Rome and stayed for a week in a rented apartment in the Northern part of the City far from the tourist centers on the via Flaminia Nova. We had prepped our 6-year-old, Elizabeth on gladiators Chariot races and roman ruins in her excitement upon arrival she would shout at any building with a few Loose bricks look a roman ruin but nothing quite prepared her for actually seeing that signature roman ruin the colosseum. Maybe it was the violent deaths that have occurred in this rotund Maze of Arches and passageways that makes the place seem so alive. It is easy to imagine the aisles crowded with Toga Clad spectators placing bets on gladiators or buying souvenirs from hawkers in the Shade of the giant Arches. Or the exotic beasts that were used to stage wild animal Hunts released through a Complex system of internal elevators activated by weights and counterweights. It is not hard for an adult much less a first grader with an Active imagination to envision the Way circus Maximus a metro Stop away from the colosseum must have looked during the reign of the Caesars. The former Racetrack is now a Park that retains the original Oval shape set in a bowl. Along the sides where More than 300,000 spectators cheered from bleachers weeds and grass now grow. Most tourists consider the Bernini and etruscan artefacts to be the main attractions of the museum and galleries in the Villa Borghese. But the 17th-Century Park built As pleasure gardens for the powerful Borghese family also happens to be one of the Best places in Rome to take children. This sumptuous orderly Retreat which seems More like a Well tended Forest than a Garden comes As Welcome Relief from the traffic pollution and Cobblestone streets of Urban Rome. Florence proved More of a parental Challenge. Ultimately it was t the Lush Boboli gardens certainly not the Art Laden galleria Degli uffizi or Pitti Palace or even the Gelat Erias that kept them occupied. What delighted the 6-year-old most was that most California of 8 stripes Magazine october 29, 1992