Has anyone done the Gladiator School activity in Rome? I've read that it is fun in an article on a travel website, but I've never actually read something about it on this website, so I wanted advice. I thought that our kids (ages 11, 9, & 7) might find that a fun activity one afternoon. Any opinions? Thanks.

kids that age having fun playing maiming and killing each other?

Videos for roman gladiator school rome
Gladiator School Rome 2009
2 min - Aug 24, 2009
Uploaded by oneminuteworkout
www.youtube.com

Where do you find out about this - it sounds interesting! We are traveling with kids as well.

run the youtube video and see if it is appropriate for your kids. And it may be - depends on the kids.

They did this during one of the Amazing Races. Looked like fun.

This all came about because I've done a lot of research in preparation for our trip because I want to engage all 5 of us as much as possible with every activity. We've done a lot of reading about the ancient Roman civilization with books from the public library, added in watching Roman Holiday (the only child-friendly Rome/Italy movie I know about), books on tape (Jim Weiss has one on Julius Caesar, one on Galileo---for Florence, and one on the Renaissance, plus more about Western Civ.), etc.... this Roman Gladiator activity would be a fun couple of hours away from the other types of things we'll be doing.

http://www.ciaobambino.com/ciaobambinoblog/?p=944

I hope this helps. Any more info?

Thank you. It sounds like we are planning similar trips for kids of similar ages. May I ask what other ideas have you come up with? So far my creativity has been limited to finding hotels with pools (we are going in August!)

Renkirsh, et al,
We're in Italy now (July 16th for 3 weeks) to see Venice, Florence, Tuscay & a little Umbria, then Rome. Hereis my advice:
1. check out articles on the following websites for information about kid friendly activities: italiatourism.com, lifeinitaly.com, and idyllicitaly.com.
2. It is hot and even though my original goal was to dress simply & elegantly, I'm abandoning that in favor of more comfortable clothes in this hot summer climate. Put your kids in shorts, and leave the adults in shorts or skirts. My whole idea of us wearing pants/capris to blend in and be more elegant is really for the birds. Our good moods and flexibility are negatively impacted by blending in with more simply elegant clothes, so forgo that whole idea. Wear the Merrell/Clarks/Teva sandals with shorts or skirts and be comfortable while you explore. I'll go shopping tomorrow for a short skirt and will then leave the capri pants/jeans in the suitcase until we go home. UGH! Even our private tour guide today told us that shorts with covered shoulders was enough to go into the churches on our tour. The weather in Florence tomorrow is supposed to be 94 degrees and the next day is supposed to be 95.
3. Bring packs of cards for you and the kids to play while you wait for your meal to arrive. It has been a wonderful, fun way to pass the time and it builds good family memories/moments.
4. We didn't do a private tour in Venice, but had our first of two tours with www.walsinsideflorence.com and our tour guide Paola was wonderful! She did the Florence Orientation tour for us, geared towards our kids, and it was perfect. We have the Uffizi tour with that group booked for Friday as well.
5. In Venice, we stayed in an apartment one block off of the Grand Canal in the San Polo district, and the location was perfect. We found local restaurants off of the Grand Canal (near the Fish Market) for dinner, and it was the best way to end the day.
6. In Florence (we've only been here two days so far) we have an apartment near Santa Croce because it is such a nice, walkable area. Last night we explored the Piazza del Republica, took rides on the carousel, watched a street performer do his version of a Charlie Chaplin skit, etc...
6. For our time in Tuscany and Umbria, we limited ourselves to places with pools. I researched places via the agriturismo.it website and Karen Brown guidebooks and Fodors and Frommers and Slow Trav. Friends had stayed at Podere Villuzia outside of San Gimignano and we've booked that for a couple of nights. I'll post a review of all of our experiences once we are back from our trip.

I hope that this, although off topic, helps!!!

If you are looking for a "kid friendly" Italian adventure, may I suggest looking into Adventures by Disney? They have won many travel awards and offer some wonderful European itineraries for families which might suit your needs:
http://abd.disney.go.com/abd/en_US/r...peOverviewPage

(I'm not one for organized tours, but this may be good for your needs)

Sorry all, my post from yesterday should have read www.walksinflorence.com.