The One Where We Go Back to Where it All Started

Five years ago I'd never been to Europe. I'd done the occasional Caribbean/Mexico/Canada travel that Americans typically do. We'd even taken a trip to Australia once to visit friends. But I longed to visit Europe. Specifically, Italy. So when Tobi and I were discussing what to do for our ten year anniversary, my top choice was a trip. Tobi had spent time in Rome for business, but he was happy to go back. We traveled to Rome, Naples, Positano, and Capri. That trip changed me forever. I couldn't get enough and travel became my obsession. And Rome became my spirit animal. The language, the people, the charming way the city is dirty yet beautiful, the energy of the traffic, the amazing churches, the ah-maaazing food. I knew I would need to go back someday.

Grant, enjoying his pizza at Da Baffetto

I always planned for our last trip of our time here to be Rome. I wanted to go to Rome as late as possible so we'd have a better chance of Grant remembering it. He's been so into Greek and Roman history of late, it was his request that we go there during our spring holiday.

The view outside our hotel window.
Caroline & I would stand at the window and yell out, "Ciao! Buongiorno!" to whoever would listen.
We got quite a few back to us!

We flew to Rome on Monday morning. One of the best things about living in Switzerland is how close everything is. The flight from Zurich to Rome is seventy minutes. We arrived and had the car service drive us to our hotel. In picking a hotel in a city like Rome where you know you'll be walking a lot, location is the top priority. We stayed at Albergo Santa Chiara, literally right behind the Pantheon. Seriously good real estate! It wasn't fancy, but it did have the added bonus of offering a quadruple room, which was big enough for our family. A huge bonus over the cost of booking two rooms. We checked in and headed straight out to tour the historic places nearby, like the beautiful Santa Maria Sopra Minerva and the Pantheon . . . and gelato.

The elephant obelisk in front of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva
became our hangout.

Never enough gelati!

I swear, I could probably do a separate blog post on just gelato. I counted and I'm pretty sure that in five days, the children had dieci gelati. We stopped at Gelato Della Palma, my personal favorite, twice (hint: try the peanut butter, and the coconut). Charlie's favorite was lemon at Blue Ice, which is a chain with several outlets. We had fantastic gelato at a small place called Sublime, just a few blocks from the Vatican. We ducked into the famous Gelato del Teatro during a rain shower. We had divine artisanal flavors at Flor in Campo di Fiori. We stopped into the legendary Giolitti after dinner one night. And we were served by Valentino himself at Gelateria Valentino. Valentino was quite the character, who made sure we knew exactly in what order to eat the flavors. Trust me when I say the gelato business had a good week!

Valentino was the best part of eating at Gelateria Valentino!

Our Vatican tour guide, Antonella, was just perfect with the kids.

Tuesday afternoon we did a tour of the Vatican museums, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. It was a three hour tour, and to try to make it interesting for the kids, I hired a tour guide. Our tour guide, Antonella, was fantastic! I would highly recommend her for making the stories of the Vatican understandable, interesting, and fun for kids. Grant thoroughly enjoyed it and Charlie and Caroline paid more attention than I would have thought. We all learned a lot. Overall, it was a great experience for our family.

We had to take a picture with the Swiss Guard at the Vatican!

Wednesday was so beautiful and sunny, we took advantage and stayed outdoors all day. We toured the Colosseum, the Forum, Palatine Hill and Campo di Fiori. That evening, we visited the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps before dinner. The kids took the opportunity to throw coins into the Trevi, ensuring their return to the Eternal City someday.

An engineering marvel!!

Charlie, our ruthless gladiator.

We made sure to throw some coins in for a return trip someday!

Thursday started out rainy, but we trudged on! We visited my favorite part of Rome, Piazza del Popolo, and walked up to Rome's beautiful park, Villa Borghese. We ate lunch at a little place in the park, rode the carousel, and rented the family-style bikes they offer. Oh boy, was that an adventure! Between the kids giggling and screaming, Tobi running into tree roots (hint: don't go off path), and Caroline bonking her head on my knee, it was quite an experience. And probably the most fun the kids had! The park is enormous. To see a lot of it with kids the bike is actually a great idea. We finally found a playground and that made the kids happy too. After living in the playground heaven that is Switzerland, Rome was a bit of a shock. No playgrounds anywhere.

Piazza del Popolo below and St. Peter's Basilica in the far distance.

The family biking at Villa Borghese was so much fun, and a bit crazy.

Friday morning was spent visiting the famous Bocca della Verita, made famous in the movie, Roman Holiday. Tobi and I hadn't had time to seek it out on the last trip. So we waited in line with the other tourists for the chance to put our hands in and see if we'd get bitten for being liars. I'm happy to report that we're all truth-tellers in this family! We also took the kids to see Circus Maximus, where they used to race chariots. Aaaaand we had time for one last gelato.

Finally it was time to say arrivederci to Rome. As we drove out of the city to the airport, I may have shed a couple of tears. Rome was where my travel bug bit me. It will continue to be my favorite European city. And I'll always long to return.

Ciao!

Tiffany