I’ve found that the Thanksgiving week tends to be a good week to travel (internationally not domestically). Noone in the office is productive the 3 days you do work that week, you get 2 days off which somewhat helps not dip into your vacay days, there are hardly any touristy crowds wherever you’re going, and us Californians get to pull out and use those coats we hardly use.
So in 2017, my wife and i decided to do a two week trip through Italy. We started in Rome, made our way up to Florence, popped over to Pisa for a day, then went up to Venice. Roma: So first of all I just want to say: Rome is big, but not that big. 3 full days is perfect. You’ll leave on a high note without running out of things to see. Personally, whenever I travel, I like to see as much as I can in the time I have rather than wasting it away on R-n-R. When it came to planning our itinerary, I had to make sure we land early in the day so we can hit the ground running, while flowing through the city seeing sights en route to our next destination rather than jumping all over the place and exhausting ourselves. It was 8:45am when we landed, by 9:45am we had all of our luggage, through customs and out of the airport. It was the bus that took the longest part. We took the T.A.M. Bus to Termini Station. It was about 5 Euro/person (my 1 and a half year old daughter was free). If its possible for you to buy your ticket in advance, do that. Once we arrived at Termini Station, our hotel, Hotel Artemide, was about a 10 minute walk around the corner. The Hotel staff was kind enough to arrange a room for us as soon as we arrived (I think my daughter crying her head off in the lobby helped). From there we quickly made our way over to see the Colosseum. Again, it wasn't as big as I imagined it to be. You can tell a lot has been done to keep the structure up, and once inside, it's rather small. Any stadium now-a-days is significantly bigger. Nevertheless, truly beautiful to see. The line to keep the entry ticket was long, but there was an express lane for families with strollers. FYI - Italy is GREAT for families! Sure, there may not be many ramps (as we found out in Venice), but the citizens of Italy adore babies. Restaurant hosts would pick up my daughter and walk us to our table, pedestrians would wave and smile, pinch her cheeks and all. If you're on the fence about going to Italy with young kids, definitely do it.
From the Colosseum we crossed over to Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. Again, almost everything was in ruins and half standing. The aging of the crumbling stone and brick at each historic site was everywhere. We grew tired of the tranquil walkways in the Roman Forum, and decided to make our way to the colossal Alter of the Fatherland and Piazza Venezia. From there we winded our way to the Pantheon to try and get a picture of the sun rays shining down inside through the rooftop opening. Unfortunately, since it was November, the timings of when the sun would be shinning inside were off. En route to the Trevi Fountain, we stopped by at La Casa Del Caffè Tazza D'oro for some coffee and pastries. By now we were feeling the jet lag, and so we went back to our hotel to charge up for the next day.
We started the next day head first to the Spanish Steps, then followed the River Tiber down towards the Vatican City. We saw Corte Suprema di Cassazione, St. Angelo Bridge (which gives you an awesome view of St. Peter's Basilica btw), and Castel Sant'Angelo. From there it was a straight shot to St. Peter's Square. Again, as we made our way to the ticket queue, there was an express lane for strollers, which probably saved us over an hour. Once inside we followed signs towards the Sistine Chapel. We passed probably thousands of art artifacts before the deafening "NO FOTO!" announcements ((it was one individual who kept yelling it (in the Italian accent) over and over)). Sure enough, Michelangelo's painted ceiling was jaw-dropping. The most amazing thing I took away from it was the details and geometric lines made for the corners; the shading and control of colors made it look 3 dimensional! From there we got some quick Italian pasta, and since 3 quarters of the day had past, we decided to get some Gelato on our way back. And yes, the Gelato in Italy is not hype. EAT IT AS OFTEN AS YOU CAN. For dinner, I'd recommend That's Amore.
On our final day, we took our time strolling through the numerous Piazza’s and Basicilicas that line the streets of Rome before we checked out and made our way back to Termini Station. From Termini Station we hopped on a train and shot up to my most favorite city in Italy: Florence.
Firenze The thing with Florence is its culture. You can feel it right away. In some weird way that I cant explain, it just feels Italian. From the architecture, the people, the leather – everything. We did the same routine: got off the train, made our way to Glance Hotel (posh great breakfast, clean rooms and highly recommended), and shot over to Galleria dell’Accademia. It has a cheap 8 Euro entrance fee, to see the famous David of Michelangelo. The status is massive and perfectly situated within the gallery; at the end of a long hallway with elevated ceilings. And the attention to detail is remarkable. Michelangelo went all the way to include the veins popping out of the hands and up the arms. Eventually we head to Piazza del Duomo and Giotto’s Bell Tower (didn’t go up because of my daughter). For lunch we went to the awesome Mercado Central and criss-crossed our way through the many food stalls. We picked a spot, and loved every bite. It wasn’t your typical, basic Italian food (meaning just pasta noodles, one basel leaf and tomato paste!). It was packed with multiple ingredients and each you could taste.
Time for dessert; aka Gelato. Make sure you go to Venchi for Gelato. It’s a common chain you’ll find up and down Italy, but its consistency has been better than any other chain we tried.
After lunch we made our way to Basilica of Santa Croce which is Michelangelo and Gallelao’s final resting place. Then to Piazza Signoria, the infamous Boar Fountain and Palazza Vecchio. While at Palazza Vecchio we came across a sort of marching band which, naturally, we followed. Next thing we knew a kind of color guard performance was underway with the members dressed in traditional Florence guard attire. From there we head to Basilica di San Lorenzo where I purchased a new leather wallet (one thing I didn’t realize is the leather wallets aren’t sized to US dollar bills, rather to EU dollars. So keep that in mind when choosing a wallet). We crossed Ponte Vecchio and through all the shops built on it, and hiked all the way to Piazzale Michelangeo. NOTE: Don’t hike there if you have a stroller! There are hundreds of stairs and no ramps. We had to fold the stroller, throw it over my shoulder, and climb the hill while carrying my daughter in my arms. But the view made it all worth it. From the view point you can see the old city walls lining the city and everything in between. Here’s one view (sorry, didn’t have a wide-angle at that time).
We passed by Palazzo Pitti on our way back to the hotel and dinner. Dinner spot: Cantinetta dei Verrazzano!
Pisa The next morning we woke early and trekked it out to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower. We took Italia Rail which was +/- $9USD/person. The train runs every hour from 7:28AM/8:28AM/9:28AM [https://www.italiarail.com/pages/routes/florence-to-pisa] [https://app.italiarail.com/results?aff=TRE?c=0&target=result"]. We arrived in Pisa Centrale at 9:28 am. Pisa was a bit interesting. There are a few other items you can visit and explore, but we were mainly interested in the Leaning Tower and Piazza del Duomo. The weather and sky were perfect when we arrived. After about an hour and a half of trying different poses and fighting with my daughter to pose correctly, we decided to head back to Florence. On the walk back we cut through Palazzo della Carovana, Piazza dei Cavalieri, Chiesa di Santa Maria della Spania and Tuttomondo mural. It was about noon when we departed. Half a day is about all you'll need (to be frank).
Venezia
There were a couple of things I wish I had read up on more before going to Venice. #1: would have been the amount of stairs there are. Not from like a knee-problem or walking difficulty, but more from a stroller perspective. Every. Single. Bridge. Has. Steps. That. You. Need. To. Climb. Dumb me, I had no idea. We get off the train, immediately get gelato from Grom at the train station, and start making my way towards our hotel (to drop off our luggage before we go check stuff out yada yada). Bam, right away there's a massive bridge with steps. No ramp. One hand I have my ice cream, other hand is the stroller, backpack on my back. Wife has a suit case as well. At first, I tried to be cheap and handle the bags myself instead of paying one of the street peddlers to take it for us (they had dolly's and it's like their thing to do). I stuffed the ice cream in my face, tried picking everything up but nope. Just pay the guy. #2: Venice is a massive inter winding crazy chaotic web of canals that you can easily get lost in. There's no one main way to get from the train station area to the main St. Mark's Square. You sort of need to just go with the flow and enjoy the city. I have never quite seen a city like Venice. If you don't have a car, and are traveling on a long trip with kids, you should always book a good hotel relatively close to the main transportation hubs. This much I knew. Our hotel, Hotel Canal Grande (but I would not recommend this place; sort of old, the lady who greeted us kept trying to up-sell us to a fancier room and when we turned it down she became sour) was just across from the main train station so it was just Scalzi Bridge we had to cross. With everything dropped off, we, for some reason, decided to keep the stroller with us. With each bridge crossing, my wife would grab one side, I would grab the other and up and over we'd go.
We made our way down Rio Terà Lista di Spagna and stopped at Ristorante Pedrocchi for lunch. Nothing fancy, some quick lasagna and cold sandwiches while my daughter chased the pigeons. From there, we made our way across Ponte delle Guglie and continued as best we could towards St. Mark's Square. To our surprise, nearly an hour and a half passed before we made it. We paused for coffee and pastries at Caffè Florian right in the Square while my daughter, again, played with all the pigeons (one even landed on her head). From the water front right next to Doge's Palace, you get an amazing view of Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute across the water. Our hotel was at the complete opposite end of the Grand Canal (from S. Marco ferry stop to Ferrovia (Scalzi) "B"), so we decided to take a water ferry to get the full experience of life in Venice. Treat it as a sort of tour ride through the Grand Canal; the ferry will carve through and make frequent stops for you to take pictures. The next morning was sort of a repeat of the previous day - we lost ourselves through the canals, did a bit of shopping, gelato, gelato, and more gelato.
Here's a helpful map of all the places mentioned:Italy [2017] Photos
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