Last Stop on the Italy Train: Rome

Traveling with 6 people and 11 suitcases (plus purses/backpacks) is a challenge. Traveling by train is a challenge. However, once you make it onto the train with all those people and all those bags, it's a relief and feels pretty awesome.

I have said before that I'm not a big fan of capital cities in general. Our year of capital-hopping did improve my outlook on these over-crowded, over-touristy, over-everything destinations, but I'm afraid Rome still falls into the category of Not-My-Favorite. This visit was perhaps the best of my three trips to Rome, but that had a lot to do with the company.

Janis had very few requests for this vacation, but a steadfast one was a chance to take her kids to the Vatican. I figured that was as good a place as any to centralize our stay, so this was the view from our hotel.

Well hello there, St. Peter's 

We were even able to walk over for a night view:

Since my mom and I had both been to the Vatican museums (twice) and St. Peter's Basilica (twice), we decided to split from the group and take a walking food tour in Testaccio, a Roman neighborhood known for cucina romana, while the others visited Vatican City. (Favorite quote from Rome: "What time does Vatican City open?" Since it's a country, that's basically like asking, "What time does Argentina open?")

Our food tour had many stops from bakeries to butchers to gelaterias, but what made it memorable was unfortunately not the food, but the pouring rain. For the third time during our vacation, we were hit with a freak rain storm characterized by booming thunder, flooded streets, and two soaking wet travelers. This was not the environment for a walking tour, especially once we started wading through calf-deep water in order to cross the street. It was a memorable experience, but definitely not my favorite food tour. (Under different circumstances, I think it could have been amazing and is definitely worth booking if you are not going to be rained out.)

Meanwhile, the others were inside until the sun came out and dried up all the rain, literally. Here we are at the Vatican (and possibly being a little inappropriate with a statue of Pope John Paul II). I've been to Rome three times and each time there has been a different pope - John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and now Francis.

After their Vatican tour, we headed out to Piazza Navona, home to my favorite fountain, Bernini's Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers). This fountain represents the major rivers on each of the four continents that had been touched by papal influence by the mid-seventeenth century. They were the Nile (Africa), Ganges (Asia), Danube (Europe), and Rio de la Plata (America). My favorite part is the Nile; Bernini chose to cover the face with cloth because at the time no one knew where the river started.

the Ganges river god

Our evening began with a walk through the city and included a visit to my favorite gelateria in the world: Il Gelato di San Crispino next to the Pantheon.

San Crispino boasts flavors like cinnamon ginger, rum chocolate, and malpighi (balsamic vinegar), as well as more traditional flavors like stracciatella (chocolate chip), hazelnut, and pistachio. It was also mentioned in Elizabeth Gilbert's most famous book, Eat, Pray, Love. If you are in Rome, it is a crime not to visit.

we went twice!

The next day Julie and Val wanted to see the Colosseum. The rest of us took a walk and got a delicious lunch.

Our last major stop was another Roman must-see, the Pantheon.

groupie with the Pantheon's most identifiable feature: the oculus in the dome

It was hot and we were tired. Time for fun with fountains!

teaching the new tourists about Roman drinking fountains near Circus Maximus

in front of the the Pantheon

imitating the fountain in front of the Pantheon

Italy, as always, was beautiful, welcoming, and delicious, but we were ready to go home. Thank you, Janis, for an amazing vacation!

It was time to take a break from travel adventures, which we did for exactly one day before heading up to Sacramento for a wedding. Then we really settled back in and didn't leave San Diego for 5 months. More on our Hawaiian Christmas soon.

The Colosseum looks like a nest!

In Florence, it's all about the food

July 18-21, 2014

(Edited: now with more pictures!)

So, life has taken over completely and I still haven't posted about our last two cities on our July Italy trip. It is now almost 2015 and we've since taken another week-long trip to Hawaii and have plenty of life updates to blog about, so I guess it's time for a little catch up. (I certainly can't leave Florence and Rome un-blogged and I couldn't possibly blog out of order, either.)

Florence started with a whirlwind. Instead of a hotel, we'd booked a 3 bedroom flat through homeaway.co.uk. After the disastrous flat we'd gotten in Brussels, I was extremely nervous about how this one would turn out. Luckily, it was a hit! I bit of a further walk from the central sites than I'd expected, but the exercise made us feel a little less guilty about all the pasta and gelato.

On the first evening, almost as soon as we arrived, my mom and I broke off for a pizza and gelato cooking course while the others searched out the newly-opened Brewdog Firenze.

so delicious, I couldn't resist a bite before I remembered to snap a picture

The next morning we had our only planned event: a walking tour that included skip-the-line entrance to see Michelangelo's David and il Duomo di Firenze, Santa Maria del Fiore. I've been to visit David three times now and my favorite part is getting up close (and personal) for the details: the veins on his hands and feet, the individually chiseled hairs, the finger and toe nails. David is magnificent as a whole, of course, but I am absolutely fascinated by the details.

The Duomo, in my opinion, is much more impressive outside than it is inside. For such an intricate exterior, the interior is very plain.

On my last visit to Florence I climbed the famous dome with my students and teacher friends. It was exhausting and a bit claustrophobic, so Joe and I decided to take on the famous bell tower this time. Because of the open windows and stairs that wind around the exterior of the campanile instead of the interior like so many others we climbed, Giotto's bell tower was actually much easier to climb that we'd expected. It also allowed for a pretty spectacular view of the city.

from the bottom, feeling accomplished

The rest of our time in Florence was spent mostly on three things: visiting the newly gentrified San Lorenzo market, drinking and hanging out at Brewdog Firenze, and playing games at home. The weather switched drastically from humid and hot to pouring rain, both of which drove us in doors and made wandering the city unappealing. We ate a total of 3 meals at the market in just under 3 days.

When I came to Florence in 2008, I fell in love with the beautiful displays of fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, nuts, and other goodies sold at San Lorenzo market. Since then the upper floor has been transformed into a modern foodie heaven. You can order full meals or go tapas-style. There are vendors for every course and every type of Italian dish, plus grocery stores and a cooking school. There's a wine bar and a beer bar and even a store for Fiorentina FC soccer club.

On Sunday, Mom and I made our way to the market because we knew we'd loved wandering the stalls before. When we discovered the changes that had been made, we brought the rest of our party back for dinner. On Monday, when the pouring rain ended our desire to wander the city by foot, we returned to get dry and stuffed ourselves with treats again.

Joe, Janis, Julie, and Val also visited the Uffizi Gallery on an afternoon tour one day. This lead to what Julie refers to as Joe and Val's "Disney Princess moment." You may decide for yourself:

They made friends with a little birdie.

Visiting Brewdog felt a little bit like going home. The bar in Camden became our go-to hangout in London and we always felt welcome, included, and surrounded by supportive friends. Even though we didn't know anyone at the other locations, we got the same feeling of comfort in the Edinburgh and Glasgow locations when we visited Scotland. It was no surprise really that Florence felt the same. Italy was our last stop on a year of travel and Joe and I were both slowly adjusting out of our London life. We were back with family and heading home to California very soon, but hanging out at Brewdog felt like one last chance to say goodbye to London and ease ourselves out of the life we'd made there during our first year of marriage. In Florence, it was a home away from home (London) away from home (San Diego).

games, a Brewdog staple

looks like flirting

The benefit of our flat was that we got to hang out together in a communal environment instead of sitting on beds in someone's hotel room. That meant games. And wine.

bedets are for feet washing, right?

Monday morning we'd intended to walk across the Ponte Vecchio to the Pitti Palace and wander the Boboli Gardens, one of the Florentine sites I still have yet to see. Sky-shaking thunder and street-flooding rain changed those plans. Instead, our morning looked like this:

And with that, we bid farewell to Florence and boarded the train for our final stop: Rome.