Italy - Sept 2016 (Part 2)

I've traveled a lot and seen many thing in my life. But nothing yet compares to Rome. It's hard to believe its only the 3rd most visited city in the EU (after London and Paris.) Now, I'm certainly no history buff. In fact, I'm kind of anti-historical stuff when I travel. It's not that I don't appreciate history, it's just that I'm an instant gratification kind of traveler! I want things I can experience in real time. Like food, music, culture, and art. But even I was drawn into the history of Rome. How could you not be!

So where were we? Ah yes...

Day 5: Forget you Buc-ee's (that's for all my Texas peeps!)...this is what Italian gas station food looks like. We stopped at the massive Autogrill before entering Rome. The incredible structure stretched OVER 8 lanes of traffic and housed several restaurants, shopping, and luxurious bathroom facilities. When I imagined gas station food I was thinking greasy, reheated hot dogs and stale Kit-Kats. But this place was insane! A buffet of fresh vegetables, grilled meats, breads, pastas, salad, fruit, deserts, and of course wine. In a country that celebrates meal time so much I don't know why I was so surprised!

After filling our bellies we all loaded back up for the short 10 km drive to our flat in Rome. Short drive! HA! This afternoon goes down as the worst afternoon in our entire trip. I'll spare you the details but it involved 2 hours stuck in downtown Rome rush-hour traffic, me alone in the flat with no food and two very cranky boys, and Arthur out for hours on an impossible mission to get rid of our useless rental car. I did whatever I could to keep the boys happy that afternoon...and this round of music car seats did the trick for all of about 5 minutes.

Day 6: Our flat was in an incredible neighborhood and a very short walk to the Colosseum. And since we have a house full of early risers (the kids...not the adults!) we were lucky enough to make it right as the sun was coming up! This place is incredibly breath taking! You can almost hear the echos of past centuries!

Or maybe that was just the guy trying to sell me a selfie stick for the 40th time! I DON'T NEED NO SELFIE STICK YO! Deep breath...

After nap we headed out to Villa Borghese, Rome's 3rd largest park. The views from the top were stunning!

Our feet tired and we knew it was a huge park so we enlisted the toddler to drive us around in the bike cart.

Just kidding...Arthur did all the work! Notice how carefree the rest of us look while poor Arthur is pedaling the weight of a family of 4 and 2 strollers. Good man!

This park was probably one of my favorite places in Rome. Xander rode a Merry-go-round for the first time in his life. Then rode it 4 more times before we made him stop. Of course an epic tantrum ensued! So we stuffed a polse in his mouth haha. Honest to goodness my little Norwegian child went to Rome, was offered a "hot dog" and asked for a "hot polse" lol. As the sun set we headed back to the metro to catch a quick ride home.

Right...nothing in this trip was ever easy.

For some reason, the metro stairs that we had just walked out of only a few hours early were now gated and locked. And the next closest metro stop? Well, down the Spanish Steps of course. Only the #1 place in Rome to AVOID when you're walking around with 2 strollers. Suffice it to say that Arthur more than got his workout in that day. And at least we got to see the Spanish Steps, which apparently had only reopened after years of renovation the day before! The ride home was another hot mess. A little advice, don't take 2 strollers on the Rome metro on a Friday night. Also, when we finally made it back to our flat our key broke off IN the lock. We made friends by buzzing everyone in the building until someone let us in. So many "great" memories on this trip!

Day 7: This was the Piazza...um...something...is it awful that I don't even know what this one was called? I mean, when there are incredible sights literally around every single curve it's really hard to keep track!

But THIS! THIS is one of my bucket list places to see! THE TREVI FOUNTAIN Y'ALL!!!! Thanks to 2 years of AP Art History, and the near equivalent of an undergraduate minor in Art, this has been a place I've wanted to visit for a long long time! It was incredible! And we made it there early and beat the crowds (which I highly recommend as it was starting to get crazy when we left!)

We stopped for a cappuccino and to rest our feet before our next sight. And you guys...epic moment! Arthur drank a coffee. When in Rome right? (groan...sorry...you know you were waiting for that one!)

Cappuccino for the toddler too! Just kidding, just the sugar at the bottom.

And whatever chocolate pastry his little mischievous heart desired!

Proof that the other half of us were there too :)

Around the next bend...the Pantheon!

Simply amazing.

A quick stop at the Piazza Navona for lunch, where Benjamin caused a small scene with his cuteness!

And again the toddler got whatever he wanted so we could survive the meal. You want juice, in a glass cup, with an orange straw? Coming right up! How about 2?

It was a long, hot, walk home for naps but the streets of Rome were fascinating to see. That afternoon we wondered out to another gelato place for our last evening and grabbed more pizza to eat at home so we could get the kids in bed early. We loaded up the next morning at 4:30 AM in the taxi for our flight back home to Norway.


Now if you've made it this far, round of applause. This was not our easiest or most relaxing trip ever. Arthur and I talked each other off a cliff multiple times every day. And I learned that under no circumstances should you EVER travel with 2 small children without help. And if you must, bring grandparents. And if you can't bring grandparents, go somewhere where the wine is good, cheap, and plentiful. Because you will surely need it!

Ciao Italia! Thanks for all the....um...memories!!!

Italy - Sept 2016 (Part 1)

Every time we travel I'm filled with a mixture of excitement and dread. Excitement for all amazing things I know we will experience, and dread for how much work it takes to get our traveling circus packed up, loaded up, and in taxis, planes, and trains to get to another destination! If I had known what this week was going to bring I might have had a little more dread than excitement!

Because of the location of the oxygen masks on the plane I got to sit in a row with both kids by myself. That was um...interesting. Luckily Xander had the window to keep him busy and Benjamin was able to get a little snooze in.

We landed, Saturday afternoon with just enough time to pick up our bags, hop in our rental car, and drive to our villa in Umbria to get the kids down at their regular bedtime. So we waited at baggage claim....and waited....and waited. And when the belt stopped moving we realized our bags were not joining us in Italy. We had nothing but 2 car seats and one stroller (which had broken in transit...thanks a lot KLM!) We had no choice but to head out to our villa and pray that the airline made good on their promise to deliver our bags quickly!

We grabbed our rental car, got the car seats and kids all strapped in, and headed out into the rainy evening. Immediately, we realized our wipers were faulty and we would need a new car. So we had to drive back to the airport parking garage and swap for another rental. All this took several hours and by the time we got on the road for the 2.5 hour drive it was already way past the kids' bedtimes. Thankfully, they both fell asleep in the car and slept the entire way. Unfortunately, they both woke when we finally made it to our villa around 10:30. They were groggy and disoriented and it took a few hours before we were able to get them back to sleep. Arthur and I headed to bed, still in our travel clothes, and hoped for a better day!

Day 1: The next morning, we got up and Arthur cooked breakfast while the kids enjoyed all the toys waiting for them in our villa. We were staying in an old renovated farm house and while it was much smaller than I expected, it was charming and the view was stunning!

After breakfast, with no update on the location of our baggage we headed out to buy a clean set of clothes for all of us. Not how I planned our first day in Italy. We hit up a local mall to buy new clothes at the hardly exotic but reliably cheap H&M. Then to the store for toiletries and food. And it rained all day. I remember saying something to Arthur about how when trips get off to a rocky start they seem to continue that way. Ugh! I didn't know how right i would be!

Day 2: Still no bags. Still raining. But we pushed on! To the hilltop town of Perugia, the capital city of Umbria. Perugia was originally founded in 310 BC by the Etruscans. Now it's a popular town with students and artists and there a several large universities and international schools. We hung out in the Piazza IV Novembre while Xander chased the birds and listened to the church bells chiming.

Then we grabbed a delicious lunch and people watched. Although Xander refused to eat his pizza, he did enjoy all our lemons haha!

Day 3: STILL no bags! It's getting ridiculous at this point! But good news! The sun was shining and it was a warm and beautiful day! We had packed a bag full of swim suits, floaties (for both kids), and were excited to enjoy the beautiful pool at our villa. Sadly, we had none of that with us on the only sunny day we had while in Umbria. And Xander was the only one of us willing to swim in his birthday suit. But that view! Whoa!

After nap we went to Sualzo Beach on Lago Trasimeno while Xander threw rocks and played in the sand. Fun fact, Lago Trasimeno’s claim to fame is that it is the largest lake on the Italian peninsula. Then we drove into the charming village of Passignano Sul Trasimeno for our first taste of Italian gelato.

And that evening we returned home to this AMAZING sight!!!!

Day 4: The next morning, with arrival of our bags (and fresh clothes!) we were all in much better spirits as we loaded up for Gubbio. But the stormy skies at the Piazza Grande were a foreshadowing of what was to come.

The skies opened up shortly after we arrived, so we hightailed it into a tourist train for a ride around the city. Xander enjoyed the bumpy ride and listening to the recorded information via the ear buds.

After our train ride, and feeling more oriented around the medieval streets, we decided to grab something to eat. We stumbled upon Il Bargello...it looked like a nicer restaurant than the pizza places we had been frequenting and we crossed our fingers and decided to give it a go...

Now if there is one thing I've learned in my short stint as a parent, it's that you're rolling the dice every time you go out to a restaurant with your little people in tow. Sometimes, they amaze you and behave like perfect angels. Other times, you wonder how these awful little creatures actually came from you. This meal our children decided to do their best impression of evil little gargoyles. Maybe they were inspired by the stone carvings around the town. Either way, it was the best and worst meal we tried to enjoy our entire time in Italy. I can't accurately describe our meal since anything delicious was immediately claimed by the toddler. What I can say with certainty, is that a collective sigh of relief was shared by all the staff and restaurant patrons when our circus finally walked out the door.

The stone streets of Gubbio were lovely and I wish I had more time to explore them. Unfortunately, we had to get our gargoyles home and to bed. The next morning we would be pushing off to Rome!

Benjamin - 7 months

7 months! Wow! Wasn't this kid JUST born!?

Although you've been napping in your crib almost from day 1 you're now sleeping in there at night too. You're an incredibly light sleeper and we were waking you up even more than you already were. So we thought letting you sleep in a quieter room would help. The jury is still out since you just continue to be a terrible terrible sleeper. Ugh!

 Plank it baby! I mean seriously! I wish I could do this! We thought for sure you'd be crawling by now. You can move via a very awkward version of the army crawl. In fact, it looks more like you're trying to swim since you're kicking so hard. But somehow all that flailing does end up propelling you forward. Clearly you've got the strength for a proper crawl, just not quite the coordination yet.

 We've started solid foods and it's still going OK. Eggs are a favorite. So is bread. But anything sweet like yogurt or bananas is out. Who gags on bananas?! This kid right here!

And in other news....TEETH! 4 in the last month to be exact. And they've been wretched! They've made you cranky and messed up what little sleep you do actually get. I HATE teething! It's the absolute worst!

 In your short 7 months you've visited the US, Denmark and we've recently added Italy to your list of international travels. You gnawed on authetic Roman pizza crust and saw some pretty amazing stuff like the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain. Too bad you won't remember any of it!

 Your big personality showed up while we were in Italy. You smiled and talked to everyone who walked by. You were basically a celebrity and you knew it! You're babbling a TON now and it sounds like you're saying "blah blah blah" or "yeah yeah yeah" all the time which totally cracks Xander up.

 Speaking of...this sums up your relationship with your brother right now. You guys are both constantly moving. Someone is always getting crawled over. But Xander is now being much more careful with you and looking out for you. He makes sure all the baby gates are closed in our 3 story house because he knows you're on the move! And you absolutely adore him!

Happy 7 month baby BenBen. You haven't made anything easy for us. You're loud and strong willed and have a hot temper. But you love to cuddle way more than your older brother every did. And you have a smile that lights up a room! We love you!