A Carousel in Florence & Thoughts on Traveling with Little People

For the past couple of days we have walked by the carousel in downtown Florence without the littles noticing.  But on a slow Monday afternoon, we finally indulged them much to their utter delight.  I mean, really, do you have to fly all the way to Italy to get on a carousel?  Let me tell you something.  Seriously.  This is the most beautiful carousel in have seen in my life!

There were no lines, it just kept going and going regardless of how many people were on.  And only cost 1 Euro a ride, although admittedly, we did get a couple of free rides too.  Gabriel and Magdalene went around and around and around.  They just couldn't get enough.  It was lovely!

Pizza in the piazza.  Don't go for the knock-off pizza cut and served by the grams.  Go for the real thing.  You won't be disappointed.  

Best backdrop for a carousel, really.

The ceiling of the carousel were painted fresco imitations, the base of the carousel was beautiful wood flooring and the horses were elaborately decorated with glass and beads and gorgeous fancy plumey feathers on their heads.  It was sort of a piece of art!  Which suits the city, I would say!

Italy is an interesting and complex place to take children.  We haven't seen any playgrounds here...  So the streets and the sights are our playground.  It's been an interesting experience finding creative ways to help our children understand and appreciate what they are seeing but they are doing extraordinarily well so far, I feel.  It's been a lot of queuing into their interests in whatever we see.  For example, spotting the "rowing boy" in the river caused quite a bit of excitement.  As well as traveling on the "moving stairs" and the various "trains" (trains/metro).  Counting boats in the maps in the Sistine Chapel, spotting Santa Claus while traveling.  There has been a lot of carrying and cuddling and suckers and ipad/screen time (on the train or in the apartment during down time). There has been a lot of eye-spy and chasing birds and petting horses that draw carriages, a lot of watching fountains and sipping hot chocolates.  Puzzles and sibling silliness.

We've mostly really, really appreciated having other family who can take charge and be fun sometimes--playing the "Ghost Game" or reading stories and doing puzzles.  The most helpful thing was purchasing and gifting them special toys they have been asking for over the past couple of months.  We held out for so long and finally gave them on Christmas morning which was half way through the trip.  This created a great deal of excitement and new creative play.

As I sit here at 10:30, typing, I try to think of tips to give parents who may be taking their very little people to Europe.  I am not exactly sure where to start!  But one thing I have realized is that we should never under-estimate our own children's natural desire to see and explore new things.   We have been very surprised at how much they take in and understand and appreciate, especially when we are excited about what we are seeing and doing.  I feel that this is the biggest component of traveling with children.  They feed off our energy and excitement and share in our interests and passions when we share them with them. 

Bonjourno Firenze!

 

Bonjourno Firenze!  We absolutely loved our time in Rome, but were happy to arrive in Florence a couple of days ago.  Between closing up the flat in Rome and some train rescheduling issues, tracking down new our place, meeting the contact in Florence, and making sure the heat and hot water were working for us it was an all day event.  We are warm and settled and have a small fridge stocked for the remainder of our short stay in Florence.  

The city is, in many ways, what I remember it to be.  But memory distorts reality and, in our heads, places weren't in the exact same places and we discovered very quickly new sections to the city we didn't even know existed.  This time, rather than staying right downtown, we opted to stay in the "less touristy" area of Florence up on the hill and pretend we were locals by shopping at the supermarket, making some of our own meals and practicing our very limited Italian.  Earl and Derek (who both seem to be well acquainted with the language) have been helping us out quite a bit.  As aside, I would like to say that I have perfected my Italian accent with the very few Italian words that I do know! 

It is quite a bit cooler in Florence and I am sort of wishing I had brought my winter jacket, mitts and hats for both of the children.  But we are making due with blankets and layers and layers of clothing.  The evenings are incredibly damp and so we've opted to stay inside rather than make ourselves any more sick by venturing out in the cold, which is too bad, because cities are truly gorgeous in the dark, I think. 

 

Traveling with grandparents is the best!!!  So happy for the company and the extra hands to help and give us relief, especially with two sick little people, many broken nights and heaps of laundry.

We have been fully enjoying it during the daytime, walking around with the littles asleep in the stroller or in our arms for hours.  Yesterday we spent most of our day on the famous Ponte Vecchio, a bridge spanning the river with shops on either side all the way along (see the first/top picture), the Piazza Uffuzi where a replica of the well-known "David" stands and the market and piazzas around the gargantuan Duomo--one of the largest, most architecturally unique and memorable churches I have ever seen.  Jordan and I remember literally almost walking flat into the backside of the Duomo as we came around a corner in the dark of midnight on our way back to the hotel 10 years ago.  We were vastly impressed with it then and were again yesterday.

With babies asleep, we had some pizza outside on the square with the Duomo in the background.  A little date between the two of us, we might say.

Proof that Maggie did come with us, although she slept most of the day in the stroller.

Outside a Ferrari store, looking at toy Ferraris.

More adventures today as we continue to explore this beautiful city.  It really is incredibly busy and I would even venture to say it was busier yesterday than it was in the summer when we were here last!

A Roman Holiday

Christmas Day in Rome was a slow, quiet pace compared to other Christmases.  The trip from Toronto to Italy was a big enough present to ourselves; however, we did decide to get a few things for the kids to stick under the tree for Christmas--new toys to spice up the meager handful of toys we brought on the trip.  Grandma and Grandpa brought some amazing toys from their trip to Egypt--some canvas tents and handmade camels for the kids to play with.  They were amazing!  And the kids loved them.

We've had a few minor bumps along the road for our trip to Italy--we couldn't seem to figure out how to work the hot water in the apartment and took daily cold showers. We couldn't find scissors for cutting wrapping paper and the only knife in the apartment was a bread knife so my presents look like they were wrapped by piranhas! But most notably Jordan was a bit sick, Gabriel came down with the flu around 1am Christmas morning, Maggie spent most nights awake for several hours chirping and playing (and therefore so did many of us) and I have developed a chest cold that causes me to cough a lot of the night...  which is not helping the general sleeping situation. AND...  now Magdalene also has the flu.  I know...  it's hard to feel bad for us, being in Italy and all.  I had a feeling this trip was all going just a bit too smoothly.

So Christmas morning, we actually (believe it or not) all slept in until 8/10pm-ish.  Which doesn't sound so bad, right?  The day was pretty slow since our little family didn't feel like going much of anywhere (despite being in rome).  And Gabriel fell asleep at the dinner table--first on the table, and later in my arms.  Sweetest little present from my boy.

Another little bump in the road was that the apartment didn't have an oven!  So, we could not cook a turkey like we normally might.  So we had to improvise.  Earl made a lovely dinner of pork chops, mashed potatoes and various other goodies.  It was delicious!  And a lovely chocolate dessert from a nearby patisserie.  

Later, with littles in bed, the "adults" left the grandparents with the grandchildren and went for a walk to see the Colosseum knowing we would not have a chance to see it in the morning before heading to Florence.   I think in some ways I actually prefer to see these beautiful structures at night.  So quiet and serene and beautifully lit.  A fabulous ending to our Christmas day.

Hope yours was lovely and filled with laughter and excitement of the little people in your lives!

Roma! A Date and the Ballet

Jordan and I were married 10 years ago and made Rome one of the cities on our honeymoon destination.  We loved it then, threw the proverbial coin over our shoulder and swore we'd return.  Here we are ten years later, in the exact same city we visited then.  It's cooler, but remains unchanged in so many ways.  

A couple of days before Christmas, Jordan and I were able to sneak away for an evening shopping and dinner date at the Spanish Steps.   This was certainly the city's most festive Christmasy area.  The streets were all strung with lights and little outdoor patios were decorated in Christmas cheer. 

One of the places on my must-see return trip to Rome was Trevi Fountain at night.  Ten years ago we saw the fountain in the day when it was swarmed with people.  While it was still busy at 11 o'clock at night, the fountain all lit up in the late evening is the best time to see it, in my experience.  

Christmas Eve, we got all dressed up in our Christmas fanciest--red lace dress, a white tutu dress, suspenders and ties.  Rachael and Derek took us to see a matinee of the Nutcracker Ballet.  The children were absolutely delighted to see ballerinas dancing around and to hear the symphony orchestra.  Gabriel watched intently, holding back some moves of his own.  Magdalene was a little too excited and couldn't stop talking about everything she could see.  So we had to pop out a few times and then sit at the back where she would pirouette in a row all to her self while eating Smarties and lollipops to keep her quiet.  Of course, puppy came along and had to see everything too. 

During the intermission, we could an empty ballroom where the littles practiced their twirls and pirouettes to their hearts content.  Naturally, Gabriel had all the moves.   But "Bella" Magdalene stole the show with her blonde ringlets, white tutu princess dress and puppy side-kick.

Mia familia bellissimo!

Later we went back to the Spanish Steps for a-walk-about.  The kids practiced their twirls in the square while nibbling on lunch.

And we went for tea at Babbington's on the square.

 Merry Christmas from our always energetic, often chaotic and full-of-love family to yours!