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!
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