Rome, Part 3

St. Peter versus the Seagull at Vatican City

St. Peter's Basilica

We had sunny, clear skies and cool weather the entire time we were in Rome, so exploring the city on foot was quite nice.  Rome is quite large, compared to Venice and Florence, but we covered a decent amount of ground with the help of a couple of cab rides.  Unfortunately, Rome only has Uber Black, so it would have cost more than a taxi, which were more plentiful.  We saw most of the major sites including Palatine Hill, the Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, Castel Sant'Angelo, Vatican City, Piazza Navona, the Spanish Steps, the Coliseum, Pantheon, and more.

I did not spend a lot of time researching eateries in Rome, but kind of hoped we'd get lucky like we did in Venice and Florence, and stumble upon some local treasures.  Not so much.  There were a couple of gems, but overall, I wasn't impressed with the food.  Next time, I'll do a little work ahead of time.

My recommendation:

Gelateria del Teatro, Via dei Coronari, 65, 00186 Rome, Italy -- this place makes up for the many lunch and dinner misses we experience in Rome.

Rome, Part 2

Rome, Part 1

The Italians' la dolce vita is even sweeter with artisinal gelaterias around every cobblestone corner.  We begin our five day journey through Rome with this image.  Gelato tastes good year-round.

Spanish Steps

Palatine Hill and its local inhabitant

I didn't notice Rocky's reaction until today.  I guess a picture does say a thousand words.  This gelato cost 8 euros a piece.  I don't know what was worse for Jared, paying 32 euros for our gelatos or the 1 million grams of sugar in these monsters.

Hi, again. What's up? Want to go to Italy?

Hi, I know it's been a while.  How are you?  I'm good and miss seeing you.  Did I tell you that I've become a professional travel planner since I moved to Paris?  This isn't 100% true, but it sure feels like it.

Every 6 weeks of school, French children get 2 weeks of vacation.  Yes, every month and a half, the kids are off of school and to the Slosbergs, that means, a new travel destination.  Since moving to Paris, our Groundhog Day restarts every 8 weeks as we cycle through the routine of planning a trip, packing for said trip, being on the trip, or unpacking and doing laundry from said trip.  It's great for us because Jared and I have the time and desire to explore Europe as much as we can while we're living here, so we're taking full advantage of school vacations, but it's got to be tough for dual-career families.  (By the way, French kids also don't go to school on Wednesdays.  For some, they have the whole day off, while others, like ours, are off in the afternoon.  This also poses a challenge for working parents.  The families I've spoken to have nannies or grandparents who help on Wednesdays, since most schools don't provide childcare.)

I'd like to begin with our latest vacation, and my favorite so far, Italy.  All of us were pumped about this trip.  Peanut has been learning about Greek and Roman mythology, characters such as Ulysses, Medusa, and also how to read and write Roman numerals.  Both kids were excited to discover that this is the country that invented pasta, pizza, and gelato.  Since this would be my first time in Italy, I wanted to see the bigger cities, which led us to choose Venice, Florence, and Rome.  We also got a special treat when Nana Ruthie Pooh joined us for the first leg of our trip, Venice.  For two weeks at the end of February, the five of us escaped Paris' colder weather and grey skies for sunshine and lots of really great Italian food.  And we're off ....