Italy holds a special place for us. Kacey is one quarter Italian. We love the food. We visited in 2006 and really fell in love with the country and way of living. And then, we were lucky enough to live in Siena in 2010 during Kacey's internship. While we could have revisited the county while living in Dublin, we were still holding tight to the memories and wanted to visit many other places. So, while we have wanted to return to Italy for a couple years now, this summer was finally our chance to spend 2 weeks there with the kids.
We decided to fly in to Rome, then drive down to Pompeii and Amalfi, then up to Tuscany (with a stop over in Orvieto), visiting Pisa, Florence, Siena, and a couple others in Tuscany, and end in Venice for a return flight home. We figured having a car would enable us to be more flexible with small towns and setting our own timetable since we have 3 kids with us. We are also pretty comfortable with driving in Italy. I decided to not take the big zoom camera, as I have those types of pictures from other trips around Italy, and it would be one less thing to carry. Plus, phones take great close up pictures now! We took 7 days worth of clothes, knowing doing laundry in Florence wouldn't be too hard. We only booked our flights about 6 weeks in advance, making it a little more difficult. I was just barely able to find hotels that far in advance that allowed free cancellation and could fit 5 people.
Roma
We landed in Rome around 8:30am Sunday morning. Between passport control, and lines for taxis, it took about 3 hours to get to our hotel. We took a fixed price taxi instead of the train to termini, as it was actually cheaper and faster. Our plan for the first day was to not have anything in particular planned. Maybe a bus ride, some mild walking, and some rest. We arrived at Residenza Flaminio Gaio around noon to drop our bags. Finding a room that definitely holds 5 people was not easy only 5 weeks in advance. I also wanted a room pretty close to the metro. We asked the hotel manager which way to walk for food and he said walk south on Via di Ripetta from Piazza del Popolo and rattled off a couple restaurants. We stopped at PizzaRé and liked the look, so sat for lunch. The kids got orange Fanta and Lemon soda and some pasta. Colin got a hamburger (that didn't have a bun). Kacey and I got a (heart shaped) pizza.
After lunch we walked down toward Pantheon and stopped for gelato at Della Palma, home of 150 flavors. Pantheon requires reservations on Sunday, so we headed toward Trevi Fountain instead. We took it in for a while and headed back to the hotel via the metro for some rest. After a couple hours, we headed toward the Spanish Steps via the metro. We used that as our starting point for finding dinner. After walking a few back streets reading menus, we found Le Grotte and were pretty pleased. We tried fried courgette flowers and anchovies for an appetizer. I got pork cheek bucatini and Kacey got Cacio e Pepe. After dinner we walked back to Trevi for more gelato and to enjoy the fountain lit up at night. Since it was a Sunday night, the metro had stopped so we just took the bus to our stop.
Monday morning we had a cut-the-line entry to the Vatican at 11am. So that gave us time to eat some breakfast at the hotel and metro to the Vatican without much hurry. We didn't plan on spending too much time looking at art, as Kacey and I had been there twice before. We first went out to the Pinecone Courtyard and then walked the forced pathway through to the Sistine Chapel. There were an insane amount of people. It was hard to get around! At one point we tried to get out of the queue for bathroom and had to start over. We spent some time sitting in the Sistine Chapel showing the different areas of the ceiling to the kids (with the help of Rick Steves). We started to exit and was hoping to quickly grab a bite at the Vatican cafe, but soon realized we would not be able to shortcut back to St. Peter's. Kacey was able to get back and then I was able to follow when I said my wife and child were still in the Sistine Chapel.
We made our way down the long hallway to exit the Vatican. In the past, there used to be a group shortcut straight in to St. Peter's. Now, you do exit, but are let out right at the point of the St. Peter's line where you go through security. Our wandered about St. Peter's for a short while, and Kacey went down in the crypt for a quick walk. We then bought tickets to go up the cupola. We bought the elevator pass and didn't have to wait too long in line. We were pleased to find a small cafe where the elevator lets out! So we bought a few things and had a drink. After eating and toilet on top of the church, we started the stair part of the walk. First up is the mosaics inside the cupola. Then, the tilted, narrow stairs up the side of the cupola. It took us maybe 10 minutes to do that part. Next is the 360 degree views of Rome! At our visit in 2006, it was mostly open. Now, there is fencing up and over the whole walkway. We spent maybe 15 minutes walking around looking at the city before heading back down. We started walking toward the Vatican metro stop, looking for some fast food. We found pizza slices that I knew the kids would like at Pizzeria Casali. We sat on the curb for a bit eating some pizza. Then walked up to Pompi for gelato and Illy creamy iced coffee. We don't remember this delicious treat from our last visit to Italy, but it is delicious! Think coffee smoothie/milkshake that is made in a continuous machine like a slushie. We went back to the hotel for some more rest before dinner and walked close to the hotel down Ripetta again. We found Il Melarancio and picked it because it had pesto. After dinner we walked north up Via del Corso toward Popolo and found gelato and shopping. We sat in Piazza Popolo while eating our gelato.
Tuesday was our tour of the Colosseum. In the past you could use a cut the line pass, but, like several sites around Italy, you need reservations through tours to cut any lines. And the lines are all crazy long. I had originally booked it in the afternoon but got a notice it had been moved to a 9:35 meet up time. Luckily we still had time to eat breakfast at the hotel before getting on the metro. The huge group of people at termini switching to the blue line had me worried but we wedged ourselves on the metro and made our meet up time for the tour. Our tour guide, Paulo, was Brazilian, and guided us through headsets around the Colosseum. We got to walk around the bottom of the arena, not open to all tours and guests, which was pretty cool! (Not the part below the arena floor, those tours must include an archaeologist and only do about 1 a day, and cost a lot of money, and book up really far in advance). We spent about 90 minutes walking around, learning a few extra, interesting facts about the Colosseum. Paulo then guided us past the Arch of Constantine to the Roman Forum. He took us up Palatine Hill for a great view and some nice cold water. We slowly walked out toward the entrance, learning tidbits along the way.
After our tour we started walking toward Pantheon to find some food. It took a while to find an area that would work, but finally found Il Vicolo Nel Corso. It looked a touch touristy, but it was actually not too bad. A musician stopped by during our meal and played while the staff danced a bit. Liana liked the outdoor decor and luckily it was shaded to help keep us cool. We continued walking around a nearby government building and ended up at Della Palma again, while Kacey stopped at Giolitti for gelato. We then headed over to the Pantheon around 3:15 to walk around and study it for 20 minutes or so. The light was shining in strong and you could study how it came in and hit the wall really well. The boys walked back to the hotel while the girls shopped a bit. We walked to Al Vantaggio for dinner, again near our hotel.
Wednesday was our morning to wake up a little early, eat breakfast a little early at 7:45 so we could get to termini by 9 to pick up our rental car. Finding the rental car office was a bit tricky, and then we had to hike to the car park to get the car. We were able to get on the road by 10 to start the 2.5 hour drive to Pompeii.
Pompeii
We parked at the Zeus lot and walked over to Sgambati to eat lunch. We spent about 3 hours walking around Pompeii. We followed the Rick Steves guide so it was easy to read things to the kids about what we were seeing. They of course thought it was interested to see things preserved, as well as the bodies. We had about a 45 minute drive to our parking lot in Salerno to meet the owner of the B&B.
Salerno
We parked and walked to our B&B, Maison Lumière. We met the owner at 5:45 and he was pretty nice. The apartment had 2 bedrooms, kitchen, and nice outside seating area. We also told us when our breakfast delivery would come. We walked down toward the water looking for dinner. Most places were not opening until 7 but we ended up finding Pizzeria Giagiu’. The pizzas and appetizers were quite unique, and before your pizza comes out they bring a little plate appetizer with the ingredients of your pizza. After dinner we walked out to the water and then found gelato on the way back to the B&B.
Thursday was our day to drive the Amalfi Coast. We were on the road a little after 9 and Kacey had picked a route to drive toward Ravello, then Amalfi, Positano, and finally Sorrento, based on information from Rick Steves. The drive started out narrow as expected, but not too much traffic. The road is very windy and narrow; if you haven't much experience driving roads like this, I don't advise that this is your first. We made the turn for Ravello and waited for 15 minutes or so for the light to change on the one-way part of the road. We found parking near the Oscar Niemeyer Auditorium. The walk up the hill is steep but we made it ok. We hung out around the duomo for a bit taking in the sites, then entered the museum and church. Kacey took a couple kids to find another site while Colin and I hung back as he wasn't feeling well. The views were nice up on the hill town.
After an hour we decided to move on to Amalfi for lunch. Traffic got pretty bad real fast and we were barely moving for a while. Amalfi town is quite small and the only road north was marked ZTL (can't drive there) and the only parking lot is a small area by the water, which was blocked off by police and marked as full. Police were moving you right out of town! We slowly crept out of town in the traffic realizing we would not be able to stop. Apparently, only a taxi or the boat system can get you in to Amalfi town reliably.
We made it to Positano around 1:45. This town is a bit bigger and we were allowed to drive in toward the parking lots. There are a few, and they are expensive. But we took the first one we found and walked down the hill in to town. There is a single one-way road that runs down and back up. So missing a spot meant starting all over again on the drive. We found Caffè Positano for lunch and it had awesome views! We also obtained a really nice pasta bowl with their name on it. We walked further down the hill toward the water. There was also some shopping along the way. We found La Gelateria della Buca di Bacco for gelato and cold lemon treats. It was really refreshing on a hot day. While Kacey stayed by the water with the kids, I went up to get the car and drive down to pick them up.
We headed toward Sorrento and arrived at the carpark around 6:30. No one was hungry due to late lunch. We walked around a little, Kacey did some shopping, and drove back to Salerno after an hour. Between some snack and a pizza we grabbed next to the hotel, and that was our dinner. The next morning our goal was to be on the road by 10 to head to Orvieto.
Orvieto
We fell in love with Orvieto back in 2010. We used to drive by this magnificent town on a hill while driving to Rome and wanted to visit. We really enjoyed the town and the food when we finally visited, so we wanted to stop in again on our way north during this trip. We arrived around 2:30 after a lunch stop at the AutoGrill. We parked and took the escalator system up and walked to our B&B. I found Nel cuore di Orvieto and it was quite nice. Two bed 2 bath was nice and spacious. We walked toward the west edge of town for views of the countryside, then back toward the duomo. We paid our entrance ticket fee and walked around inside. Liana liked the rose window. Afterward we stopped by Il Gelato and it was pretty good. The pink grapefruit was delicious.
We walked toward the east side of town to visit St. Patrick's Well. The kids did enjoy the trek down and back up, counting steps and peeking over the side. Once back up we wandered in to Porta Rocca park next door for views of the country side. While walking back toward the center we stopped in a grocery store for some breakfast items; fruit and snacks. We also stopped at the nearby Pam grocery. Nolan and I decided to walk up the tower for views while the others shopped. The views were great and it was quite windy. Nolan really liked the view. While shopping Kacey found a restaurant we had eaten at and loved back in 2010. We didn't remember the name or the exact location, but we remembered what the alley looked like and what was on the menu. Kacey found Antico Bucchero and as soon as I saw it I too said "Thats it"! We went back at opening which was 7:15 and ordered a lot of good food. Umbrichelle homemade for Nolan, Gnocchi pomodoro for kids, Affettato di petto d'oca con insalatina di sedano - Cold sliced smoked goose celery salad appetizer for me, Ravioli ripieni di caciocavallo con cime di rapa burro e salvia - Ravioli with inside caciocavallo and turnip tops butter and sage for me, and Gnocchi di Patate ai 4 Formaggi - potatoes dumplings with 4 different cheeses for Kacey. Then, Tirimisu and Semifreddo al Torrone con Cioccolato for dessert. We still stopped at Il Gelato again for the kids, as Kacey and I ate most of the dinner desserts. Kacey and Liana went out for more shopping and night pictures while the boys went back for bed. In the morning we got on the road to Florence by 10.
Florence
We got to our hotel around noon, after a little detour (because we were supposed to enter a ZTL). We dropped our bags and headed to the center for some lunch. We found Cacio e Pepe and the menu seemed decent for us. The place was quite small, but we were seated in 5 minutes. While no one got the dish of their name sake, it was all decent. We walked around looking at a few shops, including the Lego Store. We got some gelato after that and then headed to the hotel to check-in and get ready for our museum entry. The room had an AC, but it was not working. In fact, the condensor was on our balcony and it was not turning on. So about 5 minutes before leaving for our entry, they gave us a new room. A touch smaller, but it was cool and had enough beds.
We hurried up to Accademia Gallery for our 4:30 entry time (overheard it was a 3 hour wait without reservations). We first went toward the Instrument museum area, but it is small. We walked around the paintings for a few more minutes before walking to David. Pictures are now allowed, but most of the tours pass through quickly. We sat on the benches for 10 minutes or so after we studied the front for a while, we spent about 30 minutes with David. We headed back to the hotel so I could prep and do laundry at Dexter. I lucked out and the big machine was available. It all didn't take too long, but was way too hot to wait there! Liana and I had pizza in the room for dinner (late lunch made me not too hungry) and I grabbed a prosecco from the Pam. Kacey took the boys out for a more substantial meal.
The next morning we had no rush. We ate some breakfast and headed toward the basilica. The cupola was sold out and basilica closed on Sunday, but we bought bell tower entry at 1:15 and could visit the small baptistry too. Our ticket would let us see the duomo Monday morning before leaving. We headed toward Palazzo Vecchio and saw the David replica outside. We showed the kids the Uffizi (and the line), but we had decided to not take the kids there. We learned about All’Antico Vinaio for lunch and decided to check it out. It looked good and had a line but didn't seem too bad. We got a Tri Color (Beef carpaccio, pistachio cream, stracciatella and chopped hazelnuts), Veg 3 (Gorgonzola, courgettes, dried tomatoes and rocket), and a caprese. Also, a glass of prosecco! It was very good and unique! We headed back to the Bell tower for our entry reservation. The views were nice. After about 20 minutes we headed down the tower. We walked toward Ponte Vecchio. We bought a piece of pizza for Nolan, another creamy coffee, and some cold water. Kacey looked at some shops in the area, mostly leather. We found a blood orange slushy, they are so good! I took the kids back to the hotel while Kacey did a bit more shopping, and we got more gelato along the way. We ate some dinner after walking around for a while, but Nolan really wanted some Indian food we walked by. He got some take-out and ate it in the room.
The next morning we got ready and checked-out by 9:30 to line up for the basilica. There was already a long line! We entered at 10:45 and were able to go in the catacombs as well. We got to the car and headed to Piazzale Michelangelo for awesome views of Florence. We also grabbed some cold drinks while taking in the view. Next was our not too long drive to Siena!
Siena
We were pretty excited to finally revisit Siena. We lived there in 2010 during Kacey's internship. It was amazing, and we detailed those adventures on this blog. We started off driving straight to Villa Il Pino, our apartment we lived in. We thought we may first enter the car gate and look around, but couldn't get in the gate. So, we drove to the Coop (grocery store) as there is a parking lot there, and a walking path to Villa Il Pino. We went in the Coop and reminisced our trips there for food. We bought some snacks as well as new grocery bags. We headed down our walking path (Passeggio Piero Calamandrei) toward Villa Il Pino. The playground along the way, of coarse, has changed and looked different. We walked up the stairs and to the back gate. Luckily a manager was outside and we told her why we were there. She let us in to walk around, that was really nice. Our old unit was rented (I had tried in advance to rent it) but we got plenty of outside pictures. We walked around the gardens and walked through the main building. We just wandered around and soaked it in for a while. We decided to walk toward the other playground Nolan and I visited. I couldn't remember exactly how to get there, but after a few minutes, it started to come back to me and we found it! It was also quite different, but the kids played for a few minutes before walking back to the car.
We headed in to town to park the car and walk to our B&B and meet the owner. I found B&B Palazzo Bulgarini as it is only 4 minutes walk to Il Campo, could fit us all, and had some breakfast. We rested for an hour at the hotel before walking in to Il Campo. The gates were still up from the Palio. We kept wandering the streets past the duomo, just remembering things as we went. We headed to our favorite restaurant, Nonno Mede for dinner at 6:30. We had a great meal with wonderful views, and also enjoyed some desserts there. We stopped for gelato and sat at Il Campo for a while
Tuscany
The next day we woke up to do a driving loop through Tuscany. We started by driving an hour to Montepulciano. We parked at the lot on the north side of town, right before the ZTL. We started walking up the hill toward the center of town around 11am. Kacey looked in a few shops along the way. We ended up all the way at the top at Piazza Grande. The kids played in the piazza for a while. The duomo was closed, but I had been there before. We picked a restaurant from our travel guide and walked down to La Pentolaccia. Kacey got the seabass, the kids all got pomodoro pasta, and I got Pici alla norcina. I normally don't like a lot of truffle, but the dish sounded intriguing and it was good. Kacey did a bit more shopping on our walk down out of town. We loaded up around 2 to head towards Pienza.
The drives in this area are all beautiful. We decided to drive the southern route through Monticchiello toward Pienza. There was some gravel road but the hilly drive was pretty and remote. The drive in to Pienza was quite nice. We found hour parking for free and took that spot. Pienza is small and doesn't take much time to walk around, and we have visited the museum before. We went in the duomo, got some gelato, and did some shopping. This included going in the same cheese shop we took pictures in 13 years ago. We got some pecorino and panforte. We next headed toward Montalcino.
We arrived in Montalcino around 4:15. Kacey wanted to do some wine tasting. We went to the fortezza first, as it is next to parking, and they now have a winery there. So I took the kids on top of the fort for views and then running around the courtyard while Kacey sampled some wines. We walked around town for a little while just wandering. We decided to get back to Siena for dinner and left around 6pm. We had another great dinner at Nonno Mede and more gelato, including a gelato slushie thing.
Siena, day 2
On Wednesday we slept in a little and went to Il Campo to get tower tickets. We got tickets for 1pm, so we headed to the duomo to buy those tickets as well. We got in the duomo around 10:30, but Nolan's and mine cupola tickets were for 3pm. The floors were uncovered in the basilica, which does not happen very often. Usually the mosaics are covered to preserve them. We spent about 30 minutes walking around the duomo and enjoying the floors. Afterward we grabbed some quick lunch of sandwich and pasta at Bibo and got to Torre Mangia at 12:50 for our entry. The entry wasn't really organized, you had to start walking up to then find the entry point. It only took about 5 minutes to walk up, and the views were amazing. I had come up 13 years prior but Kacey never got the chance. We spent almost 20 minutes walking around taking in the views. Next we visited the duomo crypt and then the baptistry. Nolan and I had an entry time for the cupola tour at 3pm. This was a pretty neat tour. You are guided along the top, going in and out of the church along the way. It was a lot of views you don't normally get to enjoy. When we finished up we met the others in the Facciatone. This is the panoramic overview of the city from the unfinished expansion of the cathedral. When we finished there (they limit your time), I walked out of town toward the Horse Monument with Nolan and Liana; this was the old route we would walk in and out of town when we lived there. We met Kacey and Colin at St. Catharine's church, where her relics are located. We went back to the hotel for some rest before back to Nonno Mede for our last meal there. That night we ended up talking to a young man from Mozambique we had seen at dinner each night who was in Siena studying. We finished the night at Il Campo eating gelato and playing with a family from Cordoba and their daughter Sophia. The next morning we got on the road pretty early for a big day of driving and our detour through Pisa.
Pisa
We got to the duomo around 10:45 and we booked a tower entry for 11:15. The area was pretty crowded, but that was completly expected. We got separated after leaving the tower and Nolan, Liana and I stopped in the baptistry on the way to the car. We heard one of the workers sing at noon, a famous activity they perform there due to the incredible acoustics. We decided to stop at an AutoGrill for lunch rather than finding food in Pisa. We started the drive to Venice and found some food a little after 1pm.
Venice
On our drive to Venice we had our first traffic reroute. We got to our hotel around 4:30. I picked a hotel by the airport as a bus line services the area from the bus station on the island, and it would help us make our very early flight Saturday morning. VCE House is a nice little spot where you rent out the first floor and the owners live upstairs. It is a 2 bed 2 bath with kitchen, and a couple chairs to sit outside if you like. Once checked in we drove the car to the island to drop off by 6pm. Once we figured out where to go and got to the office, it was 5:55. We started walking toward the Rialto bridge. We wanted to explore just a little instead of taking the water taxi in to town. We found some pastries to have for breakfast. We weren't expecting much for dinner, so we found a recommendation from our travel guide and went to Madonna for dinner. It was just ok. After dinner we did some shopping, gelato, and listened to a street musician for a bit. We ended up at San Marco and took the water taxi back to the bus station. Some boats were not running and it took forever to get wedged in to a boat. We got to the hotel by 11 and got to bed by midnight.
On our last day in Italy, we slept in and ate some snacks and pastries in the apartment. We also packed our bags to be ready for the very early departure the next day. We got to San Marco by 12:30 and ate at Pomodoro Rosso at 1pm; it was actually pretty good! We walked toward Rialto bridge and said if we found a gondola ride on the back streets we would take it. We found an interested area and Liana really wanted to do it, so we got on. It was about a 25 minute ride through the narrow alleys, and we went out to the Grand Canal to pass under the Rialto bridge. It was a good ride! We decided to then eat our last gelato of the trip by returning to Fantasy Gelato, which had amazing dark chocolate. I also had a coke slushi as it was hot. We walked around just a bit more before heading to the water taxi to get back. Our plan was to grab some food to eat at the apartment and go to bed early. The bus was detoured on the way back due to a concert, and it took forever. We grabbed a quick pizza to eat and got to bed, as the next morning we had to be at the airport around 4:15. Venice airport is not great and takes forever!
Summary
Colin's favorite things were gelato and the leaning tower of Pisa.
Liana's favorite things were gelato, our gondola ride, and Orvieto.
We picked our itinerary based on things we loved seeing in the past and things we thought the kids would enjoy. We decided to drive as we are comfortable with driving in Italy, it lets us stay more flexible with our schedule, and lets us explore areas not easily serviced by trains.
