ROMA

We spent a total of 5 full days in Rome. That was plenty of time for everything we had planned. Rome has an initial charm because there's just SO much history all around you, but that started to fade for me as the days went by. Rome was just way too touristy for me and it took away from the wonder of it all. It was great though getting to see the marvelous structures that are still standing today. It's seriously so amazing what people were capable of hundreds of years ago. I probably wouldn't want to go back to Rome, but I'm glad I get to check it off my list of places to visit.

THINGS I LEARNED ABOUT ITALY:

1. Italians do breakfast differently. Italians prefer things on the go. So their breakfast usually consists of a pastry and a shot of espresso. Unfortunately, I need more than a pastry to survive my mornings. I'm a huge breakfast person so I was thankful for the kitchens in our apartments. We did a lot of cooking for breakfast.
2. Italians don't like or don't prefer to drink their coffee iced/cold. I was seriously craving a nice cold, refreshing coffee almost everyday, but the Italians drink mostly shots of espresso or cappuccinos. They looked at me funny when I used the words.. "cold....ice...".
3. Italians LOVE babies. Erin got a lot of love in Italy, but she didn't show love back. Sorry Italy... please don't take it personally.

We did A LOT of walking in Rome. We carried around a backpack with us every day and stuffed it with all the essentials (Mostly Erin's things - didn't carry around a diaper bag). We ended up taking a stroller with us (we got this particular stroller for free from the hospital I gave birth at). The stroller was seriously a piece of junk so we left the stroller in Italy (it was somewhat useful though). We didn't use the metro at all, but we took the bus around often. Erin loved the bus and would always point at it, telling us she wanted to go in. Funny kid.

The Pantheon:

One of my favorite things about Italy, the Colosseum.

We had time to do some non-typical touristy stuff. We took Erin to the zoo and the Kid's Explora Museum. Their zoo wasn't all that great, but the kids museum was pretty kool. Lots of hands on stuff for the littles at the museum. You have to book tickets beforehand for Sat/Sun visits (you can book online).

Palatine Hill and Roman Forum:

 

The best pasta we had in Rome. I talk a little more about the food in Italy in a previous post you can find here.

Erin and the Italian:

Lovin the gelato:

St. Peter's Basilica:

Sistine Chapel:

We had time to stop by Pisa on our way to Cinque Terre (Post about CT is here). We were there for just an hour...went over to the leaning tower, took some pictures, and went back on the train to CT.