ITALY!

We have survived our 1st family vacation! I'd say that overall, it was a success. We had lots of highs and plenty of low points, but all in all, it was a great vacation. This is the first post of 3 about our time in Italy. You can find Post 2 here and Post 3 here.

PLANE RIDE

The start of our trip was a little rocky. Erin actually developed a cold right before our trip and was showing signs of fever. Thankfully, her fever was gone the day of our flight. We were fearing the plane ride because we weren't sure how Erin would behave. We flew Lufthansa going there, which I would highly recommend if you are flying with children. Non-American Airlines are just so much nicer. You're able to reserve a bassinet for kids under a certain weight and height, so make sure you call way ahead of time so you can reserve one (they will seat you in the bulkhead row). Erin was just small enough to fit in the bassinet and it really was helpful. She took 2 naps in it, totaling about 4 hours of sleep. Oh and we got lucky because it turned out that Erin had no trouble with ear pressure while flying. She didn't seem bothered at all. We even gave her her first lollipop just in case, but I don't think it was even necessary. She enjoyed the lollipop though. Our flight had a 4 hour layover in Frankfurt and that was probably the roughest part. Erin wasn't able to sleep properly during that time so that's when she started to show signs of fever again. Fortunately, the flight from Frankfurt to Rome was only 1 1/2 hours. We passed out as soon as we got to our apartment in Rome.

We flew United Airlines returning home. Our flight to DC was great. We got bulkhead seating (way more space than Lufthansa) and we reserved a bassinet (UA bassinets are much smaller and Erin didn't end up fitting in it, but we used it to store some of our stuff. They are also not as nice as Lufthansa's). We were lucky to be seated in a 3 seat row with the middle seat left free. Erin ended up sitting in the middle and took her naps lying down on the seats. I was able to watch 2 1/2 movies! It was glorious...oh how I've missed watching movies. Unfortunately, our connecting flight from DC to LA was terrible. It was a completely booked flight and the seats in that domestic flight were tiny! I seriously felt like I wasn't getting enough oxygen and it didn't help that Erin was sitting on our laps. At this point of our trip, we were all exhausted and tired, so the 5 hour flight felt like forever. We were SO happy when we finally landed. 

Traveling internationally, especially with layovers, is pretty dang exhausting..especially with a kid. If you can book flights non-stop..do it! It will make traveling easier and you'll have less grouchy travelers.

FOOD

The food in Italy was meh (you probably think I'm crazy). It probably didn't help that we were traveling with a kid so we were a little restricted and didn't have the ability to eat anywhere and/or at anytime.  Lots of places that were recommended to us were more of a fine dining type of place and most restaurants in Italy opened for dinner at 7pm (way past our usual dinner time). We tried our best to eat at yummy places, but in general, I wasn't all too impressed.

We ate A LOT of pizza. I'd say I was pizza'd out after only a few days being there. 

My favorite pizza places were:

1. Mondo Arancina: Ken got this big bread ball with meat and veggies inside. Not sure what it's called, but it was so yummy. The pizza was real tasty and the bread was perfectly crispy and chewy.
2. Alice: We tried several of their pizzas and their arancinas. Pizzas were seasoned well and the crust was yummy. 
3. Pizzarium/ Bonci: I guess this place was recommended by several people so we had high expectations. The pizza was decent, but I'd say it wasn't all too flavorful. 

*Pizza by weight tasted much better than getting a whole pizza somewhere. 

*I loved the pastries in Italy. I was able to get a big 'ol bag of goodies for less than 8 euros (buy by weight). 

In terms of pasta, I'd say the best pasta we had was at That's Amore in Rome. It's more of a fine dining restaurant and of course Erin turned out to be a total pain while we were there (I seriously wanted to just kick her). Their frutti de mare was really yummy. I ordered the gnocchi, which was just ok. Erin ate nothing but their bread. Haha.

Gelato:

Honestly, one of my favorite things about traveling to Italy was eating their gelato. It's seriously AMAZING there. We probably ate at a dozen different places, but I've come up with my top 6.

  

1. Alberto Gelateria in Corniglia: Hands down the best gelato. Their pistachio was SO good, and I don't even like pistachio. The gelato was creamy and light...just perfect.
2. Midi Bar in Monterosso Al Mare:  This place is a bar, but they sell gelato there too. Their lemon was so tasty. It wasn't too tart and it was so refreshing. Seriously..so good.
3. San Crispino: The honey here is delicious! Highly recommend.
4. Valentino: Their gelato is more on the fluffy side. The texture was a little different from the other gelato places in Italy, but it was still yummy. I liked their chocolate chip.
5. Gracchi: This was the first gelato place we went to in Italy. I wish I did some research beforehand because there were some flavors that are highly recommended that I didn't end up getting. I got the chocolate chip and Ken had the strawberry. They were both decent.
6. Giolitti:This place was crowded as heck, so of course I had high expectations. It really wasn't all that fantastic. We tried the pistachio, nocciola (hazelnut) and chocolate chip. I'd say the hazelnut was the best. Highly overrated in my opinion, but it's still better than anything here in the U.S. 
   

*Overall, Cinque Terre had the best gelato in my opinion. So if you ever visit CT, make sure to stop by all the gelato places in each town!

 

AIRBNB

Instead of staying in hotels, we rented apartments through Airbnb. We had a very positive experience with all 3 apartments while in Italy.

1. Our first apartment was located a few minutes from the Trevi fountain. The location was great because it was in the center of all the popular attractions, but that also meant there would be a lot of people and noise. The apartment was more like a studio, perfect for a couple or a family of 3, but it would be too small for any more than that. 

2. Our second apartment was in Vernazza (Cinque Terre). This was my favorite out of the 3. It was in a great location, excellent water pressure, lots of room, etc. I highly recommend this place if you're ever traveling to CT.

3.   Our last apartment was near the Vatican. This apartment was the biggest, but the location was a bit of an inconvenience. It took a little while getting to places, but it was doable. 

If you're traveling with kid(s), I highly recommend renting out vacation homes. There's just so much more space and it really is convenient having a kitchen in case you might want to cook. We were very grateful for the kitchens on our trip!

To conclude this post, here's the to-do list I prepared before our trip. I crossed off the ones we actually got to do. We did everything except number 12, so I'd consider this trip a success!

1. Colosseum
2. Vatican City - Sistine Chapel. St. Peter’s Basilica
3. Trevi Fountain (I hear it's still under renovation)
4. Pantheon
5. Eat Gelato at least once a day
6. Roman Forum
7. Spanish Steps
8. Campo dei fiori
9. Explora Kids museum
10. Bioparco in Rome
11. Hike through Cinque Terre
12. Visit Jewish ghetto

Current Parenting Challenge: Meltdowns and Screaming

Erin hasn't been the most pleasant to be around the last few weeks. I'd say as soon as she turned 19 months, a lot of "strange" behavior started to develop. She's more sensitive than usual, which means she's been getting upset about practically everything. I'll find her crying for no reason at all. She gets upset if I try to help her at anything now. She thinks she's all grown up and doesn't require any help anymore. She's finally saying "No", so naturally, her answer to everything is No. But, the one thing that's been driving me the most crazy is the screaming. I'm sure this is just the beginning of her terrible two's, if that is what's really happening. She's more likely now to get frustrated and throw a tantrum, but must she scream so loud?! She throws her face to the floor when she's upset, she has mastered the pout and fake cry (Where does she learn this stuff?!). Goodness.

These changes in her behavior have definitely been testing my patience. I've often times lost my cool and raised my voice. But, I'm sure Erin is just as frustrated as I am. This is when I wish Erin could talk so we can have conversations and resolve the problem because I'm sure most of her meltdowns have been about her inability to communicate the things she wants to. Unfortunately, the timing of this couldn't be any worse. We leave for Italy in a week and I'm a tad bit concerned about how our trip might turn out. This is why I'll have to do my very best in preventing these meltdowns. It'd be wonderful if there was no screaming and no meltdowns of any kind the entire time we're there! *crossing fingers*

How to prevent it:

• I've heard and know very well about the "fearsome four": hunger, fatigue, boredom, and over-stimulation. Erin is one cranky and hangry child when she's tired and hungry. I'll have to make sure Erin is well-rested and well-fed. We will try avoiding over-scheduling, and I'm bringing lots of her favorite snacks to keep her tummy happy and full.
• Try to keep some sort of routine. I know napping will be a big concern while we're traveling, so we're going to try our very best to stick to some routine to reduce the risk of a meltdown (I fear the jet-lag). We'll also have to try our best to eat meals at reasonable/consistent times each day. 
• Don't lose my cool. I'm sure Erin feeds off my frustration. So I must be the adult and keep calm to keep my child calm. Keep calm and carry on.
• Try to talk it out. I underestimate how much Erin can understand. I need to be talking to her more and asking her questions. Talking to her might help in preventing any unnecessary meltdowns or might help to quickly remedy one.

Erin refusing to get in the car because we took away her raisins

So wish us luck on our trip. Hah, we're going to need it! This will be my last post till we return, but I'll be updating my Instagram while we're there. Here's to traveling with toddlers. Woohoo! Go us!

Lately

Snippets of life lately..

 I leave you with this. I'm so glad Erin still loves to dance.

DIY Project - Pom Pom Party Hats

I made dozens of these party hats for Erin’s 1st birthday. These party hats are fairly easy to make and they’re super cute. However, it is time consuming (I had friends come over and help). Here’s what you’ll need:

1. Paper Mache Cones 2. Yarn 3. Washi Tape 4. Elastic String 5. Hot Glue Gun 6. Paint Brushes 7. Paint

I started off by making the pom poms first. Those took the longest to make (You can find a simple how-to for the pom poms here ). Then I painted the cones (I bought 3X7 size cones). I used circle stickers and washi tape for helping with the designs. The washi tape works great because it comes off surfaces easily without causing any tears. After letting the paint dry, I used a hot glue gun to attach the pom poms on top of the cones. The final step is to punch holes on each side (I used a belt hole maker, but you can use a hole punch as well) and tie on the elastic cord.

I was very happy with how they turned out.