Ah Italia 🇮🇹 (June 13-30)

It’s true, pasta and pizza are served in almost every restaurant. We swung through a few of the most well-known cities in Italy, and found our favorites. Starting chronologically:

We landed in Naples, and headed straight for Sorrento, a coastal town with easy access to Pompeii. Sorrento has a great variety of “last minute activities” available to book at the train station. We asked for a cooking class, expecting in the next two or three days, and they said, “How about tonight?” This lead to a super fun experience putting together some eggplant parmesan, gnocchi, and tiramisu. I can’t wait to try this at home!

From Sorrento, we went up to Pompeii to see the infamous Mt. Vesuvius and the archeological remains. Pepa and Uncle John had been planning a Europe trip for quite some time and were able to join us by making our major Italian destinations coincide. So cool to tour Italy together!

Pompeii area. These ruins are unique because of the ash preservation of the event. Horses and crouching people brought a sense of reality beyond what old buildings can.

The Eternal City

Next, we had a brief day in Salerno before taking the train up to Rome! Celebrated for its foundational civilization, Rome literally has layers of history. From ancient ruins to modern transportation, many centuries are represented. We sampled these as we explored the Colosseum, the Palatine Hill, the Circus Maximus, The Pantheon, the Sistine chapel, the Vatican museums, and The Villa Borghese Park.

Wide plazas have long been gathering places in Rome, accented by statues and fountains. I was especially impressed by the availability of public drinking water, most often displayed in pretty fountains. We quickly learn to carry around water bottles to refill easily.

The da Vinci museum has some interactive exhibits, and the kids learned so much about his inventions, life, and influence!

I think we averaged about one gelato a day in Italy.

The children’s museum in Rome was a great break from landmarks and history. It had activities for all ages, and a little zip line in the courtyard.

A consistent theme in Roman art… Torsos without heads, heads without torsos, missing arms, or other appendages. But this isolated big toe really stood out.

Villa Borghese: and expansive park with a few museums and gardens.

The Journey Continues North

Natural Thermal Baths: Bagni San Filippo

We started to frequent hot springs at the beginning of the year, and we learned about Tufa in Upstate New York, so we Loved seeing them together in Italy! We were pleasantly surprised by this amazing thermal bath with awesome tufa deposits!

Next up: Florence

Continuing north, Florence was home to more gorgeous cathedrals, more fantastic art, and Michelangelo’s well-known sculpture.

Venice

I’m still fascinated that they could create these buildings and canals over a millennium ago. The water taxi took us to explore the top sites and beautiful canals. I especially loved Murano, most known for sculpted glass.

Venice‘s art culture was brought to life in this mask decorating activity. Each has a unique design of their choosing, accented by a master maskmaker.

Mask making activity led by a master mask artist

Last stop: Levanto

Our last stop in Italy was the northwest coast. The city of Levanto was a perfect base for exploring the Cinque Terre. We tried to live like a local. We stayed in a residential apartment. The kids played often on the local playground. With many dogs and strollers on the street, Levanto felt more full of locals than tourists.

We loved exploring Italy’s diverse landscapes, extensive history, and artsy culture. And of course, we will miss our daily dose of long walks, pizza, pasta, and gelato!