Last weekend we went on our last European trip of this "Kernovich Abroad" experience. Once again, I was hit with memories of when we arrived here almost 2 years ago. We traveled to Milan just a few weeks after arriving in London in 2012 and it seemed fitting that we traveled to Italy for our last trip too. We had a wonderful apartment to stay in (I am obsessed with AirBnb), we saw nearly everything we wanted to, and ate and ate and ate! Here is the recap of our short but lovely trip in pictures.
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| JJ went early on a business trip to Milan so Tyler and I flew by ourselves to Rome and JJ took the train to meet us later that night. Tyler was really excited for the adventure. Here he is on the Gatwick Express - the train that goes from London to Gatwick airport. |
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| Then when we arrived in Rome we took a similar express train - the Leonardo Express to the center of Rome. It was the subway, to a train, to a plane, to a train, to another subway to finally get to our destination. Needless to say, we were both exhausted when we finally made it! |
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| Our apartment was right near the Spanish Steps. In the evening Tyler and I set out on our date that started on the Spanish Steps. Here we are up at the top. |
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| We stopped to just hang out on the steps with all the other folks. |
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| Tyler and his beloved airplane on the Spanish steps |
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| A rare smile for the camera! |
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| I've been burned too many times by not researching restaurants when we travel. I got smart this time and I found this restaurant, Gusto, with great reviews by our apartment. It was kid friendly and we had a really lovely dinner. We even took a break for a little dancing on the piazza by our table when a song came on that Tyler liked. He said, "Mommy, should we dance?" Of course the answer is always yes to that question! |
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| If you are friends with me on Facebook you may have already seen this but I was reminded so much of our first trip to Italy when Tyler was only 9 months old and we went on a dinner date in Milan when JJ was working late. How my little boy has grown!!! When we were walking back to the apartment after having gelato on the Spanish Steps, holding hands walking down an adorable street, a little tear came to my eye because I'm so thankful to be able to share these great experiences with him! And he's quite a good date too! |
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| I was so sad to see the Trevi fountain under major construction. This one one of my favorite places the last time I was in Rome. The fountain was completely off limits but they kept a little water basin that you could still throw coins in. Here is Tyler and JJ warming up to throw the coins in. You are supposed to throw it with your right hand, over your left shoulder. Tradition says that if you throw a coin in, it means you will return to Rome. |
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| Oops, Tyler had a bit of trouble throwing it over his head and it landed right in front of him :) |
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| We were apparently very excited to throw our coins in! |
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| "Oh screw it, I'm not throwing it over my shoulder any more - just going to throw it in like this!" |
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| I love the streets of Rome! |
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| Vitorrio Emanuele II monument |
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| This picture may look like Tyler is taking in the beauty of the monument. In reality he is checking out the street sweeper in front of it. |
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| Horsing around near some ruins. |
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| Everything was under construction in Rome - even the Colosseum! |
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| Colosseum pondering |
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| Colosseum model! |
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| Family pic at the Colosseum! |
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| Colosseum selfie! |
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| Arch of Constantine |
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| Little bit of the traditional jumping-off-posts-in-front-of-cool-stuff action! |
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| We walked a long way to try to get to the Forum. We didn't end up finding the right entrance but we did find this amazing view of it from above. We figured that was good enough and didn't bother walking to get inside. |
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| I love this pic! |
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| Wow that's a big toe! |
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| This looks like he may be having a tantrum, but he was really channeling his inner opera singer and singing at the top of his lungs :) |
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| Mommy and Tyler in front of the Julius Caesar statue |
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| The Pantheon |
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| Inside the Pantheon - not sure what the fist bump was for! |
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| Tyler is always mesmerized by street musicians |
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| A fountain in Piazza Navona on the way to dinner |
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| The owner of our Air Bnb apartment recommended this restaurant for dinner and it was delicious. They make the pasta handmade in the front window. Tyler liked the little goat on his plate |
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| He also liked the ravioli! |
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| We took a break from dinner to check out the motorcycles nearby |
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| This was the restaurant. They must have made enough pasta for the moment because we never saw the woman in front making it but that little table in the doorway was where it was set up. |
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| We stopped for gelato at a famous place on the way home - it's the oldest gelato parlor in Rome - founded in 1890! |
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| We got ours to go and just sat on the curb with the rest of the folks enjoying it! |
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| Good to the last drop! |
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| Baby and toddler both liked it! |
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| The next morning was Sunday and we headed to St. Peter's Basilica to catch a glimpse of the Pope! He speaks every Sunday at noon when he is in Rome. |
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| My boys hanging out at St. Peter's Square waiting with the other thousand folks! |
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| Vatican City selfie! |
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| There he is!!! |
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| It was really hot but Tyler peeked out from his stroller canopy to see who was talking. |
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| It was a long last day in Rome and Tyler missed his nap. We took a car back from Gatwick airport which took over 2 hours to get home! It was a long trip and I'm glad Tyler could sleep. JJ and I were exhausted too, but so happy that we had a perfect last trip! |
