Bologna, the gastronomic capital of Italy

The day after Christmas, we headed north to Bologna.  We chose to spend 5 days in this area due to its central location and after hearing repeatedly that Bologna was "the gastronomic capital of Italy".   We didn't have much planned except to relax and EAT!

Piazza Maggiore with the shadow of the Fountain of Neptune.

Bologna's two towers (also leaning).

Looking down from the top of the taller tower.

Bologna is known for its university (the oldest in the world) and its porticoes, or covered walkways.   According to our guidebook, the porticoes began when the city ran out of space and built additional housing over the existing sidewalks.  Bologna can easily be enjoyed in any kind of weather, thanks to the miles and miles of porticoes.

One of Bologna's many covered walkways.  Great in cold or rainy weather!

While we enjoyed meandering through Bologna's beautiful streets, by far our favorite part of this stop was EATING.  The food we had in Rome was delicious, but the food in Bologna was out of this world.  The tortellini was developed in Bologna, and we definitely sampled quite a few different varieties.  We also ate "spaghetti bolognese", though in Bologna the dish is "fettuccine al ragu" and only uses flat fettuccine noodles (which apparently soak up the sauce better).  We ate gelato every day (sometimes twice) and tried different varieties of cured and smoked meats, such as delicious Parma ham.  Bologna is referred to as the "fat city', and we definitely added a few pounds during our days there....and they were worth every. single. bite.

Fresh homemade tortellinis waiting to be sold.

Eating piadinas, a local flatbread-type of filled sandwich.  Delicious. 

After the hustle and bustle of Rome, Bologna was much calmer and felt much less touristy.  There were a lot of people out in the streets but far fewer vendors trying to sell selfie sticks or restaurant owners hawking tourist menus.  It was a great place to spend some time just relaxing, and we are so glad we included it as a stop on our Italian itinerary.

Christmas in Rome, Part 3 (& the last)

Our last 2 days in Rome were over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  We deliberately planned to spend these days relaxing without a lot of organized sightseeing.  Not only was this a nice break after a few busy days, but we knew that many sites would be closing for the holidays anyways.

Dusk near the Ponte Sant'Angelo that crosses over the Tiber River.

The Pantheon at night.

One of our favorite things to do when we travel is just walk.  We like to explore on foot, taking in the local sights and sounds at a pedestrian pace.  Rome was beautiful to walk through during the holidays.

Beautiful lights throughout the city.

A hotel beautifully decorated for Christmas.

Lots of beautiful Christmas trees everywhere!

The Trevi Fountain is a beautiful spot in Rome, though the atmosphere is extremely touristy and chaotic.  Legend says that if you stand with your back to the fountain and throw a coin over your shoulder, you will return to Rome again.  I guess it works because I threw in a coin in 1998 and, 17 years later, I was back!  We all threw in more coins and so I guess another trip to Rome is in our future.  That's fine by me.

In early December, Sinterklaas (the Dutch equivalent of Santa) had brought the boys gifts at home. Sinterklaas also left a note explaining that Santa knew we'd be traveling light over Christmas and thus he was not going to bring toys to Rome.  So the boys weren't expecting big gifts, but they were still very happy to see that Santa found our stockings and filled them with candy and small toys.  It was a different Christmas than ones in the past, but it was a really nice day for everyone.

Converting umbrellas into stocking holders...

After lazing around in the morning, we headed to Villa Borghese, which is Rome's equivalent of Central Park.  The grounds are beautiful with playgrounds, wide open spaces, a lake, beautiful trees and plants, and calm walkways.  We "flew" a kite (running had to take the place of wind), rented quadracycles, had a picnic, and just hung out for the rest of the day.

No wind, but the boys ran to make the kite fly.

We really enjoyed our time in Rome.  We saw a lot of sights, enjoyed lots of delicious food, and enjoyed a few days of just relaxing over Christmas itself.  Next stop: Bologna!

Christmas in Rome, Part 2

No visit to Rome would be complete without a visit to Vatican City.  As the smallest country in the world, Vatican City is a tiny enclave surrounded by the greater city of Rome.  We spent the first half of our day in the Vatican Museum, which houses the works of art that have been collected by Popes over the centuries.

We have learned that everyone in the family enjoys museums best with an audio guide.  We've been really impressed at the child-specific audio tours that we've found over the past year and a half, and the Vatican Museum was no exception.  The kids' tour included a scavenger hunt with kid-friendly information about specific works of art.  The boys loved it and made sure we found each and every stop on their hunt.

Even the walls and ceilings of the museum themselves were spectacular.  This picture doesn't do this ceiling justice, but it gives an idea of how ornate the museum was.  The walls of this room were painted with enormous maps of different parts of Italy.

The most famous room in the Vatican Museum is the Sistine Chapel, which is an absolute highlight.  We walked in and Emmett's jaw dropped and he literally said, "Wow".  Pictures aren't allowed, and any we might have taken could never capture the beauty of that room.  It is an incredible work of art.

After the Vatican Museum, we walked into Saint Peter's Square.  It was decorated with a large Nativity scene and a Christmas tree.

Inside the Basilica, we admired the beautiful architecture and art and saw everything being readied for the Christmas mass.

We also listened to a children's choir practicing, which made the surroundings even more beautiful.

With the Christmas holiday approaching, it was a beautiful time to visit the Vatican!

A Day Trip to Pompeii

One of the sites that we were all most excited to visit was Pompeii, which was a full day's trip from Rome.  We got up early and headed south on the Frechiarossa (Italian high-speed train) from Rome Termini to Naples Centrale.  In Naples, we switched to the un-high speed Circumvesuviana train, a local commuter line.  This stopped right in the city of Pompeii, just a few hundred yards from the entrance to the archaeological site.

Hanging out on one of our train rides.

Before traveling, we like to learn more about something in particular that we will see.  Both boys read Vacation Under the Volcano, a Magic Treehouse book that takes place when Mount Vesuvius erupted and buried Pompeii under ash (79 CE).  We also read a couple of non-fiction books about Pompeii so we had an idea of what we were going to see.  Well, sort of.  The books didn't prepare us for the awe-inspiring and also sobering feeling of standing in the midst of the victims, art, and buildings that were all buried under layers of ash and stone for over 1600 years until they were first discovered in 1748. 

The boys standing in Pompeii's ancient town square.

Frescoes on the walls of a building.

The boys loved these stones, which were ancient crosswalks across the town roads.

A mosaic in an ancient bathhouse.

Elaborate detail in another bathhouse.  The cubbies were for bathers' belongings.

When Mount Vesuvius erupted, it covered everything in the area in a layer of ash and then stone.  The people who died in Pompeii were covered by this ash, and over time as their remains decomposed and the ash hardened, there were pockets of space left behind.

In the 1860s, the director of the excavation work had a moment of brilliance that changed the course of future archaeological work.  His workers came upon one of these pockets, and the director had the idea to fill it with plaster.  After letting the plaster dry and harden, the archaeologists gently excavated the ash-covered plaster mold.  They then chipped away the ash layer and were left with an exact replica of the person who died in that exact spot.

A replica cast of a crouching man.

This man was buried by ash from Mount Vesuvius as he crouched down, his head in his hands.  His pose is so vivid, so emotional.  I looked at this cast for a long time and could only imagine how scared and sad he must have been feeling at that moment.

There was a temporary exhibit with even more molds of Pompeii's victims.  Some of the molds were so detailed that you could see the shape of victims' faces and even their teeth.  In addition to another mold of the man above, there was one of a woman and a small child.  Standing in front of these molds was a stark reminder that we were walking in the place where thousands of people lived and died.  It was also a vivid reminder that life is precious and can change in an instant, even in 79 CE.

A mother and small child who died together.

Christmas in Rome, Part 1

For the Christmas holidays, we traveled to Italy.  I had been to Italy twice before, but for Bob and the boys it was a completely new country.  In order to incorporate both the "must-sees" and someplace new for me, our itinerary included Rome, Bologna, and Venice.

Our first stop was Rome, where we arrived on the Sunday before Christmas. We had rented an AirBnB apartment about 15 minutes walking distance from the Colosseum.  After getting settled in, that was our first stop. It was already dark at this point, but the Colosseum is beautiful at night!

The next morning, we went back to the Colosseum for a short tour.  The guide explained features of the Colosseum and the events that used to take place there.  Colin especially wanted to get an up close view of the photos she showed us.

After the Colosseum tour, we walked through Palatine Hill, which is the most ancient part of Rome.

The weather in Rome was fantastic--high 60's and not a drop of rain (no rain, in fact, for our entire two weeks in Italy).  The mornings started out cool but by mid-afternoon we were jacket-less and soaking in the blue skies and sun.  The perfect start to our Christmas vacation!