Italy - coming home

Coming home from Ancona had its challenges.  First, the train we had booked weeks before our trip, was on strike.  Luckily we had gone to the train station hours earlier to switch to an earlier train.  We didn't know if that one would go until 10 minutes before.  The uncertainty didn't seem to bother anyone else, and there was nothing we could do.  But that train did end up going to Rome, in a long 4 hour ride going from the Adriatic coast to the Tyrhenian coast.  At least after the first hour in our cabin, dark and without AC, I switched seats with Mason and could see that the next cabin (same class) had its lights on.  I sent Bill to check and sure enough it also had AC, and something was wrong with just our cabin.  We promptly moved, even through we were not all sitting together and had to move 3 large suit cases between us and my parents.  It was worth it!  We still had 3 hours to go.

Once we arrived at Rome Termini, we bought tickets on the 30-minute train to the airport.  We booked the Hilton garden Inn by the airport, which seemed more convenient than staying in the center of Rome.  But we were tired and hungry, but pressed on to get to the hotel, which even after the second train, was still a shuttle away, another 30 minutes between the wait and travel.

Next morning, we took the shuttle to the airport after breakfast, about 3 hours before our flight.  That would have been plenty of time if we were not kicked out at terminal 2 because there was a bomb threat that evacuated T3!  Travelers piled on by T2, as we heard them blow up something twice at the distance.  We never got the full story, but we were allowed back in the shuttles and taken to T3 after a 30-minute wait.  

T3 was the scene of chaos with ever passenger trying to get back in, check in, get through security, immigration, then a bus to the actual terminal, and planes!  United worked slowly through their lines while every other airline had already processed most of their passengers, we still had a 50-person line.

By the time we got to the gate, it had already boarded 2 groups.  We got on and the flight was delayed another hour.  As everything else in Italy, no explanation was given for the delay.

This made our connection in Chicago pretty tight.  Deplaning, going through immigration, getting our luggages, customs, checking bags back in, taking the train, going through security again, and walking to C gates, by the time we got to that gate, the plane to Denver was also boarding!  I had to run to get the kids some McDonald's as they were hungry and not excited for airplane food, even the kids airplane meals we had preordered.

We got back home on Monday night around 10:30 pm, and Audrey woke up at 2:30 am!  The rest of us couldn't sleep pass 4 am either.  Back to work and school the next morning, and adjusting slowly every day.

It was a fantastic trip.  I hope the kids remember some parts of it.  Final thoughts:

- want to go back to Florence again

- want to check out Venice, Naples and more places next time

- loved the food!

- hope to see my cousins, aunts and uncles a lot sooner than another 15 years

Italy - Ancona and wedding

The next day, we left for Ancona.  My parents were in Venice after their Croatia trip, and we were going to be on the same train as them from Bologna to Ancona, although in different cabins.  Our train left 15 minutes late, leaving us only 7 minutes to connect, which was stressful.  But the Bologna train was 5 minutes late and we made it just in time to say hello to Gong Gong and Bubu and board.

We were staying outside of the center of Ancona (2 miles up the Adriatic coast) at a modern hotel called Ego.  Again because we needed bigger rooms, we couldn't find much in Ancona itself.

We met us with my cousin Alice, her fiancée Andrea, Andrea's family, my uncles and aunts from Brazil, and Alice and Andrea's friends that night at the piazza next to Andrea's apartment.  Alice and Andrea are both architects that met in Hong Kong, where they still live.  Their friends came from all over, and it felt like the United Nations - Brazil, China, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Switzerland, India, Spain and US!  

Next morning, we stayed in to relax and to make sure the kids could stay up during the wedding.  My parents explored the town, and we all headed to the wedding at this small vineyard outside of Ancona.  It was such a beautiful site!  We are so grateful to be able to see all our family and share in their celebration.

Italy - Florence

We took a train from Rome to Florence -  fast, smooth, clean - so great that we wish we had fast speed trains in the US connecting our major cities.

Our hotel in Florence, the Grand Minerva was right at the piazza by the train station.  We spurged on the hotel as we figured we needed a little relaxation after Rome.  The hotel had great views from the roof deck pool area.

It is challenging to find family hotel rooms in Italy, and many don't have much information on the exactly configuration of their rooms.  Tripadvisor and web searches is often not as complete either.  So we were happy to see our family suite was 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, almost like a mini apartment.  Very modern and clean.

Perhaps as punishment for the Sistine chapel pictures, Bill got sick (sore throat).  He rested as I took the kids to the ppl (it was too cold to swim that first day), and then I took them to see the bridges and dinner.  

I books a last minute tour to get us in the Accademia to see Michelangelo's David. The tour emailed us saying that it was oversold and couldn't accommodate us, and we could stay on the wait list if we wanted to show up.  The normal line is normally hours, so we took our chances and sure enough they found spots for us.  It is supposed to skip the lines, although we all still waited an hour to get in.  It was worth it!

That night I had booked us a cooking tour.  Both the kids colosseum and cooking tours were recommended by a coworker who had just returned a couple of weeks ago.  We made pizzas from scratch and gelato!  It was a great experience that I am sure the kids will remember.

I wish we had longer in Florence.  It is definitely a city I want to return to some day.

Italy - Rome

Our first stop in Italy was Rome.  We had a good flight over via Chicago.  The kids are great on planes, and slept what we could after the beverage, dinner and ice cream interruptions.  They sat with me, as dad upgraded to business.

We landed late morning in Rome, and our goal was to check-in at the hotel, do some light sightseeing and staying awake as long as possible to help switch out time zones.

Raffaello hotel was great - friendly staff, centrally located, 2 large rooms with twins in one and a king in the other.  Although small and with a little dated decor, we would definitely stay there again.

After checking in, we glabbed lunch (our least favorite touristy spot, but we were hungry and just wanted to go somewhere close).  We went to theBasilica  Santa Maria a block away, found the metro and took it to the Spanish steps.  A gelato later, we took the metro back and went to bed around 6 pm.  That was as late as the kids could stay up.

Next morning, we headed out to see thePantheon, followed by the Forum.  We had booked the family/kids English tour of the Colosseum, which was fantastic!  The kids stayed entertained and met little friends as we followed the tour.  The colosseum is an amazing sight to see live for sure!

We found a much better dinner spot near our hotel called the Drunken Cow and went to a gelato place that we repeated next night as well.  We were all exhausted by the end of the day and got a mug better night of sleep.

Next day in Rome as reserved for the Vatican, which we booked ahead of time.  We first stopped at Piazza Navona for some food, and then headed to the Vatican.  Even with tickets, everyone wants to sell you a tour.  I am glad we didn't, as the kids were not going toast 2-3 hours of museums and cathedrals.  Instead we headed straight for the Batican museum, skipping all the lines and went to the Sistine chapel (so we thought).  The truth is there is 80% walking through the Vatican museum in a sea of people, then 20% standing in he Sistine chapel with thousands of others staring upwards.  Don't take me wrong, it was amazing.  Bill got yelled at for taking pictures, which is strictly prohibited.  The recording would tell us to quiet down every 2 minutes and remind us we are in a sacred place.

We were so tired after the Sistine chapel, and all wearing more clothes we wanted to in the hot weather due to the Vatican dress code, we decided not to go to aSt Peter's Basilica.  Instead we went back to the hotel for a little rest before going to dinner.  We would be leaving to Florence the next day.