First stop on #legerworldtour is Rome, Italy. We are only staying here for 8 nights and then flying to Sardinia to meet up with an Italian family who we are good friends with. Rome, how I love you and how you continue to change, and I wouldn’t say in a good way. We took an overnight flight in coach with three kids. Sounds like a good time right? Add to that the configuration of the seats on the plane, three rows of three. Do the math. Yep, E sat with the two big kids, and I sat with the baby by myself next to a couple (who were not the friendliest). This setup meant me holding my beautiful 25 pound baby almost the entire flight, letting her sleep as much as physically possible. I couldn’t even get water, which was probably for the better because I also couldn’t get up to pee. Funny enough as I have gotten older I’m getting better at recovering from these sleepless overnight flights. We were smart enough to arrange a car to pick us up at the airport and take us to our Airbnb. Rome is one of the few major European cities that doesn’t have a good train system from the airport to town center. You are better off taking a taxi vs. a bus, or the train and then subway.
We arrived at our very nice apartment in the Prati district. This is the neighborhood I lived in many moons ago during my semester abroad. It is also the area we always stay in when visiting Rome. Since it was already 4pm (gelato or apertivo o’clock), we quickly changed and went out for the baby’s first gelato. I’m a sucker for tradition, so all of my kids had their first real ice cream at the same gelateria. Sage was not disappointed with the experience. We took some sweet pics of the kids and ate our cones, but my ice cream was not nearly as good as I remembered, even two years ago (the last time we were here). I found it overly sweet and I couldn’t taste the hazelnut flavor at all. I ended up giving the cone to E because why eat something if you don’t 100% enjoy is ALWAYS my moto.
With the gelato tradition complete we strolled around Piazza de Popolo and stopped in one of the two very old restaurants framing the piazza for an apertivo. I think this was my first negroni ever in Rome (I’m often pregnant when coming here) and E had a spritz. They were both delicious and came with some snacks (which the kids enjoyed). Right away we noticed the SUPER friendly service and attitude towards our kids, even though they were taking up a prime table at a somewhat fancy restaurant and not eating or drinking anything. People have been beyond kind to the kids. Even at the airport we bypassed the VERY long passport patrol line because we had kids. People are always giving them things to try or just nibble on, whether it’s at the farmer’s market or at stores and restaurants.
We then headed back to our neighborhood to have dinner in one of our favorite neighborhood casual restaurants. Again, I have been coming here for 17 years and we always have either lunch or dinner there on our first day. The menu is extensive and location super convenient, so often we would eat there more than once during our visits. The baby fell asleep in the stroller on our walk over, which was going to make for an even more relaxing evening 🙂 We sat at one of the end tables outside and enjoyed the beautiful summer evening. However, the food was mediocre and the service TERRIBLE. Ah! another disappointing tradition.
We have been in Rome for a few days now and are starting to get into the groove of things somewhat, only starting. But I continue to realize over and over again that any time I have expectations about a place or an experience I find myself terribly disappointed and feeling totally off, and when I go into something with no expectations, or low expectations, I am almost always pleasantly surprised! So for now that is my big take away: remove the expectations, and go with the flow. Easier said than done, but hey, worth trying.
Love reading you guys !!! What an adventure ahead … besos!!
Mel