Italy- Rome, Tuscany, Venice, Cinque Terre... Way too long. :/

Gelateria Della Palma
Not gourmet, but fabulous just the same. Favorites were: Crispy Pistachio, Rafaello (Like the white coconut bon bons made by Ferrero), Ferrero Rocher, Pumpkin Seed, Passion Fruit, and there were some funny ones like Dolce & Gabbana too. They had mousses and sorbets and lots of kid friendly flavors as well as more mature ones like basil or pear. We went back three more times, lol.

Ghosts & Mysteries Walking Tour
That evening we took a “free” tour through guruwalk, which makes it clear it is a pay-what-you-want situation. It was fantastic. The guide was funny and warm and knowledgeable and the tour itself was entertaining and informative. The walking was enough to see a little of Campo di Fiori and adjoining neighborhoods but not enough to wear anyone out. The sites were not ones you’d see in your normal sightseeing circuits and the subject matter was unique as well. It blended fact and legend, but the guide was very clear about delineating. If you are very sensitive about violent subject matter, it would not work for you, but then I’m not sure how one would tour the Colosseum or many Roman sites in that situation. I had my two teen daughters with me and they rated it their favorite guided activity by a landslide and their second favorite experience of the entire two-week trip, including Paris. It was also great to have something to do in the evening when all the historical sites are closed.

Day 3
Street Art Tour of Tor Marancia
Condominiale Tor Marancia is a public housing development. The city of Rome sponsored a contest that allowed the winners free reign to paint a mural on the side of a building, 18 in total. They are unique and stunning. I would love to take a tour of Ostiense and less sanctioned street art too.

I intentionally looked for some alternative things to engage my teens and found a guide who specialized in street art via Instagram, then verified him via getyourguide. He was very warm and kind and charged us very little and clearly loves the art. We tipped him to make up the difference and brought a small Andy Warhol art thank you gift with us from Pittsburgh. If I were rebooking with my adult family members, I would book him again. If I were booking with teens again, I’d choose a younger, more alternative guide.

Sacro Bosco ("Monster Park")
We took the bus from Tor Marancia to Termini Station to pick up our rental car. We booked through VIPcars, (an intermediary) gave us excellent customer service, including a painless reschedule with Noleggiare. We paid $38 for the day and it would have been much less if I was comfortable with a manual transmission.

I had a little trouble with the directions I chose for leaving the city, but overall, the driving was less intimidating than I expected and it was kind of fun to drive a cute little car in Italy. As with most things when traveling, the transition from our previous activity, the paperwork, and the pickup took longer than one could anticipate.

The drive was pretty on the way to Sacro Bosco and I wish we’d had time to go to Sutri and Villa Lante, but we did not. We stopped at A Meta Strada for takeaway lunch on the way and it was quick and did the job. The park ended up being the favorite activity of the entire trip for both girls. It is spellbinding. It could be enjoyed in an hour or savored for 6. I was glad we chose not to do a guided tour and I’m sure that’s part of why the girls loved it so much, but I would love to have learned alllll the trivia at the time. The total cost to us was around $100 after tickets, car rental and gas. Guided tours from Rome were starting at $150 each from what I could tell.

“Piazza Party”
We strolled to the Trevi Fountain and got some lackluster pizza al Taglio at Pizza in Trevi . Nothing wrong with it, but bland and soft even after toasting. The fountain though!

I really only had it and the Spanish Steps on our list because they were some of the few things my untraveled girls recognized and wanted to see. The fountain was my happiest surprise of the trip. I found it to be so much bigger and more beautiful and luminous than I expected. It was busier than other spots we went to, but not excessively so, as it was March and a little chilly.

We walked to the Spanish Steps from there, and again, they were so much bigger than I expected and the piazza was as well. The Basilica and palm tree at the top were enchanting. I did not realize that every famous designer you can think of has a storefront there. We didn’t shop, but the girls did take selfies with the giant ads of Tom Holland and Zendaya.

We shared a small gelato from Fat Morgana and the quality difference was notable. It’s definitely gourmet and the natural flavors felt less like junk food. We still got more Gelato Della Palma on the way home and slept well that night!

Day 4
This was the only day we had no reservations for ahead of time. Paradoxically, we did the most this day and more enjoyed the day as a whole because it was less stressful.

Castel Sant’Angelo
We arrived early and it was not busy. It also cost only $16 for all three of us because the girls are under 18. They really liked not having a guide and just poking around and moving at their own pace. I did too, but my curiosity was also niggling the entire time! (More reading to do!)

Quartiere Coppede
This was another item I thought might engage my art student daughter and she did love the unique architecture. I probably would not go out there just for that unless the weather is nice and you want a stroll without a ton of crowds. The neighborhood was lively and it was the only time in Rome we didn’t hear people speaking English much.

We did get our only Pinsa of our visit there at a takeaway shop called Streatart. The owners were lovely and they had some tables outside and the Pinsa was very good, especially after the disappointing pizza of the previous day. We also stopped at a couple of very traditional pasticcerie and got a cannoli and some little biscotti to share.

Verde Pistacchio
We took the bus back toward the city center and it was still only around noon! The girls had spotted this cute place on the way into town on day 1, so we headed that way. I highly recommend it! It was artisan quality but the flavors were not fussy- perfect for foodies and kids alike. In addition, it was reasonably priced (comparatively), the service was excellent and it’s so (so!) cute! The entire bar is a vintage VW bus and everything is sparkling clean. There are cute signs and a vespa outside you can take photos with as well.

Basilica San Clemente
High on my list since the early planning stage, but the girls did not like the idea. Since we had time they agreed. It closes midday and doesn’t open again til 3pm, so we had time to kill.

We were first in line when the Basilica opened and I had not realized tickets must be purchased online only. The basilica is free, but the underground portion is 10 Euro for adults and 5 for students. The tickets allow you to go down to a third layer built in the 1st century, a second underground basilica built in the 4th century in addition to the basilica standing on top now, completed in the 12th. The current basilica contains amazing fixtures and art and the lower are fascinating.

We quickly snagged the last couple of tickets in our time slot on my phone. The girls said they’d stay upstairs and sit in the basilica at first, but their curiosity got the better of them and it was their 3rd favorite thing in Rome and 4th of the whole trip! Again, glad we didn’t do a guided tour but I wished for more info as we went through. The first floor is really surprising and stunning compared to the unassuming outside, even if you don’t want to visit the excavations.

“Crazy” at Chiostro del Bramante
My daughter saw the ads for this art installation and was interested in it, so I offered to buy tickets, budget be damned. It really was not overpriced, but we had done a lot at that point. I’m glad we did it. It was really lighthearted fun on an intense trip and also nice to do something warm and indoors since it was chilly most of our time in Rome. The girls loosened up and took lots of photos and my younger daughter who does not “get” art was still entertained by the out-of-the-box exhibits. It's designed for adults, but it’s bright and colorful and has an adapted guide for kids. There’s a fun little salon bar at the end and you can have coffee or drinks or even lunch.

Trastevere
Trastevere was my only must-see that we still hadn’t made it to the night before our train.
Trapizzino was yummy and good fun. The staff was great. We just got a few things to take out, but the suppli was better there than the other two we tried.
We also stopped at Donkey Punch to split a sandwich, as it had been mentioned a lot in reviews. It is not Italian food by any stretch, but if you are traveling with teens who need a break from the pasta and sparkling water without heading to a McDonalds, this would fit the bill. They took 20 minutes to make a single sandwich, but the girls enjoyed reading the amusing menu (every item named after a music icon) and taking photos with the funky wall mural.

Day 5
Trevi x2
My older daughter had wanted to do a mini photo shoot at the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps so she was willing to get up early and beat the crowds on our last day. We got out the door before 8am, but the bus service had been eliminated in that direction just that morning. It was not clearly marked, so keep an eye out.

The chilly weather served us well. As late as 9am, we had the Spanish Steps to ourselves and shared the Trevi Fountain with maybe a dozen people.

We got to Montecatini just after lunch. It’s a fading tourist hub for day trips as well as an old spa town. We went because my husband and I stayed there on our honeymoon as broke kids. (Back when we thought we would not be broke adults- ha!) We stayed in a little villa on the mountain in Montecatini Alto this time. The location is everything Italian dreams are made of.

We took an inexpensive bus up the mountain and we had dinner reservations (our only sit down meal in Italy) at the same restaurant their dad and I went to 20 years ago. It looked kind of stuffy and the menu was limited and not super appealing, but it was about sentimentality, I suppose. Boy, were we wrong. It was the best food we had the entire trip. Someone’s nonna must have made the delicate little gnocchi that was in a very mild gorgonzola sauce. The bolognese was on big flat homemade noodles and the other pasta dish had zucchini flowers, red pepper flakes, and minced pork. The polenta with truffles was lovely as well, as was the service. Ristorante La Torre comes highly recommended.

I had planned Montecatini Alto mid-trip to give us a break since the town is tiny and beautiful. My daughters’ feet were not doing great so the timing was perfect, but they decided they HAD to see Florence and visit Medici sites.

Day 6
We could get a bus at 6:55 or nearly 10 am or pay for a taxi. We left on the 6:55 and were in Florence around 8am for a 5 euro train ride. We got a lovely cappuccino for 1.40 euro at Caffe Degli Innocenti and nice little pastries too for only a euro or 1.50. The staff was the friendliest of our whole trip.

Guruwalk Medici Tour
Since our guruwalk was so great in Rome, we booked one in Florence and hilariously, were in a group with two girls who had been on our walk in Rome. The guide was funny and charismatic but my daughter kept whispering that she already knew all this stuff and wasn’t learning any Medici tidbits.

The Uffizi Galleries
We booked last minute timed Uffizi tickets through viator and it was a lot of nonsense trying to figure out how to pick up the tickets, but ultimately, the agent from Things to Do in FZCO never showed up. Another agent for a tour company used her cell to call the company and they were useless, so she sold us her unsold tickets at cost and got us right in.

Ugh. The Uffizi. What can I say? We were only in the Louvre for an hour, but I favor the Uffizi. The Botticelli in particular. It is overwhelming. We didn’t stay as long as I would have if we’d had a whole day or were staying nearby. I needed a break to process and then dive back in! I felt like I had mentally binged.

We were out in time for a late lunch and got pizza at Pizza Napoli 1955 after checking their ratings online. It was not great. We got a sausage and broccoli rabe and the rabe had gone sour and very wet, so the whole pizza was soggy.

The Boboli Gardens
We had time and decided to push our luck and see the Boboli Gardens too. I loved the view of the Ponte Vecchio but the gardens were the biggest disaster of our trip. I blindly followed google maps because I was very distracted talking with my daughters (and mentally swimming after the Uffizi). Google does not take one to the entrance, but to the center of the gardens, via the rear wall. That is not accessible. It redirected until we had walked the entire circumference on the only warm day of our trip. We were drenched and missed our entry time.

By the time we made it, the girls were very put out and no longer interested. It was past our entry time, but they let us in without noticing and we sat in the courtyard for an hour recovering.

The gardens are vast and impressive, and, if you are a connoisseur of landscape artistry, a bit shabby, I imagine. I can’t begin to calculate the cost to keep up such a property, but I’m guessing it doesn’t closely replicate its original splendor. The view at the top is stunning and there is a lot of romantic space to explore. The girls were eventually charmed despite the exhaustion.

We got gelato on the way to the train station but the bus was done for the evening in Montecatini and we were forced to take a taxi. We got vegetarian pizza with giant thin slices of eggplant and zucchini at Il Giardino up on Alto. It was one of the better pizzas of our trip.

Day 7
We had to check out of our Villa by 10 but our train wasn’t until 1:30. There is a delightful gift shop in the Piazza di Giuseppe Giusti with hand painted ceramics and handmade jewelry and lots of sweet little gifts. The name won’t even show up on my credit card statement and googling gets me nowhere but there are only a couple shops up there. The prices are good and the gifts are lovely. We got our only real souvenirs of the trip.

Montecatini Alto is the type of place you want to recommend to everyone except you don’t want anyone to know about it!

Our train was delayed, which made our connection tight, but we got to Venice Mestre around 4pm and walked 5 minutes to Staycity Venice. I wasn’t excited about staying there because it’s outside of Venice proper and hardly romantic, but the girls absolutely loved it and it was spotless. The hotel was generous with (fluffy) towels and extra blankets. The room was ridiculously affordable and very large, even by US standards. It had a large queen size bed with a big duvet and the headboard had individual reading reading lamps and outlets with USB ports so we got to charge everything at once instead of rationing the adapter between us. It even had a kitchenette with far more pots and pans than one could hope to use. It also had cabinet, drawer, and shelf space.

Between the bedroom area and the kitchenette area they had a small dining table and chairs and two oversized chairs that were comfy to sit in, but folded out into full twin size beds instead of a little cot.

If you are traveling on a budget (or not!) or with kids, I recommend it. The staff was incredibly gracious and they will hold your baggage before or after check in while you sightsee as well (no fee). They will nickel and dime you on breakfast and laundry, but so will everyone else. The fact is, they have a functioning laundry room!

We had a rooftop reservation at 6:30 for the T Fondaco Terrace. We checked in at Staycity at 4:30 and that should have been plenty of time, but we bought a one day Venice transportation passes and they malfunctioned. Worse, the sales people in the ticket booths had no idea what to do. They told us to scan it in machines that didn’t even have a code reader (the passes have a QR code), then finally came out themselves after we missed a few water taxis. The guy tried to put it into every machine or scanner they had. He seemed to have no idea how to use the pass or what it was, even though we just bought it there! Finally they realized it wasn’t scanning and they let us through the gate. We had to walk a bit after the water taxi and then go through security and up to the top floor. We arrived at the stroke of 6:30. The employee coolly told us there were no tickets left in perfect English. When I showed her we already had one, she said “sold out”. I repeated that I had already booked in advance and she told me it was now closed. When I told her we had arrived exactly on time she went dead eyed and said “non parlo Inglese”. So that was the end of that.

We wandered around to look for food and got Pizza at Farini. I wanted to get mainly “authentic”, old school street food, but Farini was the best pizza we put in our mouths in Italy, regardless of authenticity. They had beautiful salads and desserts as well. We got more the following day to take on the train. It’s 6ish euro a piece, but the pieces we got were enormous-the size of a small neapolitan pizza, but thicker. The zucchini was excellent, as was the margherita and sausage.

After dark, we walked through the narrow walkways and enjoyed the atmosphere and just stumbled right into Piazza San Marco. It was breathtaking. I did not expect it to be so vast. The astronomical clock is so unique and though we saw a lot of churches and architecture in Italy and Paris, Basilica San Marco was unreal, even with scaffolding. (Almost everything we saw in Italy had scaffolding on it or nearby.) The details and opulence… wow! We didn’t get to go inside, but I’d have loved to.

The girls split a bubble waffle with gelato at Ci Gusta. It was fine… kinda meh. I waited in line at Gelatoteca Suso and it was incredibly decadent and very good. Different flavors from other places, but more rich and decadent, not more “out there”.

We stopped at a couple of old-fashioned pasticcerie for pistacchio odds and ends and I loved the kind of dry crumbly pan pescatore pistachio cookies with almonds on them. It was like an American biscotti and cookie in one. Tourist food, but I didn’t care a bit.

Day 8
The next morning, we took the bus to Venice and walked around as planned since we only had til midday. It was so cold we kept trying to find places to get inside to get warm. We walked to to some mom-and-pop bakeries with no tourists where little old ladies who spoke only Italian were doing the baking (and everything else), for pizzettes.

If I’d anticipated the weather, I would have bought tickets to the Guggenheim beforehand, even for only a couple hours. We wanted to try fresh pasta but didn’t have the time or budget so we waited for Dal Moro’s to open. It was inexpensive and tasty but excessively rich.

The girls were iffy about a gondola ride, but it felt it would be sad to leave without, especially since we didn’t have time to see the palace or basilica or museums. Our gondolier was very sweet and pointed out lots of details and whistled melodically for us.

Though considered touristy, I found it worthwhile. It’s an old trade that is still attracting young Venetians and the etiquette and skill is ancient. They can skim the corners of buildings within an inch and duck under bridges without glancing up.

We took the train to Riomaggiore and we were super hungry and tired by then so we ordered a pizza at the only open place that would allow takeout, Pizzeria Da Mam’Angela. The staff were standoffish and when I tiptoed back in for napkins they acted like I was a thief and someone literally followed me outside for several steps. When I kept walking, they hollered, “Need something?”. The food was low quality but we were hungry enough not to care. We also used the laundromat which is blessedly open til 11pm.

Day 9
We stayed at Il Mare di Ada in Riomaggiore and it was beautifully situated. I felt/feel incredibly lucky we got to stay there. The bedroom window had the most wonderful view of the bay and the houses and rocks across the way. The apartment itself was simple and cute. It was reasonably clean and the owner sent us the most amazing detailed instructions, both photo and video, on how to walk there from the train. It was a bit chilly and had tile floors and no rugs, so a couple of warm blankets or an extra duvet would have been greatly appreciated. That’s the only issue we had.

We had an impossible time finding takeout/fried seafood the following day. When we reached out to the host after hours of traveling to her recommended places (all closed), she was friendly and reassured of two places she was confident would be open. We took the train to a different Terre for each and they were not. I don’t think our lunch was her responsibility so it won’t affect my review, but I wish she had some concept of how much it affected our only full day there and would have just said, “I’m sorry, I’m not sure.” All that to say, any other guests should not have that problem until fall since I’m told the beginning of April opens everything like magic and we were there til March 30. If you go in the shoulder/off season, you will have uncrowded villages and bare beaches, but shops and food will be limited. It’s a great trade in my opinion, but I wish we expected it and prepared accordingly. We went to Pizza Kepris for dinner at the host's insistence and thank heavens it was open, so we didn’t care too much that it was a tad rubbery. It tasted fine and their tiramisu was heavenly. The girls were pooped, but I was itching to take in more, so I hiked through Riomaggiore as the sunset and it was just… everything.

Day 10
We had an earlyish train to Pisa to catch our flight to Paris. We knew that breakfast in Riomaggiore would be hard to find, so we waited til our La Spezia connection and dashed to C’est Bon for reasonably priced cappuccinos and pastries (They weren’t super fresh, but fresh pastries were hard to come by in tourist areas). Our train was delayed 12 min on the tracks due to “permission from control” and we had only a 10 minute connection time in Pisa. When we dashed off our train, the next one was sitting right there on the opposite of the same platform, doors open, waiting. Despite what google maps says, Pisa S. Rossore is barely a 5 minute walk from the Tower. It was drizzling, but I hadn’t been to Pisa since I was a teenager and it was so clean and manicured and things were pretty in the rain.

The places we wanted to go to for lunch were, yet again, closed despite their posted hours. We really wanted a good pizza and gelato before leaving Italy. The pizza was reasonably good at Quarto D’ora Italiano, which was the nearest thing. We also came across the most delightful shop (Galileo) run by the owner whose husband designed all of the items inside. If you want souvenirs and gifts that are unique and charming, this is a great stop.

Getting to the airport ended up being more drama than I bargained for since I was expecting bus tickets to be acquired at tobacconists or newsstands as in Rome. (Spoiler: they weren't.) We ended up having to make a mad dash for the train station with our (now feeling quite heavy) packs on then catch the overpriced (by comparison), privatized PisaMover (with a logo made by some soul who was unaware that it would read as “Pissmover” to my cackling teenagers.). We'd have been better off catching a taxi.

We were flying via easyjet and had no reason to panic. We were there in plenty of time even though the security line was long. They didn’t even start to load people onto buses to take them to the tarmac until it was the stated departure time.

I'm not sure how my teenagers will remember it, but my 15 year old (who has been saying she's uncomfortable using the city bus alone) walked in the door from practice early one day shortly after the trip, having bought a bus ticket, figured out the route, and taken the trip solo.

My younger one says it was so stressful it cured her everyday anxiety, lol... not sure what to make of that! :/

I'll post about Paris separately so I can end this on a happy note! I learned a lot, which I posted about previously, and unsurprisingly, I can't wait to go back!

What a wonderful trip. I hope your daughters will remember this trip forever. Even if they were bored sometimes, they will probably reminisce about it down the road someday. I think you planned well. There are always hiccups along the road, but I think you handled it well. I’m looking forward to reading your Paris report.