Life as a parent is always surprising, always engaging, almost always exhausting, but when things go well, when you’re woken up with a smile, when you’re able to celebrate special occasions, it’s the only thing in the universe that matters!
Our beautiful boy turned one and Dalia organized an adorable home photo shoot featuring his very own Vespa, Sicilian summer hat and suspenders to match. We could just eat him up!
Feeling so blessed and lucky to spend our time with this beauty and looking forward to so many more things to celebrate.
After living in Rome for just over half a year, we’ve become comfortable in a number of ways. Last Sunday, that comfort led us to decide on an unplanned day trip back to Tivoli, this time to explore the city’s other (than Villa D’Este) UNESCO heritage site, the ruins of Villa Adriana.
The train schedule should have given us a moment of pause as most regional trains weren’t doing the route on Sunday. Nonetheless, based on the advice of a customer service agent at the station, we booked tickets to Bagni di Tivoli, then planned to take a bus to Villa Adriana.
You can probably surmise that the journey there didn’t go quite as smoothly as planned. Leaving the tiny train station at Bagni di Tivoli, we learned from the nearest barista that the next bus wasn’t scheduled for a few more hours on a Sunday, so we headed off on foot. Google indicated about a 5km walk and although intrepid, we hesitated to commit. Eventually we scored a seat on a city bus, with no ticket, and collapsed stroller in hand to within a kilometre of the site.
We made it to Villa Adriana in the early afternoon, with as many people already leaving as making their way in. The sprawling, open-air complex was serene, impressive and varied. Neither of us are particularly historically minded so we meandered, awaiting inspiration from the half-collapsed walls and sunworn and overly technical building descriptions.
The sunshine, pictures and warm Sunday air made for a completely pleasant afternoon. Aleksander snoozed on the bumpy walking paths between sections of the site and we compared the ruins to others we’ve seen in Italy, India and elsewhere.
After a few hours of exploring and a fairly sad food truck Cacio Pepe, we plotted our return route with a moderate tinge of anxiety. We decided to make our way to the train station in Tivoli, a surer bet to score a quick ride home, but also balked at scaling the not insignificant hill to get there. Without any obviously excellent option available, we headed upwards and paid the price to close off our day.
No need to bore with details but there may have been a highway crossed hastily with our stroller and a straight kilometre uphill before finally arriving at the scenic heights of Tivoli. Slightly cursing ourselves and lack of proper logistic organization. And discussing how we’ve been lucky for six full months in terms of Italian travel success.
In any case, another enjoyable day trip in the books. And probably our last time to Tivoli for some time.
On my first visit to Rome in 2015, after a few days in the city I felt I needed a break and Orvieto came up on many lists for best town for a day trip outside of Rome. I wasn’t disappointed on my first visit and found the scenic tranquility exactly the tonic I needed from the big city.
Since then, Dalia and I also stayed in the scenic hilltop town on our honeymoon four years ago. Needless to say, Orvieto holds a special place in our hearts and was an easy choice when considering where to go with our first set of visitors in Rome, Dalia’s brother and a friend from Ottawa.
Orvieto is just over an hour from Rome on one of a dozen daily trains. A funiculaire and bus take you to the main piazza in a few minutes from the train station.
The town is compact, full of great dining and shopping options and has incredible lookouts in several directions. We sat down to a slow food lunch of truffle pasta, rabbit and whatever fabulous bottle of wine the waiter recommended.
The hilight of Orvieto is definitely the Duomo. Somehow I remember being underwhelmed by this Church on previous trips, but I was glad to correct my internal record inside this massive, impressive and can’t miss site.
We even caught the tail end of a beautiful wedding ceremony and may have gotten a bit misty eyed remembering our own wedding and previous honeymoon visit. Now living just down the highway, with a beautiful baby in tow, feeling entirely blessed and grateful.
Dad In The World 