Tag: momlife

Italian Labour Day Weekend in Sperlonga

Even though we had almost laughably bad luck after buying a car in Italy and then having it die 10 days later on our first weekend drive out of town, we’ve made the most of Italy’s underrated train system and visited pretty much everything within an hour or so of Rome, over the last two years.

With our final Italian beach season approaching, we set our sights on nearby Sperlonga, one of the few major beach towns that we hadn’t yet visited. Sperlonga features on many lists of Italy’s best summer destinations and as the May Day holiday created a three day weekend, we ventured off for a two night visit with a work pal, his wife and their daughter, almost exactly Aleksander’s age.

The train to Sperlonga is an easy hour away from Rome and we hopped into a taxi from the train station to get to our early season hotel.

The hotel was clean, comfortable, had seaside views and a swimming pool, mostly reserved for foreigners (including Canadians) at this pre-summer heatwave juncture. We enjoyed a seafood lunch at the hotel restaurant before taking the 40 minute or so walk up to the scenic Sperlonga town itself.

The views were typically fabulous, if overcast. The town’s piazzas, patios and alleyways were buzzing with European tourists and lounging locals alike. Aleksander, of course, was entranced with some kids kicking a soccer ball against the wall as we watched for the better part of half an hour. Eventually, Tom and family joined us for an apertivo as the kids chased bubbles spiritedly.

We scored some pizza al taglio as the evening closed in and were glad to share the experience with some adult and toddler friends, our first joint family weekend since arriving in Italy.

The next day, we hoped for a few hours of clear skies in order to enjoy some of Sperlonga’s famous sandy beaches. The stabilimemti were all within an easy ten minute walk and Aleksander frolicked in the sand for a good few hours. The sun peered out from behind the clouds and it looked like the gloomy weather forecast might be proven wrong altogether. Alas, after sitting down for lunch, the clouds and winds darkened and picked up and we had to call it a day on our first beach attempt of the year.

We returned to the hotel, the kids watched some tv as the adults indulged in some vino and convo. We discussed the amazingness of Italy, how every little town seemed worth a visit and how lucky our kids were to get such memorable experiences on the regular.

The next day was even rainier than the others and it felt fully acceptable to return to the beauty of Rome after the long weekend escape.

Again, the Springtime weather is proving to be a bit more unstable than in our previous years but we’re not letting that slow down our exploration. Next stop, our final weeklong Italian trip, to the southern heel of the boot, in Puglia and Salento.

Thank you Sperlonga for a great soft launch of our final Italian beach season!

Easter Weekend in the Amalfi

As we start to approach the twilight of our Italian days, we’ve become more active in getting some bucket list activities done. Even though we visited Ischia last Spring and the Amalfi on our honeymoon in 2017, it just didn’t feel right to leave Italy without having spent a few days on the fabled Amalfi coast this time around. So with Dalia’s sister arriving from Canada via Spain, we zipped down the coast from Rome for Easter weekend.

Although we honeymooned in Sorrento, our two night hotel stay was actually in the cliff-top outskirts of the city and we never managed to visit the town itself. This time we booked ourselves three nights in a comfortable loft apartment in adjacent Sant’Agnello – close enough for scenic walks but far enough to get a taste of the local area.

The Easter Weekend brought lots of crowds to Sorrento but also offered an insight into the deep persistence of religious life in Italy. The contrast of sunny coastline, full buzzing patios and the sombre Holy Friday procession was a sight to behold and we felt very lucky to experience both aspects.

Our Saturday plan to visit Capri was unfortunately rained out and replaced with a rather home-bound afternoon, full of good food, naps and time to reflect. We bought some lamb from the local butcher, stocked up at the village market and enjoyed our indoor day.

Thankfully the clouds cleared up on Easter Sunday and we got on a packed bus to Positano. I’ve always been a fan of off-season travel and Positano is a perfect place to visit before the summer crowds truly start to roar. The town was still busy for a gloomy April day but we made the most of our long walk down from the bus stop to the beach.

Positano is such a distilled jewel of the best of Italy. Amazing views, architecture, food and charm. Aleksander watched boys play soccer on the beach, climbed in and out of dormant fishing boats and even found a slide to frolic on for a while. The sun came out for an absolutely idyllic hour or so and we got to take some pregnancy shots featuring a massive Amalfi lemon.

We caught a ferry back to Sorrento after enjoying a fabulous beachside lunch in Positano and meandered around the rather bumping downtown alleyways of Sorrento before heading home. Although the weather didn’t quite cooperate as much as we had hoped, the long weekend was relaxing, inspiring and enjoyable nonetheless.

We left for Rome the next morning grateful, rejuvenated and with full hearts.

Mommy’s Birthday in Magical Matera

Matera had piqued Dalia’s interest quite early during our time in Italy. It’s a city that we hadn’t previously heard much about but revealed itself to her through both word of mouth and instagram profiles over the months. We had already planned two different trips to the south-east of Italy where Matera is located, but for various reasons, had to pull the plug both times. Alas, Dalia’s early Spring birthday was the ideal time to make our way across most of southern Italy to Matera!

This was by far our longest road trip in Italy. The drive was about five hours and really tested Aleksander’s ability to manage life in a car seat for longer than he’s ever done before. Thankfully, he took some timely naps and we stopped as needed. Overall, the drive was gorgeous and enjoyable. The late March landscape was already saturated with a vibrant emerald green and gave us plenty to look at and chit chat about. The Italian countryside never disappoints.

Like many other places in Italy, Matera managed to surpass even our fairly high expectations. There isn’t much that indicates what you’re about to find, on the final approach to Matera. But then you arrive at one of the world’s oldest inhabited locations, with continuous dwellings dating back thousands of years, throughout a series of incredible and unexpected cave and canyon formations, with homes chiselled into the rock face over hundreds of years.

It’s an absolutely astonishing and inspiring place, a UNESCO world heritage site since 1993. We spent our time trying to explore every nook and cranny, going up and down winding staircases, getting lost and finding our way back home. Dalia was able to manage with her burgeoning pregnancy and Aleksander got to flex his balance and stamina on the ancient paths.

We were able to hang out as a family, get some sun and steps, reflect on the wonder of humanity’s capabilities, visit something new and on our Italian bucket list and eat, run and explore. Matera was truly an otherworldly city and definitely worth the drive and effort in getting there and around.

Another nearby town that Dalia has long had in her sights was Alberobello and since we were relatively close, even though the weather was a bit ominous, we decided to make a short visit.

We lunched, walked around and even spent an hour in a rainy playground. Alberobello may not have had its most glamourous day but we were happy to see the place without the summer tourist crowds.

Our long overdue trip to Matera was completely magical. We returned to Rome telling anyone we could that they absolutely have to visit. Dalia’s birthday wish came true and it was a great start to her year ahead.

Valentines in Verona ❤️ (and a side trip to Lake Garda)

After a relatively quiet few January weeks, and with some unseasonably cold (by Rome standards) winter weather, we were eager to get back to exploring as yet undiscovered Italian gems. So, partially motivated by an enjoyable train trip to Milan in December, and mostly inspired by the possibility of spending Valentine‘a Day weekend in Verona, the home of Romeo and Juliet, we set off!

Verona is about a four hour train ride from Rome. Our usual target continuous toddler travel time is less than three hours. That being said, Aleksander is quickly maturing, better understanding certain life basics (like travelling to get to a place), and also usually pretty comfortable on Italy’s underrated smooth-riding trains where we typically spend half the trip walking up and down the aisles smiling at grandmas.

We arrived and headed to our Airbnb, which may have been on the wrong side of the River Adige that snakes it’s way through the ancient city. After dropping off our bags, we ventured back into the old city, passing through the grand piazza of the Colosseum-like, Arena di Verona. The city was alive, bright and full of wintertime lovers keen to celebrate in the city Shakespeare made so famous.

We dined, we explored and Aleksander frolicked in the largely car free centre of town.

Verona had a great buzz during the entire weekend. The sun brought us so much joy and again reminded us of just how spoiled Italy and Italians are for beauty. You could almost throw a dart at a map of the country and land on something almost unbelievably charming and beautiful. Verona, unsurprisingly, was no different.

We were captivated by a quiet, morning visit to the nearby Giardino Giusti and tried to absorb as much of the emerald green as possible. To a Canadian conditioned to dark grey and brown tones from October to April, the site was an absolute revelation.

The views from the hilltop Castel San Pietro were no less enchanting. We spent much of the time, outside of the cappuccino and cornetto, pinching ourselves at the wonder of the entire scene. And then thinking how long the city has been around, how many souls have passed through and been touched by its vibrance, not least, the eternal lovers Romeo and Juliet.

Another bucket-list destination for Dalia since arriving in Italy was Lake Garda. And conveniently the lake is just about an hour’s bus ride from Verona. So, taking our first inter-city bus in Italy, with a vague sense of where to get off and then, more importantly, eventually where to get back on, we turned our sights to the water!

We ended up getting off far too early, but conveniently the stop was right in front of a bustling Sunday morning cafe, and with Aleksander asleep, we took advantage.

Eventually we made our way to the tourist laden peninsula of Sirmione, a completely worthwhile place to spend an afternoon in Italy. We lunched, caught some rays and made sure we were back at the bus stop in time to catch the late afternoon bus to Verona.

Our lovely weekend of love in Verona was exactly what we hoped for and needed. Novelty is so important in life and maybe even more so in family life. Short trips like these are such a great way to reconnect, experience something new and see and feel what the world has to offer.

We could feel the friendly ghosts of Romeo, Juliet and Shakespeare quietly floating around the Verona streets, smiling at all the hopeless romantics passing by, including our unassuming trio.

Day Trip to Frascati & the accidental opening of Carnevale!

January somehow flew completely under the radar in our home. A combination of gloomy winter weather, a series of coughs and colds and not having visitors kept us mostly in the neighbourhood during weekends. It was a classic lowkey winter month but our feet were finally getting itchy so we decided on perhaps the easiest day trip out of Rome, to nearby Frascati.

Only a 30 minute train ride from Termini, Frascati ticked all the day trip boxes and also wasn’t Tivoli or Orvieto where we’ve already been a few times. We arrived in the nearby town and realized that it was the kickoff to Carnevale and, of course, we had no idea because we’re the working parents of a toddler!

Aleksander played with the confetti strewn all over the street as we watched children dressed up and loving the grand annual event. We quickly visited the Basilica of San Pietro but Aleksander was keen to get back outside and enjoy the festivities.

We had timed our visit to essentially be a lunch stop but didn’t quite anticipate the difficulty finding a table at any of the cozy restaurants with decent reviews. After trying five different places and being turned away, we were warmly welcomed into an enoteca that served a standard lunch menu of bread, cheese, salami, porchetta, tomatos and beans. It was essentially Italian country heaven!

Stomachs full, we continued strolling through the town, snapping some great pics on the bright winter day.

We got some unnecessary sweets on our way back towards the train station and agreed again on how many great places there are to see and visit in Italy, even if most end up being versions of eachother. Somehow the charm, authenticity and deep cultural traditions of Italy always manage to make for great visits.

It was an easy peasy ride home and reminded us how nice it is to get out of Rome for a breath of fresh air. Alla prossima Frascati!