Rome

Italy was fantastic. A place we could visit over and over again. The history, landmarks, food, weather, people and overall experience were so enjoyable. Here are a some photos of our journey. If you are interested in seeing the entire trip start at the post labeled Formula 1.

Coin

The Vatican has their own euro. The guide books said they were not easy to come by because coin collectors snatched them up. Spencer, our resident coin collector was quite happy when he found one.

Pizza & Pasta

We consumed a large amount of pizza and pasta. Our new family favorite is the roasted potato pizza. It's a thicker crust with no sauce, a little cheese and thinly sliced potatoes drizzled in olive oil with a touch of rosemary. Heaven!


Every restaurant was so welcoming to our family of 6. Whenever we saw the older retired Italian men sitting out front chatting we pretty much knew the food would be great inside. It was a lot of fun to go to some "local hangouts" instead of the usual tourist traps.

Orange Trees

The orange trees were in bloom in February! It felt just like spring. We asked our taxi driver if it was ok to pick an orange from the trees, but he said, "They-a no good-a to eat-a." Too bad because they are so pretty and HUGE. Our mouths were watering as we passed each tree.

Gelato

It really doesn't matter how much you have eaten there is ALWAYS room for gelato. We are hooked. Typically they allow you to choose two different flavors for a small cone and we tried pretty hard to try as many flavors as we could. Olivia's personal favorite is chocolate and mixed berry. Spencer is a cherries and cream fan. Clara always goes for mint chocolate chip and Lilly is a fruit girl...anything with mango, strawberry or lemon.


There is literally a gelato stand on every street. You don't have to walk very far to find a really good cone. How is then that we stopped into a shop for one last cone before heading to the airport and who should we see, but friends all the way from Salt Lake City?!!! Lynn & Kelly Brouse were standing in line behind us. We didn't have any idea they were traveling in Italy. Makes me realize that the world isn't so big after all.

Villa Borghese Park

Villa Borghese Park was a wonderful respite from pounding the pavement in Rome. It's full of natural resources, playgrounds and fun activities. We oped for the 6 man bike. How awesome is that!? Our entire family fit on the bike! Of course we had to take turns pedaling & steering.



After looking at so many statues Spencer decided to try posing as one himself.

Italian Open Air Market

I'm a big fan of open air markets. Living in Europe has been the best because there is always fresh produce just around the corner. Our first morning in Italy Taylor and I left the kids to relax in the apartment while we went searching for some Italian pastries and fruit for breakfast. You can only imagine my excitement when we walked right into a big old Italian Open Air Market. It was just like the market I used to shop at when we lived in Philadelphia. Not quite as refined as the markets in France, but really fun and brimming with all kinds of delicious food, household supplies and clothing. We took the kids the next morning and let them choose a variety. I think eating in Italy might be better than sightseeing! The food here is just fabulous!




We have a big population of wild boar that roam our forest in Fontainebleau. The Italians also have an abundance and they like to roast theirs for yummy sandwiches. This Italian butcher sliced a bunch for our breakfast meat. Lilly thought it was the best meat she has ever eaten. Olivia and Clara didn't like the thought of eating wild boar so they gave Lilly their portions.