Well, after cancelling and rescheduling this trip several times due to Covid-19, I’m writing from my long-awaited trip back to Italy. You may know that I have strong Italian heritage, plus I’m generally obsessed with Italian cuisine and culture, so being in this country is soul-fulfilling on many levels. I’m here with my husband and two daughters, so it’s my first time traveling abroad with multiple small children. It’s been equal parts amazing and exhausting (but overall, worth it, worth it, worth it). Our trip didn’t start out smoothly, with an 8:40 PM planned takeoff to Rome being delayed until nearly 4:00 AM. We’ve also dealt with a few consecutive days of intermittent intense rain, but overall, I’m so grateful to be here and bask in all that Italy has to offer with my family.
After a few days in Rome, we arrived in Florence yesterday and I’m soaking in this beautiful city. We’ve been hitting up hole-in-the-wall trattorias, enjoying lingering apertivos and indulging in granita, my favorite Italian warm-weather treat (think Italian ice meets slushy). We’re here for a few more days, and then it’s off to the final leg of our trip in southern Tuscany, not far outside of Montepulciano.
Since we’re traveling with little kids, releasing expectations and slowing the pace way down is the key to making the most of our time here. If it were just me and my husband, we’d be following an itinerary, hitting up a lot more of the historic sites and museums. But since kids have limited attention spans, historical interest and stamina, strolling casually around the city, doing some shopping, enjoying gelato by fountains and admiring many of the beautiful, ancient churches is the perfect way to enjoy each day. Every evening means a great dinner and a later-than-usual bedtime, Italian kid style (thankfully, they’ve been sleeping longer than normal, making up for the slightly later nights).
Rest assured, I’m gathering plenty of inspiration from the markets and restaurants here! Hopefully this will mean lots of fun developing (and testing) amazing, authentic Italian dishes to share with you this summer.
Ciao for now!
Hi Lauren! I’m in Italy too! My husband and I have a home in Altavilla Milicia, Sicily. We use it as home base to travel elsewhere and of course love being here too. My question is have you had challenges finding all vegan food? We just returned from 12 days in Northern Italy and for the most part restaurants always had something vegan. I had a lot of spaghetti pomodoro!! But also great salads, soups and sorbetto!