It's raining, it's pouring

The final destination of our trip was the beautiful Cinque Terre, a one hour drive from Pisa. Our original plan was to check into our hotel around 2pm and then take the train from La Spezia into Riomaggiore, where we would hike to the next city, Manarola. Unfortunately, it starting raining as we left Pisa and by the time we reached La Spezia it was a downpour. Not really up for hiking in the rain with 3 tired kids, we decided to hang out in La Spezia and hope for better weather in the morning.

Around dinnertime we donned our raincoats and umbrellas and walked a short distance to a pizza place our hotel recommended. To be honest, it was the only one that opened before 7pm. We ate pizza one last time and the kids enjoyed a few rides we found along the way.

Alex

Ruby

Henry

The Tipping Tower of Pizza

After vacating Flavio's apartment in Rome, we packed back into the car to make the 4 hour journey to Pisa. This was number one on Ruby's list of "Must See" in Italy and she is the one who dubbed it the "Tipping Tower of Pizza". As those of you who have visited know, there is not much to do in Pisa. So after taking some pictures and stretching our legs, we were back in the car again. Total time in Pisa: 57 minutes.

Clayton and company in Pisa

Isn't Alex strong?

Henry didn't quite understand what we were asking him to do

The Leaning Tower of Ruby

Go Caroline!

Pete and Christina

Heading off to the car before the rain hit

Appreciating art and architecture

Rome, Day3.
With tickets to get into the Vatican Museum at 10am, we thought leaving our apartment at 8:45 would give us plenty of time to get there without rushing. Unfortunately we found out that Rome is not Switzerland and train schedules are not always reliable. We stood with morning commuters watching the minutes tick away. By the time the train finally came we had less than a half hour. Long story short, with a little bit of running with Henry on shoulders and Ruby in the stroller, we arrived at 9:58.

Like with many other museums, Alex was way more interested than Ruby and Henry. He wanted to know why we were rushing through. I held back a little with him while he explored odds and ends on our way to the Sistine Chapel. The Sistine Chapel was packed! I can't imagine there could be any more people in the summer time. There was barely room to squeeze through people. We managed to find a little corner to sit where we could pull out our guide book and point out different parts of the Creation and the Bible to the kids. It was lost on Henry but Ruby and Alex found some of it interesting. Quote of the Day, "I bet he had a sore neck after all of that painting!"

A model of Vatican City in the Vatican Museum

There is a special exit out of the Sistine Chapel that leads down some stairs toward the Pope's private apartment. Alex knocked but he wasn't home. We thought it was a good place to work on his door approach.

Walking out of the museum toward St. Peter's

The closest we got to seeing the Pope

Christina, Caroline, Alex, Ruby and Henry inside the atrium of St. Peter's

Caroline, Alex and Christina inside St. Peter's

The main altar which is supposedly over Peter's tomb

The Dome of St. Peter's was designed by Michelangelo but not finished during his lifetime. It is the biggest anywhere and according to Rick Steve's book is "taller than a football field is long."

Michelangelo's Pieta which he created at the age of 24

Pretending to be asleep when Pete and Alex came out of St. Peter's

Christina, Ruby and Alex in St. Peter's Square

Henry happy to be free at last and looking for innocent pigeons to chase

Clayton and company in St. Peter's Square

The obelisk in the center of St. Peter's Square

After eating perhaps the most delicious Italian meal of our trip, we headed over to Piazza Navona

Ruby in front of Bernini's Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi

In Rick Steve's book he mentions that there is an armadillo in the fountain. We told Alex about it and he made it his mission to find it.

After searching high and low, it was finally found. Does that look like an armadillo to you?

We finished our trip in Rome much like we started it-at the Pantheon eating gelato. Afterward, we moseyed our way past the Trevi Fountain to the Spanish steps, looking for souvenirs and soaking in the city one last time.

Lots of ruins

Rome, Day2.
One of the unique things about Rome is that on one corner you find a university, on the second corner a pizzeria, on the third corner a Prada store and on the fourth, antiquities. Our first full day was spent exploring the remains of massive and ah inspiring structures.

Our first view of the Roman Colosseum

It really is huge

Scary fact: During the first games in AD 80,
over 9,000 wild animals were killed in the Colosseum

Alex trying hard to visit the ER in every major European city

Christina with the Arch of Constantine in the background

You can see that the floor is missing. The part exposed is where animals were kept in cages. They were brought up in elevators and were released at the floor level where they surprised the gladiator who didn't know what type of animal he would be attacked by.

Henry and Christina

Clayton and company in the Colosseum

Alex and Caroline

Pete and Christina
"Oh, the hours I've spent inside the Colosseum,
Dodging lions and wastin' time." - Bob Dylan

Ruby and Alex showing some sibling love

Alex, Caroline and Ruby

Henry sitting on a nearly 2000 year old Corinthian capital

Ruby, Henry and Alex

Ruby

Alex, Henry, Christina, Caroline and Ruby after getting refueled with some pizza

Caroline, Ruby, Alex, Pete and Henry onto our next destination: Palatine Hill

Ruby and Alex with the stadium in the background

Alex, Caroline, sleeping Henry and Pete on Palatine Hill

Aaaah, relief!

That's better

Pete, Henry, Caroline, Alex and Ruby on their way down to the Forum

Caroline and Alex with the Basilica of Constantine and Maxentius in the background. These 3 arches are only 1/3 of the original Basilica.

The bell tower of Santa Francesca Romana and the Arch of Titus. The Arch of Titus commemorated the Romans conquering Israel.

Alex looking over the Forum with the Colosseum in the background

Henry took most of his naps in the car or in Pete's arms on this trip

A refreshed Henry, Alex, Caroline and Ruby with the House of the Vestal Virgins in the background

The Temple of Antoninus Pius and Faustina

Pete and Alex with the Temple of Julius Caesar in the back left corner. Julius Caesar's body was burned here after his assasination

A Magical Evening in Rome

The next stop on our trip was Rome, a 3 hour drive from Florence. We got an amazing deal on an apartment just outside the city. Flavio, the owner, was there to greet us and give us all kinds of tips about transportation and the like. There was a little grocery store just around the corner and it was nice to have our own kitchen, although maybe I'm the only one who thought so. One of the mornings as we were eating cold cereal for breakfast Alex commented, "This is the worst hotel I've ever stayed in. They don't even serve breakfast!"

Here was our little kitchen. The door in the middle of the picture lead into the bathroom, and the door on the right lead outside to a rooftop patio with ping pong and foosball tables.

The family room
Ruby slept on the little blue bed and the couch turned into a bed where Pete and I slept. Also in the room with us was Henry in a port-a-crib.

Caroline and Alex shared the master suite so that they could stay up a little later than Henry and Ruby and sleep in a little in the mornings.

After getting settled in our apartment, we headed out to the train station to make our way into the city. We arrived in the heart of the city around 5pm, an unusual time for us to begin sightseeing. The kids were troopers and this first evening ended up being one of my favorite days in Rome. The newness of the city was exciting for everyone and starting off with the enormous Pantheon made a big impression.

Pete and Christina in front of the Pantheon

Henry, Christina, Alex

Henry, Ruby, Alex and Caroline with a couple of Roman soldiers

To get an idea of how big the Pantheon is you can see the tiny specs in front of Henry, Caroline, Alex and Ruby. How in the world did they build this in the 1st century AD?

Henry, Ruby, Alex, Christina, Pete
To see how big one of these pillars actually is, we all stood around it and held hands. When stretched out just enough, our family's circle was the same diameter as one pillar.

Inside the Pantheon, Rome's best-preserved ancient building

Caroline, Alex, Henry, Ruby, Christina

The best view we've ever had when munching McDonald's

Alex and Ruby in front of the Trevi Fountain

Alex, Caroline, Ruby

The fountain was magical at twilight. We actually ended up passing by it later in the week during the day and it just didn't seem quite the same.

The Trevi Fountain is the largest and most famous in Rome. Water comes pouring out of 24 different spouts powered by an aqueduct. They say if you toss a coin over your shoulder into the fountain it will guarantee your return to Rome.

Caroline, Alex, Ruby and Pete getting a closer look

Ruby, Henry and Alex sitting on the Spanish Steps

Christina and Pete with the church of Trinita dei Monti above

It's hard to take family pictures at night when it is past every one's bedtime

Alex, Christina, Henry, Caroline and Ruby

Discovering David

Before they had kids, my brother Phil and his wife Meiken spent a summer in Florence while he completed an internship. At the time I thought, "What a great experience." Now that I have been to Florence myself, I can only imagine how much fun they had soaking up the city without having to worry about kids. That being said, I loved being in Florence with my kids.

We took them to the Accademia to see Michelangelo's David and it was awesome to see their genuine interest. They asked a lot of questions (and not just about nudity and male genitalia) and we took more than just 30 seconds to walk around it, which was a little surprising to me. I didn't realize how big it actually was and couldn't believe he was so young when he created it. We talked about David and Goliath and pointed out the sling and the rock and it was definitely a highlight of the city for all of us.

Henry in front of the Duomo

It was so beautiful inside and out and I have to say that I am always amazed at these structures that were created without the use of machines.

Ruby strikes a pose in front of the Duomo

A family shot

Ruby and Henry inside the Duomo

A picture with cousin Caroline

We loved trying out different gelato along the trip.
Here Alex is finishing off a Kit Kat flavored one.

Caroline tried Nutella flavor

Henry and I chose strawberry

The bell tower of Palazzo Vecchio, the Old Palace that functions as the town hall

A replica of the David. The original stood in this same piazza until the late 1800s

Fontana di Nettuno

Ponte Vecchio is the oldest surviving bridge in the city and was the only one not destroyed during World War II. It is over 600 years old. Today a lot of shops line the bridge. It was so crowded.

Alex, Caroline, Henry and Ruby
If you cross over the Arno and drive up the hill to Piazzale Michelangelo, there is an amazing view of the city. There is also another replica of the David.

Aaah, Florence

The Duomo is in the center of the picture

Ponte Vecchio

Caroline, Ruby, Henry and Alex
Can you tell that Henry is ready for dinner?

Family picture with Florence

Caroline and Christina

Pete and Christina

Fall break

Our kids had 2 weeks off in the month of October, so we decided to embark on a one week road trip through Italy. This is the longest trip we have taken so far. We covered 5 cities in 6 days and nights and after the 5th night the kids were begging to go home. Italy is a beautiful country (although not as clean in parts as Switzerland) and of course the food is delightful. There was no coercing the kids to eat and we definitely had our fill of pizza, pasta and gelato. It became clear to me why our friend James turns his nose up at a lot of Italian food in the US. It's just not that good compared to the real deal.

Our first stop was the city of Bologna which is about 6 hours from Geneva. Pete's sister Julie and her husband were living there during our first 6 weeks in Switzerland but between unpacking and getting settled it just wasn't possible to visit. Unfortunately they didn't move back and so we were left to explore this fun city on our own.

Henry, Ruby and Alex in front of the famous Neptune fountain

The US is a young child compared to Europe. This fountain is over 400 years old.

A family shot

Alex, Ruby, Henry, Pete and Caroline with Piazza Maggiore and San Petronio in the background

Ruby, Pete and Alex in front of the Palazzo d'Accursio, a palace that has been the town hall since 2008

San Petronio is huge.
Those little orange specs are Alex and Henry.
Ruby is the pink spec running toward the camera.

Ruby in front of San Petronio

Ruby loves to pose. Here she is in front of the town hall

Ruby, Caroline and Alex

Henry and Caroline with San Domenico in the background

Ruby, Alex, Caroline and Henry in front of Abbazia di Santo Stefano, which is actually four old churches under one roof.

Looking out onto the plaza from Abbazia di Santo Stefano

Ruby and Caroline in one of the courtyards inside Abbazia di Santo Stefano

Ruby with the Fontana di Pilato (Pilate's fountain) from the 8th century in the background

Caroline decided to get a closer look

Henry and Christina near the Piazza di Porta Ravegnana

Not a great picture I know, but in the background you can see one of...

...the Two Towers of Bologna. At one point there used to be 200 of these towers all over the city.

You can see that one is leaning quite a bit.
Alex was amazed that it hadn't fallen over.
Statue of Saint Petronius

Bologna was a fun little stop although driving in the city did not go over so well. We probably broke quite a few traffic laws and got stuck if a few tight places with our van. We are still crossing our fingers that we don't get any tickets in the mail.