August 21, 2009

Our five-day trip to Rome started very, very, very early today with a 6 a.m. flight from an airport 3 hours away, necessitating a 1:30 a.m. wakeup call to hit the road. Timmy did really well- he was excited most of the drive in, and you can see from the first picture how excited he was on the plane, using his pull-ups as a hat. The purpose of the early flight was so we could use the first day to do some sightseeing.

Our Bed and Breakfast was on the outskirts of Rome. Before leaving, we had a map of the Roman Metro routes, and according to the map, the B&B was a couple kilometers from the closest metro station. In practice, however, it was a grueling 45-minute walk with luggage in 90+ degree heat after what, by then, was already a long day. Drenched with sweat and exhausted, we finally made it to the room where all three of us promptly took naps.

We did do some sightseeing on the first day, though- mainly walking around the attactions, after identifying a good bus route. From the top, and (with the exception of the airplane picture) in reverse chronological order, was dinner (seafood pizza, with a pitcher of Sangria in there for good measure), looking at the map in the shadow of the Colloseum, and two pictures of Mommy and Timmy exploring the ruins of the Roman Forum.

Today was also indicative of the kind of behavior Timmy would exude throughout the trip. Mainly, quiet and calm so long as we were moving the stroller, but throwing fits when we'd stop for any length of time. When we took him out to walk around, he was more interested in running as fast as possible away from Mommy and Daddy than he was in holding hands that this inevitably led to more fits and fuss. One chronic problem was with throwing his water cup. There isn't really a good place on the stroller to store it, so we'd keep it in the seat next to Timmy. Once he decided he didn't want it there, he'd pick it up and toss it out the front of the stroller.

The day ended pretty late, and with 3 very tired people. Timmy slept on a fold-out bed at the foot of the double-sized bed in the room and primarily ate yogurt for breakfast. (Not that there was anything but yogurt stocked in the refrigerator). Bedtimes weren't too rough- about a 15-minute affair each night as Timmy was pretty tired by the time we'd get back to the room.

Unfortunately, a great many of the shops, markets and stores were closed due to it being Mid-August and tourism, apparently, takes quite a dip in the heat of the Summer. By our last few days, they had started to open up again, but it made it difficult sometimes to find a good restaurant.