Ciao Italia!

We've been back over three months now but still have lots of great memories from Italy! The weather was beautiful - and even a little cool for our beach days. Conley made friends with lots of admirers every day. He was greeted with smiles,  "ciao bella" (should it have been bello?) and was also called "piccolo," which is the word for small that I used quite often when ordering gelatos. I think it has a cute ring to it as a nickname for Conley. Many Italians seemed to think his name was Connie - so that has stuck for us even now that we're back. Our itinerary was slowed down a bit with a baby in tow, but he really was a great little traveller and enjoyed his stroller and backpack rides through the cities and running around in piazzas chasing pigeons. We became experts at navigating his jogging stroller up and down stairs and through tiny streets and most meals were enjoyed with a bottle of chianti while Conley napped. First trip abroad was a success!

First stop was Venice for two nights - the first day was pretty tiring with a 7 hour layover in NYC, 9 hour flight to Venice and then a one hour boat ride from the airport, but we still tried to pack a few things in to that first day since our time here was short.

After a quick nap, we were off to explore Venice!

View from the Rialto Bridge

Exploring the canals

Look out Venetian pigeons - Conley is on the loose!

Napping in St. Mark's Square after a long day

Loved the mosaic ceiling at St. Mark's Basilica

View from the top of St. Mark's Basilica

Another busy day of harassing pigeons

Lunch and an aperol spritz overlooking the Accademia Bridge at
 Pizzeria Accademia Foscarini

One of many gelato yummy stops at  Grom

And then we stumbled upon another spot on my list so I had to get a
chocolate-dipped cookie at Pasticceria Tonolo

Some downward dog action in Scuola San Rocco

A ride on the gondola!

Conley was a little worried at first

But after awhile he was brave enough to sit by himself and enjoy the sights!

Making friends in St. Mark's Square

Partners in crime versus the pigeons

View from the Bridge of Sighs in the Doge's Palace

Next stop was Florence for four nights and I think this was my favorite stop, plus it was nice to have a longer stay to get settled and really explore. Our hotel was great (Residenza Il Villino, I highly recommend it!) - the owners were so sweet, our room was really spacious and it was on the first floor so we could just wheel Conley in every night after dinner. We also did a daytrip to Tuscany with four 50-something couples who were very sweet considering a i year old was on board for their tour of Tuscany. We stopped in San Gimignano (my favorite!), Monteriggione, and Siena and also had a wonderful visit at the Sovestro in Poggio wine estate. It is run by the cutest Italian couple with two young children (the wife was actually very pregnant during our visit) and we got a very enthusiastic tour of the grounds, a thorough education on chianti and olive oil and a delicious lunch of ribollita, bread, olive oil, local honey, olives, meats, cheeses, biscotti and of course wine! We even had some wine and olive oil shipped home! We would love to go back one day and stay there!

Our first lunch at Zaza - the hostess loved Conley and
walked him around in his stroller when he complained!

Conley made a love connection in front of the
San Miniato Church - the monks chanting in
Latin was quite an experience! 

One of many delicious pasta dinners
overlooking Santa Croce Church

Making friends with other tourists

More flirting

You couldn't get any luckier than to stumble upon a gelato
tasting festival when in Italy!

Conley mistaking the rock for gelato in front of
the Church of Santa Maria Novella

Outside a cute little lunch spot, Pangie's

Conley not so sure about the chef

Hitching a ride

A break outside Palazzo Vecchio

And another break after the Uffizi

The view from Ponte Vecchio

Charming little street and dinner spot

The Duomo by night

Riding the bus to Tuscany

The view from San Gimignano

Conley was not so thrilled about our family picture

Sovestro in Poggio Winery

Fun with water in Monteriggione

And more fun!

Il Campo in Siena - the best square in Italy
according to Rick Steves

The beautiful black and white interior of the Duomo

Burning some steam in Il Campo

On the (rail)road again and this time our destination was Vernazza in the Cinque Terre with a pitstop en route in Pisa. It was a nice change of pace to have two nights on the coast, although the weather was the coolest we had and very windy too! It was very beautiful though - I loved Vernazza and you could walk up and down the main street in about 5 minutes. The coastline was rocky so not great for baby beach-goers, but very scenic. The second day we ventured to two of the other villages - Riomaggiore and the biggest of the five, Monterosso, where we found some sand for Conley. It was a wonderful way to spend two nights and gave us time to just explore, enjoy the villages and the water, and not have a list of sites to check off our list.

Big boy on the train to Pisa

Obligatory Leaning Tower picture

Conley slept through most of Pisa, so we held up
the tower with his foot

We arrive in sunny Vernazza!

Borrowed a ride-on toy from some locals!

The view from the edge of Vernazza

Looking back into Vernazza

Conley finally fell asleep!

The prettiest strawberries in Riomaggiore

Lunch in Monterrosso - Peter ate half before I got
a chance to take it - my pesto lasagna was great!

Conley found the playground on the beach
in Monterrosso

So happy to be at the beach!

This lady loved Conley!

Pit stop for a lemon ice - Peter had his with vodka

Loves the sand in his toes!

So happy!

Conley could stay here all day!

Our last meal in Vernazza - more pesto for me and
seafood for Peter

Good-bye to the Cinque Terre

Last stop - Roma! We had 3 nights in our final destination, so after our four hour train ride from Vernazza, we really tried to pack it in to those last few days. We didn't get to see it all, but we did a lot and we actually had the warmest weather of the trip on this last leg (but still beautiful compared to Texas summers!) 

We had a great trip - ate tons of pasta and bruschetta, drank lots of wine, ended every night with gelato and saw so many beautiful places! Conley was the perfect little traveller - he gained two new nicknames, charmed locals and travelers alike, and got his first stamp (of many to come) in his passport. We miss it already! Grazie Italia!

We saw the Pantheon

And Conley met a horse

Then off to the Colosseum...all in the first afternoon!

We saw Pope Francis

Conley was very excited about this!

Had lunch (twice!) at Ristorante Pizzeria "da Francesco" with our
favorite friendly waiter. It was in cute little Piazza del Fico where
 we could watch the chess players next door 

Then off to the Borghese Gallery and a walk through the gardens afterwards -
and a beer for dad!

A stroll through Trastevere and a pizza snack at
this cute bakery with the best pizza of the trip -
La Renella

We visited the beautiful St. Peter's and the Sistene
Chapel 

Having a snack while we wait for dad to tour
St. Peter's - no strollers allowed!

Another seafood pasta for Peter

Warm day touring the Forum

We found milk!

And I found a leather purse!

A final nap in Italy after a big cup of milk and
some exhausting souvenir shopping

Last glass of red wine

Final plate of bruschetta with a nice big helping of mozzarella!

My trusty Rick Steves guidebook - we were part of the cult, everywhere we
looked were fellow RS book toters! I don't remember his book being
so popular on previous Europe trips

Last after dinner stroll through the Piazza Navona

The Pantheon looks awesome by night!

Final stop of the night and the trip - Trevi Fountain