Adventure · colosseum · Europe · family · Family Travel · Italy · Itinerary · photography · Roma · Rome · travel · Trip Ideas · Trip Planning · wine

TrippinTwins: Day 1- Rome with the Parents 

Ever since someone said to us, “Italy is my country and Rome is my city”, we had an interest in visiting Rome!  We had been looking for flight deals for close to a year so we could afford to take our parents along to a city they had also dreamed about visiting. After nearly a year of not having any luck, Tara found an airfare sale to Europe that fit within our budget and date range. We were both thrilled our plans worked out and we were all able to jointly experience this magical place.


We grew up Catholic and our father is still practicing.  Since Rome contains so many places that are historically important to the Catholic faith,  we spent much of our time exploring them. We talked to locals, took tours given by archeologists and history professors, walked and walked some more -Oh & Yes! We ate!  If you’re planning to visit Rome in the future, which we highly encourage, we hope our itinerary provides you with some inspiration.

Day 1:

After a not so fun flight on a cramped Delta/KLM plane, we landed bright and early in the morning – around 6:00 AM in Amsterdam.  We only had an hour layover, so we spent most of our time standing in line at customs.  It was inconvenient at the time, but it was nice once we landed in Rome 2 hours later. All we had to do once we landed was grab our checked baggage and walk through the non-declare door.

Our host had offered to arrange transportation from the airport to the apartment, but we declined and decided to get our own.  We were so tired though that instead of waiting in line,  we went with the first ride offer we received, which was a non-official taxi.  After a super fast ride, that we were told would be twice as long, we arrived intact at our apartment where we had arranged to stay the week.  Since we arrived so early in Rome, it was hours before our official check in time.  Our host was gracious enough to meet us at the apartment and assist us with our luggage up to the apartment. We paid the city tax and he gave us a short overview of the apartment and neighborhood, recommendations and answered our questions.

Our dad wanted to attend a mass in Italian, so our host suggested we visit the church he grew up in that was in very close to the apartment.  The church we attended is named Basilica of San Clemente. It’s a minor Basilica dedicated to Pope Clement I (d.99 AD).

1. http://basilicasanclemente.com/eng/

Front Entrance of Basilica di San Clemente

We were greeted warmly at the door even though mass had already began and quickly found seats in the back. Although the service was in Italian, my parents familiarity with Latin, found it easy to follow along. After it concluded, we stayed with a few other curious ones to explore the main sanctuary.

There was a sign that said no pictures, so I just sneaked this photo of the area we were sitting in just for our own memories. And although Tara and I hadn’t attended mass since we were teens, we found it to be a fascinating experience.

 

A peek into the courtyard from the street

We all wished  we had planned for a return visit to explore the Bascilica more in depth.  For just 10 Euro, one can tour both the 4th Century church the current Basilica was built on top of and the 1st Century shrine of Mithras.

After exploring some, were hungry and ready to find somewhere to eat. After asking for suggestions, we walked down the street and were immediately seated at a table at Valore Ristorante Pizzeria.

It was my first time trying an Italian pizza. What can I say? I was a bit shocked at their enormous size!! It’s the size of a normal American medium size pizza that I usually share with 2 or 3 other people. Evidently, Tara knew this but didn’t think to say anything before we both ordered. So, we both had huge pizzas to attempt to tackle.  If you’re looking for good sausage pizza though, this is one of the places to come.


Obviously Tara’s mind was not so much on the food,  as she was overtaken by her excitement of being able to drink some good Italian wine.

I mean she just looks so happy with that glass on wine. Just not sure she could look more sleepy…haha!

We even got to enjoy some entertainment for a few minutes when a traveling musician stopped in. He was really accommodating when I wanted to take his picture. He saw my camera and immediately came to our table. We stayed for probably 20-30 minutes in the restaurant playing for tips before moving on.

Once we finished our lunch, we decided to walk some calories off by going to find place to purchase a metro pass . We took the advice we received from our VRBO host and walked to the Colosseum metro station (Colosseo) where we found a tabaccoist stand. We purchased a 7 day pass for each of us for €24 each. the metro in Rome is very easy to use, comes often,  and is efficient for most places we needed to go.

The area around Colosseo station is very busy. There are vendors vying for the attention of every tourists to buy visitor passes and other trinkets. It was also the first time we would walk by the Colosseum. We saw 2 armed military officers (anti-terrorism forces) with heavy machinery outside. At the time we were unfamiliar with these people and their role so we didn’t take any pictures. We were unaware at the time that we would see them virtually at every other site we visited during our stay.

On our walk back to our apartment on Via Labicana, we saw a site that caught our attention. We stopped to look around and found out it was Ludus Magnus, or the Great Gladitorial Training School. The school had 2 levels, one an arena.  The part visible on Via Labicana are the partially excavated gladiator cells that use to be in the northeast part of the training arena.

After spending a few minutes looking at the ruins, we continued the few blocks back to our apartment for the night.


We spent the rest of the night unpacking, talking about what our first day was like -oh, & discovering the unexpected-my dad’s backpack was missing. His backpack had his medications in it, so that was quite a shock. We figured he lost it at some point between getting out of the taxi we took to the apartment and waiting to be let in. It served as a reminder for everyone to remind each other to stay aware at all times, especially in crowded places.

Lessons Learned from Day 1:

Official Taxi’s should only charge 48 Euro from Fiumicino Airport to the city center and 30 Euro from Ciampino airport.  Here’s a list of official taxi fares in Rome.  The hassle of haggling for that price though, that’s another story!

Pay attention to the taxi company you take in case you leave things in the taxi.  It’s true of anywhere, but especially in a foreign company when you’re not familiar with the companies.

There is no minimum drinking age in Italy, though 16 is the age one can drink wine/beer in public.

Restaurant tipping: Our host told us that if the bill is 113 Euro to round up to 117 Euro and it served us well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day Trips · Edinburgh · Europe · Family Travel · Museums · Scotland · UK · United Kingdom

TrippinTwins: Experiencing Edinburgh’s Camera Obscura 

We knew New Year’s Eve would be a late night, so we planned a leisurely New Year’s Day morning.  We were not super concerned with setting an alarm, figuring we would wake up in time to catch our bus into Old Town for brunch and an afternoon walking tour. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say, but that was certainly not the sharpest idea either of us have had. When Tara woke, it was an hour later than expected and she panicked, calling me to wake up saying, “Get up, get up! We have to leave soon.”

Barely awake, we managed to agree to reduce our usual “get ready” time to remain on schedule.  In those few minutes, we both managed  to make the same assumption that a light jacket would be just fine to carry us through the day. Boy, were were wrong!! When we walked outside, it was sooo much cooler than expected. Tara, not as easily bothered by cold temperatures, somehow talked me into sucking it up and hoping for the best, as it was really my only option.

I agreed to head to brunch, since I had to agree that finding food would improve my mood significantly. Hoping it would warm up after brunch turned out to be only wishful thinking. It somehow managed to only get colder and windier. Tara agreed that staying warm on the walking tour with light jackets would be a challenge, so we would play it by ear.

After the first hour and a good stopping point, we thanked our guide and bowed out in search of a coffee shop to warm up. Afterwards, while walking towards Edinburgh Castle, we noticed a crowd gathered outside Edinburg’s Camera Obscura & World of Illusions and decided to head inside to check it out.

Upon walking in, we quickly joined the ticket line where we learned the entrance fee secures all day access as long as the entrance stamp remains on your hand.  The six floors can be tackled in any order, but a majority of the crowd seems to make their way up to the top with the rooftop deck/camera demonstration before making their way down to experience the World of Illusions.

It was already around 3:30 PM when we bought our tickets, so we heeded the ticketing agent suggestion and made our way up the tight and windy stair cases to the sixth floor.  Once there, a staff member inquired as to whether we were interested in attending the last fifteen minute camera demonstration of the day. We were thankful for the notice and after telling him we in fact were, then directed towards the rooftop deck to spend some time taking in the amazing view of the city. Although the views are not hard to see, telescopes are offered and are quite the crowd pleaser.  The best part was that we arrived at the perfect time for a perfect sunset view!

 

When it was time for the camera demonstration, we were taken to a dark room and instructed to gather around the camera viewfinder, which is about the size of a medium round table. Our guide demonstrated how the camera worked by moving it around the viewing area, giving the group a virtual tour of Edinburgh. The sun had already set, so we were told our views would be limited to well known brightly lit neighborhoods and buildings. We were pleasantly surprised at how many city landmarks we could identify along with the areas that had been lit with holiday lights. The definite crowd pleaser was being given white pieces of paper which we used to “pick up” objects and landmarks.

If this demonstration is a priority for your visit, we suggest getting there earlier in the day. We were told the views are better on sunny and less cloudy days.

After the camera demonstration, we spent the next two hours exploring the World of Illusions starting with level 5 and working our way down to 2. (5: Magic Gallery 4: Light Fantastic 3: Eye Spy Edinburgh 2: Bewilderworld)  Every floor is divided up in smaller sections with various activities and hands on learning opportunities fun for both kids and adults. Many of the displays allow for hands on learning experiences using light displays, color and other optical illusions.  In addition, there are puzzles, a vortex tunnel, a mirror maze, which are all popular.

Like many places with multiple exhibits/stations, we quickly found out that a few stations attracted more crowds than others. We skimmed the rooms for the stations with the fewest people, did those first and came back to the others later.  We had a fantastic afternoon reading and learning about Edinburgh and photography, learning about the illusions, playing with the hands on experiments and learning the explanations behind the tricks. It took us about two hours to do every station we were interested in, but we can see others easily spending 3-4 hours.

Camera Obscura is a fantastic place to add to your Edinburgh itinerary that most everyone can enjoy.

Hat tips:

The stair cases are very narrow and steep, which can be challenging

All strollers have to stay in the lobby

There is no elevator

Families seemed to use the all day access for easy restroom access 🙂
 

 

 

Christmas · Europe · Holiday Travel · London · UK

Christmas in London, Take Me Back!

Ever dream of spending a magical Christmas in London?  We got the chance this past Christmas when our New Years plans hit a snag. You see, we were very excited about booking a New Year’s trip to Edinburgh to experience Hogmanay. Wanting to ensure we did not miss out on festival tickets, we bought tickets before securing airfare. After realizing it was not within our budget to fly into Edinburgh from our hometown, we began looking into alternatives. Luckily, we found a fantastic airfare deal that had us landing in London on Christmas Eve!

Since London was a last minute add on, we did not have much time for pre-planning. We knew we wanted to stay for a few days to give us time to take in the sites, lights and sounds of a quieter time in London. We secured a hotel at the best place we could find at a reasonable price, which happened to be just outside the usual tourist areas. We did not book Christmas Lunch reservations in advance. Although, this made us a bit apprehensive, these few days turned into some of our favorite Christmas memories. If you have yet to experience Christmas in London, we hope we can provide you with some insight and suggestions to assist you plan your next Christmas in this magical city.

Where should I stay?

We started the search for lodging immediately.  The best deals we found were in Westminster,  so we chose to stay at DoubleTree by Hilton London – Westminster. Although we enjoyed the hotel, there were very few businesses open during Christmas and the days after. Although we found this a bit disappointing, it encouraged us to explore other areas where we could find more dining choices. During our walk, we found quite a few areas that had better options for tourists: Trafalgar Square, The Strand, Covenant Garden and Piccadilly Circus.  Of course, if you have your own mode of transportation, do not mind paying cab fare, or walking, your lodging choices are limitless.

Transportation options from Heathrow to London?

We noticed from Twitter that people were surprised at the lack of public transportation available from Heathrow to London during the holidays. The Heathrow Express Train  that runs to the city does not run on Christmas Day. Some years there is bus service offered in its place. Use the Transportation for London website for the latest schedules.  If you do not rent a car or book transportation in advance, be prepared to pay between £70 and £75 in taxi fare from Heathrow to the city hotels.

Transportation options in the city?

The London Underground does not run from late Christmas Eve through Christmas Day. It does run on 26 December, Boxing Day, with a reduced schedule. Several lines can have construction with limited service through early January. Verify schedules Transportation for London.

Taxis and Uber are both readily available. We only took cabs when under time constraints as there was a £4 holiday surcharge added to every fare. Bike share services proved to be a popular option based on the number of people we saw on bikes and the empty bike racks around the city. Otherwise, London is a walkable city and we walked practically everywhere we went.

Is Christmas Lunch/Dinner Hard to Find?

For Christmas Day dining, making advanced reservations, or staying in a hotel with a full-service restaurant is the surest bet. If you are searching for food on your own, as we did, we found heading to Westminster and St Paul’s Cathedral areas in the early afternoon to be a good option as they had pubs open for lunch service. Other sure bets are the Piccadilly Circus and Covent Garden areas where restaurants were open late.  We did not manage to find a Starbucks or a Pret a Manger open, although we were told by several people that they would in fact be open.  Therefore, for mid-day snacks and drinks,  we visited several family owned stores that were open and a street vendor at Westminster Pier.

 

A Fantastic Christmas Lunch at St. Stephen’s Tavern

 

A much needed Cappaccino at St. Stephen Tavern

More restaurants open on Boxing Day, the 26th,  though many in less touristy areas remained closed, sometimes through early January.

What Activites are Available? 

On Christmas Eve, there are Christmas markets to visit, performances and church services to attend. Although, we had wanted to go to midnight mass at Westminster Abbey, we did not get tickets, which are made available each November. There are also popular services at St. Paul’s Cathedral and St. Martin’s-in-the-Field !

We ultimately decided to forgo services and instead attend a performance of  “Carols by Candelight”, which was fantastically fun.  Performance dates and info can be founds here: Royal Albert Hall. It was there we discovered just how much Londoners enjoy the carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, which had us reminiscing of our caroling days.

On Christmas Day, take advantage of the fairly empty streets and closed businesses to enjoy the sights and sounds of the city. Walk through the various historic neighborhoods, take in the historic statues and buildings and take in those  famous and magical Christmas lights.

 

Neon Snowflakes over Jermyn Street

 

Bond St Pacock Feathers

 

Picadilly Circus lights

 

If you are looking for a more formal tour, check out London Walks. They have 2 walks on Christmas Day that meet in Trafalgar Square.  If you are looking for a museum to visit, Ripley’s Believe It or Not in Piccadilly Circus is open on Christmas Day.

December 26, Boxing Day, is a big sales and shopping day.  Most major stores are open offering sales on everything from the high end brands on Bond Street to the bargains that can be found on Tottenham Court Road. There are also a few Christmas Markets open and a few West End shows.  We chose to attend the Nutcracker with the English National Ballet which was the perfect choice! It was the highlight of our trip. The costuming and dance talent is some of the best in the world.

We lucked into fantastic weather this year and did not let the drizzle keep us inside. We enjoyed our few days so much, that we know we just have to come back for another Christmas. Have you ever spent Christmas in London?  If so, do you have any tips to share?