Our Expat Adventure: An overview of our "Italian Adventure!"

How can I begin to describe Rome and our 8-day “Italian Adventure?” Even though I had been to Rome 10-years prior, when we arrived, I did not remember it being so crowded with people (2.7 million) and cars (specifically mopeds), being so loud, and so very dirty. Initially, I thought this is going to be a long six days. But then, I started to see past all of the city’s madness and see Rome for the amazing city it truly is. Yes, indeed it remained to be crowded, loud and dirty, but I saw Rome’s architectural brilliance and historical wonder. I could not fathom how according to the founding myth, Rome was founded by twin brothers in 753BC and how many of the ancient Roman ruins we were viewing with our very own eyes. It is mind-blowing all of the meticulous sculpting that went into so many of the buildings, fountains and monuments. On the same day, we were able to explore the ingenious construction of the Roman Colosseum and also the political power of the Vatican City. The quote, “Rome wasn’t built in a day” continued to play in my head as I looked at Rome’s entirety. Indeed, Rome took many years to build but the end result was a city with magnificent detail and strength. How can one even describe the feeling that is felt when walking into St. Peter’s Basilica? Or describe the feeling when looking up at Michelangelo’s artistic masterpiece on the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel?

Matt and I did find it to be a challenge at times “conquering” Rome with a 3-year old and a 1-year old, but looking back, I would not have wanted to see Rome any other way. I can laugh about it now, but there were many times that Matt and I just looked at each other, our eyes saying, “What in the world are we doing?” For a few examples, us riding a hot & overcrowded bus for 30-minutes and then figuring out we were on the wrong bus route, going through the Vatican Museum with a double stroller, walking 30-minutes in the 80+ degree heat to Treva Fountain only to find out that all of the water had been drained and they were cleaning it, Matt standing in a block-long line at St. Peter’s Square three times because we had some miscommunication, Matt getting told my the Rome police he had 1-minute to move our car or it would be towed while unpacking it, and many more “painful” examples…one time, Matt actually said to me, “should we just go home?” BUT, now we can have the best laughs over these exact moments and hands down agree, it truly was a trip of a lifetime.

What will Elle and Britta remember about our trip? They will remember all of the dogs, our horse-drawn carriage ride, the homeless people that Elle was so concerned about, all of the statues of babies with wings and their bottoms showing at the Vatican Museum, eating a lot of pizza & spaghetti and mopeds often running us over. They of course never understood or appreciated what we were seeing, but why would they? When I visited Rome for the first time at the age of 20, I did not appreciate it like I should have. But, it is part of their history and life and we tackled Rome as a family and had FUN doing it. We made memories that will last us a lifetime. They may not understand today just how amazing it was that they were blowing bubbles at the Vatican City, in St. Peter’s Square, but I have the pictures to show they someday.

Throughout our time here in Germany, there have definitely been some ups and downs to Matt’s current position having us located in a foreign country. But, traveling as a family and seeing so many of God’s breath-taking creations is definitely one of the “ups.” I feel so privileged to be exploring parts of the World with my family and maybe finally, at age 31, am able to appreciate just how amazing our World really is.

The view from our hotel room the first night in Brunate, Italy. I was disappointed by all of the fog.

Our lovely European bathroom (remind you, this is a four star hotel:). I cannot wait to get back to the States and stay in an American hotel!

Elle enjoying some water, but of course pretending it is wine:)

What was suppose to be a beautiful mountaintop view from a restaurant in Brunate. It was still sorta a neat picture, so I included it in the Blog.

Britta enjoying a long cracker

A view of our apartment in Rome- the living room. The steps lead up to the second bedroom (a loft with one bed- see picture below).

Still unpacking...

The small bathroom, including a bidet:)

Kitchen with washing machine

The larger bedroom

Dinner out as a family, our first night in Rome.

My dinner. The waiter removed all of the bones, at our table, before serving it in my pasta.

Matt's lobster- Elle asked if it was still alive--LOL

Matt's LARGE pasta bowl. Needless to say, even with Matt's appetite he could not eat it all.

Some of Rome's street performers.

Our family on one the "hop on & hop off" buses in Rome; it was a good way to get a good overview of Rome, before we began to explore via foot.

A portion of the wall that surrounded Rome.

St. Peter's Basilica at sunset. The Vatican City was 5-minutes from our apartment, so we always loaded any public transportation at the Vatican.

An old castle in Rome- the name escapes me now without having to look it up:)

The girls and I on the back of the bus. We road it at night which was fun to see all the lights and the girls could be loud and have fun since we were the only people on the top of the bus.