Then saw the Pantheon
Piazza Navona:
We both ordered pizzas and got a 7 euro ($10-$11) bowl of fruit for Bennett. The bowl wasn't very large for what we paid for, but Bennett was so happy and ate the entire bowl. (It had been a while since he had fruit...) Afterwards we went to Tre Scalini, a cafe in the piazza famous for their dessert Il Tartufo (literally translated means 'truffle'). It was a chocolate truffle gelato, rolled in dark chocolate, served with whipped cream and a cookie. The guidebook said it was a chocolate lover's paradise and many food critiques have argued that Tre Scalini is the best. It was definitely very decedent.
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| Lunch with a happy Bennett |
Afterwards, we went back to the hotel to nap and get out of the hot sun. Joel took the opportunity to wash his stink shoes IN THE BIDET. We had quite the discussion about this prior to the wash, during the process, and afterwards. He justified by saying hotels are cleaned daily. I argued that regardless, THAT IS WHERE PEOPLE WASH THEMSELVES AFTER USING THE FACILITIES. Moral of the story: Don't touch his Crocs.
Once we got going again, Joel suggested a walking tour of a little neighborhood called Trastevere. It was maybe 25 minutes from the hotel, but since it was late afternoon, we decided to take our time and walk past the Circus Maximus, since we hadn't seen it yet. On our way, we attempted to take pictures of Bennett announcing our exciting news but he wasn't too keen on the idea of posing for a picture.
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| This street was near our hotel and looked onto the Colosseum |
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| There were random Asian tourists smiling and taking our picture, as Joel was taking our picture. No, really. They were taking pictures of us. We're still not sure why. Maybe they hadn't seen a half-Asian baby before?? |
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| Circus Maximus |
In the area, there is something called the Knights of Malta, and the building has a little peephole that is supposed to have a unique view of St. Peter's Bascilica. We attempted to make our way there:
We never found it, but ended up here:
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| The dome behind us is St. Peter's Basilica |
Afterwards, we made our way to Trastevere, listening to the audioguides as we went. Trastevere was such an adorable neighborhood. I am glad we stayed where we did because our hotel was so close to the Colosseum, but if we ever make it to Rome again, Trastevere is where I'd want to be. It was a sweet little neighborhood, back behind a busy main road. Little shops and restaurants everywhere, just what you'd imagine a little neighborhood in Italy would be like. We found a place to eat, and it was fantastic. Great home cooked meal, nothing like the fast-food microwaved meals we were getting in the tourist areas. Joel had cheese ravioli and a few glasses of good chianti. I had oxtail and it was SO GOOD. So good, in fact, that Bennett couldn't get enough, and ended up eating an entire one himself. I couldn't get bites in his mouth fast enough, and as soon as I'd give him some, he'd be pointing for more. The oxtail was so tender, and they topped it with a sauce made of tomatoes, celery and carrots. So simple and so wonderful.
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| Trying oxtail for the first time |
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| Thinking about it |
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| Pointing for more! |
Bennett kept (probably rudely) standing next to this kid (possibly mocking him?), who was leaning against the wall. The guy caught on, but luckily he had a good sense of humor about it.
After dinner we walked around a bit more and had some gelato from a shop Rick Steves raved about. Like usual, it was very good. There were street vendors selling these little light up propellers you shoot in the air and then float to the ground. Bennett LOVED it. I mean, I've never seen him so gleeful before, just completely full of joy watching them shoot up in the dark sky and float back down. One family passed by and the mom said, "You know you'll have to get him one, right?" as Bennett was squealing, and then added, "Yup... you'll have to get him one." She was right. We bought him two.
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| Watching the street vendor shoot propellers in the air. Probably the best part of his day. |
We ended our night by taking a quick walk by the river, where tents were set up with vendors and restaurants. It was a cute and would've been a fun place to grab a drink if we were young, fun and without child. Then we made the long walk back to the hotel (long considering we had been walking all day and our feet hurt).
Friday morning we tried to get up early. We had to be out of our hotel by noon, and still needed to pack, plus Joel was SO ANXIOUS to see St. Peter in Chains Cathedral. (He talked about it ever day in Rome. "St. Peter in Chains is just that way." "St. Peter in Chains is so close to our hotel." "St. Peter in Chains!" I told him the day before, if he mentions 'St. Peter in Chains one more time...') We saw the Cathedral and walked past the Colosseum one last time. Then we bought some souvenirs, packed and made our way to the train station. We could've taken a taxi, since it was a good 20-25 minute walk... but being frugal as I am, I insisted we walk. I carried Bennett and Joel carried and pushed bags on the stroller. Along the way, Bennett fell asleep, and it was the noon hour and 90+ degrees and sunny. It was a miserable walk holding a 22+ lb heat generating sleeping toddler. By the time we got there, I was exhausted and dripping sweat. Naturally there was no place to sit and we had a little bit to wait, so I sat on the floor. Joel commented that, since I was holding Bennett, I looked like a beggar...
At the airport, our flight to Chicago was once again delayed (surprise, surprise). They booked me in the bulkhead row, which is where they try to put parents with little kids, because a bassinet can be set up (which we couldn't use anyways because Bennett is too big), and Joel was sitting behind us. There was a dad and his 3 year old sitting next to us and one open seat. We got lucky and no one claimed the open seat, so Joel ended up sitting next to us. It was kind of a difficult flight, leaving around 4. Bennett was obviously acclimated to Italy time, so he wasn't going to be tired for 3-4 hours. Poor Joel did a lot of walking with him, but the Italian crew was really kind. They let Bennett play around in the galley, and told Joel to just let him play with the knobs and latches there.
The father and son sitting next to us were part of a family of four, and the mom and infant daughter were sitting the row behind. They were a nightmare. The daughter screamed forever, and the mom was super spazzy. The most AMAZING part of the flight was when I was trying to put Bennett to sleep and for some reason, the dad and son decided to move to the row behind, so that the son could sleep... and the mom and crying baby came to sit next to us! I WAS CLEARLY TRYING TO GET BENNETT TO SLEEP. WHO DOES THAT? I was pretty angry, because as a parent, you know how difficult it can be to put a kid to sleep. I wouldn't want to be responsible for MY kid keeping someone's kid from sleeping... but clearly not all parents have this mentality. Eventually the crying baby stopped crying and Bennett fell asleep. We set him on the ground near our feet, and it actually worked out really well! At some point I fell asleep too, and woke up to the sounds of shrieking and laughing. The dad and 3 year old were back, AND PLAYING LOUDLY. Again, WHO DOES THAT when there is clearly a sleeping child nearby. Joel and I gave each other annoyed side-glances, but what can you do? Luckily for us, Bennett slept through it. (I should also note that when we landed and were waiting for bags in Chicago, these two kids were screaming and melting down, and Bennett was quiet and happy. The mom came over to comment on what a good, happy kid he is. She's right, of course, but I REALLY wanted to point out how miserable she and her husband made our flight!)
By the time we made it to Chicago, it was maybe 7 pm and we went to get some dinner at one of the restaurants in the hotel. Bennett was super tired, getting fussy and didn't care about eating, so I decided to take him back to the room while Joel boxed things up and paid for the bill. Bennett quickly fell asleep, and I intended to close my eyes for a second... but also fell asleep. Poor Joel was locked out of the room, kept knocking on the door and texting me (I never heard a thing) and eventually had to walk to the front desk to get a key. Poor guy.
The next morning we had breakfast, packed and had the hotel hold onto our bags, because we were going to explore Chicago. We went to Millennium Park, Bennett ran around the bean, did some Zumba, saw Lake Michigan and went to Chinatown for lunch. Bennett ate a few wontons, some beef stir-fry, and had a mango bubble tea. We made our way back to the airport, and then Joel had to catch the hotel shuttle from the airport to get our bags. Bennett and I waited at the airport, which worked out well, since he was sleeping. As we were waiting for Joel, we saw our flight get push back once. Twice. Many more times. At first it was due to bad weather in Minneapolis. Then a missing flight attendant- which they ended up denying later. It was pretty miserable waiting in the airport, because had we known earlier, we could've stayed in the city longer.
We finally made it home just before midnight. I think Bennett was excited to be home, he looked around the house in wonder, like he wasn't sure if he was dreaming or if we were really home.
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