Our Trip to Italy: with kids, with friends and a huge food budget.

It all started by putting Rome in my annual vision board for 2019.  We do this every year, pray about it and then plan a lot and dream, that's my part.
Felipe's part is to take me down to earth slowly.  I can be very intense.

This trip was planned over breakfast with friends one day, and I'm so happy it came true.  It was a dreamy trip filled with laughter, wine, lots of paninis and gelato.

Picnic at Villa Borghese (there was no food involved, just wine)

The most important part about our trip, is how God made it possible, like everything else in our lives.
Then Scot Cheap Flights, come on people! You can subscribe to their page for free (or pay an annual fee).  Once you do that, they will send you weekly deals to flights around the world.  (We have the free account btw).

Every decision we made about this trip was thinking about the kids. (and about food).   We traveled with 4 kids in total, our friend's and ours.  I would recommend a direct flight if possible. And flying during low season makes it more affordable.

We were on the look out for a while, and we got a great deal on our tickets!
Next we decided on our stay.  We choose Air bnb because first I had a $40 coupon lol.  And second,  because when traveling with kids it makes more sense to have a kitchen, patio, more space, etc.  , (and I don't like hotel rooms so much).   I cook a lot for my little one, so having a fully equipped kitchen was best for us.

Our airplane ride.

I took all the oils.  Oils to boost immune systems, oils to make people sleepy, germ fighters, you name it, I have it!  Also elderberry gummies, vitamin C, bleach wipes to clean the entire space my kids might touch, probiotics, and magnesium gummies for everyone! I don't joke around with airplanes as you can see.

I packed a book bag for each child with tons of activities and toys.  My oldest did not use them all because he watched a ton of movies on the plane, he is 7.  My youngest on the other hand, wished I had packed more stuff.

My friend Gaby found some awesome airplane pillows for the kids, AMAZING, even for adults!  We got one for each child Here.  (ask your airline if the pillow is allowed).

Also neck pillows, voltage transformers (One exclusively for my diffuser).  Yes, an oil diffuser with all the germ fighter oils that I plug anywhere I can.  (I have a friend if you have oil questions).
Also homeopathy medicine, I have an emergency kit that I carry with me everywhere.  This time in Rome a man walking in front of us suddenly collapsed, the emergency kit once again saved the day.

If you are booking Airbnb please make sure late check-ins are not a problem.  We had a little inconvenience with our check-in.  I have to say that having a self check-in is ideal, especially with kids.  People in Italy go to bed really early apparently.

Library book. best idea ever.

I borrowed a Rome traveling book from the library.  I took it with me to Italy.  I read all the historic facts to my family along the way since we are not a "take a tour" type of family.  It worked perfectly.  The book has great tips about restaurants, public transportation, and all the historic facts.

For Samu (my 7 year old), I bought this scavanger Hunt book of Rome that gave him points every time he visited a landmark.  This made all the walking and learning more fun for him (and for us).

When in Rome.

We stayed 4 minutes away from Campo de Fiori.  BEST. LOCATION. EVER! This location was amazing.  (also air conditioning) game changer! also elevators. We did not have one, so yeah. lol

Campo de Fiori.

The restaurants in that area are fantastic!  We had a delicious Caccio e Pepe in a restaurant where pasta was made in front of us called Osteria la Fortunata.
And the best paninis in Campo de Fiori at Aristocampo, wow! So good!

Aristocampo.

In the mornings we walked to Campo di Fiore and its morning market.  So beautiful, but also so convenient and easy to grab some breakfast for the kids.   Also, Italians don't have huge breakfast like we do.  They do pastries and cappuccinos, I was in heaven.

Cornetto with whip cream.  I eat this every single morning. More than one.

We decided to walk everywhere because we had the energy.  (will talk about that later...)

If you are planning to visit any museums, you should buy tickets way in advance.  We visited the Villa Borghese museum.  This was my second time visiting but I would do it again and again! I love it, Emilio on the other hand not so much.  But I did.  So yes! worth it.

I found great deals, and even scored some cash back on this app: Headout. (app)

Samu at Villa Borghese Museu. He loved it. 

Also Yelp.  If you have good reception on your phone Yelp it's really helpful, it will help you find great restaurants in the area where you are standing at the moment.  If you don't have internet then plan where to eat ahead of time so you can have amazing meals every time, or so that you can make reservations accordingly.

Artichokes in Grazia & Graziella in Transtevere. please go!

We did not plan out every meal, sometimes we looked for the places with the longest lines (good lines= good food).   At times we were extremely hungry or tired and just eat anywhere.  (Also some restaurants are closed from 3pm to 6pm for siesta or something.

(Oh please pack a selfie stick!)

We did not want to book any other museum until we were there and knew exactly how we were feeling, (go with the flow kind of people).  Our kids only wanted to play with pigeons anyway, and that was ok with us. also free.

Let me add that you can take a taxi everywhere withing the city for about 10€ per ride.  And if you plan to take a taxi to every attraction in one day you should budget around 50€ per day.
We did that on our last day because we were getting a little tired.

Piazza de Spagna.

Public transportation is a great option to consider, we took the tram several times (we also got really lost once).  We did not take the bus.  I always seem to be in a hurry, (weird), and waiting for the bus is no fun.   Walking around the city was so beautiful, so we walked most of the time.  And also my dear husband does not like buses, and that's ok.  I don't like hotel rooms.  and that's ok.

Transtevere Neighborhood.  This is my favorite neighborhood.

On our way to Tuscany.

We decided to visit Tuscany for 3 days.  We rented cars well in advance from Auto Europe (app).  It had the best prices all around.  We thought and read somewhere that it was best to rent in advance, well, it did not work as planned.  Budget did not hold our reservation.

We reserved automatic cars, so I could drive since I don't drive manual engine.  And for our friends who didn't either.
At the time of pick up there were no automatic cars for us.  We learned that automatic cars are nonexistent, so please learn to drive manual, if you plan to drive.  Or you can take the train from Rome to Florence for $25 per person.

We got our money back, and got an eight seat automatic van instead.  Not ideal, but it worked just fine for both families.  There was a lot of singing involved.

We kind of knew that something could go wrong with car seats (mom intuition).  So we wanted to be extra sure about it.   We called Budget to ask if car seats were guaranteed, they said "yes, of course!" I said: "I don't believe you".  Jk, but I didn't believe them.

So we rented our car seats from a small business that rents baby gear called Travel Baby.  This company was so awesome, affordable, reliable, very nice people, and very nice car seats.

In Italy booster seats are illegal, so we took our own, for our 7 year old.
We also took our own stroller, but you could also rent it from Travel Baby.  Cribs, carriers, anything baby related.

Ok back to Tuscany, what a dream!

We visited Siena, San Gimignano, and Florence.  We also stopped along the way on any wine tasting we could spot.  My wine life was changed forever.

We arrived around 11pm to Chianti, Tuscany.
Listen, in Italy people go to sleep very early, Lord Jesus.  Make sure that a late check-in is not a problem, again.

I also drank so much coffee it was not even funny!  Well it was a little funny, (I drank expressos to move my stomach just a little).  Also because it was delicious. (having a cappuccino after 11:00 am is a big no no!, just order a cafe).   I don't know why I needed to mention this.  So yes, try all the coffee, it's delicious. ok next.

(Have some change, some bathrooms charge you 1€ or 2.)

Making the line to the bathroom thinking
"Thank God it's a Godly woman behind me, cause I might take long.  The coffee".

There are so many towns to visit in Tuscany that is hard to choose.  But I'm sure any town you choose will be charming.

Since we were driving everywhere, (distances of about 30 minutes to 2 hours), we packed some lunches, guess what it was most of the time, PANINIS! yey.

We stopped at a local market and bought all their baguettes and mozzarellas.  Fruits and snacks as well, but mostly paninis.  My friend, who is a snack genius, bought eggs, milk and more goodies to cook and take along the way.

Cinque Terre.

This place is so so magical! and my favorite place in Italy so far.

you can visit the 5 towns (Cinque= five) by train, boat, or hiking it.  This can easily be a day trip.
The idea was to hike, but it could take you 6 to 7 hours.  Go for it if you are super fit!  But if you have to carry lots of other little humans on top of you just take the train or the boat.

We parked at Monterosso for 30€ per day.  From there we decided to ride the boat.

Beach at Monterosso, our first stop.

Make sure that you buy the boat ride option that stops at every town.  You can easily spend 1 to 2  hours in each town.
We stayed at the last town called Riomaggiore to enjoy the sunset, (kind of, Samu grab a weird looking cactus and we spent the entire sunset trying to help him take 100 spines from his hand.  I bit the cactus thinking it was a fruit so yeah, the sunset was amazing).  Then, we returned to Monterosso by train.

My favorite of all towns was Riomaggiore!  And while there please stop by Il Pescato Cucinato and try their fried seafood cones. So good!  Cinque Terre is the place to try all the seafood.

And make sure you pack a bathing suite!

On our way back to Rome we stayed near the Villa Borghese Park area, not the best if you want to walk around.  That is why on the last 2 days we took taxis everywhere.  We were also tired, and running out of time.  If you have an early flight back home, make sure you arrange transportation to the airport ahead of time.

Villa Borghese park is a very nice place to picnic, rest a little, and also to bike around.  For 12€ per hour we biked the entire park, and had a nice panini with wine from Casina del Lago, and eat it on the sidewalk.  We basically had every meal with wine. (house wine is delicious everywhere, no need to get fancy).

Riding the electric bike at Villa Borghese Park

Let's talk about our food budget.

We had a $150 per day for the 4 of us.  That ended up being a big food budget.
We did not, not even one day, go over the budget, and we ate a lot of gelatos, lots of paninis and we also eat at some great restaurants.

This was our budget plan:

• We could have a really nice "seating down at a nice restaurant" once a day, the rest of the meals we could be more frugal.  It worked perfectly.  We came back under budget. woho! but overweight and that's ok. (skinny people are easier to kidnap, we stay safe).

• We do not buy any souvenirs.  Sorry friends, you were not going to use that ugly keychain anyway!  I just thought someone needed to hear that. lol

• We budgeted museums, attractions, tours, taxi rides (from airport), food, car seats, car rentals, in other words, we budgeted every detail. there were no surprises.  Felipe is an accountant ya'll!   (is that how you spell you all?).

Bike Tour in Florence by Maximiliano, everyone was called Maximiliano btw. 

We took a bike tour in Florence, so worth it.
Also the best paninis in Florence can be found at Panini Toscany. So so good!

You should definitely read about public transportation, (know how to use it just in case).   Know which taxis are the real deal.  Uber for some reason has a bad rep in Italy, so we used mainly city taxis (the white ones).  Also from the airport to Rome there is a flat fee of 48€.

We never paid more than 12€ per taxi ride within the city.  We walked around 6 to 9 miles daily.  Pack some comfy shoes.

I did not forget about pizza you guys!
The best pizza we eat was at Ai Marmi.  It was my second time in this place, this time with my crew, I loved and enjoyed every sweaty moment.

Pizzeria Ai Marmi.

Our flight back to the States was a really good flight, my kids did not sleep not even one second, I did say we had a good flight.
Remember I was equiped for every second lol.  Having lots of things for them paid off.  also the pillows!

Ok. lets talk about jet lag.

People I thought I was dying.  Have you ever been pregnant? ok, so the week after the trip was exactly like that, like being pregnant.
Morning sickness, an unexplainable hunger, cravings, nausea, I couldn't drive, or see my friends, or people, or talk.  lol you get it.  (I like babies though).

I figure out I was extremely dehydrated, but also old.  So make sure you go on and travel while you are young, and if you are really old and reading this, also go and travel, and drink lots of water, and just deal with it because it's all worth it.

This was fun!  Thank you for reading! and let me know if you found this helpful.


Ciao tutti.




“Traveling In The Company Of Those We Love Is Home In Motion.”

– Leigh Hunt.