Traveling Light

Back in the fall we did a whirlwind tour of Italy with two kiddos (4 months and 3 years) from mid-September to mid-October. We did it with 3 carry-on bags and 2 car seats. Here's what we did and how you can lighten your travel loads too!

Nothing but carry-on.

Packing tips for travel days:

1. With only carry-on suitcases we always fit into small rental cars (think Opal Corsa).
2. Each adult got 3 tops and 3 bottoms. Kids (who pee themselves) got 3 tops and 6 bottoms.
3. We bought beach towels in Italy at the grocery store for 5 euros.
4. We brought sandals and walking shoes and wore the walking shoes on the plane.
5. We packed rain coats in the suitcases to save us room for souvenirs.
6. We packed 3 days of diapers in the suitcases to also save room for souvenirs.
7. We brought enough toiletries to get through the first week (cause, you know, Italians like to bathe too which makes it easy to find things like soap and toothpaste).
8. Every place we stayed had a hair dryer so there was no point bringing one.
9. If we bought clothes we left something behind (like a stained shirt).
10. We packed one muslin blanket for the baby which also helped block the sun in the car when we hung it from the window.

The pre-flight lounge was worth the fees as was the carseat toy.

Entertaining travelling kiddos:

1. Orin got to bring one SMALL stuffed animal. No books. She carried her own backpack.
2. We bought baby Brynn a carseat toy because it wrapped around luggage handles. 
3. We used the pre-flight lounge. Well worth the $55/family.
4. We brought a sling for Brynn and an Ergo for Orin (Ergos are good to 40lbs). Italians LOVE kids so this kept the girls close to us and made it easier to introduce them to strangers.
5. We had a new movie on the iPhone (Up). 'Up' is very quiet and didn't disturb others.
6. We bought 6 "surprise" activities at the dollar store (total <$10). I rarely needed it.
7. Orin got treats (candy, pastry, gelato, pizza, pasta) whenever she wanted. Good food is good fun.
8. Learning Italian was a game and she STILL likes to point out people speaking it at home.
9. Bedtime was later. It just was.
10. The more we relaxed and enjoyed ourselves, the more the kids did.

Good food is good fun.

What we learned:

1. Always have extra kleenexes. Kids pick their noses until they bleed at the worst times.
2. Don't pack white shirts for anyone. See number 1.
3. Wet wipes are a gift from the heavens.
4. If you bring a little soap you can hand wash anything in the sink.
5. Try to learn some of the language, especially as it relates to kids. People love to talk kids. You'll meet so many people.

Dolce (Dessert)

This is the final in a series of emails I sent to friends and family while abroad. We did a month long trip to Italy with the girls. And survived. Our theme was eating and beaching. Enjoy! I'll follow-up with a travelogue and tips on traveling with kiddos (with only carry-on!) in the next little bit.

Ah, Roma, the dessert course of our trip and our final email.

In 'Eat, Pray, Love', (otherwise known as the movie where Julia Roberts chortles her way through Rome and some other countries) Elizabeth Gilbert writes of "il dolce far niente". The sweetness of doing nothing.

For anyone who has ever been to Rome or Italy, let's all share a laugh. Ha ha ha.

In Rome, one does not do niente. One has too much eating to bother with niente.

It helps that we found the coolest apartment through AirBnB called Domus Ciancaleoni. We have a quick walk to some of the best gelato in town at Fatamorgana. My fave? Fennel, honey and liquorish. (?!?!) Dave's is mirto and castagna (myrtle and chestnuts) and Orin always gets chocolate. We all share so we taste 5 or 6 flavours each time. Twice daily. Tip: don't try the basil gelato...

Orin being dominated by a plateful of Cacio e Pepe.

Let me break down some regional pasta dishes. As always, pecorino favours heavily (have you bought any yet?). Cacio e pepe is pasta with pecorino and pepper (Orin's fave). Pasta all'amatriciana has a tomato sauce of pancetta (not prosciutto), pecorino, onions, garlic and hot pepper flakes (peperoncino). Rome is also the home of carbonara, which has a sauce of beaten egg, pancetta, pecorino and lots of pepper. The egg can be cooked (cotto) or raw (crudo) for a creamier sauce.

In between meals we've taken in the sights. There are so many (oh my god, so many) tourists, even though it's October. With 2 kids, we can't be bothered with art, history and whatnot on this trip. Instead, we took a whole day to see the coliseum and pantheon. No guide, no info, just Orin exploring old things and old places.

Queen of the ruins.

The next day we hit Villa Borghese, the large heart-shaped park in the city centre. We rented a 4 person bike and took it off-roading. Orin woo-hood as Dave tried to take out fellow tourists. Ever her father's daughter, she rang her bell after each near miss.

Relaxing, motorized family bike style.

The mosquitos are terrible. Really bad. Bad everywhere in Italy, but brutal here. And the best part is that all drugs are guarded by pharma-chistas who give you what they think you need, not what you want. How Italian. In other words, after using up my supply of antihistamines, I can now say in Italian, "thanks for all the hydrocortisone cream but that won't do a fucking thing for the 17 bug bites on my arm so give me the Benadryl or I WILL CUT YOU!" It hasn't worked yet which is why I have a tube of hydrocortisone (fail) and Benadryl cream (fail) and a box of Aerius (fail). I turned down the Reactine (FAIL!!).

Io sonno una professora della pharmacia, MoFos.

Born to be Roman.

But I can't end with a rant, however justified. Instead, today's word: felice (fay-lee-chay). It means happy.

Today's recipe: In Italian homes, the dolce course is often a bowl of fruit placed on the table. Fancier desserts include many pastries, but that requires finishing your carb dinner with carbs. So here's a nice light dessert to try instead. Take a bowl of ricotta, add lemon and honey. Top with figs, sliced in half. Or peaches. Or whatever is good.

Ciao,
Kay-lee, Dah-vee-day, Brrrrr-ynn, and Orrrrrr-een. But Orrrrr-een eez not a name. We call her Paolina instead. Okay?