Italy through my children's eyes

I recently returned from a vacation in Italy.  My husband and I are broke, have been living on savings but we know that if we don't rejuvinate the soul, work becomes meaningless, life becomes dull. We had placed Europe on hold after the birth of my second son, as we felt it was too much pressure to go so far.  Last year my sister in law began planning her yearly trip to Italy and I just snapped.  Two children under the age of 5, starting a new career and living under strict budget rules had made me cranky and irritable.  I booked free flights on American with our Citibank miles and my sister in law connected us with some friends of hers in Bellagio that had a two bedroom apartment renting for a very good price.  Away we went with two year old and four year old in tow.  We made it there with a minimal amount of glares from our neighboring passengers and 0 hours sleep for mom.  We decided to get to Bellagio the old fashioned way, via train and then ferry.  Everything went wrong, the train took forever, we missed the fast ferry and was forced to take the slow ferry...   wait!  it was vacation, we relished in our sleepiness and watched as our children giggled in the breeze of the two hour boat ride.  Thank goodness few could speak English to understand the rounds of boat songs we sang. 

Bellagio was beautiful, the apartment perfect, the towns charming.  Everyday we searched out the best playgrounds in Italy.  That is right, no museums for us, no picturesque churches.  We explored dark cobblestone alley ways and stared at rod iron gates to see if monsters lurked inside.  We pushed strollers down cobblestone roads as fast as we could while our children sang to hear their voices jerk and jumble with the motion.  We found the best chocolate and cream croissants.  We found the best gelato.  We roda on ferrys back and forth, especially the car ferry until my son passed out from sheer excitement.  We ate anywhere that had an outdoor plaza with a fountain so our children would be able play while we tried to linger on a second glass of wine.  We fed ducks and ducks ate small fingers.  We searched for cats and chased squirrels.  We did a few of the local gardens but often left quickly when we could not observe the keep off the grass sign, so we discovered wildflowers growing in the nearby park where they could run all over the grass.  We packed picnics and discovered water with gas.

I have been to Europe and through so many places and museums, even when my daughter was a baby she carried little where we went.  This was the first time I saw Europe through their eyes and their lives.  It was absolutely amazing.  My children came back amazingly changed.  My son jabbers and communicates much better then before we left.  My daughter looks at a globe and understands that those lands far away mean something.  I have heard never take small children to Europe.  But I say, never not take them.  Just be prepared to have fun!