Tirrenia is a small, busy, beautiful beach town near Pisa.  There was no direct train to the town, so we took a train to Livorno, just a bit south of the beach.  This train appeared to drop us off in the middle of podunk nowhere!  I was seriously half expecting to see sage brush blow by in the wind.  We had to then find a way from the train to the hotel.  This part of every city we visited usually turned out to be the most adventurous, since there just wasn’t enough time pre-trip to plan every detail of transportation.

So we’re in podunk Livorno and looking for a public transit bus that will take us to Tirrenia.  Public transportation in any city takes a bit to get used to, so having to do it in half an hour always took longer.  After wandering around in front of the semi-deserted train station, not getting any help from the maps since Tirrenia is just outside the city limits, someone finally directs us to a bus.  The bus driver was helpful, but I think he was either a little annoyed, or amused at me trying to get our just-a-little-too-big stroller down the bus aisle. So after finally getting to our seats, it literally drove us about 100 yards before we had to switch to another bus.

When we got to the other bus stop, there was an older Italian man sitting on the stoop of a business and he asks me something in Italian.  I say “I’m sorry, no Italiano.”  He gestures, ahhhh, but then keeps talking.  We gesture and banter back and forth, “No Italiano”, “Aaahh” laugh.  He pulls out his bus ticket and we figure out that he is just making sure we have our tickets!  So cute.  Then 2 minutes later, this little old lady literally does the same thing and just keeps smiling at Skye and saying “Ciao, Bella” and trying to ask us something and I say No Italiano and she laughs and just keeps going on in Italian.  Our second bus shows up and we realize it is a different bus company and we need new tickets, but the bus driver couldn’t have cared less.  The bus was seriously 100 degrees, not exaggerating, so it only took about 3 minutes before Skye started screaming and the old lady was yelling to the bus driver to turn on the AC and he’s saying it’s broken and he is braking all over the place so I’m trying to keep my balance with Skye crying and the old lady and the bus driver yelling.  Of course we also had no idea which bus stop to get off at since we were lucky to even get on the right bus in the right place.  There was only one main one-way street near the beach so the hotel was easy to spot.  Phew, we get off and deeply exhaled and when we inhaled, the smell of the Mediterranean greeted our noses.  Ahh, time to relax.

We checked into our beach-front hotel.  The room was pretty basic except that it had a balcony, looking straight out to the enticing water.  I planned a little late in the season, so it wouldn’t have been my first choice and was a little more money than I wanted to spend, but I did want to be right on the beach since I knew we’d be so tired from Rome.  We changed and went to grab a bite to eat at a little restaurant.  Can’t beat lobster ravioli’s and asparagus sauce with another fantastic bruschetta.  After dinner, it was about 6p so we went to the beach.  It was totally deserted and fabulous.  There were no rocks or seaweed anywhere.  The sun was setting through a slightly overcast sky.  We took off our shoes and stepped into the delectable water.  Perfect.  Warm.  Gentle waves.  Perfect.  Skye didn’t agree with her first experience with the big water, but that changed the next day.  We played for a bit until we headed off to put the little one to bed.

The following day we had another great continental breakfast on the veranda of the hotel.  After that, the day was filled with swimming in that glorious water, playing in the sand with Skye, swimming in the pool, and again swimming with Skye in the water, and I’m glad to say that she loved it, after our failed attempt at swimming in Budapest, and her disagreement with it the evening before, we were a little worried that whe wouldn’t take to the water, but she did, even when she was shivering, she seems to really enjoy it.  When she went down for a nap, Benjam got a takeout pizza and some Corona’s and we sat on our balcony enjoying the view and the quiet.  It’s those little times that you remember.  Then we went back into the water and played for a bit before eating at a family run Italian restaurant, where there house was literally attached to the back of the restaurant.  Good stuff.

The following day, things took a turn for the worse when we left Tirrenia.  We left the stunning Mediterranean beach and spent the next two days on long, hot trains.  If I would have know what was coming, we would have just stayed at the beach for 2 more days and then went straight to Salzburg.

Rome, Rome, where to begin with Rome.  This was one place we definitely wanted to get to while we were in Europe.  It had the quintessential European big city vibe, but with a major difference; artifacts and ruins throughout, actually embedded within, the city.  We’re talking about huge, show-stopping sights: the Colosseum, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, the largest monument I’ve ever seen, Piazza Navona, Arch of Constastine, and more.  I can only imagine how much a real history buff would enjoy that place.  The presence of the Roman Empire is just staggering and impossible to deny.  While we were in Prague, I remember reading that it had been the capital of the Roman Empire in the 14th century.  Prague is so far away and to think that the empire’s reach extended to the Czech Republic really says something.  And then seeing the Colosseum in true form, it really puts it all into perspective.

Our first stop when we arrived that late Friday afternoon was just a jaunt around our hotel neighborhood.  St. Paul’s Basillica resided a few blocks from us so we walked over to it in the early evening after settling into the hotel.  It was a beautiful summer evening with people eating gelato and playing soccer and walking their dogs, no one in a hurry to get anywhere, including us.  The church is next to a park, so we walked around a GIANT wall and the clock tower.  We were hungry from the side effects of not eating – starvation – so we decided to find a bite before we went into the church.  All we could find was some pretty dissapointing, heat lamp pizza.  Not to worry though, our Italian palates would be quelled the following evening.  When we finally went into the courtyard, it was stunning; not very large, but well kept, and green and refreshing, with huge marble columns lining the courtyard.  Then we heard music from within the chruch.  We thought we would soon be kicked out because of a concert or something.  Turns out it was a free concert open to the public – AWESOME.  To hear people singing in those acoustics was simply amazing.  We hung at the back of the gigantic hall, drowning in marble and an Italian choir. It was pretty insane.

The next day was our big, jam packed, see-it-all-in-a-day day.  The Colosseum was our first stop and geez, is it formidable.  We got trapped into a tour, but thought it might be worth it.  It was €20 each, but that included the €12 entrance fee and we got to jump to the head of the line, which was pretty long even as early as we were.  It was our only paid tour, so it was kind of nice hearing about its history.  It’s too bad it was such a place of bloodshed for all of those poor lads, Christians, and tigers.  We walked inside, and around the different tiers, and each vantage point held a unique perspective on the city.  I thought it would look the same everywhere, but surprisingly, you saw something different from every angle.  None of the stadium flooring or the inner, central flooring remained because of some fires and earthquakes, but it still retained its dominant quality.  They restored a few sections here and there to help give you a feeling of what it would have been like back in the day.  Very, very cool.

Near the Colosseum was a huge, unbroken arch, the Arch of Constantine (of Constantinople).  Near the grounds, there was also a huge archeological site. And I mean huge. Many, many city blocks worth of ruins and toppled pillars.  We missed the exit (and the entrance) and still had much more to see, so we just walked alongside it as we worked our way through Rome.  The next imposing structure to catch our eye was this humongous Monument.  The statues that sat on top of it must have been the size of stadiums.  People were walking up the stairs and they looked like ants.  We continued walking down the busy Roman street, with all of the other tourists I imagine.  Eh, but who cares, when in Rome…

It was really hot though and there weren’t really any grassy areas, and the humidity was too much, but we pushed on.  We went to find the Trevi Fountain, thinking the mist might cool us off.  Apparantly  everyone else had the same idea.  The fountain was tucked away in a small crossroads of alleys, so it was just packed with people sitting and standing around it.  But we did find some yummy gelato to cool us off before we headed off the find the Pantheon.

Even though it’s a big building, the builldings around it stand taller and there aren’t any main streets near it, only building alleyways.  It would have been hard to find except for it’s spherical top.  It has grand marble pillars guarding its entryway as well as a fountain (those Romans like their fountains).  Inside are gorgeous fresco’s and intricate mable floors and walls and the “eye” poking sunlight through.  Pretty amazing.

We then found a couple other famous piazza’s with fountains, more marble pillars, and ornate statues on our way to the Castle St. Angelo.  We crossed a short bridge, also decorated with roman marble statues leading up to the gates.  We walked inside a bit with absolotely stunning fresco’s before viewing the city from the best vantage point.  Why is everything so cool looking at those perspectives? Vatican City was some distance away, but it reached the height of the top of the castle because it is so grand.

After the last of our sightseeing, we went to find a spot for dinner.  We ended up in a resutrant in one of the smaller alleys.  Lots of foot traffic, but not too much, and only a vehicle or two.  The alley’s are fairly narrow and the quaint buildings that frame the alley all have flower boxes in the windows and people are talking loudly in their melodious Italian.  We had a fantastic dinner of the best ever spaghetti and meatballs and mouth-watering bruschetta with perfectly soaked olive oil and basil. Oh man, so delicious, and a bottle of wine to boot that helped relax the joints after walking all day.  Everyone was happy and Skye was having a ball eating perftectly cooked spaghetti with parmesan.  She absolietly loved it.  It was that perfect time of the evening when everyone is transistioning to night time.  It was a perfect meal with my adoring family and charming Italian atmosphere — one that I will not soon forget.

We made it back to the hotel and the anxiety of Skye in a hotel room started to set in.  But she slept like a doll and went right down and stayed down all night!  Since we weren’t quite ready to go to sleep, we started watching the last few episodes of the last season of Battlestar Galatica.  Geeks no matter where we are!

Our last day in Rome we planned on going to Vatican City before heading to the train and the beach.  We had our first experience with a real “continental breakfast” and boy does it put the state’s to shame! We’re talking meats, cheeses, pastries, fruit, scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, yogurt, a variety of juices, sausages, bacon, a variety of baker’s bread, fabulous Italian coffee, pomodorro and on and on.  Filled us up quite right before heading out into the sun.

We were told to head out pretty early, but it’s always sooo hard to get out of those hotel beds.  You know it’s a bad sign when the subways are empty except the one you are on and everyone gets off at the same stop as you.  The line into the Sistine Chapel was ridiculous, like 2-3 hours in the sun, there was no way we needed to see it that badly.  We went instead to St. Peters Basilica and the big area you see on TV where the Pope comes out and waves to everyone.  The entire city is monumentous.  It was a modern-day religous region similar to that of some of the relics we had seen in other cities and civilizations of the past.  Some day people will look at the Vatican with the same awe and wonder that we did in the Pantheon.

So after our two days in Rome we boarded our 3 hour train ride to Tirrenia, a small beach town near Piza.  It was pretty exciting watching the city fall behind us and the coast and screamin’ blue water ahead of us.  The train went right along the coastline and at times we were only a few meters from the water.  It was one of the better train rides of the million we took on this trip.

Rome was a highlight of the vacation and I would do it again in a second.  It was unforgettable and so much fun.  However, the loud, busy, lived-in city would be too much to stay in for too long, especially at that time of year and in that heat and humidity.

so I’m going to break up this trip into a few posts because the trip spanned several cities (in a couple countries), and if we tried to cram all the pics and info into one post, it would be huge. so this post is a basic overview of the trip as a whole, with the individual city posts linked in this one.

we left for italy on friday, and it took us three buses, one plane, an inner city train, two metros, and a fair sized walk to get to our hotel in Rome… talk about exhausted. it didn’t help that we didn’t really know where our hotel was, where we were, where the train was going, where the metro stops were, and all that…  but we got there. we did the Rome thing, which was seriously amazing, if you ever get a chance, I highly recommend it, although I definitely would not want to live there. it’s a bit too dirty and touristy and crowded for my tastes.

after Rome we headed off to Tirrenia (a little beach town between Livorno and Pisa), where we took in some beach and sun time because, even though the weather forecast said rainy in italy for the whole week, it was a blazing 30C (~85° F), which is really nothing compared to the 100+ heat of Utah, but add in 100% humidity and it will suck the sweat right out of you. but again, highly recommended, the water and beach were perfect.

after Tirrenia, that’s when the fun began…  there was a pretty major train accident in Viareggio (not too far from La Spezia, our next stop), which caused all the trains to La Spezia to be cancelled. because of this, our 1 hour train ride became a 4 hour bus ride, and Skye is not too fond of trains, and doubly so for buses. we got there quite late, and were completely frazzled from the bus ride, so we went to our hotel. we had planned to do a little day trip to Cinque Terre, and take in the amazing sights there, but just couldn’t make it, it was too late to do anything, and our train for Milano left pretty early the next day, so we stayed in.  =(

we left for Milano the next day, and again, because of the train accident, had to take a longer train, so we got to Milano a bit later than we had hoped. we had planned to go to the science museum in Milano, and check a few other things, but only made it to the museum. the museum was supposed to have a bunch of hands-on stuff for me and Skye to play with, but they were only available on the weekends (it was Wed.), and the rest of the museum kinda sucked. after the museum we headed off to the train station to catch our night train to Salzburg.  unfortunately, the “night train” was actually 3 trains, and none of them had sleeper cars. so we really didn’t want to be sitting up with Skye all night and switching trains at 4 in the morning, so we got a nearby hotel and stayed the night in Milano with train tickets that left at 7 the next morning.

after the 7 hour train ride through the Alps via Innsbruck to Salzburg, we arrived at around 4-5 in the afternoon, went to our hotel, dropped off our stuff, and grabbed a bite to eat. it was already too late to do anything, but that was ok, because we were there for as long as we wanted, no more early morning trains, and no more rushing to get somewhere.

Salzburg is probably my favorite place in Europe so far. it is simply breathtaking. The mountains were amazing, the country was amazing, and the city was amazing. we left Salzburg and headed home late Sat. morning. the train we were going to catch was about to leave, and we were hoping to get an empty coach to let Skye nap in, but the ticket girl said it was probably full, so we got tickets for the next one. as we walked out on the platform, we saw the train we skipped, and it was nearly empty, and as I was about to go back and exchange tickets, it pulled away. our train arrived from another city, and was packed solid. the only reason we got a seat at all was because we had reserved some. but we finally made it home, and crashed.

overall, it was a good trip, there were some poopy parts about it, mostly due to the train accident and not wanting to travel for extended periods with a toddler, but the cities we were able to see were pretty amazing. i highly recommend any of them.