I've got nothing this year. But I'm planning something for next year with ds.
I might have to slip a small trip in there somewhere though. Maybe a road trip?
Did you ever end up taking him to the zoo?
Just the local one. I will probably do Portland this summer with him though.
Next year I'm going to take him to California though. I figure if I take 4 days off work we can spend a couple days at Disney and then drive down to San Diego for a couple of days and do the zoo there too. Then we can just fly home from there. We'll go in May so it will count as his birthday present and it will be after spring break so we won't have to fight those crowds...
And I'm still contemplating a jaunt to TX this summer but haven't been able to nail anything down.
We're going to Italy this spring! We have a wedding in Atl in June, and I think that's it. Maybe a trip home for a weekend and probably a day in Boston, but I don't think that counts.
I've also been thinking we need to make more trips around Utah to all of the gorgeous national parks we have here. It is stupid that I don't go more often.
I've been thinking about a weekend trip to Philadelphia the first or second week of June, but I'm not sure. It would be a trip to stoke my own ego and walk at graduation. Appealing as the idea is, it'd a pretty expensive weekend just to wander the Drexel campus by myself.
I know a great apartment near Campo di Fiori from VRBO.com It was a really cool place to stay.
Thanks. We are all set on places to stay. The necropolis tour sounds cool. I haven't done that one before.
Oh it also ends inside the upper level of the Vatican so if the lines are long you avoid them along with seeing what's below where the Pope's are buried.
Okay, I finally have some recommendations, Muddled! I've never been to the Amalfi coast, but OMG I want to so bad! So you will have to tell us how amazing it is.
For Florence: -Trattoria Anita is a great dinner spot (though you might want a reservation); their ravioli is super good, and their house wine is too! It's surprisingly cheap for being in a central location, sort of tucked behind the Palazzo Vecchio. -Go to I Fratellini for sandwiches! Seriously delicious, and super cheap, halfway between the Duomo and Palazzo Vecchio. Mr. Smock ate a minimum of one sandwich a day from them every day the last time we were in Florence. One time he was like "I'm going out for a walk" and when he came back he smelled like sandwiches. -If you have time, a day trip by bus to San Gimignano or Siena is really cool, and very easy. -If the weather is nice, the Boboli Gardens are fabulous for strolling; Mr. Smock took a nap under a tree.
For Rome: -Sacro e Profano was one of my favorite pizza places in Italy; it's in an old church and super tasty. -If you start to get tired of Italian food (trust me, it is possible), we liked Le Piramidi by Campo dei Fiori for falafel. L'Antica Birreria Peroni has lots of beer and beans. Open Baladin Roma has lots of craft beers. Oh wait, you might not want beer? -We had fun in the Borghese gardens renting a rowboat and cruising around the lake.
But my favorite favorite thing to do anywhere in Italy is just stroll around, and eat a lot of gelato.
Oh, and my favorite gelato flavor is fior di latte. It's literally cream flavored, and it is the best. On some trips I tried to sample as many gelato flavors as possible, but now I've adopted a different standard. I get fior di latte everywhere, it's amazing, and then I compare. I'm like "Grom has a very rich and fatty fior di latte, but Il Gelato di San Crispino is a little tangier." It's like wine tasting, for gelato.