Questions? I’ve heard a ton of them about our family vacation this month to Italy! This week I’ll tackle the three I’ve heard most often, let me know if you have others that you’d like answered.
#1 – Why did you spend most of your time in one spot rather than seeing more of Italy while you were gone?
We had 9 nights in Italy and there are a ton of different options we could have done. The most popular perhaps being Rome, Florence and Venice. Our big draw for this trip was to visit dear friends who live along the coast near Naples. We had visited the Amalfi Coast briefly several years ago we knew that it was an area we wanted to explore more in-depth. Even then I was met with queries as to why not do a few days there then do two nights in Rome, 2 in Florence and 2 in (insert any destination, I heard them all)? Did we have time? Of course we did, but we didn’t want to spend all of our time in transit to the next spot. By spending the first week along the coast we were able to really get a feel for the area and relax. We got off the beaten path and visited sites that we hadn’t been able to get to before during our brief visit. We were able to slow down and enjoy the area rather than see it out of a window as we sped through in a few days. We chose to spend our last two nights in Rome so we could schedule a photo session with Flytographer, take a kid friendly tour of the Vatican Museums and more easily prepare for our return flight from Rome rather than take an early train that morning.
#2 – Why would you want to go there in the Winter instead of “in season”?
Sure, November is known as the rainy season along the coast, but we had some really great weather. Aside from one or two days where we had a brief shower, I hardly wore a jacket. Actually, the heaviest jacket I took with me was a raincoat. We had beautiful sunny days and temps averaging in the mid 60’s. We were able to drive the Amalfi Coast road only seeing a handful of cars instead of inching along in bumper to bumper traffic as we would have done during the summer. We visited archeological sites that were thousands of years old and had one of them to ourselves, in Capua. We probably saw 10-15 other people at Paestum and the day we visited Pompeii the crowds were very very light until we were getting ready to leave and the cruise ship excursions arrived for their afternoon tour. We had our choice of outdoor cafes in Sorrento and even in Rome.
#3 – Isn’t school important to your daughter?
Absolutely, school is important, but equally important is enhancing her education beyond her classroom. We take full advantage of school holidays and the week we were gone she had two days off school. She completed several tests and assignments before we left town and kept up with the work while we were gone so she did not have any tasks to make up when she returned. She studied Ancient Rome last year and was able to share a lot of what she learned as we toured the sites. But more important, to me, was that she was able to really put into context what she had read in those textbooks. She was able to wander around and explore the underground chambers of Capua, the second largest amphitheater in the Roman Empire and dating back to 600BC. The best description in a book or even a video can’t replace that experience.
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