Italy Part 3: Rome and Tuscany (plus our SURPRISE reveal!)

For our only day with both sets of parents we had grand plans to tell them about the pregnancy, we were going to take them to the Trevi fountain and as we threw a coin in we were going to tell the tale of what our last coin brought us, another baby! Of course a plan so cheesy perfect is destined to fail and the Trevi fountain is under restoration and covered in scaffolding and tarps. We decided we would tell them over dinner instead and we headed out for the day on pins and needles. We had a busy day planned for Bonnie and Gus' only day in Rome and decided to start it with a walk to the Vatican from our apartment. I mean you can see St. Peter's dome clearly from the apartment how far can it be? Well it can be farther then you think! When we finally arrived we decided to join a small tour group to skip the line and get the most out of our visit. We toured the Vatican museum (which is a portion we didn't see last time), the Vatican including the Sistine chapel and finished in St. Peter's Cathedral where we had a chance to visit the catacombs where all the popes are buried. It was a busy and tiring day of walking but we really got to see and learn a lot. After grabbing some to-go lunch and realizing we were too many even for a taxi van we split up and headed home. I got to enjoy a picnic lunch with Felisha and mom until bees got nosy then we finally headed home. We decided we wanted something different for dinner and headed to a Mexican place. We all toasted the best part of our trip and Maddy toasted "finding out I'm having a baby brother" it was a shock to everyone. And although it wasn't the cheesy announcement I wanted it was perfect to finally have our family know.

Maddy and Daddy in St. Peter's Basilica

my covert pictures of Sistine Chapel, since our last visit they've changed the "NO PHOTO, SILCENCO" to a recording but otherwise it seemed the same

We learned that originally the cherubs and people were nude and another artist was brought in to make them 'decent'

the last window on the right is where they build the smoke stack when they are electing a new pope

Setting up for the papal audience, so sad I didn't get to see the pope while visiting. 

View of St. Peter's Basilica from our Rome apartment

The next morning we bid farewell to Bonnie and Gus as the headed back to Houston. The rest of us enjoyed some lounging time and then headed to SAID chocolate company for some chocolate inspired dinner. Sticking with my chocolate themed indulgence was easy with mom around because she is a chocoholic. It was a good meal with tons of touches of chocolates and we splurged on some extra chocolate from their showroom on the way out. Our taxi ride home gave us a taste of Rome we would see when we returned.

We headed out towards Tuscany the next day, it was Trey's last day before heading to Saudi and we decided to try and make the most of it. We headed to Pisa and visited the Field of Miracles. I will honestly say I had no idea that there was more then just one building there. Every picture you see is just the Leaning Tower but the other two are just as beautiful. We got tickets to climb the Leaning Tower, we took the 'touristy' tower photos and shopped while waiting for our turn. Because Maddy couldn't climb trey stayed down with her, a fact that angered her greatly. It was a bit of a tough climb, a tilt of only 5% doesn't seem like much until you are climbing circular stairs to reach the top. At some points you had to hold the wall because the lean felt so significant. The views from the top were beautiful and we made the climb worth it. Next we headed to the town of San Gimignano, a quaint little Tuscan town to visit and explore before journeying to our dinner spot. This place had been recommended to us by my Aunt and Uncle who visit Italy a couple times a year. I completely forgot to make dinner reservations in my pregnancy haze and we couldn't get in. I was heartbroken, we ended up eating at a much inferior local restaurant where they forgot to bring my food. Foodie fail 2 of the trip. By the time we made it to our argritursmo in Volterra everyone was tired and I was cranky. We checked in to find that the maids forgot to clean our room. The host was so apologetic and he quickly made the beds for us while cussing away in Italian. We crashed out and wished a better day tomorrow.

Maddy was very impressed that the tower leaned and stayed up!

We tried this photo like 15 times but couldn't get it right! It was going to be our facebook pregnancy announcement. One of those A trip to Italy $.... Tickets to see the leaning tower $... Realizing it take the power of 4 Emmitte's to hold up the tower PRICELESS...again too cheesy to succeed!

view climbing up the tower during one of our 'rest stops' sometimes the lean was too severe to look at the window without getting dizzy

bells on top of Pisa tower

views of the rest of the field of miracles

glances at the winding staircase, parts of the stairs were worn because with the tilt it's easier to walk on certain sides while climbing

tower looks almost straight from close up!

Our goodbye to Trey came to soon as after breakfast at our argitursimo we drove to Florence and he got on a train back to Rome for his flight. We decided to stay in Florence and explore so we walked into town and ventured around. Florence is one of my least favorite cities from our first visit to Italy and I still agree, although it wasn't quite as hot as last time it was just as crowded with vendors and tourists. We visited the Duomo although we couldn't climb it because it was closed. Then while wandering around shopping I got to expose Felisha and mom to their first gelato. That may have been the highlight of our day. After getting separated on the way back to the car we finally made it to the garage in one piece. Here's where the mistake was, up until this point I hadn't driven at all, like in nearly 2 years since we'd been in Saudi, so the confusing streets of Florence were a wrong choice for me to jump into the driver's seat. We made it out alive and without crossing any ZTL zones but the stress gave me a migraine and swelled my left eye shut, mom had to take over driving because I couldn't see.

We spent the next few days relaxing enjoying the agritusmo, taking horse riding lessons, goofing off, playing "pink ball" and swimming. We got to enjoy a delicious pizza party and dance the night away with the other guests. Maddy had her first riding lessons and I think she might be a pro-in-the-making! She even got to brush and wash her horse after her lesson. Mom and Felisha enjoyed a sunset horse ride through the Tuscan country-side while Maddy and I enjoyed some playground and bounce house time. At night we ventured out to catch fireflies in jars. Overall it was a relaxing and recharging time to reconnect with one another.

Maddy loved her pony, Pepo, he's still a calm answer to "whats your sad day" at dinner

beautiful orange moon spotted at a late dinner overlooking the Tuscan countryside

Mom and her stubborn horse

Maddy and mom enjoying some pizza making

We took a few day trips into the local town and to Volterra. Volterra was a quaint Tuscan town with that contains some beautiful ruins. We enjoyed walking around exploring and Maddy got her sword and shield she wanted.

Maddy's sword and shield from Volterra, she's accepting challengers for the compound

We climbed to the top of a bell tower and luckily our guide book warned us that it rang every half hour. As we were hurrying down my mom stopped for a last photo and the bell starting ringing. According to Maddy that bell "scared the heck out of her" she laughs every time she talks about it!

View from the top of the bell tower overlooking Volterra

crests of royalty in city hall

dragon lamps fill the town of Volterra

City Hall in Volterra including the bell tower we climbed

All too soon it was time to leave and head back into Rome, we left the agritirsimo with intent on visiting Sienna but by the time we got there it was packed with cars and the only lot available was the FAR away lot. We opted to just keeping journeying and find adventure on the way. Mom really wanted to see some castles so we decided we'd find some! After finding a supermarket for a picnic lunch we headed out following random signs for castles. We ended up finding three and only nearly getting murdered by large farm equipment on one-way roads twice. Overall a success and a fun unplanned afternoon! We returned the rental car and headed to our apartment in Rome for the rest of our stay.

After leaving this castle we encountered our near death experience with a farming plow, it was terrifying!! I backed up a while and then put my hands up and the farmer finally had pity on me and drove off the road so I could pass.

First stop in our random castle hunt was actually used as a wedding venue, it was beautiful

Our last stop of castle hunting, found up a super scary one way road up a mountain, I was so worried we'd encounter another farm vehicle

We explored our new neighborhood which was a hipster up-and-coming neighborhood that evening. It was quaint and we really loved spending the following morning at the Sunday flea market. It was such an eclectic collection of stuff and not a tourist in sight, my perfect day.

The next day we headed to the Spanish steps for a walking tour of Rome, it's a city I've seen before but I really enjoyed the tour and some of the facts I hadn't heard along with some of the places we visited. It took us by all the usual places plus some lesser known fun places like the estimated spot were Julius Cesaer was murdered. Our guide also talked about my favorite quality of Rome with is how it interweaves it's past with its future vs burying it. We opted for a late dinner and actually found a little pizzeria that served gluten-free crust so mom could indulge in pizza with us.

Our smoggy tour of Rome, passing one of my favorite statues from our first visit with a Gladiator story told down the column. The building behind has some of the oldest columns in all of Rome and yet it's just a newspaper building

Random church on our journey

Our gelato stop with over 100 flavors!

It was finally time to head to the Colosseum the following morning after a breakfast in the apartment. We decided to do a Colosseum and Roman Forum tour with the same company from the day before. Our guide was a little more stuffy but we got a lot out of the tour and enjoyed all the sights. Maddy loved jumping the cobble stones and I couldn't help remembering our first visit to Rome 5 months pregnant with Maddy. It was great to see the same building twice and see how they've changed and the new way you perceive them and learn from them. It was a better experience then I imagined. For our last evening together we decided to head out on a quest for one last gelato. Because surely our hip neighborhood has tons of gelato shops, well not so much. After risking life and limb we finally found a gelato shop, the only causality was Maddy's bobble head doll who didn't survive our dash across the tram tracks. We headed back to the apartment and hung out a while before calling it a night.

The view at the end of our Tram from our apartment, the "typewriter"

Enjoying the ruins we saw on our walk to the Colosseum 

Colosseum was just pressure washed before our visit and looked so much cleaner then our first visit, but it was an expensive wash costing millions of dollars

Salvaged mosaics from the floor of the colosseum

Since we visited the first time they've opened the lower level, it's amazing to see the underground level now. Before it was just covered in plywood and being restored.

We had a chance to visit Palatine Hill, inhabited since 1000 BC and one of the oldest areas of Rome

view of the Roman Forum from Palatine Hill

Mom and Felisha left the next morning and the countdown begins again until the next time we see them. Maddy and I got to spend a leisurely morning hanging out before we left to catch our afternoon flight home to Saudi. It was a long month in Italy but our family time was so precious to us! It seems we can't visit Italy without a baby in utero so no more Italy for us, on to the next adventure!