Thanks to Funds for Education Abroad, my daughter and I had the opportunity to step outside of our host country and visit Italy. We tasted some of the most flavorful pizzas and learned some fascinated facts and greeting phrases applicable to the region. We stayed in a city called Tuscolana, which was very accessible to most if not all of the popular landmarks, monuments, and catacombs.
Where were there for four days, and we attempted to see everything. We didn’t quite make seeing everything, since around every corner there was something exciting to view. Since I am always traveling with a four year old, whose attention span is definitely not of an adult, I always start our adventures by visiting a place for my daughter to have lots of fun while releasing some stored up energy. Our first stop was Bioparc Roma. We visited the Bioparc in Valencia Spain, but I thought the one in Rome would offer her a whole new range of animals to view and touch.
While at Bioparc Roma, my daughter and I experienced what it was like to let insects labeled as pesky critters to crawl on us. We were even allowed to watch as the zoo keepers feed some of the animals such as the lemurs and the elephants. After touring the whole zoo, my daughter and I had lunch then found a tree to sit under to allow her to take a two hour nap. Once she awoke, it was moms turn to visit some new and exciting place, so I choose the Vatican City.
As a child and as an adult, I was always curious about the place where the popes frequently addressed the masses. Visiting the Vatican City changed my life forever. Iย found myself crying yet again, without the rain to mask the tears as it had in Granada Spain while visiting the Alhambra. In my opinion, you do not have to acknowledge any particular faith in order for you to enjoy the beauty contained in every building found in the Vatican City. We started out by visiting the St. Peter’s Basilica. I didn’t want to drag my daughter up the 504 stairs to get to the top of the dome, after previously wandering around Bioparc for hours, but my daughter stated that she possessed super girl power that would get her up to the top. As we started our trek to the top, I felt like our mission to climb the stairs would end in a disaster.
The picture above my text shows us at the beginning of our mission. My heart was racing, and not from being tired since we had just begun. I was worried that my daughter would give up at some inconvenient point on the stairs. The picture below my text depicts just how wrong I was.
This super girl warrior, climbed all the way to the top, and it was mom that barely had enough strength to make it. Climbing down the stairs was a cinch. However, we didn’t know the beauty that was in store for us. The only downside to our visit was that in certain parts of the museum where Michelangelo paintings can be viewed, there are no photographs allowed. Of course there were individuals that were breaking the rules, and I myself was even tempted, but I thought it would have been irresponsible of me to do so especially since my daughter was observing my every move.
