Rome: battling the germs like gladiators

Posted on August 21, 2025 by Briana Branham

The final stop on our Italy adventure was Rome. On the train ride from Naples to Rome, I realized I was getting sick. Whatever virus Phineas brought with him to Italy had finally reached me. In a few days, it would reach Jake too. And then Penelope.

We had booked a special access, small group tour of the Colosseum for our first full day in Rome. It was a hard to get tour that included the underground area where the animals were kept and the gladiators would prepare for battle. Despite being sick, I was not going to miss that. I definitely collapsed when we got back to the apartment, but it was worth it.

Seeing the Colosseum from the bus: it’s pretty awe-inspiring

Pompeii and Smelly Laundry

Posted on April 4, 2025 by Briana Branham

It’s rare that a place you visit is equally awe-inspiring the second time. Pompeii was just that. After a stressful ride on the local Circumvesuviana train, we arrived at Pompeii and met our tour guide. When Jake and I visited Pompeii in 2018 we toured on our own, but this time decided hiring a guide would give us a more comprehensive experience. Our guide was great. It was a lot of walking, but the kids handled it well and were in total awe. Ancient Romans were so much like modern people. We saw a tiled mosaic that was the ancient equivalent of a “beware of dog” sign. We also saw their version of a fast food restaurant. The plaster casts of people killed by Vesuvius eruption in 79AD are incredibly relatable. They are now spread throughout the site, so we didn’t get to see all of them, but each one was touching. There are also feral cats that roam the site- Penelope was into taking pictures of them. We also (somewhat accidentally) walked through the ancient brothel. Penelope had lots of questions. Overall it was an incredible day, and the kids rated it as the #1 highlight of the trip so far.

Stepping stones to cross the street. In ancient times it would be filled with water and sewage.

For dinner that night Penelope demanded something other than pasta or pizza. All she wanted was a home cooked meal. Unable to easily provide that, we found a restaurant that had grilled chicken. I’ve never seen her so happy to gobble up some very basic food.

The next morning we had to check out of our apartment. Before leaving for Pompeii the previous day I had decided to put some laundry in. When we travel I get a bit obsessed with making sure we have clean clothes. When booking apartments for this trip I made sure each apartment had a washing machine, but I didn’t realize I also had to make sure they had dryers. When we got back that evening, I took the laundry out to dry and it smelled like the worst mold/mildew imaginable. It was raining on and off the whole time we were in Naples, so drying on a rack on the balcony wasn’t a good option. I hung the laundry on the catwalk balcony and went to bed. We had to check out the next morning and not only was our laundry not dry, it still smelled awful. So before leaving for Rome, we had to hit another laundromat to rewash the clothes. I left Jake there to handle the laundry and took the kids to do some souvenir shopping. Long story short, between multiple direction mishaps I’ll just say thank god Penelope was there to lead us. That girl apparently has an excellent sense of direction (unlike Phineas and I). We’d probably still be lost in the back alleys of Naples if not for her.

Naples: chaotic, stressful, and authentic

Posted on April 4, 2025 by Briana Branham

It’s a long train ride from Venice to Naples. I thought we could all rest up on the ride, but the pace of the last couple of stops had caught up with us and we were all still worn out when we rolled into Napoli Centrale after dark. Naples was the city I was most worried about from a logistics perspective. From my research it’s not a physically dangerous city for tourists, but it’s chaotic, loud, riddled with pickpockets and scammers, and generally kind of lawless. Red lights are more a suggestion than rule, for example, and prices can be whatever the seller decides to charge you. And the mopeds!! So many mopeds buzzing by you with only centimeters to spare. It’s overwhelming and sensory overload. When we left the station we found our way to the taxi line and had to differentiate between the rouge taxi guys trying to poach tourists from the line and the way cheaper metered rides. It was hard to find our apartment – the door was hidden halfway down an alley – and all the doors had so many locks that I was feeling pretty on edge once we finally made it in. It was going on 9pm so we dropped our bags off and found the nearest pizza restaurant for a quick dinner. It wasn’t even a particularly well rated restaurant, but OMG it was delicious. Incidentally, I can now vouch that PiNapo, our Naples style pizza restaurant in Charlottesville, is quite authentic. Naples pizza is a little more soggy (in a good way) in the middle, but otherwise very close. After dinner we went back to the apartment for some much needed rest. The kids have been taking turns picking their beds first and this apartment had two nice bedrooms with queen sized beds and then a little cubby at the end of a catwalk hallway with a tiny bed and curtain that we affectionately called the servant’s quarters. It was Penelope’s turn to pick first so Phineas got the cubby.

The catwalk to Phineas’ servants quarters

We had two full days in Naples and had a Pompeii day trip planned for the second day, so when we woke up we were ready to explore Naples. It was only slightly less overwhelming in the daylight, but I was starting to appreciate what the guidebooks call Naples’ “gritty authenticity.” It looks exactly like it does in the pictures: small crooked streets with laundry hanging off every window and sometimes across the span between buildings. Mount Vesuvius, the still-active volcano that destroyed Pompeii looms in the near distance. Additionally, Naples actually sits on top of Campi Flegrei, a subterranean super volcano that regularly causes earthquakes and will erupt at some point, likely devastating Europe. Somehow this contributes to a general feeling of danger and prevalent superstition.

We decided to take a tour of the Naples Underground. Naples sits on top of the Greek and Roman aqueducts, an extensive system of tunnels and cisterns used for centuries to route and store water. The aqueducts were able to be chiseled out because of the soft volcanic rocks from a previous super volcano eruption 15,000 years ago. They were used for drinking water until the 1880s when it was figured out that sewer water was mixing with the drinking water contributing to widespread cholera outbreaks in the city. Luckily a modern water system was already nearly finished. The underground aqueducts were also used as bomb shelters during the world wars. We saw the areas where several thousand Naples residents had to huddle silently during multiple bombings. It was a fascinating tour, and thanks to an engaging guide, both kids rated it as one of their favorite tours in Italy.

24 hours in Venice

Posted on March 31, 2025 by Briana Branham

When we sat down to plan this trip we tried to stretch it as long as we could. The kids’ spring break is only a week, but that was way too short to justify the travel time and expense. We elected to let the kids miss school the week before spring break to allow nearly 2 full weeks in Italy. There are so many places in Italy we want to visit, but based on our summer camping trip experience, we knew that if we overdid the traveling and tried to visit too many places we would burn everyone out. Rome and Bologna were going on the list, and we knew we needed a base to explore Pompeii since it’s a long day trip from Rome. We thought about Sorrento to explore the Amalfi coast, but decided on Naples to shorten the travel time to Pompeii, and also because since reading Elena Ferrante’s books (My Brilliant Friend, etc.) I’ve wanted to experience Naples. Three locations seemed like the right number, but we kept thinking about Venice; it’s such a unique place. Unable to pass it up, we broke our “too many places” rule and added a single overnight in Venice.

On Saturday morning we packed up our Bologna apartment and headed to the train station for the trip to Venice. We arrived around lunchtime and set out to find our hotel. Venice is a veritable maze of alleys, bridges and canals, and there is no direct, crow-flying way to get anywhere. Each bridge has stairs up and down as well, so it’s a LOT of exercise, especially with luggage. I clocked 20,000+ steps on Saturday. Phineas has been fighting a cold and cough since we picked him up from school, and it’s gotten worse the last couple of days. Once we made it to the hotel, he just needed to rest while we went out to find lunch and bring him back something.

Penelope loves to shop and Venice is a shopping paradise. Around every corner is another set of unique shops (along with the generic touristy ones). It’s also hard to overstate how beautiful Venice is with the bridges, water and colorful buildings. Penelope, Jake and I spent the afternoon and early evening getting lost in the Venice maze and exploring the shops. Venice is known for Murano glass, leather, decorative masks, and lace. If we ever go back to Venice I would love to stay long enough to allow for a day trip to the nearby island where they produce Murano glass.

Piazza San Marco is an impressive square in Venice that boasts several of the most famous sights, including St. Mark’s Basilica and the Doge’s Palace. It’s also, along with the Grand Canal, the most crowded and touristy area. If you know Penelope you know she loves to chase birds, especially pigeons. In the middle of the square a man gave her a handful of bird feed and she was immediately swarmed with pigeons. It was a blatant ploy for tips, and pigeons are gross, but I let it happen because Penelope was in heaven. (And don’t worry, Nim, she washed her hands immediately afterwards). She’s been trying to touch a pigeon since she was 2. I think she did it once, sort of, in NYC, but nothing like this. We didn’t make it to St Mark’s Basilica until after closing, and the guard told us that it was not visiting time, but we saw a number of people still going inside. We (or I, actually – Jake was adamantly opposed) followed some of the people in anyway just to see the inside. It’s a church that still holds services, and there was a 5:15 service of some variety that people were attending. After Penelope and I pretended to pray for a few minutes Jake was having enough of a fit that he came in to usher us out. Totally worth it, though. It’s gorgeous inside.

Despite being super touristy, we decided that we had to take a gondola ride once in our lives. The price goes up after 7pm but it’s worth it to glide along the canals and view the twinkling lights. We were able to drag Phineas out of the room for the gondola ride and a seafood dinner. The kids, in typical kid fashion, did some complaining about their seats on the gondola. There is a king and queen loveseat thing that Jake and I sat in, and then two stools. We shut down the complaining pretty fast and the kids were able to settle in and enjoy the ride. We didn’t make it back to the room until nearly midnight but it was a delightful, bucket-list evening.

Rooftop aperitif before our gondola ride

The next morning we had to pack up our room and then had a few hours left to explore before catching our train. We got tickets to the historic Doge’s Palace and while we were a little rushed, enjoyed the art and elaborate architecture. We caught the 2:05pm train and then relaxed on the 5 hour trip to Naples. Definitely a whirlwind and exhausting 24 hours, but I’m glad we added Venice.

Nearly all of the rooms had ceilings like this.

Truffles and Laundry

Posted on March 30, 2025 by Briana Branham

Everyone was tired by our last full day in Bologna, and knowing that we were heading into a whirlwind Venice trip, we decided to take an easy day. The kids rested at the apartment (i.e. spent time on their screens) and I convinced Jake to join me on a laundromat adventure. We found a café close enough that we could periodically check on our laundry and settled in with an espresso and our books. We’re reading the same book incidentally, so we occasionally chatted about the plot, but mostly appreciated the quiet break.

When we were in Bologna in 2018 we stumbled upon an incredible restaurant. It was one of the better meals I’ve ever eaten. I didn’t think I liked truffles, but being a little tired of tomato sauce and cheese flavors I took a chance on a truffle spaghetti dish. It was so memorable that I wanted to find that restaurant again 6 and a half years later. While we were sitting at the café waiting for our laundry I realized this was our last day and therefore our last chance to dine at this restaurant. The quest was on! I found the photos I took back in 2018 and found one that I was pretty sure was from the restaurant. Google photo stores the location metadata for photos so I was able to cross reference the location and find a restaurant there. Comparing the menu and photos of the inside to my picture, I had found it: Da Cesari! As soon as our laundry was done we rounded up the kids and headed out to try to eat lunch there. I figured that dinner on a Friday night would be busy so lunch would probably be our best option. Upon arrival we were told they were fully booked. I asked if we could make a reservations for dinner and again was told they were fully booked that day. I must have looked devastated because the owner came over and said they would fit us in right when they opened for dinner at 7:30pm. I once again had the truffle dish and once again it was incredible.

Aperol spritz and board games before dinner

Tiramisu and Tortelloni: Cooking in Bologna

Posted on March 28, 2025March 30, 2025 by Briana Branham

One of the activities I was most looking forward to this trip was a private cooking class in a local chef’s home. It did not disappoint! We took the bus a few miles outside of the center of town to a neighborhood of spacious and elegant historic apartments. We were welcomed into Roberta Guercini’s home and led to her incredibly well equipped but rustic kitchen. The dining table was set with homemade appetizers to nibble after we got started cooking.

Before leaving for Italy Jake and I had read an article in Milk Street about authentic tiramisu. Treviso, claimed to be the birthplace of tiramisu is just a 45 minute train ride from Venice – so close that we considered taking a few hours to venture there and taste it. We ultimately decided against it since we only have 24 hours in Venice, but were both intrigued by Milk Street’s description of the authentic recipe and how it differs from the American version. Instead of a custard, authentic tiramisu is made from raw eggs, separated and the white beaten, only a little sugar, and mascarpone cheese. It’s chilled in individual servings on top of a ladyfinger broken and dipped briefly in chilled brewed coffee. We started our cooking class by prepping the tiramisu so it could chill while we made the main course. I was so excited when I discovered that the preparation followed the recipe we’d read about to a tee. No need to venture outside of Venice!

After setting the tiramisu to chill, we got started with the fresh pasta dough. Nothing was measured by volume in the class – everything was weighed in grams. 100 grams of flour to 70 grams of egg (ideally the weight of 1 egg). We used a fork to slowly incorporate the flour into the egg and then moved to hand kneading and stretching. After working the dough for 15+ minutes we wrapped our dough balls in plastic to rest for 30 minutes. Time for the aperitif!

The table was elegantly set with cold Lambrusco wine, a mortadella mousse, savory panna cotta with caramelized onions, homemade tomato relish, and a little sandwich with bacon and rosemary. The kids impressively tried everything and we all agreed that the mortadella mousse was the best thing. It was served on little crostini with a drizzle of sweet balsamic vinegar.

Incorporating the flour into the eggs for pasta dough

We learned that tortellini is different than tortelloni. Tortellini is the small pasta shape you’re familiar with, but the filling is tradionally a mixture of several meats (including mortadella) and parmesan. The filling is somewhat dense but very flavorful. Tortelloni is the same shape, but larger and is traditionally filled with a lighter filling like spinach and cheese or pumpkin. For our class we were making spinach and cheese tortelloni. First we made our filling: spinach, ricotta and parmesan with a bit of nutmeg. After letting the dough rest for 30 minutes we began the rolling, cutting, filling and shaping process. The kids were absolute pros. None of our tortelloni opened up in the water and they were absolutely delicious. Roberta made a simple butter and sage sauce while the torelloni were cooking and then it was time to eat! Throughout dinner the kids joked about how they were going to build a giant hamster type water bottle with a spout. But instead of water it would dispense these tortelloni. They were fans.

Rolling until you could count your fingers through the dough held up to the light

Sanctuary of San Luca and the porticos of Bologna

Posted on March 27, 2025March 27, 2025 by Briana Branham

A few miles outside of Bologna at the top of a hill sits the Sanctuary of San Luca, a Basilica offering incredible views of Bologna and the surrounding landscape. Beginning in 1433 the faithful have participated in a religious pilgrimage up the long hill to the Sanctuary. The Portico di San Luca is a covered walkway consisting of 666 arches built between 1674 and 1793 that lead from the city of Bologna all the way up to the Sanctuary. At 3.8 kilometers long it’s the longest continuous portico in the world, and together with the numerous other porticos in Bologna, are a UNESCO world heritage site.

After waking up well rested today, we decided to check out the Sanctuary. The climb up the hill is strenuous, and we didn’t want to burn out, so we took the San Luca Express, a tourist train/bus that makes the climb while giving an audio tour of the history of the area. We bought our tickets and had a few minutes to spare, so we stopped in a café for a quick Italian breakfast of espresso and croissants (and an orange…).

The breakfast orange saga, as told by Penelope: Phineas saw some oranges and asked for one. The employee was trying to explain that they were for fresh squeezed juice, and was asking Phineas if he wanted some orange juice but Phineas didn’t understand and kept asking for the orange. After several back and forths, the man just gave up and just handed Phineas the orange. While we waited for our espressos, Phineas hunched over the trashcan peeling his orange. I looked over and asked if he wanted help because his orange was peeled too deep and was covered in slippery juice. He said no but one minute later he had no orange and sheepishly explained that he accidently dropped it in the trach can. Since there was only an empty bottle or 2 in the trashcan, we told him that if he just washed if off in the bathroom it would be fine . Apparently he really wanted that orange so he got down on his knees and dug through the trash can until he retrieved it. As he was in the bathroom cleaning his orange the rest of us were joking that it couldn’t possibly get funnier. Buuutttt when he came out of the bathroom with his head down and NO orange we were confused until he said he was on take two of peeling the orange when he dropped it in the trash can AGAIN and gave up. WE LAUGHED LIKE CRAZY PEOPLE FOR 10 MINUTES STRAIGHT.

Heading into the bathroom with his orange

After breakfast we were off to the San Luca Express. I’ve been calling it a train/bus for lack of a better name. It’s basically an adult sized version of those little kid trains that tour around outdoor shopping malls. So it drives on the road like a bus instead of on a track like a train. And the sides are open for better views on the 30 minute ride. The Sanctuary was nice, but the views from the top of the hill were absolutely incredible. We paid for access to the very top of the Sanctuary and it was well worth the climb up the long circular stone staircase. Heading down the hill is way less work than climbing up the hill, so we decided to forgo the train/bus down and walk the 2+ miles of porticos. Near the end we passed through a more residential area of Bologna and stopped for a light lunch before our cooking class later in the evening.

On the train/bus. See another one across the square

The beginning of our adventure: exploring Bologna

Posted on March 27, 2025March 27, 2025 by Briana Branham

We decided to book a walking tour of the historical center of Bologna to get our bearings and learn some history. It was maybe the worst tour I’ve ever been on, to the point of hilarity, but we did get to spend a couple of hours in the sunshine walking around the gastronomy capital of Italy. One of the selling points of the tour was the famous Basilica of San Petronio; unfortunately the tour guide didn’t get us there until it was closing for lunch. Perhaps we will go on our own tomorrow! About 2/3 of the way through the tour we passed by our apartment and Phineas escaped, taking the headset and audio thing with him. We had to sheepishly return it later in the the afternoon. We weren’t alone in our shock at how bad the tour was. 11 minutes after the tour was scheduled to end, the guide was still touring us around with no sign of stopping. Luckily one brave attendee saved us by saying she had to get somewhere; everyone else eagerly took that opportunity and ripped their headsets off to also end the tour as quickly as possible before she could resume. As soon as the guide walked away the several of the other attendees starting the debrief of how bizarrely terrible the tour was. We didn’t end up joining, but one of the families offered for all of us to meet at the Bascilica later that afternoon to try to tour on our own.

Phineas had a shockingly hard time figuring out how to wear his earphone

Old buildings have a lot of Minecraft features. Torch holder and horse tie.

After the tour we were hungry and found a sandwich shop for lunch. It was incredible. Mortadella is one of the specialties of Bologna, also know as “fat city”. It’s essentially baloney, but much better somehow. I had a mortadella sandwich on freshly made bread with an artichoke spread. Jake had a sandwich of ham with a tomato and onion chutney. Penelope had fresh bread with Nutella (anyone surprised?), and Phineas had a side of meatballs in red sauce with bread. Perfect. We did learn one cool fact about tortellini on the walking tour: Bologna specializes in little tortellini made with mortadella, other meat, and parmesan. According to our guide, the inspiration for tortellini was the navel of a beautiful woman. There was also something about looking through a keyhole that we didn’t fully understand. The kids found the legend a little weird and creepy, especially when the guide was pointing at Penelope’s belly button as she told it.

Penelope has been wanting to shop, so after dropping Phineas back at the apartment we wandered out. The biggest shopping score was a pair of new glasses for Penelope. We found a shop that made them in 20 minutes! With Penelope’s sight restored and full bellies after an amazing dinner we all went to bed and slept a solid 8-10 hours. Finally well rested and fully acclimated, we are ready for the next adventure in Bologna

Dad needed a break while the ladies were shopping

Italy: the first 24 hours

Posted on March 26, 2025 by Briana Branham

It takes a long time to travel from Charlottesville, VA to Bologna, Italy. And between the extended travel time and the 5 hour time difference, it results in some very weary travelers. We flew out of Charlottesville around 3pm on Monday, left IAD at 6:45pm and landed in Rome at 9am Italy time (4am home time). Then, 2 trains later, we arrived at our apartment around 3pm Tuesday. But we’re in ITALY!

The kids handled the travel and lack of sleep exceptionally well, despite several mishaps. After our second train (Rome Termini to Bologna) we realized that Penelope’s glasses were missing. We spent an hour at the train station trying to report the glasses in case they were found on the train. Hot tip: don’t throw away your paper ticket because it contains the secret code you need to do/report anything involving that train trip. Sadly we have not recovered the glasses, but are keeping our fingers crossed they are found before we leave Bologna.

When we finally made it to our apartment, everyone needed a rest. Phineas was quick to get on Wifi and get his computer set up. Penelope was eager to check her text messages from friends. I spent a few minutes reading my book, and Jake promptly feel asleep on the couch. Around 5pm I realized that if we didn’t go get dinner everyone was going to pass out and wake up in the middle of the night hungry. So we rallied and went to a cute trattoria next door to our building. Despite it not being a particularly notable restaurant, Phineas remarked that it was the best lasagna he’d ever had. Penelope discovered a newfound love of pumpkin tortellini.

I’d like to say that we all slept well that first night after basically 24 hours of no sleep. Alas, both kids woke up continuously throughout the night. The first time Phineas woke up, after falling asleep at 8pm, it was only 9:30pm. He was convinced it was 9:30am despite it being dark outside. I had to show him my phone clock to prove that it wasn’t time to get up yet. Fingers and toes crossed that everyone gets a full night sleep our second night in Italy.

Zooming through the airport on her suitcase

Starbucks in Italy at the Rome train station (I know…but Penelope really likes those refreshers)

More Ohiopyle Adventures

Posted on August 1, 2022August 2, 2022 by Briana Branham

For our last couple days in Ohioplye (and our last couple days of this epic adventure!) we spent time checking out more of the area. The Great Allegheny Passage (GAP trail) is a spectacular bike trail that runs through Ohiopyle. We biked the 20 miles round trip to Confluence, PA and found a quaint little cafe to have lunch. Riding on the back of Jake’s bike for miles, Penelope was getting COLD. Oddly enough, pretty much the whole town of Confluence is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays so we had a really hard time finding a place to buy Penelope a sweatshirt. In the end, we found a Dollar General open (but with zero long sleeve shirts in stock) so Penelope DIY-ed an outfit out of 2 pairs of leggings.

The next day we explored some of Ohiopyle State Park’s main attractions: Cucumber Falls and the Natural Waterslides. We parked out the Waterslides and hiked along the river to the Falls. Cucumber falls is really special because you can actually play in the pool at the bottom of the waterfall. Most of the waterfalls we’ve visited strictly prohibit climbing on the rocks. After spending so much time at the waterfall we were tired when we got to the waterslides. They are basically a gently sloping waterfall/river that you slide down on the smooth rocks. It’s amazing. Penelope was nervous so only tackled the top part. Next time we’ll arrive earlier and with more energy!