Hello travelers,
Two weeks ago I went on a trip to Rome. August time is known to the hottest time of the year to be in Europe’s eternal city with travel books advising travelers not to travel during that month! Well that was very true indeed, Rome was boiling hot and packed to the brim with tourists- in fact I wondered if there were any Roman’s in city at all! Little little feet...While touring around Rome, I noticed lots of very young families visiting all the famous sites, the Palatine Hill, Colloseum, The Vatican City, Trevi Fountain and Pantheon. What I noticed about these families was the cranky little ones and the exhausted, sweating parents either carrying them or struggling to push strollers over ancient cobblestone streets. Having recently done an article on Top Ten Travel Picks for Child Friendly City Breaks on HWB, I remembered Rome was the top pick for child friendly cities to visit, but in the month of August in it’s mad heat- I think not! Rome is a magnificent city with lots to do and see but it involves plenty of walking, lots and lots of it on very uneven streets which can make walking for little ones difficult as well as making stroller-pushing also a bit tricky. More often than not I noticed parents having to carry their bundles of joy- my heart went out to the frazzled parents I saw, in boiling hot weather and humidity to have to lug around another human (yes a human, no matter how small!) is not fun!
Visiting a place like Rome- especially with children, if you must do it in the height of summer, it’s imperative to see the city by bus! An open air one preferably, it’s the only sane way to see the place while travelling with your little ones, they will love sitting on top in the open air taking in the views, sites and sounds of the bustling city! The kids will love all the delicious gelati (ice-cream) that is on offer absolutely everywhere- in fact, parents be warned they will want it every minute because it is everywhere and at child’s eye level too!
The Italians just love children, so it’s a fantastic place to take them! Italians are family orientated so it’s a fantastic spot for a family friendly holiday for sure!
Meeting Family XI met a lovely family on the flight home and the memory of them will stay with me for a while. They were absolute troopers in my opinion! Heroes in fact. After obviously a jam-packed boiling hot city break in Rome, family X were flying home their 3- all under the age of 6-children. All looked absolutely knackered, especially mum and dad and the kids looked niggly. The flight was already a late one out of Rome, 9:30 but then there was an hour delay to add to Family X’s problems. I was sitting next to the Dad and little boy 1 and Mum was in front with little boy 2 and girl. I was thinking how cute little boy 1 was, a real blonde cherub, until he started screaming blue murder that he wanted to sit next to his mum. This went on for literally 20 odd minutes, non-stop! What I found interesting was how the parents dealt with it. Dad chose to ignore little boy 1, not give into his tantrum where Mum was mortified by the screeching and wanted it to stop-so she moved! She sat next to me and apologised for all the drama and noise- I didn’t mind at all, it gave me a great insight! For the rest of the flight Family X all were peaceful enough. The kids were quiet as mice after Dad bought them each a chocolate and a cold drink. I started chatting to Mum, who told me about their weekend break in Rome. In a nutshell, she did agree that Rome was a fabulous child-friendly place to visit with lots to do and see- but not in August!
Happy travels...
