When In Rome….Relax, It’s Just the Vatican

We took a family trip to Rome, Italy and I was so anxious.  I felt so much pressure form imaginary universes to be a good tourist and sight see, pack an umbrella stroller, stay in a hotel right in the heart of city center, and to eat my weight in gelato, pizza and spaghetti.  I’m not that girl though.  So, I decided that instead of doing what one should do when traveling in Europe, I was going to do what we wanted to do–relax.  We stayed at a hotel 20 minutes out from the Vatican City area, didn’t eat any gelato, and spent most of our days in the hotel, snuggling up in our family bed, watching movies, snacking on local fruit, and letting our boys live in their pajamas.  This is what I call a vacation.

We felt like we were on a family retreat, without a care of the outside world.  We didn’t even care about Christmas, because we had created our own holiday.  This trip was special because these days, it is a rare and special occasion that all four of us are together and have the time to actually lounge around and enjoy each others company and cuddles.  I guess that’s why I felt this strange pressure to perform as a tourist.  I did want to see what all of the fuss was about regarding Rome, but desperately just wanted to engorge myself on relaxing days of family hugs, breakfast buffets, and short walks to and from the nearest frutteria.  I didn’t want to do anything but be Mommy and Mrs. 

I’m happy to say that being the Divine Veggie Mama that I am, I managed to do just that while still being a tourist!  My sons got the opportunity to run around, pick flowers and put them in my hair, and learn about the beautiful herbs and blueberries that were growing right outside the hotel.  I wore a string bikini in public for the first time since having my children, stretch marks of glory and all.  I have to confess though, this was only because I forgot to pack a swimsuit and the hotel was kind enough to loan me a brand one.  The only catch was that it was a size AL (Adriana Lima).  I mustered up enough courage to slap that dental floss up my butt and pasties on my boobies and get in that salt water pool!  Nothing was going to stop me from using up all of the hotel amenities.

I stuck to my vegan guns throughout this trip too, with a few mishaps.  I learned that some delicious Italian pastries are not vegan, so I should have done some research to prevent those delicious mistakes, but I won’t be too hard on myself for enjoying my life.  I also learned that pizza marinara is a thing in Italy and is very delicious!  That was a pleasant surprise, since it’s vegan by default and delicious by fate.   Next time I visit here, I will have a much better phrase book by my side.  I bought the absolute WORST phrase book known to man.  I can’t believe that this thing was published, it did not help me at all.  I was so disappointed because I have managed through many countries with a simple phrase book in hand…until now.  Luckily since this was a tourist heavy spot, there were a handful of people that spoke Spanish, and then a few that knew a little English.

This city was welcoming, energetic, fashionable and culturally diverse.  The locals were full of smiles, and a bit of patience when it came to us foreigners.  We did manage to take one trip to the Vatican City just to say that we were tourists for a day.  It was a great experience and I’m glad that we did.  We created some serious core memories of unity, love, and exploration that day with our young little men.  The Vatican is a massive place with tons of people, and a lot of funny trinkets of the Pope.  It really was hilarious.  I also bought a selfie stick for only 5 euro, which I thought was a steal.  I didn’t get to pick out my color, so the guy gave me blue, which I think was given to me out of spite since he took note of my testosterone heavy family dynamic.

No pick-pockets came our way successfully either.  I manages to crochet a heavy sack bag prior to the trip and that sucker stayed close to my body!  No one was getting their hands on that!

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