Roaming Rome

Today I successfully completed what could fairly be described as a black run in the parenting arena. I survived - and enjoyed - a day roaming the streets of Rome alone with my daughter. ALONE. BY MYSELF. In itself I think it's one of my greater accomplishments. But when you add in cobbled streets, no highchairs, a foreign language, no changing facilities and very little bearings, you can see why the outing earned its black status. Against the odds we had a wonderful time. Without any tears. At least not mine.

Mum took some well earned time out from her grand parenting duties to explore the Vatican. My bambino is not wholly accommodating of two hour timeslots and i didn't think she, or anyone in her presence, would appreciate the holy surrounds so we decided to let mum do that alone. To be frank I wasn't bitterly disappointed.

I have done quite a bit of travelling of late and have come to appreciate my preferences. I don't enjoy monuments, sights and historic figures nearly as much as I adore just being in a beautiful new city. This may be because i'm uncultured but i'm ok with this. I just love strolling the streets, eating the food, drinking the coffee, ogling shop windows, watching the world go by. This is not because I'm one of those hip people who dismisses something the minute it acquires mass appreciation. I'm as mainstream as they come. I'm just not a great tourist in the face of guides, museums, monuments and galleries.

On the flip side I'm making up for this in my enthusiasm for gelato, pizza, espresso, prosecco and the Italian joie de vivre (Correction - as noted by my clever and cultured Aunt - the Italian la dolce vita) All of these are perfectly compatible with my bambino who appears similarly enthused by her surrounds. When in Rome...