Italy Trip Report, Part One: travelling with small children

I'm back at home now, well past the jet lag, and ready to sit down and write about my recent trip. I went to England for a few days (very expensive!), and then took a cheap flight to Italy, along with my mother and my three-year-old daughter. We had ten days, and decided to restrict ourselves to Florence and Venice - it was my mother's first time in Italy, and the first time I had made a major journey with a pre-schooler. Next time, I'll be ready to get back out into the countryside, and attempt some of the less heavily touristed areas, but this was a good introduction to the country for my older and younger companions. In a future piece, I'll write a bit about sightseeing, food and lodging, but I've already had a number of emails asking me how we handled travelling with a small child, so that's the first topic I want to cover.

First of all, I have to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who encouraged me to take my child to Italy - you were right. Italians in general don't just tolerate children, they adore them, and this was clear from the moment we stepped off the plane in Bologna. We arrived at the same time as a plane-load of Italian KFOR troops returning home - the sea of weary young men with full camouflage gear and rifles was a bit intimidating at first, but the soldiers quickly found the energy to smile and wave at my daughter on their way out of the airport.

Everywhere we went, people stopped us to say hi to Olivia - grandfatherly types broke into impromptu song and dance routines in markets and on street corners (yes, it happened twice!), waitresses gave her gifts, hoteliers flirted with her (she is still talking about "her friend" Pino, one of our charming hosts at the Hotel Il Bargellino!), and once the diners at a nearby restaurant table bought her a plate of cookies.

She ate very well - restaurants were always happy to provide her with a half portion of plain pasta with cheese on the days when she wasn't feeling adventurous, and our after-dinner vinsanto always seemed to come with extra biscotti for her. On "budget days," she was happy to eat focaccia bread or ciabatta buns with tomatoes, pecorino cheese and prosciutto. We were more than happy to do the same! Then, of course, there was the gelato. Lots of it, even on cool spring days.

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