Italy Trip 2023

Finally! Our first international trip since COVID started!

We were actually supposed to leave the country, taking the then-baby on her first international trip to meet Selim’s family in Turkey, right as the whole world shut down. We were supposed to leave the US on Sunday, March 22nd. We spent most of the weeks leading up to our trip hopefully declaring that we were still going, while trying to decipher the alerts and restrictions that were changing day by day. As the weekend for our departure came, we finally acquiesced and cancelled our trip. Now in retrospect, we’ve realized that we probably would’ve successfully made it to Turkey, but that getting home would have been a huge challenge. And that taking an infant flying around the world during a nascent novel pandemic probably wouldn’t have been our smartest decision ever.

But we love to travel and now that our now 3 year old is finally vaccinated for COVID-19, we booked her first international trip!

We never end up taking too many pictures of our food, as we’re always busy eating it, but we had a great time eating our way around Rome, Scilla, and Messina.

In Rome, we ate all the pizza, pasta, gelato, and coffee, as one does. We were happy to return to Il Corallo, a favorite classic Roman spot from our first visit to Rome in 2015. We learned that artichokes were in season, as evidenced by their prevalence on the menus and even in the middle of the street. We enjoyed an amazing tasting menu at Michelin starred Ristorante All’Oro!

On the second half of our trip, we visited Scilla, a town in Calabria, on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Scilla is traditionally and modernly known for their fishing, especially of swordfish. Half of the town is situated directly on the water, where boats are tied up right in front of homes or in the alleyways. We sampled the famous swordfish panini and had some other amazing freshly caught seafood. Calabrian-style pizza we had down there is a new favorite, with ‘njuda and Tropean onions. But the real highlight of Scilla for H though, was pulling the nespole (loquats) off the trees and eating them as we walked. She probably ate her weight in these little fruits each day.

On our quick day trip to Messina, Sicily, we confirmed that H loves a leisurely morning espresso & pastry just like her dad, but that she was not a fan of the square pizza. (Pizza was delicious, but apparently surprise shapes are devastating to 3 year olds). The arancini was also the size of my fist!

We also had some excellent wine, ate prosciutto & speck by the package, and found our new favorite cheese – Pecorino Fresco! It’s an un-aged Pecorino, that we’ve yet to find back in the US, much to our disappointment.

All and in all, a successful and delicious first overseas trip as a family of three!