Explore, discover, laugh and learn - child-size Italian vacation
It was an exciting, out-of-the-ordinary project: our clients, mother and father of 4 children between 5 to 11, were well-read, sophisticated and highly cultured. They contacted us to arrange a special treat for their little ones: an authentic, child-size, 10-day Italian cultural experience. They wanted their children to enjoy exploring Italy, learn about history and art and embrace the lifestyle and local heritage. What they wanted from us was not, simply, family-friendly hotels and vans with booster seats, they wanted us to create a bespoke program carefully crafted to have their children discover Rome and Venice, and speak and play with their Italian peers.
Well, we assured them they had certainly chosen the perfect destination! Italy more than any other country cherishes and treasures families, and Italians adore (and often idolize!) “bambini”. Thrilled by the project, we devised a rainbow of enchanted tours, custom-made visits and activities especially crafted to offer a child a full immersion into Italian art, lifestyle and tradition.
They arrived in Rome a bit frazzled from the flight, but we soon had them smiling happily, as they munched on home-made biscotti and miniature ice-cream cones offered by their driver Marco aboard their comfy family-friendly deluxe Mercedes van. After settling into two ample connecting suites, they enjoyed a typical Roman afternoon: running under the great magnolias and cruising on the little statue-studded lake of the Villa Borghese park. By 5.00PM the children were already playing, and chatting away in “international children’s language”, with their new local friends. A lip-smacking pasta dinner, in Via Veneto’s most charming restaurant, followed.
Back in their rooms, the children were excited to find special custom-made activity books. Divided into sections, one for each city they would be visiting, they included themed riddles, puzzles, games, questions, Italian phrases and spaces to be filled in with their drawings, comments and notes, day after day.
In the morning, rested and cheerful, they set off to discover the Eternal city, led by their private guide, an expert local art historian. They explored the Colosseum and Roman Forum, merrily counting columns and questioning their guide about the ancient Romans’ lifestyle and customs (“did they really have dinner lying down?!?”). Following their activity book clues they looked for fountains, chose their favorite ones, drew and “sculpted” them out of play dough. They ran in and about Piazza Navona, visited Campo de’ Fiori’s lively open air market, ate fragrant pizza bianca sitting in Piazza Farnese and mouth-watering gelatos on the banks of the Tiber river.
The next day, first of all, a visit to the Vatican museums. A must of course, but the parents had feared it would be, well, boring… we proved it could be a good deal of fun, provided they had a guide who was knowledgeable but amusing and friendly too, and a lot of entertaining quizzes (about the sculptures, legends and paintings) to be solved.
After a few hours, joyful and cheering, all off to train as gladiators!! We had booked Rome’s special gladiator school, run by locals devoted to maintaining the city’s ancient heritage alive. In a real training arena they were taught the basics of hand-to-hand gladiator combat and learned all about imperial Rome’s games and were delighted to see the costumes and weapons in the museum.
After a pleasant walk and delicious picnic in the extensive gardens of Villa Doria Pamphilj, and some time to rest, they were in for a surprise: a hands-on pizza making class led by expert local pizzaioli. They had a ball! Clad in aprons and chef’s hats parents and children dug into big bags of flour, mixed and measured. They rolled out the dough, chose seasonings, munched on olives and prosciutto. They laughed and smeared each other with tomato, took turns helping the pizzaiolo place them in the wide wood-fired oven and, finally, relished that special, one-of-a-kind flavor: their very own hand-made pizza!
The next day arrivederci Roma! Venice (imagine that, boys and girls, a city built on water!) was waiting for them. When the plane landed it looked like just any other city… but they gasped when they understood that “that boat”, a shiny wooden water-taxi, was going to take them to their hotel. They spent their first afternoon exploring, escorted by their private guide, a specialized art-historian and loving mother of three. Strolling up and around picturesque alleys they ran across bridges, discovered tiny hidden squares and greeted their guide’s children with a friendly “ciao! come stai?” before sharing some tasty cicchetti, Venice’s typical tapas, with them.
On the next morning, delighted, they boarded a lively vaporetto with the locals. Cruising across the lagoon they exclaimed in surprise: “Oh daddy, how wide and calm it is… it’s sooo different from the ocean!”. They docked in Murano and, thrilled, entered a family-managed ancient glass-making factory, open especially for their visit. The children were simply thrilled. They gazed in awe at the blazing fire in the furnaces, and marveled at the blowers, able to turn shapeless blobs of molten paste into amazing shapes and lovely vases, statues and glasses. They learned what each tool was for and each chose an object which was then made expressly for them.
After the visit a private motorboat was ready to take them to Burano; here they strolled along the picturesque streets framed by pastel-colored houses, learned sailor’s knots from the fishermen, admired the ladies working on beautiful laces, and feasted on fresh fish from the lagoon in the patio of a typical trattoria. In the afternoon, after some rest and drawing on their water-front hotel balcony all were ready for their last Italian night.
Breakfast at the Bauer
We had planned the ultimate Venetian experience for them: mask painting followed by a surprise gondola ride. Their private motorboat speedily sailed them over to the city’s best mask workshop. The specialized English-speaking staff explained traditional Venetian masks, led them through the vast array of decorated ones in the showroom, and showed them the production area, where papier machè is made and molded into shape.
Each child chose a shape; masks in hand they were led to the decorating lab: jars of paint, brushes and shimmering glitter lay before them. Taught by master mask painters they learned decorating techniques; they outlined, painted, and the older boy helped the others carefully apply the glitter. As they proudly marched out, to show mommy and daddy their masterpieces, they stopped short, goggle-eyed: “is that big gondola waiting for US?”.
A leisurely gondola cruise along the Grand Canal, staring at the superb palaces and unique skyline reflected on the water… the gondola docked at Venice’s best restaurant for them to savor scrumptious pasta and unforgettable views on the terrace. On the cruise back after dinner the gondolier sang soft traditional tunes, and all dreamily agreed it was a fairytale Italian child-size vacation.