I love to travel and when I got pregnant with my daughter, one of my conditions to my husband was that we still travelled and I got at least one stamp in passport every year, even if it meant driving of the border into Mexico (which is an hour drive for us as we live in San Diego so it both economical and easy to get to). Except for the two years of the pandemic we have actually been able to achieve this. And it turns out that traveling with my daughter is one of my favorite things to do. Watching her experience new things (even when travelling within the US) is so amazing and brings fresh eyes to everything.
But, I have learned along the way, that some countries are a little easier to travel than some. For instance, Paris is an amazing city to travel with children. Not only are the parks in every place but the people are also extremely welcoming to children. Children are expected to go everywhere as they are just young humans and it is normal to see them out eating dinner with their families at 9pm.
Northern Italy was also very welcoming to O but there were some things that were left wanting.
The Good
The People
The people were extremely welcoming and so caring to O. I think everyone is aware that family is really important in Italian culture and other people’s families are no exception. The family unit is treated extremely well and proprietors of all sorts were very accommodating to all the children I saw. O fell asleep on the chair or booth at a restaurant more than once (including in some more high end restaurants) and was not given a second glance. The one thing I would say was a drawback is that people love to touch children. Not in an inappropriate way but give them hugs or caress their faces and O is not a fan of being touched. Everytime she would look at me and then when they walked away ask me why they were touching her. At five she has no filter so I am just thankful she wasn’t saying this in front of people.
We were in Venice for Carnivale and everyone (the paid actors and just the locals dressing up) all took their time to take a picture with her whenever she wanted. Not a single person turned her down. Also, we went to one of the masquerade balls as we were not sure we would ever get back during Carnivale. As we had no one to watch her we asked ahead of time if we could buy her a ticket as well. She was allowed to the party so long as she was wearing historical dress. However, we were informed she would be the only child there. Actually turned out that she was the first child to ever attend. She had a blast (we did leave earlier than everyone else but sooooo worth it). As we were leaving the proprietors gave her a special handblown glass bracelet (the ball we went to was on Murano island which is known for its glass work).
The Bad
Parks
Italy’s version of a square is a campo. A nice big square in the middle of a neighborhood. Venice, Florence, and Verona all had many (although I think Venice the most) but they had no parks. Some had green spaces (Verona) but most were big squares. The main campos in both Verona and Florence had carousels. But no real parks. We didn’t see any parks in Verona (albeit we were not there very long) but the park we found in Venice in the Castello neighborhood kinda looked like it belonged in Soviet Russia at the height of the Bolshevik era. More surprisingly, so did the park in Florence by Boboli gardens. I would have thought they would have the best playground in the city.
As these are the only two parks I managed to find on our trip (and we specifically walked to the Castello so O could go to a playground) I was absolutely shocked. For a country that loves children so much I expected playgrounds at least on par with the U.S. but actually thought they would be closer to Parisian parks (which are awesome, particularly the park at Jardin Luxemburg).
Not having play spaces for a five year old can be difficult. And made some of the longer walking days challenging. In Paris, the long walks don’t really matter because you pass a park about every thirty minutes (doing slow kid walking) and so you can stop and give the kids a break to run around whenever you feel they need it. Also, Paris has a park outside of basically every major destination. So parents see museum, you exit and play in the park right outside the exit. Win win for everyone. I was expecting something akin to this (which is my bad, you can’t paint every country with the same brush).
The Ugly
Using a Stroller in Venice
Trying to use a stroller in Venice is very difficult. Most of the bridges are actually in step form rather than smooth ramps up and down. There is almost no where to put one in the restaurants and the stores are too compact to bring one in. Fortunately as she is five she can do a lot of walking, but she still gets tired easily trying to keep up and a stroller is essential for being able to stay on the move and explore when she is too fatigued to walk or needs a nap and sleeps. I can’t imagine being in a wheelchair in Venice. I am not sure one would be able to leave their little island (Venice is made up of many many many little islands connected by bridges).