Carnevale without Crowds

Dear God, what were we thinking?

Venice in February during Carnevale has to be the ultimate no-no for devoted nocrowders? I don’t know how it happened. Sometimes I just leaf through the pages of “1,000 Places to See Before You Die” and I get the urge to try something because life is, indeed, short. I reckon it is a basic instinct, the basic human instinct that has turned international tourism into a US$ 680 billion dollar business (UNWTO – 2005) and the basic instinct that lures an estimated 500,000 people over a 10 day period into a city with an indigenous population in the ancient centre of 62,000. I guess everyone should see this “re-enactment of that final swan song of the Most Serene Republic, reminiscent of the days of Casanova” at least once in their life and this was our year.

Did we enjoy it? Sure we did. How could you not enjoy being an extra in an 18th century film set. The combination of Venice and costumes is a work of art but the crowds really do overwhelm the experience and one needs to navigate quite carefully. We made some classic mistakes, like going to Piazza San Marco. In a word, it was frightening, too many people, too few exits. I held Eloise’s hand for dear life. But with that said, life is richer for having seen this piece of magic even if I never have to see it again. In the event that you too get the urge and assuming you are not a Hedge Fund Manager and therefore are not staying at the Cipriani, not taking private water taxis and not attending the expensive costume balls, here are some ideas about how to how to have an affordable NoCrowds experience in the Venice during Carnevale.

Stay at the Tiziano Hotel

The Tiziano is a lovely small hotel (12 rooms and 2 junior suites) found in an out-of-the-way location in Dorsoduro. While you can reach the Tiziano on foot from Piazzale Roma in about 10 to 15 minutes, it takes a good half an hour to reach Piazza San Marco. That might be considered a liability at any other time of the year but is a blessing during Carnevale.

The former 15th century home lies on a quiet square, bordered by a canal near the church of “San Nicolo dei Mendicoli”. The rooms have generous proportions and have been tastefully decorated in Venetian style with bathrooms that are modern and perfectly appointed. Breakfast is much better than you often find in Italy with delicious breads and cakes, fresh fruit, yoghurt, sliced meats and cheeses and, of course, excellent coffee. The young woman who works the front desk in the afternoon and evening could not have been more helpful and charming. The owner is “all business” and seems rather gruff but I warmed up to her considerably when she made a big effort to help our daughter fix her broken Carnevale mask. During Carnevale, when prices are at their peak, we paid €200 a night for a triple and €180 for a double, breakfast and taxes included.

Eat and Drink at Pane Vino e San Daniele

This wine bar which also serves wonderful food can be found on a small piazza in a residential neighbourhood a two minute walk from Tiziano and a million miles from touristy Venetian eateries. We were suppose to have dinner at Antiche Carampane in the heart of the one-time red light district in San Polo near the Ponte delle Tette (or Tits Bridge) chosen for its down home non-touristy reputation but after our traumatic trip to San Marco, we decided we did not have another 30 minute walk in us. As it turned out, Pane Vino e San Daniele offered some of the best down home non-touristy cooking to be found in Venice. Our friends ordered the goat which they thought was delicious. The antipasti plate of cured meats was memorable. The atmosphere was relaxed and welcoming and on the Saturday night of Carnevale, we were the only non-Italian speaking table. For dinner and a healthy amount of wine, we spent €40 per person.

Some other restaurants in Dorsoduro which did not disappoint included Pensione Calcina’s La Piscina on the Zattere, Venice’s sunny, sheltered promenade which should be saved for good weather when you can eat outside directly on the Guidecca Canal. For the last two years in a row, we have eaten blissful lunches in brilliant sunshine in February.

[If you are super organised, you can also try to book at room at Pensione Calcina which is the best value and best located pensione in Venice but to give you a feel for the challenge you face, when I tried to make a reservation in October for February, all I got was the polite response that they had been fully booked for months. If you are interested for next year, book now.]

We also ate outside at the crazy but delicious Osteria Da Toni. This is an old style place where the Carabinieri pitch up at lunch time, where the food is gutsy and fairly priced and where the service is so slow and disorganised that if you are in the right mood, it is hilarious. Do not, under any circumstance, go there if you are in a hurry but if you have time to kill and grab one of the tables on the canal, it can be lots of fun. A meal should cost about €25. Not far from Osteria Da Toni, we also had a good dinner at Osteria S. Barnaba where dinner again set us back €40 per person.

Visit the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni

Oh to be an heiress in Venice. The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is one of the coolest museums in Europe. Blessed by its location in a curiously unfinished Palazzo on the Grand Canal which was Guggenheim’s home for 30 years and packed with highlights of almost every major art movement of the 20th century, even during Carnevale, this is a five star experience without the crowds.

Built by the Venier family in the 18th century who only managed to complete one floor, the Palazzo feels like “Mies van der Rohe does Venice” and serves as the perfect backdrop for Guggenheims collection of modern masters such as Picasso, Mondrian, Miro, Chagall, Max Ernst, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Frances Bacon. The sculpture garden is a leafy haven where Peggy Guggenheim and many of her dogs are buried. You can linger on the terrace fronting the Grand Canal and watch the world go by which is particularly interesting during Carnevale. Don’t miss the black and white photos of Ms. Guggenheim in the agreeable Café overlooking the garden. There is an excellent gift shop which sells the most divine but quite expensive copies of Guggenheim’s signature sunglasses.

If you are travelling with children or young adults, this museum is a winner. Eloise immediately connected with the woman who wanted to be buried in her garden with all her dogs and thought her art collection was pretty exciting . She also found lots of neat stuff to hit us up for in the gift shop.

If you have not yet had your fill of culture, head over to the Scuola Grande Dei Carmini just off the Campo Santa Margherita with the fabulous Tiepolo painted ceilings. On the day we were there, it was absolutely empty.

Dorsoduro

Having reviewed this story, I think my advice can be reduce to one word, Dorsoduro, one of Venice’s six districts. Everything we did in that part of town was fun and relatively uncrowded. The Zattere is a good place to watch people parade in costumes, at night the Campo Santa Margherita is not a bad substitute for San Marco. We slept serenely, ate well, bought masks, saw the show and were culturally entertained without crowds. I read after we returned that the crowds had been so bad in the San Marco district that one-way walking traffic had been enforced by the police. No matter how enchanting the experience, nothing could be worth that!

Useful Addresses

Tiziano Hotel
Dorsoduro, Calle Riello 1873
30123 Venezia
Tel: 041 2750071
Fax: 041 2756312
http://www.hoteltizianovenezia.it/

Pane Vino e Daniele
Campo dell’Angelo Raffaele
Dorsoduro 1722 Venezia
Tel: 041 5237 456
http://www.panevinoe.it/
Closed Wednesday

Bar Caffe La Piscina
La Calcina Ruskin’s House Dorsoduro, 782
30123 Venezia
Tel: 041 2413889
Fax: 041 5227045
http://www.lacalcina.com/
Closed Monday

Osteria da Tone
Fondamenta San Basegio 1642
Tel: 041 523 8272
Closed Monday

Osteria Enoteca S. Barnabo
Calle Lunga S. Barnaba
Dorsoduro 2736
Tel: 041 52 12 754
Closed Wednesday and Thursday morning


Peggy Guggenheim Collection
Palazzo Venier dei Leoni
701 Dorsoduro
30123 Venezia
Tel: 041 2405411
Fax: 041 5203492
http://www.guggenheim-venice.it/
Open daily except Tuesday, 10am to 6pm

And We Won't Mention Corvara

Last year at this time, I put my relationship with my brother-in-law on the line by writing about Corvara, an unheralded gem of a ski resort located in the Alta Badia region of the Dolomites in Italy which he wants to keep all to himself. This year, I invited a posse of “Alpha” skiers from the US and Europe to stress- test that overused phrase, “this is the best kept secret in the Alps”. A risky business considering that this season, European resorts have experienced some of the worst conditions on record. But I am happy to report that we had plenty of snow, conditions were excellent, we skied, ate and drank ourselves silly and now I run the risk of alienating not only my family but most of my best ski buddies by writing about Corvara.

Getting my Corvara converts to join me this year was no easy matter. The Dolomites have never commanded the international attention of skiing cognoscenti and there were some in our group who felt the terrain would be too easy, some who could not understand why we weren’t going to Cortina and a mild climate of disbelief that a resort no one had ever heard of could deliver a world class ski experience. To make matters worse, we were going to an untested hotel that, although ideally situated on a run next to a ski lift, was 1.5 kilometres out of town. If we didn’t like the place, we were isolated and stuck. My worries were endless. What if there was no snow? What if we don’t like the hotel? What if my love affair with Corvara and the Dolomites was not contagious? How do you get into a witness protection program?

Things got off to a bumpy start. The Cortina die-hards turned a 2 hour drive from Treviso into a 5 hour marathon, which included several turns around the Cortina one way system, a few stops at local establishments to recuperate, and several wrong attempts at finding the right mountain pass. Well, I did much worse than that three years ago having directed my family to the wrong Corvara (be forewarned, there are two) on the other side of the Dolomites which turned a three hour journey into eight. Even if your marriage can endure these drives, I would encourage you, if you are renting a car and driving to Corvara from any of the gateway airports (Venice, Treviso, Verona, Brescia, Milan or Bergamo), to get yourself a good map. Otherwise, you can order a taxi (roughly €700 round trip for 5 people) to take you to and from the airport. If you can get a flight to Bolzano, the taxi ride is shorter and cheaper. But the bottom line remains that transport to Corvara ain't easy. The assumption is that you are an Italian or German family, you speak the languages and know the roads. In the end of the day, it is probably what saves the place.

As for the skiing, my Alpha skiers were more than sold. When we arrived there was not a lot of snow and some of it was man-made, but what was there was superbly maintained. Overall, conditions were good and at higher elevations, excellent. Forty eight hours into our adventure, it snowed 6 to 8 inches, turned cold and the sun came out. Perfect. With 1,220 kilometres of prepared slopes and 460 lifts to choose from, we skied with abandon and without a lift line in sight.

As good as the skiing was, ultimately it was the drama and majesty of the Dolomites which won the hearts and minds of my friends. Even good photographs rarely do these mountains justice. “I just can’t believe how beautiful this is” was the constant refrain. Two highlights of the week were the ski tour to the Sanctuary of Santa Croce, with a church begun in 1485 by Archbishop “Konrad” of Bressanone with a good restaurant and the Lagazuoi Ski Tour which includes eerie views of World War I trenches set in cliffs almost 3,000 metres above sea level, an 8 kilometre run which descends Mount Lagazuoi (1,130 vertical metres) and a rope tow pulled by draft horses which transports skiers across the valley.

This is skiing about as far away from the maddening crowds as you can get. It has history, phenomenal natural beauty, and no crowds. This is my idea of alpine heaven. And if it is testosterone runs you are looking for, head over to Arraba where you can meet up with the snow boarders for more thrilling slopes. If it is three hour gourmet dining sandwiched between a little skiing and sunbathing that turns you on, try either the terrace restaurant Moritzino at Piz La Ila (the best mountain restaurant I’ve ever eaten at) or the terrace of the Armantarola Hotel near San Cassiano. For an inexpensive but good lunch in an out-of-the-way location, head for the Rifugio Passo Incisa in Arabba.

And what about our hotel? We loved it. The Parkhotel Planac is comfortable, well appointed, well run, fantastically situated and good value. The owner and staff deliver that hard to find combination of being “laid back” and “on top of their game” all at the same time. We were a large and noisy bunch but this fazed Planac not a bit. When we were making too much of a ruckus for our elderly German neighbours at dinner, they were discretely and happily moved to quieter quarters. Throughout our stay, requests were dealt with quickly and with charm. We paid €109 per person for a standard room with breakfast and dinner. Deluxe rooms are also available for €20 more per person per day and if that is in your budget the rooms are beautiful and more than worth it. We ran a pre-dinner bar for the group out of one of the deluxe rooms, Club 111, which saved us a ton of money on our bar bill and it was very “gemuetlich”.

T he food at Planac is classic Sud Tyrolese fare which combines elements of both the Austrian and Italian kitchen. Meals were well prepared, there was plenty of choice and portions were generous. Our waiters were professional but fun. The Welllness centre is run by a delightful and enthusiastic young woman who will massage, exfoliate and beautify you to your heart’s content. The sauna and whirlpool are included in the price of the room. There is a free shuttle service which takes you into town in the morning and afternoons. During the middle of the day, a trip to town is €5 for the journey for a group. Internet and wifi access are available.

If you happen to be at Planac in February for Carnival, get ready for the party of your life. We were all given “behaviour transforming” hats and wigs by hotel staff who were dressed as monks, Chez Guevara, angels, transvestites and more. With the help of a good live band, we danced the night away. My nine year old daughter Eloise was shocked at our behaviour. We were shocked at hers! The next morning, the entire kitchen staff complimented us on our party skills. I can’t remember when I have had more fun and that pretty much sums up our week in the Dolomites.

The bottom line is this. Corvara really is the best kept secret in the Alps. If you want a resort that will impress your friends, go to Lech or Zurs or Zermatt. If you want to pay less, wait less and enjoy yourself more, get a map and head for Corvara. Just be sure not to mention it.

Useful Addresses

For taxi service to and from Corvara
Pescosta Alfredo
Tel 0471 836393
Cell 347 261 5525

Parkhotel Planac
Via Planac, 13
I-39033 Corvara in Badia
Tel: 39 0471 83 62 10
Fax: 39 0471 83 65 98
info@planac.com
http://www.planac.com/

Moritzino’s Ristorante Gourmet
Piz La Ila
Tel 0471 847407 – 847403
Fax 0471 847395
Cell 335 600 94 56
http://www.moritzino.it/

Hotel Armentarola
I-39030 San Cassiano
Tel: 0471 84 95 22
Fax: 0471 84 93 89
info@armentarola.com

Rifugio Passo Incisa
32020 Arabba
Tel and fax 0436 79313

Photo courtesy of the Alta Badia Tourist Board website www.altabadia.org

We're Off to the Slopes - Snow or No Snow

All this week, I have been asked, "So, you're going skiing. Is there any snow?"

Well, I have no idea. This nice picture is from last year when there was plenty and in the immortal words of Rhett Butler, frankly, I don't give a damn since everything is paid for and non-refundable . I haven't checked. We'll find our fun as we find it.

I'll be back at my PC on February 19th and with luck I will not be writing about how to enjoy a winter holiday with no winter. Until then.

London's Museums of Health and Medicine

One of the books I enjoy browsing when I want to avoid writing is Mark Fisher’s Britain’s Best Museums and Galleries. During a recent romp through Fischer’s section on London, I was struck by how many London museums focus on medical and health related topics. Further investigations lead me to the website, London’s Museums of Health and Medicine, which provides information about visiting the twenty-one, that’s right, twenty-one medical museums and health-related collections that can be found in this city. I know medicine makes for big business but who would have thought it could also be big entertainment. I immediately called the doppelganger, who comes from a prominent medical family. “How about a day out visiting medical museums?” Most folks would have politely declined. Game as ever, the other Kate was in, and we were on.

We began the morning at the Florence Nightingale Museum on the site of St Thomas’ Hospital in Lambeth. I really wasn’t terribly interested in Ms. Nightingale or her story but the museum was open at the right time on the right day in an easy part of town to meet Kate. This was our first piece of good fortune because the Florence Nightingale Museum was wonderful. It’s a small but well thought out place which tells a powerful story about a formidable and enigmatic woman who changed the course of medical history.

For a little longer than an hour, we were equally fascinated and inspired by what Florence Nightingale had achieved and how she went about it. Starting life as a cosseted daughter of a wealthy Victorian family she went on (with considerable resistance from family and friends) to become a national heroine and life long campaigner for hospital reform and the promotion of the nursing profession.

In addition to the well thought out displays, there is an interesting film on her life which runs for 20 minutes which brings the whole story together. Florence Nightingale’s life is a great tale and this museum tells it well. All in all, our medical museum marathon was off to a good start.

After the Florence Nightingale experience, we headed for the attic of an 18th century church near London Bridge which is the home of the Old Operating Theatre, Museum and Herb Garret. I had heard about this place for years and it sounded completely weird and wonderful. From the moment we began to climb the 32 winding and treacherous stairs to emerge into a gift shop that was a combination of Aladdin’s Cave and my son’s room at University, I knew we had hit pay dirt. Here was another atmospheric London destination, up there with Dennis Severs House, 19 Princelet Street and the John Soanes Museum, all examples of places where the past comes to life.

The story goes like this. The Church of St Thomas Apostle was, in one form or another, the parish church of St Thomas’s Hospital from 1215 to 1862 when the hospital packed up and moved to Lambeth to make way for a railway line. Left behind in the attic of the church were Britain’s oldest operating theatre and an herb apothecary. It is a complex story how an operating theatre ended up in a church attic but suffice it to say, operations in those days relied on a good source of natural light and the church attic was both well lit and convenient as it stood on the same level as the female ward of the hospital. After St. Thomas’s Hospital moved, the theatre remained hidden and largely forgotten until the site was rediscovered in the 1950s.

What the visitor experiences today is a totally gruesome and riveting reminder of how far medicine has come since the days of the old operating theatre when patients were blindfolded, gagged and tied to what looked like a kitchen table with a box of sawdust underneath to catch the blood. Many of the surgical instruments from the time looked like props from a horror movie. Specimens taken from patients, such as huge kidney stones, rotten lungs and gigantic tape worms add to the fun. This place tells it "like it was" without softening or modifying the story for modern sensibilities. I thought it was fabulous but to make sure I was not the only one who found this museum nauseatingly sublime, I spent a long time leafing through the guest book. Most of the comments read something like

“Disgusting, creepy, revolting, fascinating, I loved it.”

The doppelganger liked it too and bought lots of postcards of toe amputations to send to MD relatives. If you have children, they'll love it.

After such a brilliant morning, there was nothing left to do but to go and have a bang-up lunch two minutes down the road at the Tapas Brindisa in Borough Market. We were lucky to get a table and with a no reservations policy, that can be said of everyone in the place. We started with a perfect plate of Iberica de Bellota charcuterie consisting of ham and sausages from the famous Iberian acorn fed pig. We then moved on to squid with aioli, chorizo, clams and ham and cheese with honey. The focus at Brindisa is on ingredients which are excellent. The atmosphere is crowded, noisy and fun. Prices are typical for London which means expensive, especially for tapas. Lunch will set you back approximately £20 per person.

After lunch we took the decision to end on a high and head home. Two museums down, nineteen to go. Watch this space.

Florence Nightingale Museum
St Thomas’ Hospital
2 Lambeth Palace Road
London SE1 7EW
Tel: 0207 620 0374
Fax: 0207 928 1760
http://www.florence-nightingale.co.uk/

Opening hours
Monday to Friday 10 – 5, Weekends and Bank Holiday 10 to 4:30
£5.80 for an adult/£16 for a family

Old Operating Theatre, Museum and Herb Garret
9a St Thomas’s Street
London SE1 9RY
Tel: 0207 188 2679
http://www.thegarrret.org.uk/

Opening hours
Monday to Sunday 10:30-5
Closed 15 December to 5 January
£5.25 for an adult/$12.95 for a family

Tapas Brindisa
Borough Market
18-20 Southwark Street
Tel: 020 7357 8880

Hours
Monday to Saturday 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM
On Friday there is a Spanish Breakfast starting at 9

What to do in London in a Storm

What wild weather we saw last week. Wednesday brought monsoons and Thursday saw 100 mile per hour winds that brought London to a chaotic standstill as trees, tiles, scaffolding and other stuff flew around town. Londoners, who have a flair for stoic suffering during moments of urban meltdown, just try to get on with their routines.

But what about our visitors?

It’s not really fair to invite them to the third most expensive city in the world, after Tokyo and Osaka, and then expect them to write off a day just because the weather is horrendous. So here’s an idea for a full day of culture, dining and shopping in a central London location between the Strand and Embankment, comprising three superb collections, a good restaurant and gift shops, all to be found under the roof of one world class building. A visit to Somerset House is great in any weather but never better than when London becomes too wet, too windy or just too crazy for running around.

Somerset House was built in 1776- 1801 by George III’s architect, William Chambers for administrative offices, and it's safe to say, civil servants never had it so good. Today, this masterpiece of classical architecture is the home of the Courtauld Institute of Art, the Gilbert Collection and the Hermitage Rooms, all of which represent high level NoCrowds experiences.

Take, for example, the Courtauld Institute of Art, which is generally considered to have one of the finest collections of impressionist and post-impressionist paintings in Britain, as well as old masters, sculpture and an extensive print and drawing collection. In fact, the Courtauld is best understood as a “collection of collections”, formed by the gifts and bequests of a group of fascinating private collectors. The icing on the cake is that you can view many of the mega-masterpieces of art history, such as Manet’s “A Bar at the Folies Bergere”, Edgar Degas’ “Two Dancers on a Stage” and Vincent Van Gogh’s “Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear” in blissful serenity. Thankfully saved from being a pit stop on the itinerary of tick-the-box tourism, the gallery offers a world class collection without the world class crowds.

Across the courtyard, housing an ice rink in winter and a lovely fountain (great for children) with eating and drinking options in summer, you will find the Gilbert Collection of decorative arts focussing on gold, silver and mosaics, as well as the Hermitage Rooms with temporary exhibitions of works on loan from the renowned Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg.

I would start with the Gilbert Collection, paying particular attention to the snuff boxes. I know that doesn’t sound earth shattering, but this is a gobsmacking collection of boxes, including several magnificent jewelled examples from the collection of Frederick the Great and a fabulous diamond encrusted box which was presented by Catherine the Great to the son of the English doctor who inoculated the Empress and her son against smallpox. A pair of enormous silver gates, also from the reign of the Empress, is, as they say in the Michelin guide, worth the detour. After viewing the collection, be sure to visit the special exhibit on the life and times of the collector, Sir Arthur Gilbert which is fun and fascinating, in a weird California kind of way, with loads of pictures of Sir Arthur with celebrities and an even weirder “Madame Tussaudesque” recreation of his office in LA with Gilbert on the phone in tennis whites.

From the Gilbert Collection, follow the signs to the Hermitage Rooms which are a short walk away. The Hermitage Rooms at Somerset House, decorated in the style of the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, offer the unusual opportunity to see fabulous examples of work on loan from the Hermitage and other collections. From now until April 8, you can see a fascinating and at times quite naughty exhibition entitled, The Triumph of Eros: Art and Seduction in 18th Century France. The impetus for the show was the recent discovery of a collection of French erotic engravings of Tsar Nicholas for which London marks the collection’s international debut. Highlights also include works by Boucher, Watteau and the scultptor, Falconet.

When it is time for a break from all this culture, head for The Admiralty restaurant in the South Building on the ground floor which, because it is accessed via the Somerset House courtyard, is often overlooked and under-utilised. The setting is stylish and the menu Modern British. Lunch should set you back roughly £35 per person. If you are looking for something faster and cheaper, try the Deli, off the Seamen’s Hall or the Café in the Courtauld and in summer, there is a River Terrace Café offering al fresco dining with lovely views of the Thames. If you still need to pick up something for family and friends back home, the gift shops of all three collections have a good selection of tasteful and unusual gifts.

So if you find yourself in London on a particularly bad day and you can not bear the thought of fighting weather and mass transport meltdown, you can make an excellent day of it in Somerset House, London’s cultural emporium par excellence, and short of dashing across the courtyard, you don't even have to step outside.

Photo courtesy of Associated Press

La Dolce Vita - Family Style

On the surface, Rome does not cater to young visitors. Green space hardly exists*, museums make no concessions for children, restaurants start serving dinner long after most children have gone to bed, and cars and motorbikes play a game of “chicken” with pedestrians that is guaranteed to raise the blood pressure of visiting parents. But this is the surface. Underneath what appears to be an “adults only” city, is a huge and thriving playground for the young and young at heart. We were there last week with two of our four children, aged 9 and 19, and they immediately “got” it. They had a blast and so did we.

In thinking about what made our Roman holiday so appealing to our younger members, I have come to the conclusion that Rome is, for them, one big HBO episode. It’s Western Civilisation for the MTV Generation complete with edgy editing: here Etruscans, there Baroque, look quick, now its Byzantine. Where we see antiquities, they see film sets. When our son, Mac, spent an inordinate amount of time digesting the information in an exhibition on Homer in the Coliseum, I asked him about his interest in the great poet. His reply, “Mom, I saw the movie with Brad Pit”. Ditto for the Coliseum and Russell Crowe.

Regardless of the source, Mac was connecting with audio/visual icons and enjoying it. The same can be said for Eloise who found it hilarious that a wolf would raise a pair of human babies. She also found the human relics in the churches to be quite fascinating as were the cats at Torre Argentina. In between walking around and looking at all the stuff, we had plenty of breaks for pasta-fuelled lunches and gelato (ice cream but taken to a higher level). To summarise, Rome magnificently met the needs of everyone in our party, and we would all go back in a heart beat.

In the hopes that you will bring your family to Rome and have as splendid a time as we did, here are our 10 Key Learnings for Family Fun in the Eternal City.

Stay in the Ancient Centre and Walk Everywhere

If you arrive in Rome via Fiumicino Airport and there are at least 4 of you, take a taxi (€40 fixed if it is a Roman based taxi/€60 fixed if Fiumicino based – it pays to ask for the Roman). Otherwise, the train is a good option.

After that, choose a hotel in the Ancient Centre so that you can walk to almost everything you would want to see. Public transportation is often crowded and sometimes chaotic. (The claim has been made that “neither Freud nor Jung could ever muster the courage to board a Roman bus.” In any event, avoid the #64 which is basically a Pick Pocket Convention.) By contrast, there is no better way to soak up the atmosphere of this remarkable city than by hitting the streets. With frequent stops for coffee, juice and gelato, we heard no complaints from our younger set.

As for hotels, I always freeload off my sister in her “palazzo” near the Pantheon. This neighbourhood is hard to beat as it is an easy walk to the Coliseum, Forum, Capitoline, Pantheon, Piazza Navona and Trevi Fountain. If you don’t have a benevolent Sorellina (baby sister) to bum off of, the Albergo Santa Chiara, around the corner comes highly recommended, is well reviewed by Frommers, Trip Advisor et alia and I am told that rates are “discussable” in the off-season.

Take and buy these books

City Secrets Rome – Tiny but full of delightful, idiosyncratic and useful information such as Danny Meyer’s (of Union Square Café fame) review of the trattoria, La Taverna da Giovanni, where he “learned the simple wonders of the Italian table.”

The Families who Made Rome is both a history and a guide with terrific stories and itineraries. It’s a big book but worth the space in your day pack.

Rome, Past and Present – You can purchase this guide book at any tourist or gift shop for roughly €11. The children will enjoy the fact that for each monument, there are overlays showing how it would have looked in antiquity versus what one is seeing today. Some editions come with a CD which cuts back and forth between now and then and helps the whole family make sense of the ruins.


Avoid the line at the Coliseum by buying your ticket at the entrance to the Palatine

Perhaps the smartest thing we did the whole week was to buy a joint ticket for the Coliseum and Palatine at the Palatine Entrance just outside the Forum and to the left of the Arch of Titus. We then sashayed into the Coliseum and past the monstrous line which snaked around the building. My movie mad children thought the Coliseum was awesome.

The Palatine was less of a hit as both the Farnese Gardens and House of Augustus were closed for renovations but we enjoyed the view and didn’t stay long.

See lots of churches – They’re quick, free and each one tells a story

We saw tons of churches during our Roman holiday without a single grumble. Why? Because Roman churches are the perfect pastime for folks with a video game attention spans. We could get in without a wait, did not have to justify an entrance fee by spending lots of time, and saw some pretty spectacular things, such as Caravaggio’s Saint Matthew cycle in the French Church, San Luigi dei Francesi, the frescos and faux dome of San’Ignacio (almost as good as the Sistine Chapel, with an American Indian in full headdress) and the 300 year old, perfectly preserved body of Saint Giuseppe Maria Tomasi ( the same noble Sicilian family as the author of The Leopard) in the Basilica of Andrea della Valle, the setting for the first scene in Tosca.

If you only do one museum with children, make it the Capitoline, the first museum of the modern world.

Back in 1471, in the hope of reviving the antique splendour of the city, Pope Sixtus IV donated a collection of bronze statues, including the famous statue of the She-Wolf suckling Romulus and Remus, which became the basis of what, is today, a superb collection of antiquities. The new galleries which opened last year are a wonderful addition and best of all, relative to the strength of the collection, this museum is way under-utilised.

Go to the Vatican and go as far into the Piazza as your crowd tolerance allows – even seeing St Peters from just the exterior is enough to grasp the scale and monumentality

The day we were there it was Epiphany and hence a total madhouse and we got no further than the life size crèche in front of St Peters, but we did get to see a great parade with emperors, gladiators, boy scouts and some characters straight out of the Life of Brian, and that was enough.

Eat in traditional Roman trattorias

There’s no real reason to blow the budget on formal dining. Roman trattorias are fun, informal and inexpensive. Here are some of our favourites:

Da Armando al Pantheon – try the stracetti con ruchetta

Matricianella – very popular so book ahead

Da Giggetto – traditional Roman/Jewish food

Osteria ar Galletto – also known as Da Giovanni’s – in a lovely corner of the Piazza Farnese (vicolo del Gallo, 1: Tel - 06.686.1714)

Renato & Luisa – our favourite, robust flavours and a warm atmosphere (Via dei Barbieri, 25: Tel – 06.68.69.660

Due Colonne –relaxed, a bit touristy, but very moderately priced and friendly service (via del Seminario, 122: Tel – 06.67.81.449


Visit www.mypantheon.com

No matter what the weather or time of year, there is no grander social space in Rome than the Pantheon. As recommended by City Secrets, “Come here first, before you go anywhere else … so the visitor can experience the ancient city as its builders did. After this you can imagine the Roman Forum and Imperial Fora not as a series of ruins but brimming with life.” It is at this point that your children will begin to see that http://www.myspace.com/ is really a cyberspace iteration of the social spaces first conceived and built in Ancient Rome.

See the Trevi Fountain at night, the later the better

The Trevi Fountain during the day is a sad state of affairs – wall to wall bodies punctuated by aggressive buskers and souvenir sellers. The crush of tourists in the small piazza completely spoils the experience but if you wait until after dinner when the tour groups have long departed, the difference is astounding. The later it gets, the better the experience and the illumination is pretty terrific as well.

On the way back, it's fun to have a gelato from Giolitti (via degli Uffici del Vicario), one of the best known gelateria’s in town. As they advise in City Secrets, “Just follow the ice cream cones”.

“This is Rome, You Can Do What You Want”

The best piece of advice we received during our visit came from our friend and native Roman, Stefano, who, when we admonished Eloise for something she was doing at the dinner table, responded with considerable charm, “Ah, but this is Rome where you really should let her do what she wants.”

In the end of the day, that is what makes Rome so magical for anyone, young or old. It’s the “attitude” and way of looking at life, and even if you are only visiting, you have bought yourself a wonderful, temporary ticket to La Dolce Vita, so go ahead and enjoy it for as long as it lasts.

* A friend, who considers himself Roman although he informs me that he is not officially considered one, as his family has not been Roman for at least seven generations, has taken issue with my statement about the lack of green space pointing out that:

"Rome does have some green space. Actually quite extensive: Villa Pamphilj, Pincio - Villa Borghese, Villa Ada, Villa Torlonia, The Janiculum Hill. They are all "central". Of course, if we talk about something like the London gardens things are different. However, there are smaller open spaces: Villa Aldobrandini (next to the Trajan Markets, on Via Nazionale) has a hanging charming garden with great views; the Giardini del Quirinale (how central can you get?), the "Circus Maximus" with the Caracalla Baths boulevard and the Villa Celimontana, the Aventine Hill with the lovely Giardino degli Aranci (aka Parco Savello) overlooking the city from South-East."

So there you have it - the real scoop (not the tourist take) on green spaces in Rome from an almost official Roman.

The Ultimate Burns Supper

Heavy rains and high winds may have cancelled Hogmanay (New Years) celebrations across Scotland, but here is an idea about how to participate in Scotland’s greatest celebration that is guaranteed to happen no matter what the weather or where in the world you are.

Forget virtual travel experiences (they don’t serve whiskey in cyberspace), what you really need if you want to feel as if you have taken a trip to Scotland is a good Burns Night Supper. These suppers have been in existence for over 200 years and Scots and anyone who has a fondness for Scotland, poetry and partying on or about January 25, gather across the globe to celebrate the life, the works and the philosophy of Robert Burns.

Until now, unless you were a Scot (or a client or close friend of one), the idea of sourcing a haggis and addressing it seemed totally daunting. But that was before Clark McGinn solved the problem for the rest of us with his definitive work, The Ultimate Burns Supper Book. This wonderful little book tells you everything you need to know to get in on the action whether you are a guest, a host or even just a couple enjoying a Burns Night Supper a deux.

Clark’s advice is so comprehensive, practical and fun, that there is no longer any excuse for missing out on the festivities. No matter where in the world you are, you can be an honorary Scot for the night. Having lived in the US for a period, Clark even knows which American butchers can get you a proper haggis (his favourite comes from Oregon). From invitations to recitation, it’s all in the Ultimate Burns Supper Book. So go ahead, buy the book and give it a go. Why? Because, in the words of Mr. McGinn, “A good Burns Supper creates a community amongst those present, based in equal parts on the conviviality of good company, the joy of fine Scottish food and drink, and the insight into our essential humanity captured by the songs and poems of one of the greatest Bards of any time in any language.”

Photo of Clark McGinn and haggis courtesy of http://www.seriousburns.com/