Jan 23, 2012

Campo de’ Fiori

Rome, Italy

By Lisa T. Bergren

When Emma and I checked into our historic district apartment, the manager kindly encouraged us to head over to Campo de’ Fiori to market. We loved our frequent forays over to the quaint piazza, that once was dominated by flower merchants, but now divides space between touristy t-shirts, vast fruit and vegetable stands, spices, pottery, linens and more. Continue reading

Dec 17, 2011

Book Review: (Not-for-Parents) ROME

Lonely Planet's New Series for Kids Rocks

By Lisa T. Bergren 

I adore graphics-rich guide books for adults. Lots of pictures, lots of quick, intriguing info in bite-sized pieces. And I’m an adult.

I also love books about foreign places for kids. As a traveling mom, I’m constantly on the lookout for ways to get my children thinking about where we’re going—before, during and after we’re there. They get so much more out of our travels when I’m successful on this front. Continue reading

Nov 11, 2011

Tivoli’s Fountains

Context Tour, Part 2: Villa d' Este

By Lisa T. Bergren

After our visit to Hadrian’s Villa (Villa Adriana), we moved up the hill to the Renaissance estate inspired by the crumbling remains, Villa d’ Este. Here, Cardinal Ippolito d’ Este built one of the finest 16^th century villas and gardens ever created, on the site of a Roman villa and beside a Benedictine monastery. It was—and still is—so awe-inspiring, that many European gardens were modeled after it. Continue reading

Nov 7, 2011

Gelato Crawl

The Best (?) Gelaterie in Rome

By Lisa T. Bergren

Looking for the best gelato in Rome? Ask anyone who’s been to the city and they’ll talk about the historical sites, the wondrous sculpture, the amazing art, the delicious wine and pasta. And then they’ll mention gelato. “The gelato…you gotta have the gelato.” And then they’ll tell you which gelaterie you need to go to…and believe me, they’ll all have different suggestions. Continue reading

Nov 1, 2011

Hadrian’s Villa

Part 1: Context Tour

By Lisa T. Bergren 

We loved our semi-private Context tour and the day’s escape to Tivoli. We met up with our archeologist docent, Francesca, and two other couples at a train station in Rome, then set off in a hired car for Villa Adriana (Hadrian’s Villa). Continue reading

Oct 27, 2011

Rome from the Ground Up

Photo Essay

By Lisa T. Bergren

Ever since I caught a ground-up perspective on a NYC subway, I’ve been intrigued with shooting from this angle. On our October trip to Rome, I took the normal pictures of all the famous sites, but then went low for another. See what you think! Continue reading

Oct 21, 2011

Home Cooking in Rome

The Best Meal in Italy

By Lisa T. Bergren  

When I first heard about the Home Food organization in Italy, I was when-the-moon-hits-your-eye-like-a-big-pizza-pie excited. I love nothing more than a great meal, good conversation and authentic, fabulous Italian food. So when my friend Jess at WhyGo Italy wrote about Cesarinas and their goal to bring real Italian food to every willing mouth, I was all-in, no questions asked. Continue reading

Oct 14, 2011

Rome’s Colosseum

Foto Friday

Capturing why Rome is known as the “eternal city”…

Jan 31, 2010

3 Days in Rome

Three generations travel together

By Lisa T. Bergren 2007, updated 1/30/10

Our March 2007 trip included grandparents (in their 60s), parents (in their 40s) and three kids (ages 11, 8 and 4). We traveled to Rome-Tuscany-Venice over 12 days. Continue reading