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Have Kids, Will Travel to Italy

McMechen Family Takes Trip of A Lifetime

As a seasoned travel agent with nearly 44 years in the industry, Beverly Musilli of McMechen planned thousands of itineraries with painstaking detail and shared with her clients all the tips of the trade.

When Beverly, now retired, and her husband, Tom, took their children and their families on the trip of a lifetime to Italy in September, Beverly of course pulled out all the stops in planning their trip to a “T.” Having been there only once, 45 years ago, and without the insider benefits of her profession, however, she relied mostly on the Internet and tips from former clients.

And while at one time she may have had reservations about taking children abroad, after experiencing it firsthand with grandsons Josh, 3, and Ben, 7 months, she wouldn’t hesitate to encourage others to do so.

“We had no issues with our children getting through security,” Beverly said, adding it was somewhat unnerving to see armed soldiers patrolling the airports in Europe, but she always felt safe. “I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all.”

Beverly, Tom, their son, Justin, his wife, Lisa, their daughter, Megan, and her husband, Jon, along with their sons, departed from Pittsburgh on Sept. 18 with a stop in Paris before arriving in Milan the following day. A train — “the train system in Europe is wonderful,” Beverly said — took them from Milan to Florence, where they stayed in a beautiful apartment they rented through Air BnB. This relatively new mode of accommodation is something she never would have dreamed of using when she was a travel agent — they don’t make any money on Air BnB bookings. A former client raved about it, however, so she did some research and found fantastic large apartments in both Florence and Rome.

From Florence, the party of eight traveled by train to Venice, where they took the obligatory gondola ride before heading back to Florence for the night.

On Sept. 21, the three generations embarked on a private guided tour of Chianti wine country. The full day in the Tuscan countryside was idyllic, Beverly said, and included a tour of two small organic vineyards, wine and olive oil tasting, a picnic lunch at one of the vineyards and a meal at the restaurant of Dario Cecchini, a famous butcher in Panzano. Jon is a master meat cutter at Riesbeck’s, so he and Dario talked shop and had their picture taken behind the counter, Beverly noted.

The English-speaking tour guide, who shuttled them around in a large Mercedes van, was a native of France but called Italy his home. He wants to start a vineyard of his own in his adopted homeland.

“I found him quite by chance online,” Beverly said. “I used some of my contacts from my work, but I booked a lot online. Now I know why my customers used the Internet so much.”

The guide and the vineyard owners were gracious to this American family who knew nothing about wine. “They never once made us feel uncomfortable because we weren’t wine connoisseurs,” Beverly said.

The next day was a free day of sightseeing in Florence, where they visited the Accademia to see Michelangelo’s famous statue,  “David.” Then it was time to pack their bags and take the train to Rome via Pisa first to see the leaning tower. The expansive lawns there gave Josh some room to run off his excess energy. In Rome, they checked into their apartment in the Trevi area, where the landlord had provided breakfast foods plus an extra stroller for Ben and toys for Josh.

“The Italians were wonderful with our kids. They make over children; they just love kids,” Beverly said. Even when Ben, who was teething, was fussy, the Italians either smiled graciously or tried to help soothe him. In one restaurant where Ben was crying, Beverly said, a couple got up and left; they were Americans.

“Benny opened doors,” Beverly added, explaining that his smile endeared people to their little convoy, sometimes even garnering them preferential treatment.

The group visited Ancient Rome and the Colosseum — a dream come true for Justin — on their first day in Rome, and on Sept. 25 they took the train to Naples where they enjoyed a “fascinating” tour of Pompeii, Beverly said. The next day, they went on a private, four-hour tour of the Vatican, including St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. The tour company, Rome Walks, was recommended by a former client, Beverly said, and she highly recommends it.

Seeing all these sights through the eyes of their children was a gratifying experience, Beverly said.

“The most fulfilling part of it was when Tom and I stood back and watched them enjoying themselves,” she said.

But 3-year-old Josh offered an additional layer of delight. For example,  although Venice had been packed with tourists and wasn’t a favorite among the grown-ups, Josh loved all the old buildings, which he called castles, Beverly. And as they entered the Sistine Chapel, Josh, who enjoys painting, looked up at Michelangelo’s masterpiece on the ceiling and declared he could paint that.

While some might be concerned about feeding a child in a foreign country, they didn’t need to worry about Josh.

“Get him a plate of spaghetti, and he’s in heaven,” Beverly said. “We did take him to McDonald’s to get chicken nuggets a couple of times.”

They also savored gelato from the oldest gelato shop in Italy, which was just down the street from their apartment in Rome.

They almost always, however, ate at restaurants off the beaten path, scouted out by Justin and Lisa.

If other families are planning on traveling abroad, Beverly said one tip is to pay the extra to travel first class or business class on the train for the extra leg room and convenience of having tables between rows of facing seats. And, book private tours if possible because motorcoach tours are inconvenient to maneuver with children — and many times kids under 12 aren’t  permitted.

She advised if someone is questioning whether to take young children to Europe, do it.

“They won’t remember it, but we will,” she said.

As for safety, she reiterated she never felt threatened and added she always has held to the notion of “Que sera, sera.”

She noted: “Why deprive yourself of culture and beauty because of some terrible people?”

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