You may remember, last year I took a trip with my son to London for his 15th birthday. Well, when you Baby Bunch your kids like we did, the next kid’s 15th birthday follows quickly behind. When the pandemic started in March, I didn’t think much about our summer travel being disrupted, but as the months crept by and summer was staring me in the face, I realized this trip might be a pipe dream.
Looking back to last year’s trip, it was really such a special memory for me so I was adamant about making this come together with my daughter somehow.
We talked at the beginning of the year about potential places for us to visit. France and Italy were at the top of the list. Enter COVID, and I realized those two Corona hotspot areas might invade our plans. She had two requests–somewhere with great food and somewhere warm. After Lufthansa cancelled her June trip to the U.S., and I wanted to at least try to do something special for her. Once I learned Italy opened its borders in early June, I decided to take the risk and go to Bologna.
Related: 9 Things to Explore During a Weekend Trip to Bologna
Focus Less on the Location and More on the Time Together
Not everyone should be traveling now, but if your area allows you to move within a certain “bubble,” you might consider this a nice time for a solo trip with one of your kids, especially with so many schools going virtual.
These 1-on-1 trips are less about visiting the perfect spot and more about spending time with my kids. In London, we anchored the trip around seeing the musical Hamilton with a quick college visit to Oxford. With this trip, we made it about food.
After some research into a variety of “smaller-ish” cities where we could travel from Germany, we chose Bologna, Italy. Home to the tortellini and weather so warm that most tourists don’t visit in July.
With great reservations after getting screwed by Lufthansa on several other cancelled flights, we took a leap of faith and bought the plane tickets.
Related: Celebrating a Birthday with a Mother-Son Trip to London
Find a Fun Place to Stay
When it’s just two of you, a hotel stay is so much less expensive than a family. And if you pick a less-known city (especially during a pandemic), you can find better prices at higher-end hotels.
Another silver linting to traveling during COVID is that it’s easy to find a place to stay. But no place sounded more perfect than Hotel Corona d’ Oro. No, I’m not joking. This hotel got rave reviews and the price was so good I couldn’t resist. We ended up being probably two of 15 guests in this fancy hotel.
Unlike my trip to London, this time I made an effort to stay at a nicer hotel. During both of these 1-on-1 trips, we ended up back in the hotel earlier in the evening or took breaks during the day for a nap. It’s a bonus to have a nicer hotel to come back to.
Related: What to Know About Traveling During a Pandemic
Let Your Kid Drive the Trip
The idea around these trips is the birthday child gets to choose it all. Where to eat, where to explore, what to do. My daughter did some research and made a list of things she wanted to do. Since the weekend was focused around food, I wanted to get in as much eating and tasting as possible.
For this trip, I knew a food tour was going to anchor the weekend trip. We ended up doing almost a full-day tour with Delicious Bologna. Our guide Mattia, a native to Bologna, took us to the best places around town to sample cappuccino, lasagna, meats, cheese, balsamic vinegar, tortellini, pizza, and gelato, as well as stopping in at a pasta factory.
Then around the main event we built the rest of the itinerary, which included a pasta making class with Dennis, climbing up the main town, visiting the church, and hiking up the portico hill to the sanctuary. We left time for shopping, cuddling, watching TV, and even sitting at a cafe for an Aperol Spritz. (She’s 15 and it’s totally acceptable for young adults to enjoy a beverage with their parents.)
My husband is often the restaurant chooser for the family. Anna enjoyed researching places to eat on Yelp and then finding our way to the location.
Slow Down a Bit
The biggest mistake I made with my trip last year was trying to do too much in the short time in London. Everything was scheduled so carefully that it was almost exhausting. This time, we took it slower. I tried to fill the days with enough things to give us structure to the day, but still allow for free time to relax or to do something spontaneous.
That being said, my son has a harder time making decisions and likes to be busy so his trip was representative of his personality. My daughter was fine to sit at a cafe and watch people walk by or wander through the streets and shops at a leisurely pace.
Not surprisingly, some of the simplest things can be the special moments which you will remember.
Total Cost of Trip
I tried to keep this on a budget and similar in price to the trip with my son. Here’s the breakdown:
- Lufthansa (direct and with no luggage): $200
- Two-night stay in hotel: $281
- Food Tour (which included lunch): $170
- Pasta Making Class (which included dinner): $130
- Birthday Dinner: $50
- Overnight Parking at the Airport: $30
- Taxi Cab (to and from airport in Italy): $45
