Trip planning: Executive function overload

I may have mentioned once or twice or several times that our second oldest has been in Rome since September studying architecture. We are planning a trip to see him in less than a month, and we are taking the four younger kids. I booked the flights back in the fall when I found a major deal on a good airline with convenient travel times from out here - the return flight is direct to LAX. (The drive to LAX from here may be the worst part of the trip.) We are considering it the kids' religious education for the year since we aren't paying Catholic school tuition this year. We'll leave on a Tuesday, arrive on a Wednesday afternoon (after travel and time change), and leave the following Wednesday - so 7 days in Italy.  Our budget is supposed to be equivalent to what I am getting paid to teach one class for one term, which is to say about $5000. The flights took up almost half of that amount.

Now after figuring out travel within Italy - because we are planning to visit Assisi and Florence for the weekend - and the cost of admissions and food and shelter, I think I need to add $1000 to that amount. Or at least $500.  Here is my quandary: what is the value of convenience and what is the value of comfort?  I am thinking of all the ways that traveling with kids brings up different considerations than traveling alone or with other adults who don't complain or tire as easily, are fueled by cafe and crusty bread, can sleep wherever, and are pleased to peek inside dimly lit church after dimly lit church seeking relics and works of art that you once studied in art history class.

That extra $500 could go towards a few different things: I've found three different apartments: A nice one right by the Spanish steps for $500 for 3 nights (which is cheaper than staying in most budget hotels here in America, considering it is a bright and clean two bedroom apartment with beds for 6 and a modern kitchen). Then there is one right by the Pantheon for $325 for 3 nights (think one real bed and 2 futons for sleeping, a grimy looking bath, stove and sink, but great location), or one that looks nice inside but is located out near the Lateran farther away from everything except closer to where our son is staying for about $325 also. We are staying in that area the first two nights for about $150 for 2 nights, but the same apartment is not available when we return from our weekend trip. There are also a couple of nice and affordable apartments near the Vatican, but my husband doesn't want to stay on that side of the Tiber, even though I pointed out we should be staying with the nuns and priests if we are considering this a pilgrimage. I was disappointed to realize we will miss the Wednesday audiences and the Sunday blessing because of our travel times, so we probably won't catch a glimpse of the pope.

At any rate, what is it worth to have a comfy bed in a nice place?  We could also save or splurge $80 on a faster train from Florence to Rome, saving about 3 hours on a train with kids (1.5 vs 4.5 hours). Also, how many art museums can we visit based on our budget and the kids' endurance and taste for Renaissance paintings? I have been visiting website after website, studying train schedules, figuring out prices for adult and child tickets to various attractions and trying to figure out how much time we need to travel between them. I've studied Frommer's, Rick Steves, and Fodor's guides, in addition to A Literary Guide to Rome and various websites. We watched Life is Beautiful, Tea with Mussolini, and some Rick Steves videos the past couple of weekends, and have Roman Holiday and a Bishop Barron video queued up to watch this weekend. I'm about halfway through Anthony Doerr's Four Seasons in Rome, about his year in Rome on a writing fellowship with his wife and baby twins. which makes me wonder if I was that tired with babies?  The planning and dreaming is half the fun, but 'm beginning to get planner's overload.

The reality is we won't possibly be able to see everything, and we should take time to enjoy the things we do see. Our son should know and my husband (who spent a year there 25 years ago) still has a good sense of getting around Rome, so I should just leave the itinerary to them.  But I like to be informed - or prepared - or in control; however you like to look at it. Also, we need to reserve times to enter the Vatican Museum, the Uffizi, and a couple other things that they don't think to plan for. My husband wants to skip the Colosseum, but I think the kids will like it. But there's another way to save time and dinero. . .

The one thing we might save money on without skimping on pleasure is food, depending on how much gelato we eat. I have budgeted $200 a day, but I think if we eat dinner and breakfast in (or from a market) most days and keep lunch reasonable, we may be able to eat for much less, but still be satisfied. 

The adventure awaits...