Italia!

I must apologize for the delay in writing this post - but I do have some really great excuses! Firstly, Dave and I have been busy with baby - well, our growing baby - with appointments and of course just the sheer excitement of sharing our great news with all of our family and friends. Since Italy, we have had our first ultrasound and second midwife checkup. Also, my in-laws flew over to visit us for a week and we of course showed them all of our favorite places in England! 

Italy was such an amazing trip and I cannot believe it's already been a month since we were there. It is truly an amazing country and each region has so many different things to offer. The food, the landscapes, the architecture, the history - there is so much to take in! Not only that, but it was my 30th birthday while there and Dave made every effort to make sure I had a great time! He even surprised me with the Breitling watch I have had my eye on! Best Husband award right there! 

 

We flew out in the afternoon on Saturday August 20th. It was a quick hour and twenty minute flight - which is always great - especially for Dave who always has to contend with legroom on planes! Once we landed in Venice, the doors of the plane opened and the humidity outside immediately flooded in. It was a warm welcome for me as I had been complaining all summer long in England how there really is no summer at all, just a really long spring (temperature speaking anyway!). We got off the plane and headed for the coach area to take us across the land-bridge to Venice. Once across, we boarded the #1 water-bus and made sure to sit up front so we could get a front row view of the Grand Canal! It was amazing! Even at night, the canal looked beautiful! Everything was lit up, the canal was bustling with other boats filled with people and as corny as this sounds, the air (although some areas smellier than others) was filled with excitement! 

 

While in Venice, we stayed at a cute hotel right on the Grand Canal.  Our family friends, Mel and Sabrina Robbins also made the trip all the way from Indianapolis and this was their first time in Europe.  So we obviously had a huge itinerary to fulfill in just a short weeks time.  We saw the Rialto Bridge, Saint Mark's Square, St. Mark's Basilica, Doges Palace, shopped, had gelato and took a water-taxi ride of the entire island. We opted out of a Gondola ride as it was €80 (about $110) for only a half an hour. Also we would have only gotten to see just a stretch of the Grand Canal and being that low to the water in the hottest month of the year would have been very, very smelly. So, for about the same price, we hired a water-taxi (which, by the way, sits up much higher off the water) for an hour and got a tour of the entire island in the comfort of our own,  much roomier boat! 

 

After Venice, we rented a car and drove to Rome. It was about a four and a half hour drive in total - so not too bad.  The cars in Italy (well, all of Europe) are quite small in comparison to the cars we are accustomed to driving in the States.  The rental car description boasted that it could comfortably fit four adults and hold two large suitcases and a small duffel bag.  The four of us were scrunched and I'm not sure how we  managed to fit all four bags in the trunk!  Needless to say, we made it to our destination in record time!  

Rome was just how I remembered it eight years ago - hot and crowded!  Oh, and just as beautiful!  =) We arrived late afternoon, so after checking into our hotel, we headed right for the free shuttle into the city.  The shuttle dropped us off right around the corner from the Spanish Steps, which ended up being a great location for walking to the Colosseum, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, the Roman Forum, Piazza Venezia and of course great shopping and restaurants.  Vatican City is a bit further away, but well worth the walk!  We of course toured the Vatican Museum and saw the Sistine Chapel and what seemed like miles and miles of beatiful artwork, we saw St. Peter's Square and toured St. Peter's Basillica, Castel Sant'Angelo and walked across the Bridge of Angels.  I'm not sure how far we walked, but we definitely logged a lot of miles the two days we were there!  Rome is pretty easy to get lost in and after touring St. Peter's Basilica, we just started walking and ended up finding a cute little outdoor cafe.  By the way, some of the best cafe's are off the beaten path.  We enjoyed some great bread and olive oil over some much needed ice cold refreshments.  Aside from the almost 100 degree temperatures, countless bottles of water consumed and I'm sure some pounds lost, we had a great time!

 

 

Our next stop: Florence!  Florence ended up being our favorite city to visit!  It was a lot more relaxed and a lot less crowded and the temperature dropped a bit so it was a lot more bearable outside!   We saw Ponte Vecchio, the Campanile, Piazza del Duomo, and the Galleria dell' Academia (where the statue of David is).  With Florence being at the heart of Tuscany, we of course took advantage of our proximity to the area to go wine tasting in Chianti Country!  Dave found a great vineyard - Castello di Verrazzano - it's over 1,000 years old!  Driving up the hillside provided some breathtaking views you'd expect to see out of a magazine or in a movie!  It was so beautiful and I think I took about 100 pictures just of the landscape!

 

 

 

We also stopped over in Pisa to see the Leaning Tower.  Afterward, we headed for the coast - Livorno - to watch the sunset and of course had to put our feet in the what we thought was the Mediterranean Sea, but it was actually the Tyrrhenian Sea (oops - close enough though!)!

 

Each of the three cities we visited were different and unique in their own way.  My favorite part of Venice was just getting lost in the little alleyways that wound around the "floating" city.  It's certainly a different world where your main source of transportation is a boat.  The canals were absolutely breathtaking.  There were little markets sporadically and seemingly randomly located all over the city.  One minute you'd be meandering through a maze of alleyways and the next minute these alleyways open up to huge squares full of shops and markets and restaurants.  While there, we were very fortunate to have beautiful weather and took advantage of sitting outside a couple cafe's all while enjoying an ice cold refreshment,  and watched the Venetians (and tourists) go by. 

My favorite part of Rome was the Colosseum and the Sistine Chapel.  Both amazing feats of human ability.  The sheer size of the Colosseum is astounding and the fact that it's survived thousands of years of the elements, earthquakes and destruction just amazed me.  And the Sistine chapel - you could stand in there for hours looking up at the ceiling and in every direction and still not see everything.   The artwork is so incredible.  I always think of the scene from the movie Goodwill Hunting when Matt Damon's character is going toe to toe with Robin William's character, who plays his shrink.   Robin asks Matt (who's never been anywhere but claims to know everything) if he knows what it's like to actually see the Sistine Chapel and what it smells like in there.   I always liked that part and I knew someday I'd get to see  and smell for myself.   I know it's dorky, but I really do try to take it all in when I get the opportunity to see such amazing historical places like this.  Not everyone gets the chance to come, see and experience these places and can only do so from the confines of a book.  Oh, and by the way, the Sistine Chapel in mid-August smells like dust and sweaty tourists!   

My favorite part of Florence was being out in the countryside of Tuscany!  As I mentioned before, it was truly breathtaking and my photographs certainly do not do it justice!  As we were driving to Castello di Verrazzano, a light, misting rain was coming down.  Driving up the winding road, we stopped every so often to take pictures of the landscape that surrounded us.  In every direction, a great view.  I loved looking from a distance at the rows upon rows of grapevines.   We signed up for the three hour tour and lunch/wine tasting.  The tour lasted about an hour and we were able to see the castle and grounds, the ancient cellar, the wine making process and of course the great views from atop.  The lunch was great - fresh bruschetta, aged boars meat prosciutto, asparagus quiche and cheeses and we were able to sample their extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  The wine tasting coincided with lunch and while I couldn't sample any due to my being pregnant, I was able to drink some fresh grape juice!  Dave gave me the low down on how each wine tasted and I was able to smell each one to gain a better understanding of the grapes used, processes used, etc.  The owner even threw in a bottle for me for after the baby is born!  After lunch and the tasting, Dave ordered a case to ship home and also inquired on the price of an apron.  Our tour guide, Gillian, who sort of took a liking to us and predicted we are having a girl, just gave it to us as a gift "for baby."  The apron won't fit the baby for about 10 years, but we thought that was so sweet! 

We had such an amazing time on our trip and I cannot wait to take our kids back one day.  What a great way to spend turning thirty and the anticipation of the arrival of our first child!  Dave and I feel very blessed in our lives for being given the opportunity to live in England and travel as much as we do.  We always said we wanted to travel Europe before we started a family and we have been able to do so and will continue to once the baby is born.

One more thing, I wanted to thank my amazing husband who made this trip so wonderful - I don't know what I would do without you by my side.  You make me laugh and smile every day and I am the luckiest girl in the world.  I love you so much.

NOTE: I wish I could have included all 400 pictures we took in Italy in this blog entry, however due to space and time, it was just not going to happen.  If you'd like to see them, check out: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AcNnLVk4bOWLDwg