August came home from work one day and said, "Guess what? I'm going to work in Italy for three weeks like tomorrow..." I said, "I want to go!!! Take me with!" Surprisingly, August agreed and said "Sure." So, I went! August was there for a week before I went and I went to drop the boys off in Arizona for my family to watch them. I went to Italy for two whole weeks-just August and I. It was amazing! I loved it. I call it-our Honeymoon-since technically we never went anywhere for our honeymoon besides the Point South Mountain Resort over a weekend in Tempe. Italy reminded me alot of Spain. Same trashy, stinky alleys that smelled like urine. Trash everywhere. EVERYONE smoking. Old architecture, castles and the Mediterranean Sea. The Roman buildings were fun to see though. And the outskirts of the cities were beautiful! I loved the Tuscany country feel of the entire Country. And I LOVED eating gelato every afternoon or evening! My favorite was coffee and Mars-mixed. I also tried vanilla, watermelon, peach, strawberry, vanilla/chocolate chip, mint chocolate chip and chocolate. I was not a big fan of the margarita pizza however. It was thin crust, but not crispy. They left it real doughy and didn't even melt the cheese all the way. And when you asked for a salad-you got lettuce. By itself. They would put a bottle of olive oil and balsamic vinegarrette on the table and that was your dressing for everything. I liked their fried zucchini though. Out of a few lasagnas we tried, only one was good- the one in Rome. I LOVED my fetticinni alfredo in Venice- devine! So buttery and creamy, yum it was so good! I also liked my vegetable soup in Florence. One pizza we ate was really good in Ortigia, Sicily. It was at a famous "mafia" restaurant, or so the New Yorker next to us called it. He looked like he could be part of the Mafia himself and was asking us weird questions and how we found the place? We were like, "Um, we just picked it out of the alley and sat down..." He said it was where all the mafia head guys have their meetings...whatever. This pizza was good. It was folded over like a mexican quesodilla and had a really good sausage inside.
August was stationed at two Naval bases the whole two weeks- Naples and Sicily. During the week days we stayed to have him work. I slept in most those days and explored at night. The first weekend August and I drove to Rome from Naples (about a 4 1/2 hour drive) There we saw several things. The Great Colosseum where the Romans use to hold their games with chariots and their warriors/monsters. They would bring in elephants, tigers and alligators from India and other far away lands to fight the men in the arena. These animals were their monsters and dragons. If you think about it, most of Rome were farmers and to try to explain what an elephant is to a man that has never left his house back then, you would think it's some magical creature! We also toured the Palatine Hill- I liked learning about their palaces and how beautiful you could picture what their homes use to look like back then all white, shiny marble! Our tour guide told us the story behind the great banquets and feasts the Romans use to have. The emperor would invite you to feast upon his 100 course party (100! That is a TON of food!) and you had to eat everything! After a couple courses, the men would get full. So they stood up and walked around the hallway that surrounded the table and were forced to throw up to get their stomachs empty again to keep eating. If you couldn't vomit on your own, the servants with the grapes and feathers would force you to throw up-hence the feathers-they would stab them down their throats and tickle your tongues until the food would come up. They would then, continue to eat. The feasts usually lasted an entire week. If you didn't finish everything, this offended the emperor and you would be killed. Amazing huh! I never knew that, when you see the big feasts in the movies.
We then went to Trevi Fountain, the Vatican Museum (Sistine Chapel), Trastevere Tiber River and Bridges, Pantheon Temple, Spanish Steps and St. Peter's Basilica.
When we were in Naples, we took a day to walk the City of Pompei. This was a city that they are still discovering and digging up what was buried by ash and lava from a volcano. A guy that August works with lives there in Catania (Sicily) where there is another volcano near his house, that erupts three times a year. He says you hear a loud boom, and then see a cloud of smoke, ash and sometimes lava trickling down the side. I would not want to live near a volcano! I saw the red lava one of the days we drove by it.
In Naples, there were also castles we explored. The one place we didn't get a chance to see while we were there was the Island of Capri. I hear it is beautiful and I wish we had gone over there. We just forgot to do alot of things... I'm kicking myself for not doing more...I didn't even throw a coin into the Fountain of Trevi while I was standing right in front of it-When in Rome...ugh, oh well.
The following weekend after being in Sicily for the week, we drove the 10 1/2 hours back to Naples for the night. And then we were off to Florence for one day and Venice the next. That weekend was spent mostly driving and discovering the cities at night. In Florence we climbed inside the Dome-so scary and claustrophobic for me. August said it was easy for him, because that's what he does for his job-climb towers all day...
Then in Venice, we went on a gondola ride and spent the night relaxing in our jacuzzi tub. Both nights (Florence and Venice) August spoiled me with a suite and in both rooms had the jet tubs. That weekend felt the most like our Honeymoon ;)
Since Venice is mostly all water, we had to park our car inland at the Marco Polo airport and take a bus to the City. From there, we walked (with ALL our luggage) about 1 1/2 miles to our hotel up and down many bridges in Venice. That was a workout! Hot day and we were sweating to death. We were so exhausted by the time we got back to hotel, that we were almost to tired to go out walking again. Maybe that's why the gondola ride was so relaxing!
Oh- while in Naples we also drove down the coast of Amalfi! SO BEAUTIFUL! I loved all the little towns on the coastline built up right against the cliffs and water. The drive was a bit scary though being almost a one way lane, and crazy drivers and mopeds everywhere! The drivers in Naples are insane! They don't obey any traffic laws whatsoever. We only got into one little fender bender, luckily ;)
I learned a few words in Italian- Prego (they use that for everything-from welcome, come in, hello), Chao, Graci, and a few others that I already forgot...
I enjoyed my trip but also missed the boys like crazy! It was hard to Skype them with it being night for us and day for them, and having horrible interent connections. I missed Ridge's first crawl and when we got back, Reed was a talking machine!!! He is a crazy talker now-it's so weird! I also missed Mother's Day- well, I spent it in Italy with my hubby-so I guess it was a great Mother's Day present :) I missed the boys and also missed my brother's (Bryce) phone call from Mexico. Sad...but that's ok. Next time I talk to him it'll be in person! He comes home in December-only seven more months!
Enjoy the pics! There are a ton!
Naples (Napoli) Castle
Last day in Italy-off to the Airport!
Rome-Colosseum
Vatican City-ceilings
These boxers were EVERYWHERE...gross!
Rome
Amalfi Coast
Eating Gelato in the town of Syracuse
I missed these boys soooo much!
Loved this room in Venice-our bed was upstairs in the loft! Our suite was like an apartment!
The drive from Rome to Florence to Venice was beautiful! I loved how it was mostly forest!
No comments:
Post a Comment