The Finals Days

Well I went an entire three weeks blogging in Italy except for the last two nights. The last two nights we did not have internet in our rooms and well, honestly I was a little too tired to even think about blogging anyways.

Potenza.

The end of our trip was wonderful, much like the entire thing. We got up early on Thursday morning to get ready. The owner of the bed and breakfast we were staying in brought us our breakfast to our rooms. Mom and I sat at our little table next to our window that over looked Potenza  and enjoyed our crossiants and coffee cake. Shortly after we made our way into the historical downtown to do some more sight seeing and browsing of the shops. Potenza is where my great grandma's family is from. Since this is my Grandma's mom we let her decide how she would like to spend our time. We took a lot of pictures and people watched most of the morning. The town was so cute and there were many older couples walking the streets. The men were all dressed up in their suits and ties, walking with their hands clasped behind their back; they would stop and chat with one another along their walk. Mom and I did our best to snap shots of them without being ovbious but I am pretty sure we stuck out like three sore thumbs. We stumbled upon an old book store that had a book that contained history of Potenza. My mom bought it and then the owner of the store gifted her with a free cook book. After that we found ourselves in a jewelry shop. The jewelry was beautiful and all original. After much looking and much debate we all three bought a cross to put on a chain. I feel so blessed to have a cross that came from my great grandma's town. I will remember her and this trip every time I wear it. The ladies that owned the shop were so friendly, much like the bookstore owner. After we bought our crosses one of the ladies showed us upstairs. In the rooms upstairs were all their jewelry and original products in glass cases. We viewed them, wishing we could buy everything we saw. Once we made our way back down to the front the lady had three little gift bags for us! Later we found out inside was a bracelet for each of us!! This same lady walked us over to the county building to talk about records and to get more information on Potenza. We were running out of time so we did have time to look through any records but we were able to get some books and pamphlets on Potenza. All in all we enjoyed our short visit to Potenza. I would have liked more time there but that's okay, it just means I might just have to make another visit there one day.

Ceilco (Calabria)

On the road again. The drive from Potenza to the Calabria area was only a few hours. Calabria is a large area. My great grandpa's family was from a small town called Ceilco. We were unable to find a place to stay when planning our trip so we were staying in a town called Cosenza which was about 15 minutes away from Ceilco. While the GPS was an amazing tool that we could have never gotten around without, it also took us on some wild and crazy routes. Our drive to Cosenza was one of them. The owner of our B&B in Potenza told us which way to go on the highway but then the GPS (that we named Gilda by the way) told us to go another way. We felt like we should listen to her since we did not have any other directions to follow after getting on the highway. It ended up being such a beautiful drive. It was out in the country through the hillsides. However, it also meant curvy, high roads and bridges that hung over the mountains (my mom's favorite). It's too bad she was driving because she did get to enjoy the scenery as much as my grandma and I did. It ended up only being about 20 minutes out of our way and in my opinion it was worth it. We arrived in Cosenza and right away missed the country. Cosenza was busy and brought more crazy Italian drivers. I owe my mom for driving because it is not an easy task. There are one ways all over the place, four way intersections without any stop signs and did I mention crazy Italian drivers who LOVE to honk their horn? We were a little skeptical of the area that our hotel was in but once we got settled in we saw that it was not bad. We talked with the man at the front desk about Ceilco. We wanted to find out exactly how far it was and if it was easy to get to. He told us it was not too far and that he lived there! I love the way God works because this man helped us so much! He called his friend, Alfredo who works in city building to have him look up documents on our family for us and then he set up a meeting with him and us for the following morning! Once we got our plans in place for the next day we made our way to the main strip for some shopping (what else could we possibly want or need right? oh, you would be suprised with this trio of women). We mostly browsed and killed time until the Italian dinner time of 7:30pm and then like most nights, we were the first people to be seated in our restaurant. Dinner was fabulous. I had spaghetti pasta with tomato. It has to be the easiest thing to make. I can't wait to try it when I get home. It is just olive oil, garlic, sweet basil and roasted cherry or grape tomatos over a plate of spaghetti. DELICIOUS! Like every meal, I ate the entire thing and enjoyed the house wine with my mama and grandma. It was a perfect evening. 

Our last day in Italy.

We started our day early. We wanted to make sure we had plenty of time in Ceilco before we had to make the 5 1/2 hour trek back to Rome. I will say that I am looking forward to something else for breakfast than pastries, croissants and cappuccino (crazy I know). Once we got into town we met Alfredo. He was such a kind man. He had already pulled all the documents on my family, including the marriage license for my grandma's grandparents! He made copies of it all for us. We met the Mayor and he suggested we go to the streets of my great great grandma and grandpa's old residence. Alfredo took us on a small journey through Ceilco. Trust me, itt is small! It only took us about 15 minutes to see it all but it had character to it. It was of the most special moments of the trip, seeing the streets of my relatives. Their homes are no longer there. They have been torn down and unfortunatly it seemed that most of the original town was not preserved. My great great grandpa lived on a street that now houses some apartments for the residence. The Mayor's mom lives in one of them. We took some photos and met the people that live around the area and then made our way to the street where my great great grandma lived. Her area is now a small narrow alley with buildings (probably homes as well) on either side. It was emotional and a special time to try to imagine them running around as kids on those very streets before they married and moved to the States. Alfredo then took us to his place to see his bed and breakfast (we told him we would have stayed with him if we would have known!) and to see his art. He is an artist and has his art displayed in his B&B. He gave us some resources such as a book on the history of Ceilco and a free copy of his book of art as well. We also purchased a copy of a panoramic photograph take of Ceilco in 1950. My family would have been long gone by then but it was still a nice thing to own for my mom and my grandma. After our trip with Alfredo we did our own exploring because it was still early and we wanted to have lunch in the town before we left. There was a little market selling some clothes and fresh food but other than that not much else to see. We walked by the one and only restaurant a few different times to see if it was open. There was a group of old men sitting outside chatting the entire morning. The one man asked in his broken English if I like to eat! I rubbed my belly and said, "I LOVE TO EAT!" He laughed and said he likes to sleep. They were cute; I was so intrigued at all these older men sitting around or walking around lazily on a Friday morning without a care in the world. Ceilco is much different than the other places we visited AND much different than back home!! We sat in a near by caffe while we waited for lunch. The cafe was run by a young couple. They were so cute! They made us our drinks and gave us a free plate of cookies. We began to talk to them and they said they were getting married next year and that after that they wanted to open a Italian cafe in the States. We told them about our family heritage in Ceilco and found out that they guy had Cardamone's in his family which is my great great grandma's maiden name!!! We were probably related in some way. Maybe he is a distant cousin of my grandma. We exchanged names for facebook and told them to look us up if they ever moved to Colorado! We walked over to the restaurant to have lunch finally (again, the first to get there). I had a delicious pasta with mushroom, olive oil, garlic and fresh sweet basil. I know it was fresh because I watched the chef walk out of the restaurant to the market across the street and come back with the sweet basil! I doubt that happens much in the States. It was a wonderful last home cooked meal and a wonderful time before we headed back to Rome.

Rome.

The drive to Rome was long. It took up about 6 - 6 1/2 to get there and once we did we were all exhausted. Thankfully my mom thought ahead and had booked us at the Hilton airport location. The hotel is connected by a walkway to the airport so it makes it easy to get to. Also, connected is Hertz so dropping off our rental car was easy as well! You can probably guess what we did first in Rome. We took a taxi to the mall!! We wanted to make it back for a day to see the Collesium but it just was not possible with all that we wanted to do so I guess we figured the mall was the next best thing....? Mom and grandma had an item or two they were in search for plus we wanted to walk around after being in the car for so long. We ate dinner late in our hotel. They had a restaurant open until midnight so we enjoyed our last meal and our last wine in Italy late that night before heading up to our room to shower and pack up. 

We did not get to bed until about 2am and our alarms went off this morning at 6am but we all got up and got going. We did not have much choice I guess. Overall, the airport experience was not too bad (thus far-we still have two airports to visit before making our way back to Denver). We arrived a little over two hours before our flight took off with little to no time to spare. We did however have enough time to enjoy one last gelato outside our gate and then it was Arrivederci Roma!

We had a two hour flight to Germany. That airport was a bit crazy. We only had 15 minutes to get to our connecting flight and we had to get our passports stamped. I went into a different line from mom and grandma thinking if mine moved faster they could jump in with me but they both moved at about the same pace. I saw mom getting her passport stamped a couple people before me and so when I finally got mine stamped and crossed over to the terminals I thought she may have already made her way with Grandma to the gate. I looked for them and did not see them so I took off. Once I got to our gate they were loading and my mom and grandma were nowhere to be seen. I began to panic. I thought they must still be waiting for me so I ran back but could not find them anywhere. I made my way back to the gate and started to see if I could have them paged when I felt a hand on my arm. It was them. My poor mom and grandma got up to the counter to have their passports stamped and were told they were in the wrong line! They had to go all the way to the end of another line. I know they must have been freaking out (as was I!). But alas, we were all together again and boarding on time for our 7 1/2 hour flight to Canada. 

This is where I leave you readers. I am on the flight now. We stop in Canada where we have to get our luggage and catch a connecting flight to Chicago and then finally home sweet home-Denver, Colorado.

Until then-Arrivederci! 

The Night We Almost Got Mugged

Tonight might be a short blog. I am wiped out! My body can tell that I have been traveling for almost three weeks now. It has been the trip of a life time and I am so glad that I decided to go, however, I am exhausted! Today we had a driver take us from our hotel into the town of Sorrento. We did a little browsing of the city and then we had lunch. We ate at this cute place with outdoor seating right off of the main strip of shops. There was a man signing and playing his guitar. It was exactly what you imagine when thinking of eating at an outdoor cafe in Italy...except your worst nightmare!! One thing to know about Italy-LOTS OF PIGEONS. They are every where. Sometimes I will be walking down the sidewalk and I will have a face off with one of the nasty birds. They just walk around the towns like they own them! So here we are drinking our water and munching on our bread when I see something out of the corner of my eye. I look down and I see this pigeon walking underneath my legs and my chair!! I about freaked out, which of course freaked my mom out. It walked away and we made a promise not to drop ANY food on the ground, thinking that might keep them away. My mom had a long dress on so she tucked it all in just in case. She did not want one to fly up her dress she said! Our waiter brought us out our food and it did not take two minutes for all these pigeons to comes to our table. There were at least 5 or 6 headed our way. I could not relax. I was constantly getting up from my chair and flapping my napkin at them. I am sure I looked like an idiot because everyone else seemed just fine with the nasty things walking around their feet! I finally had to request that we move inside. I am sure they were thinking-high maintience American! Although when I apologized he said, "Don't worry! Be happy!" So just like that we grabbed our backpacks and all our shopping bags and our waiter grabbed our food and our drinks and we moved inside-much better.

After that adventure we took a taxi back to our hotel to get our car. We really enjoyed our stay at Hotel Mirerva. The staff was over the top wonderful. The parking garage is small and has to be accessed by the bell boy. He had carried all our bags down earlier and now he was walking us down to the garage which by this time was jammed packed! There were cars in the aisle back to back. This man had to back up three cars and a motorcyle onto the very busy street just to back up our car for us. It was like a puzzle but he was so sweet because mom was too nervous to try and back out herself and I don't blame her. The road is busy and the people here drive nuts! It was much better to let a seasoned native drive it out for us. 

The drive to Potenza was beautiful! It was full of rolling hills, large trees, green pastures and small towns. It was very enjoyable and only about 2 hours away. Once we entered town we had a bit of trouble which is normal. It seems that every time we enter a new town we encounter some type of trouble. This time the GPS was taking us to a dead end. We stopped and asked a police man and with the little English he spoke he told us that we could not drive to our Bed and Breakfast and that we would have to walk. We are almost three full weeks into this trip. Our already heavy suitcases have expanded to the max, we have a car full of shopping bags and as of today we have an extra suitcase that we bought to bring our souviners back in! We are FULL FULL FULL and there is NO way we are walking. So we went into a hotel near by and they called the B&B for us and they owner of the B&B came and got us! We thought we were going to have to park our car in town and ride up with him but he was planning on driving our car to the B&B. Remember, I said that our car is full. There is no extra room for a fourth person which meant one thing-Grandma was sitting on my lap to the B&B. Let's just say, it was a good thing I had just used the restroom in that other hotel!! 

Once we got to the B&B the poor man unloaded our car and carried our heavy luggage up the stairs and to our room and then he parked our car for us! What awesome service!! The B&B is cute! It's my first time staying in one. The rooms are decorated so cute and we have two seperate rooms. Although we probably could have shared because my Grandma's is a single with one double bed and my mom and I's is a double with one double bed and a twin size bed which is what we have been staying in most of our trip. But it is kind of nice that we all get our own beds and I have my own little nook with my little bed. 

We ventured into town for the evening to explore Potenza. I am sure this place looks so much different than it did when my Grandma's Grandparents lived here but it is still fun to imagine. We asked a few people tonight if they knew the last names of her grandparents but no one did. Tomorrow we are going to look up the names in the cities' records. Tonight we walked in and out of the shops in the main plaza and then made our way to a place for dinner that some lady recommended to us. It was harder to find than what she said so my Grandma asked these two men that were standing with their friends talking in the main square. They did not speak English and they tried to direct us but we were having a hard time understanding so they offered to walk us there. We began to follow them which seemed alright at first but then we headed down this street away from the main sqaure. I began to get a bit nervous because these were big men and they were speaking a language to each other that I did not understand. I started imagining that we were about to get mugged in this small town in Italy! I started telling mom that I did not think we should follow them any longer as we turned onto another dark street even futher away from the main sqaure. I began to say that we could just go back to the sqaure and find a place to eat but they insisted that it was not too far. They were laughing because I am sure they could tell we were afraid but they were right-it was not too much further and they led us right there. I should not have let my imagination get the best of me I guess. 

We ate dinner made by a cute Italian chef-this guy was younger and did not have a wedding ring on but I was just too tired to flirt with him! I think my dad would have liked him because he said he wanted to open his own restaurant! However, I don't think he would want to open it in Colorado and I know some people that would be a little upset with me if I moved all the way to Potenza, Italy. The men in Italy are just the same as the men in America. They were all sitting around the TV watching soccer just like men watch football in America. We watched with them for awhile and pretended that we knew what was going on. I think we were pretty convincing too. Besides, the young chef most of them spoke only Italian so we did a lot of nodding and smiling with each other. It was a fun night. 

Tomorrow we will be heading to Cosenza which is in the Calabria area. This is where my Great Grandpa's family is from. It is about a 5 hour drive which leaves little time to see the town. Pray for safe travels and a wonderful last couple days in Italy for us please!

ps-I guess tonight's blog was not short after all! Ciao!  

Painting of Potenza at our restaurant.  

The Staff (Grandma asked if she could take their picture!)

The men watching soccer. The young chef moved the gate once he saw that were watching. Really we were watching them not the game. :)

Amazing Ravioli! 

Mom's carbornara-yummy!! 

Saw these in a window and had to laugh-Colorado D. Scholls! :)

All Aboard!

Do we have to leave Sorrento? I've decided that if I ever come back to Italy (and I hope I do) I will come to fewer cities and stay a longer amount of time in each. Sorrento is one I would visit again. Today we got up bright and early and got picked up by a bus to head to the coast where we loaded a boat. The boat took us all along the amalfi coast. It was about a 2 hour boat ride to the town of Amalfi. Along the way we slowed down and the captain would tell us about different things that we were seeing. Once we got to Amalfi we were let off and we had three hours to explore and eat lunch. We went in and out of different ceramic shops but were not too impressed. Amalfi is so crowded and touristy. The prices are high and everything looks the same. We had a gelato right away because it is hot here!! Like I said in my previous blog, this area is known for their lemons. There is this lemon cream cake here that the area is known for that is wonderful. I had that flavor of gelato; I thought I was in heaven. 

After awhile we had lunch and headed back for the boat. We stopped at another little town, Positano. We enjoyed this town more. It was less touristy but by this time we were pretty burnt out on shopping. (crazy I know!) It was hot and out backpacks were heavy. Grandma told us she was going to find a place to sit and enjoy a coffee. Mom and I went into a few more shops and then went to find Grandma. We thought we would see her at a little cafe but instead we found her on a patio enjoying a beer! Of course, Mom and I had to join her for a cocktail. The last few days have been a bit slower but we have enjoyed some nice conversations. We talk about memories, the future and our families back home. Grandma has some of the most vivid memories of when she was a child and she can recall a lot of details about her mom and dad. It has been fun to hear, especially since this trip is mostly for her to see Italy and her heritage. 

The boat ride back to our hotel was so nice and relaxing. I love the water so much. I always envisioned life by the water to be more relaxing. We saw so many people out on boats today and laying out on the beaches and at the pools. We saw this father and son on the ledge of the rocks fishing and all these little bay towns with small bars and fish shops. I have always thought I could live a coastal life. Once we returned to the hotel (after a crazy bus ride back I might add!!) we freshened up and headed to dinner. We decided to eat at our hotel again. The food was delicious last night and it is nice to not have to go anywhere. We enjoyed the same bottle of wine and mom and I had a shrimp pasta which was fantastic. Grandma was a bit more brave and ordered the linguini with seafood bake. It came out all wrapped up in air tight serain wrap. The waiter had to open it up for her and after he did he said, "now would you like me to feed you as well?" Grandma giggled and he winked; as he walked away she said, "now, he is a cutie pie." She loves these Italian men! After opening the sea food bake she was presented with a full plate of oysters and shrimp. She did not look too pleased but once she tried it she was well on her way to finishing it. I had a few as well and mom even tried one. They were pretty good!! I felt like I had to at least have a few of the oysters so that when my dad asked if I had seafood I could say that I had something besides shrimp. We thought about having a kahula and cream out on the terrace after dinner but these ladies were wiped out!! We headed back to the room and laid down for a bit before getting ready for bed. I thought it had to be at least 10....nope, 8:30pm! We are three wild ladies let me tell you! A day in the sun wiped us all out. 

Tomorrow we are going to go into Sorrento to see if we can ship some things home and look for a suitcase to get the rest of our things home and then on the road again. Next stop-Potenza. Potenza is where my great grandma's family is from. This is what the trip was all about for my grandma. I am hoping that it meets her expectations. Potenza also marks the end of our trip. We only have two more cities to visit. I am not sure I am ready for it to end yet. I miss home but I am enjoying this so much. I am just so thankful that I have had this oppurtunity. 

Living the Coastal Life

Today was another day full of driving. It was faily uneventful. We did hear that the number one song in Italy right now is Katy Perry's Roar which is not suprising since that is one of the more common songs we hear when flipping through the radio stations listening for English speaking songs. I did finally get my McDonalds. I am a little embarresed to say that I ate McDonalds in Italy but it was SO good. I have really enjoyed the homecooked pasta here in Italy but after awhile you do crave something different and I would never dream of eating McDonalds while in the city but on the road your choices are limited. It is not like in the States; there are not all these fast food places and gas stations to stop at. You see a gas station and an AutoGrill every so often and I don't know about you but the autogrill does not sound too appealing to me. I voted for McDonalds! My cheeseburger, fries and small vanilla cone was delicious! 

Once we drove through the crazy and run down Napels we arrived in Sorrento. Again, I am in love. Our hotel is right off the coast and it is beautiful. There is no beach but the water comes right to the land and there are docks with boats all along the coast. It reminds me of something straight out of a book. The water is so calm and I enjoyed watching the cruise ships as the sun was setting on the terrace this evening. We were pretty excited because we saw a sign that said there was a jacuzzi tub! We have wanted to hot tub this entire trip and after a day in the car we were all stiff and ready for some relaxation. We went up to the roof top thinking it would be near the pool but we could not find it so we went to the front desk to ask. The front desk is on the 5th floor which is the same floor as the large deck. There is a small looking pool that circles around the elevator on the deck and he said that is the jacuzzi. However, we had felt that water earlier and it was ice cold! He said- "we are not like in the stats, the water is not hot." Well, there goes our dream of hot tubbing!

We freshened up and had dinner at the restaurant here in our hotel. It was nice not to have to get back into the car and go some place or even have to walk some place. We all had the same dish which is the first time we have done that this trip but it sounded so good to all of us-linguini with lobster and a bottle of wine. Oh my goodness! One of the best dinners yet! Then we all shared a lemon cream cake which, again was amazing! I had read that Sorrento is known for their lemons. I will have to pay attention to that tomorrow.

From the rooftop pool.

Tomorrow we are going to take a ship down the Amalfi Coast. It will drop us off in the city for a few hours and then we will get back on and ride slowly along the coast, stopping in one other town for about an hour and a half. It is an all day thing but the first time we have done any kind of tour so that will be fun. 

We Skyped with dad again tonight. I have enjoyed doing that. He was at work. I told him that Grandma said that he must get tired of mom and I talking to him forever about nothing but he said he could talk to us all day about nothing. I think he must miss us!! ;) 

Tonight I sit here in bed with the terrace doors open overlooking the coast feeling incredibly blessed.

View from our room. 

Chocolate Chocolate Chocoalte!

Today was a nice day. Although none of us slept that great. While this is a nice hotel, the beds are hard! My mom and I are sharing a double bed and my grandma has her own twin bed. The pillows are thin and hard and the hotel does not have air conditioning. The hotels turn their air off in September so we have to keep our window open but there are people out late partying outside our hotel. We are kind of lame. We eat dinner late and it feels like we are out late but we are usually back to our room by 9 or 10 and we are all ready for bed! We did a ton of walking today so we are hoping for a better nights sleep tonight.

My grandma was still not feeling well today so she stayed back for the first half of the day and rested. Mom and I went into town for the Eurochocolate festival. This festival is huge! There were so many people there. It was kind of hard to walk through. You are just part of a sea of people and you have to move as they move. We stopped at a booth here and there and bought some chocolate to try and then we found a booth that was selling chocolate bars for 1 Euro so we bought 20! We bought 10 for us to take home for dad and Zach and 10 for Grandma to take home to the grandkids. The chocolate was good. Our favorite was probably these small balls that looked like malt balls. They were different colors and flavors. They had a hard candy coating and inside was a liquid (different liquid depending on the flavor). We had cherry liquor, orange liquor, rum and brandy. They were strong but so good!! We liked them so much we decided to go back and get some for dad and Zach to bring home. Which presents our problem-how do we get all these things back to the States? We have hand bags, totes, boots, jackets, chocolates, liquor, aprons....the list goes on and on. (and we still have a week left!!)

I enjoyed spending the day with mom. After the festival we came back to the hotel and got grandma. We hung out for awhile and then decided we were all hungry. We thought we would eat an early dinner and then just relax tonight in the hotel. We walked to this place that the hotel recommended around 4pm but they did not open until 7pm. There was no place to go because everything shuts down here in Italy after lunch. We ended up walking back to the festival so grandma could see it and so that we could kill some time until 7. Once dinner time rolled around we were so hungry and thank goodness because I had the best dinner of my life! The place was family owned and the chef was a young cute Italian man. My dad told me to find a young Italian chef but this one was married-darn! He came out and told us the menu in English and we ordered. I had ravioli stuffed with cheese and mushroom covered in olive oil. Oh my gosh-it was amazing. I could have had another plate but we split some apple pie instead. 

We decided to call it a night after that. We skyped dad and zach (and bella and tiger). I will be sad to leave Italy but happy to see them! Tomorrow we have a five hour drive to Sorrento. I am not looking forward to the drive but I am excited to see Sorrento and the Amafi Coast. I hear it is beautiful! 

The views here in Perugia are amazing!

Chocolate carving of a rose.

Beautiful views!

Grandma and I with the chocolate people.

Eurochocolate Festival

Grandma and I

Skyping with Dad-I miss this man!

Pretty girl!!

Kitty!!!

We Like To Get High

Today was an uneventful day of travel. Driving through Italy is kind of boring. Our car does not have a place to plug in an ipod so we are constantly surfing the stations. The stations play American music but all the DJs and commercials speak Italian so it takes being lucky to catch a song...and to catch a decent song. We often hear the same ones over and over. Some of the songs we have heard while roadtripping- Katy Perry "Eye of the Tiger", Beyone "If I were a Boy", Adele "Rolling in the Deep" and Robin Thicke "Blurred Lines". The songs get a bit old afer awhile. However, it was a beautiful drive-the most beautiful one yet. We had about a four hour drive from Venice to Perugia. We were sad to say goodbye to Venice but excited for the next part of our trip. 

We are in the final week. We fly home a week from today! Part of me is sad to say goodbye to Italy but the other part of me is excited to be home. I could do without the going back to work and class part though. 

Anyways, the drive....amazing. The leaves have begun to change here in Italy and we were driving on this small two lane highway (my mom did not like that part as much) surrounded with rolling hills that had every inch covered in lush green, red and yellow trees. Sometimes this part of Italy reminds me of Hawaii-seeing the green covered hills but then other times I get a small glimpse of Missouri. Of course there are times like today that I think I have never seen anything like it. All the buildings and homes were made of this beautiful grey stone and surronded by trees and farm land. It made the drive worth it. 

Once we got closer to town we began making the trip up, up and up! It seems like we have picked all these places to stay that are way up on curvy roads. It always makes the views spectacular though. When we were arriving into town it was already getting to be close to dinner time so we just made our way to our hotel so we could grab some dinner. Getting to a new place is always an adventure. Parking all over this country seems to be a mess and this hotel's parking did not prove to be any different. We squeezed past rows of cars and into the parking garage which was like a small maze. We found one spot at the very end which we are actually not sure is a legal spot but we decided for us it was! What is the hotel going to do anyways? Tell us to move? Okay! At least we are not on the street getting a ticket. It was that our sleep in our car I am pretty sure. My mom could not take driving through the small garage any longer! 

Our night was low key. We walking down the street to a pizza place and then came back to our hotel. My Grandma is not feeling well tonight so she came back to the room while my mom and I explored the hotel a bit. We went all the way up to the rooftop. There is a beautiful terrace and a swimming pool which is obviously closed for the season but the view is marvelous!! You can see over Perugia and Assisi. I can't wait to see it during the day. We are only here for one day and two nights but we are also only here for one thing-The Eurochocolate Festival. Apparently it is a big deal. It goes on for ten days and this area is known for its chocolate. I am a fan of chocolate so I can't wait to see what tomorrow holds!

A Perfect Day

The evening was perfect-not too cold and not too hot. The air felt light with little to no humidity. The waters were still and full of couples enjoying precious moments together. As we relaxed from a day full of walking our gondole guide sang to us some Italian songs and guided us down a lonely narrow canal. In those moments it felt like we were the only people in Venice. The sun was beginning to set and as we turned onto the Grand Canal the colors were breath taking. Absolutely one of my favorite parts of Italy thus far was riding in a gondole. Can you imagine living in a city like this? Above us were apartments and home. Women doing dishes and hanging their laundry with their windows open listening to the people in their gondoles and boats down below. 

We started our day early. After eating breakfast at the hotel we began exploring the streets of Venice. We were on foot all day because today the water taxis were on strike. It did not cramp our style though! On foot was fine; it allowed us to go into all the shops!! We went to the market first and browsed and then in and out of all the glass shops. Venice is known for it's glass! It is beautiful but pretty expensive so you have to really search for the best deals. After some major shopping we decided to head back to the hotel to drop off our bags so we could go to lunch. (I don't know how we are going to get everything back to Colorado!) This hotel we are in is so nice! They did some of our laundry for us and had it waiting on our bed when we returned in the afternoon and then when we came back this evening they had turned our bed and drapes down and left us a candy on our pillow. Last night my mom had a hard time sleeping because she said the pillows were too hard. She stopped by the front desk just to check if they had any softer pillows and the lady pulls out a list of five different pillows they have to choose from. We have decided that we really enjoy luxury!

Lunch was delicious! Grandma kept going on and on about how it was her favorite meal. We had a calzone with cheese and mushroom and this time we decided to skip the wine and just drink water-shocking I know! Most of our day was spent sight seeing and taking pictures. As we walked towards St. Marco's Square we heard this Italian music that carried over all the people. You often see people playing instruments outside along the streets and outside the cafes but this was different. I followed the melody up the building only to see this cute old man sitting out side his window with an old radio. He was just playing music and people watching. What a lazy city Venice must be. We did a little more shopping and then we took a ride in the gondole. It may not seem as eventful but it was probably one of the best days yet. I have really enjoyed Venice. It is such a beautiful city. I love the water and the old buildings. It just has so much character and there are people in love all over this city. I will be sad to say goodbye to Venice but this is a city I will be visiting again!

Tomorrow we head to Perugia. The drive is about 3 hours and 45 minutes. Please pray for safe travels for us!

St. Marco's Square 

The Grand Canal

Gondole Ride 

Here's To More Cutie Pies

I may have found my new favorite place in Italy-Venice. This place is magnificent. But first-our day...

We left Cinque De Terre pretty early-GOOD RIDDENS! We loved the area and we loved our village. The scenery was beautiful and I adored the beach. However, our experience there was not as pleasurable as some others so we were ready to go some place new. Everytime we get into the car it is a new adventure that usually brings new stressors. Usually entering and exiting towns is stressful, especially for the driver. We took a left out of our hotel which should have been a right. However, we did not realize this until after driving through the narrow streets with markets all set up. My mom was driving through moving the lace table runners that were hanging from the individual tents with her car. People were giving her weird looks but it was not until we got to the end of the road that led to a walking trail up the mountain that we really knew we had gone the wrong way. These towns are not well marked and the signs are different than in America so it can be frustrating at times and it often feels like a guessing game. Well today, we guessed wrong. Once we got on our way we had to make our way back up and down the mountain on the small, curvy roads. It really is amazing how high we get on those roads and everything that you can see. At one point I could see the coast and I could see into two or three of the five villages. Of course I had to keep my mouth shut. My mom is afraid of heights so if she would have dared look over the edge we may have gone all the way down to the beach and probably not in one piece. Once you get on the highway the drive is fairly painless. This drive was beautiful. We saw many vineyards that had begun turning colors for the season and lots of flat, open fields. It was about a four hour drive to Venice. We did not stop for lunch but let me tell you I have never wanted a McDonalds so bad. They are everywhere but when you are in the towns it is not appealing. You want the fresh homeade pasta and pizza but on the road-I was craving a cheeseburger and fries from the Euro menu. We stopped for gas and we got some chips and a coke. Sometimes a girl has to take a break from the wine and drink a coke! Don't worry-Venice brings more wine....

Venice.

Once we arrived we had to park our car in one of the large garages and then take a shuttle bus. Then we had to get on a water bus to ride to our hotel. The water is so beautiful. The town is just spectacular. I love seeing all the boats and the beautiful buildings right off the water. The sun was beginning to set which made it all the more beautiful and romantic. Once we got on land we had to walk about five minutes to our hotel. It was not that bad. However, you have to remember we are all lugging 50 pounds of luggage. My grandma's luggage is the heaviest and she has a hard time dragging it behind her-especially when we come into contact with stairs and hills. Mama Mia! Take people seriously when they say to pack light unelss you can afford to pay someone to carry it for you! Once we got to our hotel they were so kind! They took our luggage up to our room for us and showed us a map of the city. Staying in a nice hotel makes a difference. These are long days and it is nice to come back to a comfortable room. We freshened up and went to dinner. I don't know if it was the romantic feel of Venice or the wine but my grandma was in a flirty mood. She is always commenting on the men here in Italy-noticing their eyes and there smiles but tonight she LOVED our waiter. He kept winking at her and she kept calling him Cutie Pie. She was all smiles and when we toasted she even toasted to a trip with more Cutie Pies! :) I had a wonderful spagetti dish with shrimp and some house wine. We enjoyed our time talking over our meal and then walked along the street for awhile before heading back to our hotel.

Today I was feeling a bit tired and ready to go home but after getting to Venice I think I can handle another week and a half just fine.

From our water bus.

On the water bus.

Favorite Things of Cinque De Terre

1) LOVED the beach

2) Pedro the City Kitty

3) Our time walking through Monterossa talking to the locals and chatting with other America tourists

Random Thoughts:

1) Taxi's sometimes will charge you extra to load and unload luggage (One taxi in Florence charged us an extra 5 Euros!)

2) You don't have to tip when you go out to eat but you usually get charged a service fee (usually only 1 Euro a person)

3) Breakfast is full of pastries - I don't understand how there are so many skinny people in Italy.

4) Water in not free at meals. Bread is usally not free.

5) You don't see many "take aways" (coffe to go, pizza to go...) 

Today is the Day

Today was a better day in Cinque De Terre. The three women put aside there emotions and explored the villages together. We never made it to all five but that is okay. They are all beautiful and unique in their own way but I enjoy ours the most. Montorosso (our village) is closest to the sea and has the most beach to explore. I am so in love with the water. It just makes me feel at peace. We made our way to a couple of the villages and took pictures. We decided to sit down and enjoy some wine in one of the villages. My grandma kept saying how thirsty she was so we decided wine was the best way to cure it. I ordered the sweet wine that Cinque De Terre is know for and my mom asked for something fruity like grape. While the locals speak really good English you have to remember they really only know the common phrases well. They still struggle with some words and phrases. But as soon as our waiter heard grape he pointed to something on the menu called "Grappa". He said-"You want to try Grappa?" and my mom replied-"Si" and my grandma followed. A few minutes later our waiter comes with one glass of wine and two little shot glasses with clear liquid in it. All it took was one smell of this liquid to get drunk. This was no fruity wine. This was pure, hard alcohol. My mom took the first sip and her face said it all. My grandma took a tiny little sip....I thought she was going to pass out. This little shot glass broke any tension left between us three. We were all laughing so hard that they ordered grappa. The couple next to us filled us in that while it is made of grapes it is very "alcoholic." Needless to say my grandma did not quench her thirst.

Once we got back to our village we went in search for pizza. We found this cute little pizzeria that was just a little hole in the wall. The man that owned it made awesome pizza and sang at the top of his lungs while making it. We enjoyed the pizza with some wine of course. We have noticed that in these villages there are more stray cats and dogs running around. This cat came to our pizzaria while we were there. He must have been a stray but he was well fed. His name was Pedro and he was there for some broschito. The owner kept telling him to sit outside and wait and he would bring him some broschito. Mom and I love cats so we kept trying to pet him. We were calling him City Kitty-dad would understand that. As soon as he got his ham he went off to the next little place for some more food. 

We wandered to the next place for some dessert and some cappiciouno (much like the cat)-I might be a little over weight when I return. I had one of the best cholocate croissants I have ever had! This is where we met Niccola. He is 22 and just finished his Bachelors in Biology. He wants to be a doctor. He was sweet and kind of weird. He reminded me of my friend, Lance McWilson. The Italian version! After we enjoyed our dessert we walked back to our room. We decided to take a detour and walk in the water. Well I walked in the water and mom and grandma walked further up because they had tennis shoes on. I love the water. I stood there and as soon as the water hit my feet my eyes filled with tears. Something about the water washing over me made me feel alive and made me feel like myself. I was immediately brought back to a memory of Hawaii. Cinque De Terre has reminded me a lot of Hawaii. My first night in Hawaii my dear friend, Sarah and I stood on the beach at night and we talked. I told her I was going to Italy after I graduated with my Masters and she told me she would try to come visit because she was hoping to be stationed near Italy by then. (She is in England but was too busy to leave work and come visit) We talked more about what our life would look like in three years. In some ways I think is looks the way we thought and in others so different. I think we thought we would have more yet in other ways we do. It is interesting the way God takes your life. It is better that way though because we would always take it in a way that was wrong. He knows best. I wonder what my life will look like three years from now. How has your life changed over the past three years? Are there things you wanted to accomplish that you put off? It is not too late. Today is the best day. There will always be a reason to wait. I often think about that with Italy. There would have always been a reason to not go to Italy. With some things in life you just have to go and you just have to do or you never will.

MMMMMM Grappa!

Waiting for the train to go back to our village.

Niccola and I :)

Unexplainable Love

As I looked over the sea today I just became amazed and in such awe of God's love for His people. I have looked over large bodies of water many times before and each time I am reminded of how big God is but today was different for me. When I gazed across the sea today it was like the color of the water and the color of the sky blended together so well that it looked like one large mass of blue. I always feel so small, so insignificant and so undeserving of God's love yet He graciously extends it to me everyday. Sometimes I can feel big in this world. I have feel important and sometimes this is not good. I become too self seeking and I think inwardly rather than outwardly. How is it that a sinner like me can partake in this bountiful love? Some things cannot be explained. But when I look over the sea I am reminded of my place in this world. I am reminded of where I stand. I have a God much bigger than me and for that I am thankful. 

Cinque De Terre is beautiful. We have traveled Italy for 1 1/2 weeks now. As to be expected the three women have come to a point in the trip where we have needed our space. I love these two women more than words can express but too much time together can be hard. Today was one of those days. I  knew it would happen and I am thankful for the peaceful and slow pace of this town to keep us calm. I would not want to travel this country with anyone else. As I see couples, families and friends traveling together I am so grateful that I am traveling with my mom and grandma. Three generations-seeing our heritage and living our dream together. What makes it even more special is to know that the same love I experience from the Lord they experience as well. God is good.

You may not have a sea to gaze at today to ponder over your life and God's great plan for you but wherever you are-stop and take a look around. When we don't look sometimes we miss His grace, His love and His beauty but when we stop and intentionally look around we are sure to see it all.  

Italian Fibra

It is common for travelers to have a little difficultly when it comes to using the restroom. I believe that this is even more true for travelers to Italy who are eating cheese, pasta and pastries on the daily-not to mention little water and lots of wine. Trust me-it is a problem. We just finished day 8 of our trip and today we made a visit to the pharmacy. Unfortunatly, this is not our first trip. We have made trips there multiple times for advil, cold meds and cough drops. Just look for the green neon cross. If the light is on they are open; if the light is off they are closed. Tonight we purchased Fibra. She said "oh the stuff you put in your water?" SI SENORA! Once we got back to our apartment my mom boiled some water and made us all a cup. She handed it to me and I expected a clear cup of hot water because in America it is just a tasteless powder that disolves in water but instead it was bright pink and it was THICK! And the longer it sat and cooled the thicker it got. It was like a blob of pink snot. Sorry for the graphics but if you could have seen us trying to down this pink fibra you would understand. My mom downed the entire thing. I made it with about an eighth left in my cup before I had to dump it and I think my grandma drank about half. Hopefully that is my last encounter with Italian Fibra.

About eight hours before the fibra we were standing outside the Leaning Tower of Pisa! Pisa is this tiny little town. There is hardly anything there to see except this huge leaning tower and a Cathedral and Baptistry next door. Again, the buildings were amazing. The detail was gorgeous. It is so hard to even explain what we are seeing because it is nothing like you see in America. Of course everyone is taking pictures like they are holding up the leaning tower so we had to do the same. My grandma had a hard time with this concept but after a couple shots or ten we finally got one that is worthy of show. Afterwards we felt like we should at least pay a visit to a local cafe. It was raining and cold so we got some local hot chocolate and a pastry. The hot chocolate was divine. It was almost like drinking straight melted milk chocolate. It was so rich. I could not even finish my entire cup. 

Then we headed to Cinque De Terre. If you have never seen a picture of this place google it right now. It is beautiful. We have been so excited to come here and see the five villages and the coast. You can walk between the five villages or you can take a boat ride or a train ride. But the drive there is a little dangerous. It is a windy road and you travel up the mountain and then down the mountain and then up the mountain and then finally back down the mountain. My mom is afraid of heights and I know how nervous she can get driving in the mountains in Colorado so I know she was nervous today but she did AWESOME! She kept so calm. It took us awhile but we finally arrived. We are not right off the coast and we do not have a sea side view but the area is still beautiful. We are staying in another apartment here. The place is small. You walk in and there is the bathroom and then you walk to your left and there is a kitchen and back a ways is the living room with the pull out bed. Then there is this tiny little staircase that takes you upstairs to the loft bedroom. There is a little terrace off of the upstairs room and a little patio off of the living room. It is really cute. It will be nice if it stops raining. We are here for two days and are hoping to do a wine tour and to see all five villages. I keep thinking that my dad would like it here because they have lots of fish and seafood (in pasta of course!). 

It has been one week since we have been in Italy. So far the trip has been crazy and fun! I have a feeling the next couple days will be nice and relaxing-kind of like it was in Lucca. We are all still enjoying the food. Although my mom said she was craving chips and salsa today and my grandma is craving meat. As for me? I am still satisfied. I mean we have pasta, bread, wine and gelato. And now we have the beach. What more could you ask for?  

Wine, Food and Shopping!

I have come to love this little town, Lucca. The people here are so friendly. Well some of them-one couple owes a gelato shop and they were going to charge us an extra Euro to sit outside there shop and eat. We said oh no we will just walk. They were not too happy with that. Otherwise, everyone is just so happy and laid back here. There are a lot of older Italian couples here. It is fun to just people watch. Yesterday that is what we did with a majority of our day. We slept in which was so nice. I don't know if it is the town of Lucca, all the traveling our all the wine but I was SO tired yeterday. I could not wake up to save my life! We got up and went and ate some breakfast. Of course, by the time I got out of bed it was closer to lunch. It was a Sunday so most of the older people were all dressed up and now they were enjoying lunch at all the different little places and they were all drinking! Wine, cocktails, hard liquors. We really want to do our best to experience Italy at its best so we followed their lead. Actually Grandma followed their lead and then mom and I thought-well, why not?! Grandma ordered a coffee with liquor and mom and I both got an Alexander. I can't remember what was in it but it was delicous. It was a cocktail with brandy and some other coffe flavored liquor and cream-SO GOOD. Then I had the best ravioli of my life! Homeade ravioli stuffed with the richest, creamiest ricotta cheese I have ever had a spinach and coated in olive oil. Oh my word! Heavenly. 

Side note-Italians don't eat the same kind of breakfast Americans do and there are no breakfast places like in America-just cafes. Some of them advertise "AMERICAN BREAKFAST" and they try to imitate our eggs and bacon or our omelets. It is not always a good idea to eat at these places-just ask my Grandma. In Florence (When we met Fabio) she ordered eggs and bacon and her bacon was practically raw on her plate. She refused to touch it. I think it is funny that they don't eat that here. I don't know how they are all so skinny. All they eat are carbs!  

It was a Sunday so our plan to do a wine tour was down the drain because apparenctly you can't tour the vineyards on the holy day but you can drink from it! We just spent the day walking around and going in and out of the little shops (the ones that were open at least). It was nice to not have an agenda and to just spend time with the locals. We (well Grandma and I) took a little nap around 3 and then we all went back out and enjoyed the town some more. We visited our favorite cafe across the street from our apartment and had some coffee and hot tea. I have had a sore throat the past few days so the hot drinks and the cold gelato feel wonderful to me. (I think I have given whatever I have to my mom as of last time by the way.) Mom and Grandma bought some olive oil because Lucca is known for their olive oil and I bought some leather boots because-well this area in known for leather and I am known for shopping! Not sure how I am going to get them home yet....

We enjoyed dinner at this place outside on the street. We split two different pastas. Both a flat noodle-one with crab sauce and the other with red tomato and basil sauce and of course a bottle of wine. We walked back and dug in to our connolis that we had purchased from the cafe across the street. They were so good. I watched the owner making them earlier that day. It makes them taste even better knowing they were hand made I think. It is such a delicate process and I think it is so cool that he makes them all one by one for his customers. Today we are going to drive through Pisa to see the Leaning Tower and then off to Cinque De Terre! 

Favorite things about Florence and Lucca:

1) AMAZING churches and detailedarchitecture

2) The shopping has been really good

3) Friendly people

4) Seeing the David statue in Florence

5) The cute family owned caffe in Lucca 

Only In Italy Once!!

Everyday in Italy is an adventure. You have to remember that we are three women with no experience of travel, especially international travel. This is our first time doing this and with each day we learn something new. Today's adventure started with getting around Florence. We walked the town so that my mom could get a leather purse. Of course I had to get one as well then. Florence is known for it's leather!! As we walked we also made our way to a small sandwich place and a gelato shop that was recommended to us by my good friend, Sarah Terry. I had the best gelato of my life today. First I had carmel and cheesecake which was good but then I decided I just HAD to go back and get the strawberry mousse because it looked so creamy and light. I mean, you are only in Italy once right? OH MY GOSH. PERFECTO! It was absolutely amazing! The lightest, creamiest gelato I have ever had!! 

The days go by so quickly here. We walk around and are so amazed by everything that we see and before you know it the time has passed us by! We took a taxi back to the hotel so that we could get our rental car. (I am getting really good at flagging down taxis by the way!) Once we got our car we took the adventure to Lucca, which is in the Tuscany region. My mom was so nervous but she did such a great job driving in Italy for the first time. The drivers here are NUTS! There are no lanes, hardly any traffic lights and they just drive wherever they want. There are a lot of people driving scooters and motorcycles and they drive in between cars in traffic and on the side of cars in your lane. It is crazy! I know my mom was afraid but she did a good job at staying calm. The drive to Lucca was beautiful. This is wine country. The vineyards and the old homes are so cute! The sun was setting which made it all the more fabulous. My grandma kept falling asleep. I told her she needed to look around and she assured me she was just closing her eyes because the sun was so bright. Not sure your head bobs around when you are just closing your eyes. ;) 

We were so excited to go to Lucca because we had heard it was a really small town. Little did we know-it is a town within a town. Picture a large circle with a smaller circle inside of it-sort of like a donut. The small circle is the small, cute town. This has small, narrow streets and cute little shops and places to eat. It has beautiful churches and hotels. This is where our hotel is. When we entered the small town it was hard to drive and it made my mom really nervous. The streets were narrow and there were people EVERYWHERE! We had to pull over and ask for help. This is when we found out that only residents can park and drive in this area and everyone else had to park outside and walk in. He drove his car and we followed him out of the town and we parked our car and walked in. We thought we would find out hotel and then drag our luggage in from the car. Well once we got to our hotel we realized that we had to climb multiple flights of stairs. Readers-our luggage is not light!! Lesson learned-pack LIGHT-LIGHTER THAN YOU WOULD EVER THINK TO PACK! Also, we learned that our hotel was actually an apartment style room. The lady that owns them met us and she helped us get our luggage up to our room. However, to do this mom and I had to walk back to our car (large circle) drive back in town (small circle)-which was a nightmare! It is easy to get lost. The street signs are not like they are in America. They are high up on the sides of the building at each corner and they are made of concrete. The letters are carved in and they are difficult to read. So needless to say we got lost a time our two before we made our way back to our apartment. They the woman helped us get our luggage and we had to drive our car back out of town. Then we proceeded to drive around for about an hour before we found a parking spot. The parking here is crazy. People were in their cars just sitting next to parked cars waiting and waiting for someone to come and leave. Once we got a parking spot the night was smoother.

 We have this cute family owned cafe across the street with lattes and pastries. They owner and his son are so nice and were very helpful to us so we went to their place and bought some Italian pasteries to eat later and then walked down to a little place to eat. We share some pasta and wine. There were some Americans sitting close by and so I was trying to listen to see where they were from when I heard them say something about a place called Gunther Tooties (we have this in Colorado). We turned around and said- where are you from?? And they replied-Denver! NO WAY!!! SMALL WORLD!!! This started a loud and fun conversation between us all. We talked about our trips in Italy and all the places we had been and are going. We exchanged lots of tips which was nice to do. Then we talked about Colorado and the Broncos of course. It was so nice and refreshing to chat. We decided after sitting there awhile to get some gelato-why not? You are only in Italy once right? We shared gelato and talked some more when we decided to get one last dessert...vanilla gelato covered in whiskey. It was like a whiskey float. I mean why not? You are only in Italy once right? ;) Oh my goodness-it was strong but so delicous! My mom and I finished this while my grandmas enjoyed a latte. What a nice relaxing way to end our semi crazy day. It is now 12:30 am. Mama Mia! I need sleep. Tomorrow we head to a wine tour and a day enjoying the small circle of Lucca. 

I AM IN LOVE

Just a short blog tonight. I am so happy to know that people are reading which is why I am going to blog tonight despite my exhaustion. I hope that you are getting just a small glimpse into our time here in Italy. Nothing I say can fully describe this amazing country.

I am in love with Florence. What a wonderful experience Florence has been. Today we got up early and we went to see the famous statue of David done by Michelangelo. It was so fascinating. It was so wonderful to sit and view the sculpture and listen to the stories of David from the Bible. I enjoy the Christian history most from Italy. I prefer Florence over Rome. It is smaller and slower paced and the people have a charm about them. They are friendly and helpful to the tourists and the buildings are so majestic. I could not stop taking photos of the detailed buildings. I could have just spent the day walking around and exploring the streets. We had breakfast at a nice small cafe. This is where we met Fabio. We have enjoyed talking to the younger Italian waiters. They have been so friendly and charming. We spent the rest of our day window shopping and then wandering the market. Florence is famous for their leather. We went from leather shop to leather shop trying to make deals with the people on different leather items. After much debate and a cappiciouno later (paid for by the shop owner) my Grandma and I walked away with two leather jackets! Success! We were supposed to rent a car in Florence and head to Lucca in the Tuscany region today but we were having too much fun in Florence so we changed our Lucca reservations and we booked another night in Florence! After enjoying a wonderful dinner of tortellini filled with cheese and pear and a mint chocolate gelato I am now in bed exhausted and excited for one more day in Florence. 

Fabio! 

The magnificent David. 

Florence (not even doing this street justice). Pictures to come on facebook after our return home.

Grandma's cappiciouno that the leather guys bought for her.