Pisa, Florence, and SanGimignano

From Lake Maggiore we stop in Pisa to see the Leaning Tower and Baptismal. What a POS city! The only thing that is there and that it is known for is an engineering failure!!! Haha, would it be as famous if it wasn’t falling? Probably not! Again we had to watch ourselves with all the beggars and gypsies everywhere! We had lunch in a little pizza place and waited around for the bus…really not a lot to see in the shanty town! On to Florence!!!

We get to our hotel in Florence and it’s so cute, it has a nice quad thing going on! We head to the streets as group for some Tuscan cuisine, yum! And it was SO good! Then it’s back to the hotel for some sleep. The next day our schedule is packed! We see the Cathedral, Signoria Square and a visit to Santa Croce Basilica. Later, we enjoyed a panoramic view from Piazzale Michelangelo and then we had some free time. We went into a high quality leather making shop where Ashley bought an authentic, leather, Italian purse! While in Florence we also saw the Statue of David! And I have to say, what a marvelous piece of work! We skipped most of the museum tour to just stare at him, how could you not? The amount of detail and size, spectacular! I felt like I could run my fingers through his hair; that’s how real it looked! Florence was also the place where we decided had the best pizza in Italy! It was a restaurant right behind the leather shop. We just had something normal, cheese and pepperoni or something but it was SO good! Maybe it was the crust and all the ingredients were natural! YUMMY!!! On our last night in Florence Federica took us to this restaurant where the owner would inter act with you. If you ordered something that wasn’t his favorite he would scoff at you, same if you ordered meat well done (that’s not how they do it in Itaila!). He would also make “looks” at the ladies when they danced or if their clothes were a little too revealing :P

in San Gimiganano

While in Tuscany we also take a day trip to a town called San Gimignano (jimmy-yan-oh) and what a cute little town it is! As we walk around Ashley sees a sign for a Torture Museum and says, “I’ve seen enough churches! Let’s go to the Torture Museum!” I laughed and went in. Talk about some sick mother effers back in the day! Glad I didn’t live back then! This town also has the Gelato parlor that was voted best Gelato in Italy…but is was closed for family vacation and renovation, it was December after all. 

Florence in the background

Verona, Milan, Lake Maggiore, and Lugano, Switzerland

Verona kind of holds a special place in my heart. We went there and saw the sights (if you have seen Letters to Juliet then you will know what I am talking about). We saw Roman arena, Juliet’s balcony and the Statue of Juliet. And the story goes that if you touch her left breast you should wish for love and if you touch her right you should wish for money. So naturally, since Ashley has Hutch and I had nobody, I touched the left and wished for love (she touched the right for money). And what can I say…less than a year after that I found the love of my life :) Maybe if you are looking for love you need a trip to Verona! Then we made our way to the Fashion Capital, Milan! Although, I think we can both say we were kind of disappointed with it. We didn't have enough money to buy all the designer things we say so we just walked around and tried to avoid getting harassed by a gypsy or two. I did of course buy a pair of shoes there…I had to! After we preoccupied ourselves with our own humor we got back on the bus and headed to our hotel at Lake Maggiore. I have to say I think I liked this hotel the most! Plus, it was snowing!!! So being the typical Texas we are we had some fun in the snow and made a little snow man and snow angle.

{Me and Ash with the Juliet statue}

 {Verona, Colosseum in the background}

{no swimming here! We saw SNOW!!!}

The next day we had an excursion to Lake Como and Lugano. Lake Como is where part Ocean’s 12 was filmed and where George Clooney has a house…well a lot of famous people have homes. And we walked around the town a bit. The we headed up to the Italian speaking area of Switzerland, it was a Sunday so most of the shops were closed :( boo, would have been so nice to shop there (better exchange rate too!). So we just walked around the lake and bought some little souvenirs and we were headed back to the hotel.

{Lake Como}

{Lugano, Switzerland}

Buon Natale: Christmas Day in Venice

We make it to Venice the next day and we head to St. Mark’s Square via private motor boat. We see the Doge’s Palace and the Bridge of Sighs (which was unfortunately under construction, but we saw the main part). And then we headed to the Murano Glass factory where we get to watch them at work. We also find some beautiful, handmade Venetian masks (Ashley got a huge one but I only got a little one :)). Then we have some free time to walk around because we decided to skip the excursion again. After it gets a little dark we take our gondola ride! Ashley got sea sick so I had to take mine alone :( well…I’m not lame :P I was with another family! So that is how I spent my Christmas night! For dinner we all ate at a restaurant near the hotel (on Lido Island) and it was quite wonderful; if you have the right group you have such a fun time with them!

Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri, Amalfi Coast, Assisi

{Mt. Vesuvius}

So we head south to Sorrento and on our way we stop in Pompeii to see “the city frozen in time” by Mount Vesuvius. It was so neat to see all the old engineering work that had been done; speed bumps, metal plumbing, and directions to the brothels! Okay, maybe brothels aren’t an ancient form of engineering but it was so funny to see random penis’ carved into the walkways and building sides indicating “fun” was awaiting you inside. They even had pictures you could point to of what you wanted and how! Haha. They did this because Pompeii was a port and many visitors did not speak the same language as the locals so to keep money coming in the visitors could just point to a picture, pay, and everybody was happy! LOL Apparently this was the main money maker in the town. I have to say it was something else to see the molds of left over cavities some of the remains had left; a dog tied up trying to run away, people sleeping or curled up in the fetal position, pots and tools left over.  Such a site to see, we only walked something like 20% of the grounds and I thought that was a lot! Who knows what they are keeping from us in the other 80%.

{follow the "arrows"}

Next we headed to our hotel in Sorrento. It was the cutest hotel on top of a hill. There was the main hotel and then there were some “bungalows” away from the main hotel. We got a bungalow! It was so cute! The whole property was covered in lemon and lime trees. It is night time and time for some dinner, tomorrow we will venture into the city of Sorrento and visit the Isle of Capri. First thing we do in Sorrento is go to this inlaid wood-working shop where we find the most beautiful hand crafted knick-knacks.  Things like jewelry boxes, small end tables (for a not so small price), coasters (that were still 15€ each!) and other beautiful things. Then we head to Capri to see the famous sights and take in the beauty. We visit a small perfume factory where you can only buy this special perfume made from plants, flowers, and fruit from the island…of course we bought some! We have a snack at a café and then it is time to head back. This is when we decided to venture out on our own and not go on the excursion. We had dinner at nice restaurant located right next to a traffic circle and in the circle was a huge Christmas tree! And then we just kind of mosey around town and marching band went by and then we made our way back to the hotel for some shut eye.
 

{Me and Ash in Capri}

The next day we woke up early for an excursion to the Amalfi Coast! This is where many movies have been filmed, including a James Bond flick! We stopped to take in the scenery. We stop at a roadside stand and have a look at the biggest lemons you have ever seen! LOL not really, there were a hybrid between a lemon and grape fruit! Then back to the hotel to pick up our other travelers that slept in and then we are off to our next destination, Assisi. Assisi is where we spend Christmas Eve and it is very foggy when we head up to the church. It was kinda fun; there were some shops open and some modern art around the grounds. We were only here for a night, a quick stop on our way to Venice!

{Amalfi Coast}

{huge lemons!}



{Assisi}



{Our Christmas stockings! Travel size!}

Italia here we come!!!

Christmas season 2008: We arrived in Rome! We find our bus and make our way to the hotel. One of the best things about Trafalgar is that they try their hardest not to book “name brand hotels” so we were in this cute little hotel with a rooftop terrace and garden. We loved it! We saw so many amazing old things! All the history to take in is just unbelievable! We have the most amazing tour director named Federica! She was so much fun and knew exactly where to take us! Now…andiamo! :) (let’s go in Italian). 

The first full day we visited the Sistine Chapel where the works of Michelangelo are located. Then we headed into St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. From here we went into ancient Rome to overlook the Forum and the Circus Maximus where chariot races used to take place. And then…we went to the Colosseum! So crazy that the Romans were going to destroy this building! Then we had dinner at a cute local place and had so much food! Classic Italian dining where the food just kept coming and coming and coming! And after that we went on an excursion to the Trevi fountain. We also saw Rome by night which was so incredible since it was all lit up for the holiday season! Saw the Pantheon which I studied when I was an Architecture major (that only lasted a semester). We saw so much in such a short amount of time it was incredible! Now, onto the South!

Thanksgiving Break 2008

Thanksgiving wasn't out of town or at a unique destination, it was at my house! But Lene came with me! She got to experience some fun “Texas Country” stuff. We went to see a Randy Rogers concert and I got Lene to take a picture and dance! Kjersti called Lene and said that she and a Czech student, Veronika, were going to be coming through San Antonio on their Texas road trip to the coast. Of course I said they can stay with me and my family and had a nice American Thanksgiving dinner. It was so wonderful to have a houseful of friends for the holidays. I took them to Enchanted Rock State Park and we went for a hike. Kjersti got me hooked on the Twilight books and over Thanksgiving is when we became really great friends! :) 

Lene, Veronika, Kjersti, me

Before you knew it, it was time for all of them to leave :( it was really sad to see them go. Lene stayed in the states for a little while longer and had Christmas with Amanda; I was sad that I didn't get to spend more time with her while I had the chance but Ashley and I had a country to take by storm…Italia!

Viva Las Vegas

In October Justin and I went with all the Norwegians to Vegas. It was Cecilie, Lene, Kjersti, Fredrik, Aleksandra, Tormod, Erik and Terje who went with us. Cecilie and Lene stayed with me and Justin while the others stayed at another hotel. We would meet up with them from time to time but we were on different parts of the strip and had different agendas. The Norwegian guys dint bring any dress shoes so we couldn’t get into any clubs so we went to a “classy” strip club, or at least that’s what the limo driver said, and Cecilie left her cell phone there so we had to go back in the morning to get it…blah. I do have to give Justin some major props for getting the limo driver and strip club to give us a discount or a free ride back to our hotel. At least we got that after pretty much being forced to get table service (DON’T EVER DO THAT!!!) Vegas was fun and we had a good time but of course we were very tired by the end of the weekend and just wanted to go home.

Me and Justin

nothing like morning cocktails!