Our Great Italian Adventure

Have you ever done something or been somewhere that was SO OVERWHELMING and MORE AWESOME than anything you have ever done?  There is so much going on at the time that it is pretty much impossible to take it all in at the time.

That is how Italy was.

We had some airline challenges to overcome, but we made it to Venice and got our vacation on.

We saw whatever we could in the way too short time we were there (St. Mark’s, rode a water taxi, had some wine, had the best pizza ever etc) and then we took the people mover to the pier with the boats!

I have never been on a cruise ship, and let’s just say I really had no idea just how BIG and AWESOME it was going to be. Also, didn’t fully grasp how SMALL the room was going to be. It was cozy, that is for sure.

Gianna slept through the entire boarding process and napped a little bit while we were waiting for our suitcases, which was nice. Once she woke up we headed to the top deck for some drinks and to watch the ship take off. You guys, I am telling you, sailing away from Venice is one of the most surreal, beautiful, things I have ever experienced.  It was just breathtaking.

We had the late late dinner, so my goes-to-bed earlier daughter didn’t usually make it to dinner, or at least, not for long before she was thoroughly losing.her.shit.

<< get me to my bed face!

Our first stop was in Dubrovnick, Croatia. You NEED to visit here. It is so beautiful, and a really popular vacation locale in Europe, even though a lot of people in the states aren’t familiar with it. We had the BEST gelato here – surprisingly. We visited the old town, had some crepe’s with nutella and just walked around. We even randomly met up with some of our family while we were roaming around!

We had a day on the boat next, and while it wasn’t LETS GO SWIMMING weather, it was nice to lay out on the deck and just kind of chill out.  We had some family pictures taken in our Italy shirts (oh ya, we were those people), had some drinks, some laughs and more than a little bit of food.

<< judging a belly flop competition. No, really, they were.

We passed through the straight that divides Sicily (where my Grandpa is from) and the main land that night. As we walked on to the deck to check it out, a song that brings back the strongest memories of my Grandma came on the overhead sound system. I know they were watching us, smiling from ear to ear, and she was tapping along to the beat with her bright pink finger nails. 

We got all dressed up that night – which was fun, because I love dressing up!

<<walking like a princess

^losing her shit at dinner                                                ^^look how nice we clean up!

The next city we visited in Italy was Sorrento.  My sister and brother-in-law joined us on our excursion.  We headed to a working farm, had some seriously AWESOME food and wine, Gianna saw the baby cows, we had some olive oil and lemoncello then hung out in downtown Sorrento for lunch. The view? UNBELIEVABLE.  Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast are on the must return to list.

<<gorg.e.ous.

^she did this at every restaurant. seriously.                               ^^YUMMMMMM

Then we went to Pompeii. I took latin in high school, so I thought I was kind of cool to see the things that I read about in books. Next trip, I want to walk to the top of Mt. Vesuvius!  Our tour guide was really good, but I was keeping an eye on Gianna who kept asking me what we were doing/where we were.  I had to think for a second, but eventually I told her how the tour guide was telling the story of when a dragon sneezed really hard and breathed fire over the town. What? How would you explain a volcanic eruption to a 2 year old?

 

I’ve been trying to write it for a month –more  come, stay tuned!

TONS of pictures here