The Luckiest No Matter What!

FLORENCE By Kristin We went to our hotel for breakfast today and realized that the Grand Hotel Mediterraneo is on a whole other level from the other two hotels we stayed at...SO busy! Our group did a walking tour of Florence at 8:00am seeing many sights we saw yesterday on our own, but adding a few new stops:  Museum of Science, the Duomo, and Dante's church and home.  Then we did some shopping, gelato eating (Vivoli Vivoli: supposed to be the best in Florence) and saw Santissima Annunziata.  At Santissima Annuziata, we lit candles for Eric, and our two miscarriages: Baby Champ and Baby Poggie.  Then, we met up with our group again to do a Wine Tasting.  It was great!  Shot along the Arno River with the Ponte Vecchio Duomo Candles for my brother Eric, Baby Champ, and Baby Poggie. All three are in our thoughts every single day... At the wine tasting we got to sample olive oils and balsamic vinegars and olive spreads.  ...

FLORENCE By KMH Josh and I tried to dress a little American today.  I wore a red long sleeved shirt and Josh wore his captain American T-Shirt.  Later, he changed into a red polo.   Even the views from off the highway are beautiful in Italy. This is a field of sunflowers!  We woke up at the Hotel San Pietro and left for Florence.  Our drive was about 7.5 hours with stops.  Once getting to Florence, we went walking to find San Miniatro al Monte.  In true Kristin Hundt fashion, I probably picked the hardest place to get to.  Our walk was basically entirely up hill and we got lost/confused several times.  San Miniatro al Monte Once we got close though, we realized we found a hidden gem of amazing views of Florence!  Wow!!  :)   Us with the city of Florence behind us.   We then went to Piazza Michelangelo for more great views and photos.  After, we walked a long the Arno River and saw: ...

AMALFI COAST By Kristin We went to Capri!!! We drove through Maiori, Minori, and Amalfi Town to catch the boat to Capri.  The boat ride was about an hour long, but had the most amazing views; Josh picked a great spot to sit on the boat!  We saw Sorento and Pasitano and then arrived to the Island of Capri.   Before getting on the boat Amalfi Town While on the boat to Capri On the boat On the boat Pasitano Pasitano We did an optional boat tour seeing Capri and also saw a little too much of an Italian 'model.'  We saw the choral grotto, green grotto, and white grotto.  We also saw the 'Tunnel of Love!' Tunnel of Love Capri After we went sightseeing for a bit and took a funicular train higher up, we then did another optional tour of Ana Capri.  In order to get to the top of Ana Capri, we had to ride a ski lift 1,900 feet to Monte Solaro.  I'm sure you can imagine the amount of photos that were ta...

AMALFI COAST By Kristin Marie Today was our first day of literally having nothing planned from Trafalgar.  We 'slept in' today waking up around 8:00am.  After getting ready for the day and eating breakfast, we walked to the beach.  I think we were hoping to stay there for most of the day, but the beach was hot and rocky.  We also were cheap and didn't want to pay for a spot with an umbrella.   Beach It was important to both of us that we swam in the Mediterranean Sea so we did that (the water was warm) and then claimed a spot at our hotel pool where we swam, napped, and read.  We had a sandwich for lunch and took a much needed nap before spending a little more time at the pool.  Pool at our hotel! Both of us were a bit worried about dinner because Maiori is small and seemed to have touristy food.  I happened to google about restaurants in Maiori and we went to a place called DeDalo which was the #1 rated on trip advisor....

AMALFI COAST By Joshua Today began with a ride from Rome to Pompeii.  En route to Pompeii, we saw the World War II cemetery of Monte Cassino. Monte Cassino  Pompeii followed on the heels of Rome and was 35 degrees Celcius.  The tour of Pompeii was great and the tour guide's name was Genaro.  Genaro was about 70 and was excited to brag to us about the Sicilian Style Macaroni and Mozzarella his wife was making him for dinner. Outside the uncovered city of Pompeii Among the highlights were seeing the people that died during the eruption, the shock about how perverted the Pompeiians were, and the Roman style bath.  Genaro showing us a street in Pompeii.   It was a lovely little street with a school, stores, bakeries, brothels, and "quicky" rooms. I see dead people!  Us, ready for the soccer game tonight and also hoping Mt. Vesuvius is not going to erupt while we're here. (see it in the background?) "It's no...

ROME By J. Earl Hundt We are just learning how to get around Rome and it is time to leave!  Our day started with difficulty waking up for our self proclaimed 6:15am wake up call when the hotel called us at 7:15 for the wake up call sponsored by Trafalgar I said one of Tony Soprano's favorite words and slept for an extra 20 minutes.  After a hearty breakfast we went to the Termini for what we thought would be an easy entrance onto the Metro with our "24 hour" pass to go to see the pyramid.  It turns out that 24 hours actually runs out at 11:59pm of the night you bought the ticket.  After that shock, the shock of some random girl cutting us in lane, and the shock of the machine not taking our money/ticket for the first 23 attempts, we FINALLY made it onto the Metro. Once on the Metro, things were looking up for us!  We went directly tot he Pyramid of Caius Cestius.  After that we re-entered the Metro for a trip to the Capuchin Crypt.  This mu...