The Luckiest No Matter What!

5 years ago, at this very moment, I was in Italy at the start of an incredible trip to Italy and France.  We spent ten days in Italy touring Rome, the Amalfi Coast, Florence, and Venice and then did a three day trip to Paris and Euro-Disney. If you looked at the outside of Josh and I at that time, you'd think we were at the peak of our existence, having the absolute best time in our life.  We were getting established and comfortable in our careers and had both recently completed our masters.  I was thin and in shape and tan with a great new short haircut.  We'd been traveling and jet setting having gone to Cancun, Las Vegas, California, New York, Boston, Toronto, Disney World, Disneyland over the last couple of years.  You would think the world was our oyster and you'd be right...sort of. Also at that time I'd lost my brother to a drug overdose, lost two pregnancies to miscarriage, were in the height and depth of our fertility treatments with injections and ...

VENICE By JEH On our final day in Venice and Italy, we slept in until 9:00am, which was needed and by far the latest of the trip.  Today we were entirely on our own and after leaving bags at the hotel we walked through the two neighborhoods that we had not seen.  These two neighborhoods seemed to be less touristy and took us literally around the outer edge of Venice in a complete circle.  On our journey, we saw the Ponte dei Tre Arche (three arches), bridge with no parapet, one of the only two bridges without a railing, the bridge called Ponte de Pongi where rivals used to fight.  We had a final venetian meal of gnocchi and pizza and of course another hearty helping of gelato.   Ponte dei Tre Archi  Bridge with no Parapet  Ponte dei Pungi  Lastly, we went on one final walk through the center of Venice before boarding our train for Paris.  We are in a first class sleeper hoping to get lots of rest so we're fresh...

VENICE By Venice Obsessed This morning we took a water taxi out to a Murano glass factory.  We watched a guy blow a vase and a horse in a flash and then walked around their showroom and laughed at how expensive everything was, but my how beautiful.   Murano Glass Factory  After, we walked around some side streets of Venice with Patricia and saw a cool hidden treasure.  We heard a folktale about a fisherman falling in love with a mermaid in a tragic love story and walked under their supposed house and touched a good luck heart.  Once we got to St. Mark's square we had free time.  Us with the Bridge of Sighs   Make a wish!  Josh and I went up the bell tower and saw great views and got to see and hear the bell ring at noon.  We walked around, did some shopping, had amazing sandwiches and gelato and had to meet our group at 3pm.  At 3, we got to do a gondola ride which was awesome!!! Everything was beautiful and...

VENICE By Joshua Earl Hundt *SIDEBAR= In case you didn't know, I (Kristin) have been dreaming of going to Venice it seems like my whole life.  I've been OBSESSED with it forever* The morning started with our final goodbye to Florence and our last bus trip too, this time en route to Venice!  On our way to Venice, we stopped at the town of Ferrara for lunch.  In Ferrara we saw the castle of the Deste Family.  This castle and town were both letdowns and quite boring. At about 3:00pm our bus dropped us off for our short water taxi to our hotel in Venice.  Our hotel is on the Grand Canal just steps from the bridge Ponte Degli Scolzi, which happened to be on the list of sights we wanted to see.  Since Venice is so hard to maneuver we decided to just start walking and see whatever we happened to see.  With this plan we got to see many exciting sights as well as some little back alleys that aren't on any maps.  We had a delicious dinner (Kristi...

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...