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I had an AWESOME time with Mom and Stacey. I am just super sad that they had to leave me. Our trip started off in smelly Naples! I honestly have no clue as to why this place is so well known because the city is super smelly and there isn't so much to see! After we finally checked into our hotel we pretty much only had time to do a little sightseeing (we really only saw the Duomo in Naples) and then it was time for dinner. Of course we did the aperitivo (drinks and snacks) before dinner and then we had an amazing seafood dinner. The next day was a bit more eventful. We decided to spend the day in BEAUTIFUL Capri. We took a 40 minute ferry to the island. It is quite possibly the most beautiful, peaceful place…ever! We immediatly went to see the Blue Grotto. In case you don't know what it is, it's pretty much this tiny little cave with the bluest water you have ever seen! You have to take another ferry to the grotto and once you get there you have to hop into tiny paddle boats. You lay on the bottom of the boat and then the "driver man" paddles us into the grotto. Since the rocks of the grotto don't touch the bottom of the sea floor the sun light is reflected back up and OH MY GOODNESS it is beautiful! Next we needed FOOD so we had a beautiful lunch overlooking the sea… it was perfect! After we walked around for a bit. We went to see the gardens, which was my favorite part of Capri. There were amazing views from there (check out the photos!). We tried to go on a chair lift that would take you to the top of the island… but sadly it close literally 3 days before we got there. We were bummed. That night we just had another delicious meal in Naples! Saturday was a perfect day for Pompeii! I hope we all know the story about Pompeii, but in case you don't let me educate you! Pompeii was a city that got buried under volcanic ash for many years and then was rediscovered and excavated in the 1700's. The city is pretty big and was preserved very well. Take a gander at the pictures… I explain the city in more depth! A word of warning if you are planning on going to Pompeii: the streets are all still cobblestone and apparently that can be very dangerous! I have an amazing travel book (Rick Steves', if you are planning on traveling to Europe get his books), in the books there are "self-guided tours", well being the good child that I am, and I opted to be the tour guide. As I was reading the book and looking for lead pipes I slide right off the cobble stone and sprained my ankle. I did quite a number on it… and all that for lead pipes… just be careful! Well after my painful ankle experience we thought it would be a good idea to climb Mt. Vesuvius… brilliant! In case you don't know, Mt. Vesuvius is the volcano that buried Pompeii. It is the Europe's only active volcano. We took a 40 minute bus ride and climbed a very steep 30 hike! I guess it was worth it, but I decided I needed to stop eating pasta and gelato after that hike! After our traumatizing day we went back to Naples and drank (and ate dinner don't worry!!!). Sunday was strictly for Naples. We decided that since we were staying in Naples we should probably see what this city had to offer! Like I said before it is not a nice city, but we managed. It was Easter Sunday… IN ITALY, so there wasn't much open!
On Monday we were Roma bound! After our train ride and checking into our hotel we headed to play tourists! We started our adventure at the Colosseum and then moved onto the Roman Forum. Again we had the amazing Rick Steves' book so I gave Mom and Stacey a guided tour, so all of us could decipher between all the ruins! After our guided tour through the ruins, we embarked on a new adventure… Rick Steves' "Self-Guided, Dolce Vita Stroll"! It was a walking tour from Campo De Fiori (a popular square in Rome) to the Spanish Stairs. The walk was a little over a mile (and this was on a full belly!). It was pretty neat being able to see all the monuments lit up! On Tuesday we tackled the Vatican. The lines we relatively short so we were able to see the St. Peters Basilica, the tombs of the popes and the Vatican Museum (which contains the Sistine Chapel). Because the Weeks ladies are such smart people we opted to follow the suggestion in my travel book and go to a restaurant that offers "Claudio's Extravaganza", which ended up being an antipasti (appetizer), Primi (1st course which is usually a pasta), another Primi (not normal), Secondo (second part which is usually a meat) and Dulce (yummm dessert). That was the best investment (actually for all we got it was pretty cheap!) but man were we hurting after that meal!!! Wednesday brought on the Borghese Gallery. It was a cardinal's mansion in a beautiful park, now it is a museum with many well known pieces including: Apollo chasing Daphne and Bernini's version of David. After getting a bit lost in the Borghese Gallery we headed back to St. Peter's Basilica so we could climb to the top and see amazing views of Rome. The climb was sooo harsh! We had to climb almost 400 stairs in a very narrow stair case. I was on my death bed when we got to the top of the dome! It was worth it, but ouch it was painful!!! We then made our way to the Pantheon in order to see it in the day light. Again we looked to Rick Steves' to tell us where to get the best gelato in town… apparently we weren't the only ones. Just look at the pictures, but it was insane. There was a line out the door and people were going crazy trying to get their gelato… that was one experience that was not worth it! Haha! Sadly our day was wrapping up, so we walked around a bit and went for dinner.
Thursday we made our way to the great city of Milan! When we arrived it was pouring rain and cold :o( we did not like that considering how lucky got with weather so far. Eventually it stopped so we just hung out most of the time and shopped around a little. We were so relieved on Friday to see SUN! It was gorgeous outside. We started off by climbing to the top of the Duomo, this time there were only about 10 steps we had to climb (after using the elevator of course!). I had never been to the top so it was a nice treat. Then we went to get delicious cappuccinos in the famous Zuppa… and man were they good! Then I just showed them around a little bit more of Milan and then we hit the stores for some shopping! There isn't much to do in Milan, but it was so nice being back with mom and Stacey doing what we all do best… shopping! I really enjoyed it! Sadly the day ended and they had to leave me :o( We all really had a great time and I more than happy that they were able to come. I was extremely homesick because they left me in Italy… but I soon got over it!!!
Love you all and miss everyone... only about a month left :o/
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