Italy Recap :: Part 2 (Florence/Tuscany)

Next up on our Italy recap...our journey to Florence and the Tuscany region.

Day 5 - Road trip/Sightseeing in Florence 

Early wake up call this morning as our water taxi out of Venice departs just after sunrise. Following our ride out of Venice (on a speed boat!), we jump on our motor coach and head to Florence. Along the way we drive through the Tuscan countryside - incredible scenery! I can't quite remember exactly how the long drive from Venice to Florence was, but I believe it was approximately 2 - 2 1/2 hours. Not bad. We arrive in Florence for lunch - pizza again, and then we visit the Cathedral of Santa Maria aka "el Duomo". "Duomo" means Cathedral Church in Italian. This church is the 3rd longest church in the world and is incredible to see in person. It's located in the middle of downtown Florence, and is so big that you can barely capture all of it in one photo. Following our guided tour of the church, we embark on a walking tour through the streets of Florence. We visited the Basillica of Santa Croce - famous tombs of Galileo and Michelangelo, and then made a quick stop at the Ponte Vecchio bridge (more on the Ponte Vecchio later). As we wind our way through the streets of Florence, we learn that Florence is the home of the Renaissance...lots of historical churches, famous palaces, and incredible artwork. Following our walking tour of downtown Florence, we went to dinner with our entire group tonight (more great pasta!) and then headed to bed pretty early. We're headed to Tuscany tomorrow! 

Day 6 - Journey to Tuscany 

Another early wake up call, but no one is complaining because today we're headed on an optional excursion to Tuscany! We took our motor coach from Florence to a quaint medieval town called Siena (1 1/2 hours outside of Florence). Our first stop in Siena was the St. Catherine of Siena church, where we saw St. Catherine's actual head and one of her fingers on display - she died in the 1300's. I have to admit seeing this was kind of creepy, but also pretty amazing. We then headed into the town square of Siena ("Piazza del Campo" in Italian). Siena is home to a famous semi-annual horse race ("Palio di Siena") that takes place in the middle of the Piazza del Campo. We had just missed the race, as it had taken place just a few days prior to our arrival. (Rob and I both agree that Siena was one of our favorite cities that we visited - it's such a charming medieval town, yet is mixed with both current and modern trends.) After a guided walking tour through Siena, we hopped back on our motor coach and headed to San Gimignano, another small medieval town centered in the middle of Tuscany. While we liked Siena's "feel" better, you can't beat the views of the Italian country side that San Gimignano has to offer - absolutely incredible!! We spent a few hours exploring San Gimignano on our own and then had lunch overlooking the country side. After our free time was up, we took our motor coach to a small home/Italian winery where we attended "Wine Tasting School". We learned the proper way to taste wine from a very charismatic winery owner (he was hilarious and all of the ladies got a kick out of him!). We sampled a variety of white and red wines, balsamic vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil. Today was a fun experience that I will hold in my heart for years to come! Later that afternoon, we headed back to our hotel in Florence to rest for the evening - mid trip R&R! 

Day 7 - R&R/Sightseeing in Florence 

We slept in this morning since Rob wasn't feeling well - poor hubby caught a cold in the midst of travel. Later that morning we made ourselves get up (after all, we're in Italy!) and headed to an Italian laundry mat to wash a few outfits for the rest of the trip (cramming 12 days of clothing into one bag is incredibly tough). It was just the two of us for lunch, so we stopped at a local restaurant for more pizza and pasta - this was our favorite meal yet - delicious!! Following lunch we met up with the rest of our group for a visit to Accademia - home of Michelangelo's "David". We then walked over to the Ponte Vecchio where we stopped to take a few photos and did some window shopping. The Ponte Vecchio is a famous medieval bridge that crosses over the Arno River. It was the only bridge in Florence that was not destroyed in WWII. Today, the Ponte Vecchio is home to jewelry stores, homes, and various shops that line the bridge on either side. This is my favorite spot in Florence - beautiful scenery in both directions. After a quick dinner at McDonald's (yes, McDonalds...we were getting a little tired of pizza & pasta), we headed back to our hotel to rest up for our journey to Rome in the morning! 

Check back next week for my recap of Rome!

Until next time...arrivederci!

Italy Recap :: Part 1 (Venice)

Italy was a trip of a lifetime, and an experience I will remember forever. During our 12 day tour of Italy, I kept a journal of our daily activities, and wanted to share those experiences on this blog. I've gotten lots of questions from friends and family that are considering taking a trip to Italy, so I thought this recap would help give some insight to those of you looking for your next travel (or honeymoon) destination. I've included a few photos as well, all of which were taken by Rob (great job, babe!).

Days 1 & 2 – Up, up and away…we’re off to Italy!

Our journey to Italy begins with an overnight flight to Dusseldorf, Germany. We arrive in Dusseldorf bright and early where we have a 3 hour layover. After a bite to eat (nothing like a delicious soft pretzel at 7am!), we board our flight to Venice. At this point, we haven’t slept in 24+ hours, so we dose off for a few. In the middle of our flight the pilot announces that we are flying over the Swiss Alps…boy am I glad I woke up when I heard that! I was lucky enough to have a window seat and it was one of the most amazing views you’ll ever see! Snow covered mountains as the sun is just beginning to rise…absolutely breathtaking!

After a quick 2 hour flight, we land in Venice! We grab our bags and meet up with our family & friends (there are 9 of us traveling together), and the rest of our 40 person tour group. Venice is made up of 100+ small islands all connected by canals and bridges, so naturally there are no cars in Venice…only boats. We are welcomed to Venice with a leisurely water taxi ride to our hotel, on the island of Lido. Our entire group was jetlagged and sleep deprived, but our boat ride into Venice had all of us excited for what was to come! We pull up onto the shore of Lido where we are greeted by our tour director, Monique. She escorts us to our quaint (and absolutely adorable!) hotel right on the water, Hotel Riviera. After a “meet and greet” with our fellow travelers, we headed out on the island of Lido for some gelato and pizza. Lido had the best gelato out of anywhere in Italy, and it was super cheap too…only 1 Euro for a small cup of heaven! ; ) Early night tonight…I think we were all in bed by 8! Excited for our journey ahead…goodnight!

Day 3 – Sightseeing in Venice

Bon journo! Early wake up call this morning to catch a boat across the lagoon to Venice. Upon arrival into Venice, we have a guided tour of Doge’s Palace, St. Mark’s Basilica, and St. Mark’s Square. The rest of the afternoon is free to explore Venice! First stop on our free afternoon is lunch…we were starving! We went to a local Italian sandwich shop where we enjoyed delicious panini’s. Of course we had to save room for dessert too…another stop for a quick gelato! We spent the entire afternoon strolling through the streets of Venice admiring all of the flower window boxes, beautifully decorated gondola’s, and charming architecture. I am instantly in love with Venice and have to keep pinching myself that I’m really in Italy! Towards the end of the day we made our way to the famous Rialto Bridge that overlooks the Grand Canal…one word…Stunning! After a few photos, we headed back to Lido on our water taxi to get cleaned up for dinner. I had been admiring all of the outdoor Italian eateries and was thrilled that we ended up having dinner at an outdoor restaurant that I had my eye on since we first arrived! This dinner was literally the best spaghetti and pizza I’ve EVER had…absolutely delicious! On the way back to our hotel we stopped for yet another gelato (yes, I know this is our 2nd gelato stop of the day, but can you really blame us?!) and watched a street concert with an Italian band playing Michael Jackson songs…quite entertaining considering there was a clear language barrier with the words to the songs. Awesome day today…we’re still a bit jetlagged, but still having the time of our lives!

Day 4 – Sightseeing in Venice

Today we have the entire day to ourselves (i.e. no wakeup call and no guided group tours), so we decide to head back across the lagoon to Venice again. We spent the morning in Venice strolling through the streets picking up a few souvenirs along the way. There is a heat wave in Italy as the hot & humid weather is coming up from Africa. Temperatures reach a boiling 100 degrees today! After a quick bite to eat (pizza again), we took a boat back over to our hotel in Lido for a few hours of R&R. Later that afternoon, we traveled back over to Venice and decided to take a boat ride up the entire Grand Canal (normally we got off near St. Mark’s Square and just made our way to the Grand Canal on foot). So glad we decided to do this…amazing views and some great photo opportunities! After we made our way up the Grand Canal, we attempted to find a restaurant recommendation that we received from one of our Italy guide books, but were unsuccessful. Fortunately though, we found a small little restaurant down an alley way where the owner greeted us with friendly hospitality and lots of wine! After we left dinner we got caught in a sudden rain storm and decided to make our way back to the boat. I’m certainly not complaining though…the rain instantly cooled things off, and running through the streets of Venice was surprisingly lots of fun! Tonight is our last night in Venice, and I am starting to get a bit sad (I wish we had another day to spend in Venice). So far I am extremely impressed with Italy and excited to head to Florence tomorrow morning!

Check back soon for my recap of Florence!

Until next time...ciao!

Our Soon To Be New Home...

In just 6 short weeks this will be our new home. It's still a bit surreal, as it seems like just yesterday we were meeting with Realtors to put our townhouse on the market. I still remember the day we decided to put our townhouse on the market... I spent an entire week cleaning the baseboards with a Q-tip, purging closets, and became far too obsessed with reading articles like "How to Prepare Your Home for Sale" (yes, I am a bit of a perfectionist).

After reading that last paragraph you would think that we listed our townhouse ages ago, but in reality it was only April of this year. Not that long ago when I stop and think about it. Maybe it seems like ages ago because we packed SO much into this summer...countless viewing appointments, a half dozen weddings, Rob traveling around the world to India and back (2x!), and let's not forget our 12 day trip to Italy! We went under agreement in just over 60 days, and after A LOT of back and forth negotiations, we closed exactly 4 months after we put our townhouse on the market. Huge relief given the still somewhat shaky state of the real estate market!

Now that the sale of our townhouse is behind us, we are excited for the next phase of our lives. We spent quite a bit of time looking around for the "perfect" house, but in the end, decided that building new was the right thing for us. We aren't very handy people, and we knew that we didn't want to take on many remodeling projects, so it just made sense for us to build the house we wanted according to our personal style and taste. Luckily Rob and I have very similar decorating tastes, and agreed on most (if not all) selections we made for our new home. I'm still a tiny bit nervous to see our selections come to life, but I have confidence that everything will turn out looking great! It's hard to pick out colors for your home when you can only see sample sizes of everything - it's a whole different ball game when you see things in real life. So far we love the brick color we selected, and are excited to see the siding/shutter/porch color combination come to life in the next few weeks!

More updates on the house will follow as we head into our last few weeks of construction.

Meet Teddy!

Meet Teddy! Teddy is our 3.5 lb Yorkie/Maltese mix. He's 3 1/2 years old, and is 3.5 lbs full grown (ok I lied, occasionally he tops out at 3.8 lbs after a good meal). You may notice at the top of this blog I list myself as a "puppy mommy"...yes, you read correctly...a puppy MOMMY. While we don't have children just yet, I do consider myself to be a Mom in some regards. If you've ever owned a dog (or any pet for that matter), you know it's a BIG responsibility and a lot like having a child.

Dogs are the best companions. My husband travels a lot for work (sometimes 1-2 weeks at a time), and I have to admit, without Teddy things would be A LOT more difficult for me during these times. He's my little buddy, and someone I spend a great deal of time with. I work from home, and with Teddy being as small as he is, he is the definition of a "lap dog". He sticks right by my side no matter what kind of a work day I've had.

I am guilty of spoiling him rotten (so is my husband!), but we wouldn't have it any other way. We consider him to be apart of our family. He spends his evenings on the couch watching TV with us and sleeps at the foot of our bed (I'm not one for banning dogs from the furniture - especially little 3.5 lb shed-less dogs). Just look at that face...can you really blame us?!

Intro

Last week I was reading through my old Facebook posts and status updates, and it got me thinking… I love reliving old memories - memories from college/life in NC, memories of starting a business, memories from our wedding, and memories from our new life together here in PA. It’s kind of surreal when I go back and read through old Facebook posts…those posts bring back a lot of great feelings, and when I think about how my life has evolved over the last few years, it warms my heart :)

I’ve been thinking about starting a personal blog for awhile now, but with 2010 being our busiest wedding season to date, I just haven’t gotten around to it. I try to keep up with my business blog as much as possible - posting a few times a week, although lately it seems like only a few times a month - but regardless, my business blog has brought me a lot of joy, so I thought why not have a personal blog as well?

This will be our place to document our life’s journey. I will mostly be the one posting, but you never know...Rob may make an appearance or two every now and then. I won’t be posting every day, but will do my best to post as much as I can. Years from now, I hope to be able to look back on this blog and relive all of the soon-to-come memories. What can I say? I’m a sap…

Happy blogging! :)