We spent a WONDERFUL week in Italy in mid-May. I think it was our best trip of the year. We got to escape the grey of Amsterdam for the sunshine and hospitality of Italy. It was restful, relaxing, and restorative. Everything one wants in a vacation :).
First we spent a few days in Florence. We took it pretty easy - just kind of strolled around, took naps, and ate lots and lots of great Italian food.
Then we went to the Cinque Terra for five days and met up with these lovely people (Matt's mom and husband). We had five great days with them!
We stayed in the Southern-most village of Riomaggiore. It was great! And again, the joy of traveling with a little one is all the quiet early morning walks we get to take before anyone else is up.
This is the short little hike between Riomaggiore and our new favorite village, Manarola (in the background). It's a beautiful little walk and there's a great cafe in between where you can sit on the ocean cliff and have coffee or breakfast. We stopped in there a few times!
This is Manarola behind us. Beautiful!
Manarola had the added bonus of having a great little park right next to the ocean, so we spent some good time there. Calvin played with Grandma and Grandpa while Matt and I enjoyed each other and some sunshine :).
Matthew's birthday lunch - another little restaurant cleverly positioned over the ocean that had great beer.
The next day we hit a few other small villages further north. 9 years ago Matt and I got engaged in Vernazza. He took me to this restaurant way up on top of the hill and proposed to me in this very spot! The whole village looked SO different this time, after being basically destroyed by some severe flooding and mudslides this past October. They are slowly putting it back together, but so much of it looks different than what we remember, which was kind of sad. We actually didn't spend much time there at all, wanting to preserve the old picture we had in our memories. I think next time we come back we'll hit up Manarola some more. We loved it there.
Next we went to the third village of Corniglia, which is the only one that is not on the water, but rather way up on the cliff. It was very different from the other four towns - unique and beautiful.
One evening we left Calvin with Grandma and Grandpa and enjoyed a lovely afternoon and evening out in Manarola. We had great pesto pizza, and lots of sunshine. It was fantastic. I sat on the beach with my pregnant belly stuffing my pregnant face with gelato while Matthew did some cliff jumping.
Drinks and a great sunset on the walk back home.
The next day we headed to the Northern most town of Monterosso for beach day! What a great town! Gorgeous beach, and great company. We loved it. Calvin was pretty iffy about the sand and water at first, but decided he loved sitting on a chair covered in sand. Funny boy. We sun tanned, had beach massages, and went kayaking. It was a fantastic end to a great time in the Cinque Terra.
The next day we headed to the Pisa airport to hop our flight back home and decided we should take advantage of the opportunity to check out the crazy leaning tower. So here it is! Smaller and WAY more crowded than we expected ... but now we can say we've seen it ;).
We love Italy!!! This is one European country I could happily visit over and over again!
Then we went to the Cinque Terra for five days and met up with these lovely people (Matt's mom and husband). We had five great days with them!
We stayed in the Southern-most village of Riomaggiore. It was great! And again, the joy of traveling with a little one is all the quiet early morning walks we get to take before anyone else is up.
This is the short little hike between Riomaggiore and our new favorite village, Manarola (in the background). It's a beautiful little walk and there's a great cafe in between where you can sit on the ocean cliff and have coffee or breakfast. We stopped in there a few times!
This is Manarola behind us. Beautiful!
Manarola had the added bonus of having a great little park right next to the ocean, so we spent some good time there. Calvin played with Grandma and Grandpa while Matt and I enjoyed each other and some sunshine :).
Matthew's birthday lunch - another little restaurant cleverly positioned over the ocean that had great beer.
The next day we hit a few other small villages further north. 9 years ago Matt and I got engaged in Vernazza. He took me to this restaurant way up on top of the hill and proposed to me in this very spot! The whole village looked SO different this time, after being basically destroyed by some severe flooding and mudslides this past October. They are slowly putting it back together, but so much of it looks different than what we remember, which was kind of sad. We actually didn't spend much time there at all, wanting to preserve the old picture we had in our memories. I think next time we come back we'll hit up Manarola some more. We loved it there.
Next we went to the third village of Corniglia, which is the only one that is not on the water, but rather way up on the cliff. It was very different from the other four towns - unique and beautiful.
One evening we left Calvin with Grandma and Grandpa and enjoyed a lovely afternoon and evening out in Manarola. We had great pesto pizza, and lots of sunshine. It was fantastic. I sat on the beach with my pregnant belly stuffing my pregnant face with gelato while Matthew did some cliff jumping.
Drinks and a great sunset on the walk back home.
The next day we headed to the Northern most town of Monterosso for beach day! What a great town! Gorgeous beach, and great company. We loved it. Calvin was pretty iffy about the sand and water at first, but decided he loved sitting on a chair covered in sand. Funny boy. We sun tanned, had beach massages, and went kayaking. It was a fantastic end to a great time in the Cinque Terra.
The next day we headed to the Pisa airport to hop our flight back home and decided we should take advantage of the opportunity to check out the crazy leaning tower. So here it is! Smaller and WAY more crowded than we expected ... but now we can say we've seen it ;).
We love Italy!!! This is one European country I could happily visit over and over again!
1 comment:
Some day, in the far off future, I'll visit Europe, and when I do, I'll ask you how to do it! :) I think the staying in one place and just enjoying it (like you seem to) seems wise.
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