La Vita è Bella

Tim and I were blessed to be able to visit Italy this past summer.  I'm not a world traveler, but I've always dreamed of visiting countries all across the world.  Recently, circumstances allowed us to take a trip, and we jumped at the opportunity!  Here are some of the highlights we enjoyed.

Rome in 2 days.

This is the little bed and breakfast we stayed at.

I like to hold maps in my hand and carry a Jansport backpack on my back so there is no mistaking it:
I am a tourist. 

Inside the Pantheon.

Tim chillin' on some steps inside the Vatican.

This is one of many "prove we were here" pics - St. Peter's Square right outside St. Peter's Basilica. 

Inside St. Peter's Basilica.

And on to Sorrento!

We made it to the Mediterranean!

We rented a car while in Italy, and almost killed ourselves a number of times inside it.
But, I acted as the navigator and Tim braved the narrow roads, crazy Italian drivers, and
sharp turns on the edges of cliffs like this for the remainder of our trip.
It was epic. 

Welcome to Sorrento, Italy!
This is the charming little town we stayed in following Rome.
We were here for a week, and loved it!

We hiked down some ancient Roman stairs to this lagoon.
Italians stay out late and sleep in, so at 10am, we had this place to ourselves.

On the other side of this lagoon is the Mediterranean.

Mt. Vesuvius across the way.
We spent an afternoon climbing rocks, exploring old Roman ruins, and cliff jumping into the sea.
The water is very turquoise, but our camera didn't do so well at capturing the color :(

Look at my burly, bearded husband.
What a hunk.

So in Sorrento, you can do 3 things: swim, eat, and shop.
The town is full of charming little shopping strips like this.
 Restaurants, Gelaterias, and flea markets galore!

 

Town Center
Sorrento comes alive at night.

They shot off fireworks one night down at the marina, and I've never seen similar fireworks here in the states.
We're talking fireworks bouncing across the water and leaving a waterfall trail behind each bounce.
It was amazing!

To get down to the beach, you often had to take several narrow flights of stairs.
And by several, I mean 5-6 long flights.
You should know I'm deathly afraid of heights.
For the record, that is me. Hugging the wall and saying a prayer the entire way down, but all the same.

That journey down those stairs was worth it because we hopped on a fairy and landed in Capri.
This was hands down our favorite part of the trip.  This island is breathtaking!

We hiked to the city center from the marina.
(Crazy wind hair!)

And took a bus to the top of Ana Capri on the other side of the island.

It was terrifying.

But as always, worth it.

After lunch at a cafe, we hopped on a private boat for a tour around the island. 

That's when I discovered...

that Capri is actually Neverland. 

Our capitan Salvatore.

He whisked us through caves and rock arches surrounding the island.

And even offered us some bubbly.
We asked him to take our picture instead.

Back to Capri, our favorite place in the world. 

Pompeii

So we went to Pompeii.

And I decided to wear the brightest shirt I own.

Just in case I got lost?

We like to vacation in the same place as Oprah.

After a week in Sorrento, we hopped back into our little Fiat Punto and made our way to Amalfi.
It was a two hour drive of this.

Tim was in heaven.

So we learned at church the next day from one of the members that
a famous American journalist was visiting Amalfi the same week.
"I think her name was Opera? Oprah?"

Amalfi, Italy - July 2013

I wasn't going to include this pic because it's just me sitting on some old Italian steps in Amalfi.
And then I realized, it's ME sitting on ITALIAN steps in AMALFI.
By the end of week two, we had the Italy thing down :)
(Ignore the tired face. Rather, check out my cute Italian stripey bag!)

You didn't think I'd forget to mention the food, now did you?

The first thing everyone wants to know when they find out we traveled to Italy is, 

"How was the food?!"

Well, let me tell ya....

This was a daily ritual.

And seriously, this is what I traveled to Italy for.
Okay, not really.  But Sorrento, Capri, and the Amalfi Coast are known for their lemons.
I'm sipping on a frozen lemonade slush with a fresh orange squeezed right over the top.
I dream about this drink. Seriously.

Lemon Soda? Amazing.
Once discovered, I became and addict.

Lemon Pasta? Amazing.
Once discovered, I never ordered anything else.

Pastries? Amazing.
Once discovered, we gained weight.
End of story.

But after a while, all of this decliciously, bad for you, Italian food created quite the ruckus in our tummies.
Our last day in Italy, we decided we needed something our bodies would recognize...something that would sit a little easier in our stomachs.
This, my friends, is the definition of irony for you.

And a P.S.

Italians dress their kiddos right.
Call me silly, but I had to take a snapshot of this cute little display.
Adorable.

Of course when we found out we had a 4 hour layover in Amsterdam...