STANDARD MIX

Monday, October 8, 2018

Italy Part 3: Meta

We intended to stay in Sorrento, but we booked our rental at the last minute so we ended up in Meta. It worked out well. It was only a 5-minute train ride to Sorrento and Meta had a really nice beach club.

We took the Circumvesuviana train every day and no one got mugged so it was a success, but every train we took was so crowded and hot. My mom absolutely hated it. Toward the end of trip we actually figured out the train system🙌 It was a miracle.

We went to Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii on the first day. To be honest, this was probably my least favorite day of the trip. The bus ride to Mount Vesuvius is hell for anyone who struggles with motion sickness. We quickly climbed to the top (it only took 10 minutes), but the views were obscured with a thick haze. Then, we did a two-hour guided tour of Pompeii. I was done with tour after 45 minutes. It was interesting to see, but I didn't need two hours.

Looking at the crater

Hazy views

The walk down was worse then up in my opinion. My joints hurt lol

Pompeii

Amazing what they've been able to restore

Plaster casts of the victims

Thought to have died from suffocation

The wealthy homes had mosaic tile floors

The second day was spent on Capri. We didn't have a lot of time on the island. We did a boat tour. Enjoyed a few Aperol Spirtz then nearly missed ferry back to Sorrento! My parents actually did miss the ferry. We assumed the ferry would pick up where it dropped us off, but we ended up sprinting 200 meters to reach the dock. Brie was literally the last one on the boat. It ended well though. My parents caught the next ferry a couple hours later. Brady, Brie, Tyler and I had dinner in Sorrento. We had the best seafood (and views!) at Trattoria da Emilia.

First, train to Sorrento

Walking to the ferry

Boat tour

Island tour

Colored caves

Sista

Catching a few rays

Every view is stunning

Brady's picture

Another from Brady

So much boat traffic

Group photo

Tyler's artistic photo

Those that made the ferry lol

The most amazing sunset I've ever seen

The stairs were no joke

We tried visiting Positano on the last day. We bought bus tickets and stood at the bus stop for 45 minutes. It never showed up. We called a taxi service and no one could drive us to Positano so we stayed in Meta for the afternoon then went to Sorrento for shopping and dinner in the evening.

Our terrace

Beach in Meta

I love the taste of salt water

Cute couple

Had to get baby Ward a dress in Sorrento

I really like the trees in Italy

Dinnertime

I'm bummed we never went to Positano, but that is worst thing that happened on this trip so overall it went really well!

Tuesday, October 2, 2018

Italy Part 2: Florence

Florence was a whirlwind. We knew the time would pass quickly so we hit the ground running.

We arrived at our rental apartment and quickly got changed to go explore the city. I was packing my backpack and that's when I realized I had thrown my wallet in the garbage at the train station. I was delirious after all the traveling and when I bought food in the train station I tossed my wallet into the paper bag. When we got off the train I threw the bag in the trash. Fortunately, it was still there when we returned. That's when I knew it was going to be a good trip lol.

We stayed a couple blocks from the Duomo so I have a lot of this background

Brady and I walked through the city. We ate focaccia and gelato. We bought bottles of wine to take to Piazzale Michelangelo and enjoyed our first night in Florence. It the best way to start our trip.

First gelato... lemon and pistachio

Just hangin with the guys

Ponte Vecchio

Sweated our way up to Piazzale Michelangelo

Wine, focaccia, and this view!

Grateful to be here

The steps were getting crowded

The first full day was spent at Cinque Terre (posted here). On the second full day, we rented a car with Brie and Tyler. We drove through Tuscany and stopped in small towns for wine tastings. The scenery was out of a movie. It was everything I had hoped for.

Road trip

This was my favorite spot

Stunning views

Chianti

Brie and I in conversation and Tyler probably ignoring us

Sister, sister

Rolling hills

Brady going to the toilet

Family of three

Great travel partners

We drove back to Florence just in time for our tour of the Duomo. Then, raced all over the city again that night (literally, sweating). It was fantastico!

Entering the Duomo

Pretty impressive

Hot as hell

View from the top

It was pretty great

These tunnels are not for the claustrophobic

Ponte Vecchio round 2

This guy was serious

The sunset was incredible

Brie's substitute for wine

Monday, October 1, 2018

Weekend Update

We survived a weekend without Brady. It wasn't easy.

Evie is full-on these days. I'm exhausted by dinnertime. She is constantly requesting two things. The first and most frequent request is "my baby." Meaning she wants to see photos and videos of herself. We have an "Evie Parker" shared album with our family that we started the day she was born. Needless to say, there is a lot in that album. Evie wants to see absolutely everything. Anytime she catches a glimpse of my phone she asks for "my baby."

The second request is "outshi," aka outside. I'm good with this request. We spend a lot of time at the park. She's discontent in the stroller. She's desperate to get down and walk with us. However, once we're in the park (and we let her out of the stroller) she is one happy camper.

The best part of our weekend was meeting baby Lucy on Friday. Evie had a great time playing with Blair and I got my baby fix💛 I forgot how good newborns smell. She's the most chill baby ever. They definitely make two kids look easy!