Home Sweet Home

And for my last and final post about our trip I wanted to talk about how much we loved coming back home to good ol' Spanish Fark. On our way over there we managed to get a direct flight from Salt Lake to Paris so it only took 10 hours total to get over there. The home trip was not quite that easy....we flew from Rome to New York. Stopped over for a couple of hours and then flew to DC where we stayed the night and then came the rest of the way to Salt Lake early the next morning. I've flown with my kids too many times to feel like I can ever really complain about a flight if I'm by myself, but it was a loooong trip home. And as my Dr. Pepper exploded all over my clothes in the middle of the JFK terminal I definitely had the sense that the vacation was over.

Luckily we have amazing family in DC who picked us up at the airport late at night, fed us yummy food, talked and laughed with us for hours, gave us a place to sleep and then had us back at the airport bright and early the next morning. It made what would have otherwise felt like a long layover on an exhausting trip home feel more like a party. We really loved our mini family reunion.

We arrived in Salt Lake to our first big surprise.....all of our kids and our parents waiting for us at baggage claim with balloons and signs and hugs and kisses. I wish I would have thought to take a picture! It was really cute. We missed our sweet kids a ton and we loved not having to wait any longer to see them. Pretty soon it felt like we had never left as we drove home with all four of them talking as fast and as loud as they could (to be heard over everyone else) telling us about everything they had done while we were gone. It was really fun answering all of their questions about our trip and giving them all the little nick nacks we picked up for them.

Hallie in her Venitian mask. And her new smile!! She had her braces off while we were gone.

We bought Jake & Mase Muskateer soldiers from Versaille and gladiators from the Colloseum.


Jake & Grandma Woody making a special salad for dinner. The kids loved all of the quality time they got to spend with their granparents while we were gone. I'm pretty sure they barely missed us :)

Team Italia. These four got Italia jackets and we also bought cute soccer jerseys for the boys that they have loved.

And Iz wearing her Ciao Bella t-shirt. She was so glad to have her mommy & daddy back and has tried her hardest not to let me our of her sight since.

Rome

Rome was the one stop on our trip that I wasn't absolutely thrilled about going into it. It was the very end of our trip, our longest stop in Italy, all we had read about was the heat, the pick pockets, etc.....I definitetly did not expect to love it as much as I did. From the minute we stepped off the train and caught a taxi to our apartment I was so impressed by the scope and history in that city.

Kyle found us a tiny little apartment right across the street from the Piazza Navona, which quickly became one of my favorite spots in Rome. It is a huge oval shaped plaza that used to be a chariot race track back in the day. Day or night it is filled with artists & musicians, it is surrounded by cafes, has a couple of amazing fountains in it and is always just packed with people. We wandered over the first night we arrived and hung out there as often as possible for the rest of our stay.

This shot is taken early in the morning (like 9:30!!) when a lot of the artists and vendors were just starting to set up for the day so it is not quite as packed as usual.

This is the Four Rivers Fountain that is in the center of the piazza, there is a huge obelisk that comes out of the top.

Here is Kyle enjoying our favorite breakfast: Cioccolato Caldo (Italian hot chocolate that is SO SO amazingly good; I have made it my personal mission to find a good recipe for it since I've been home), croissants (also amazing, I'm actually in the middle right now of a 3 day recipe to try and replicate those....it's a lot of work), and yogurt.

We saw a lot of tiny cars in Italy but this one was definitely the most bizarre, we had a hard time telling which end goes first :)

This monument was built so recently (in the 1800's) it is still considered brand new. One thing I love about Rome is that they build things on an epic scale.

Kyle's favorite stop.... the colloseum was really amazing to see in person. It was interesting to read the history and incredible to think that they built this 2000 years ago.



One thing we didn't really skimp on was food. We tried to be reasonable and not eat our entire budget but we definitely considered trying all the local culinary favorites as important as seeing all the sights. Now that I'm back to PB&Js I am really missing all that fantastic food.



Bowser's Castle!!! Ok not really, but that is what we told our kids. (That's a Mario Bros reference FYI) This is a castle used to protect the popes when Rome is under siege. And it is where Bowser is keeping Princess Peach....



And in honor of Halloween...a real life mummy! The Vatican Museum was really interesting (although I think I've seen enough marble statues to last a long long time) and had a great Eyptian section.



St. Peter's Basilica was very impressive. It is massive and absolutely stunning. Seeing that and the Sistine Chapel were definitely worth spending the day in Vatican City.

We had gorgeous weather for our entire trip with the exception of some scattered showers our very last day in Rome. It had been hot there so we didn't mind too much and in light of the rain and flooding that they have had in Rome this week we are feeling very very lucky.

The Pantheon: the oldest intact building in Rome. The rough translation of the Latin on the front is "Agrippa Built This" which I initially thought was really funny. But considering that it is still standing and that the massive dome inside still baffles engineers considering when it was built and the materials it is made from, I think Agripps definitely earned his bragging rights.

This was really close to our apartment too so we walked by it and through it a few times, but this shot was taken on our "Night Tour of Rome" It was a self-guided tour we did using our Rick Steves guidebook. It was really beautiful to see all of the monuments lit up at night. The next few shots are all from that walk.

The Trevi Fountain. It was always packed with people. We walked by at a few different times of day trying to find a less crowded time, but as far as I can tell it is always crowded. We threw some coins in over our shoulder which we were told means that we will be returning to Rome soon. It's that easy!

The last step on our night tour was the Spanish Steps. Another really fun place to hang out and people watch.

That was our trip!! It was the most consecutive time Kyle and I have ever spent alone together. Even for the ten minutes or so that we were newly married and had no kids we always had work, school, friends, family, etc., and I have to say it was a wonderful experience. Paris & Italy made an incredible backdrop but one of the highlights for me was just getting to spend time with my husband without all of life's usual stress and distractions. It was a great reminder of how easy it is to be with each other, how much fun we have together and how lucky I am to have him in my life. And in my Eternal life. It was the perfect way to celebrate our first 10 years together.

Our whirlwind tour of Tuscany...

After a nice relaxing stretch in Venice and then in Corniglia we felt like we were well rested and ready to go into crazy tourist mode. We woke up ridiculously early (5:30!!) to be out of the house by 6:30 (this was the one and only time the entire trip that we forced ourselves out before 9:30 so this was quite an accomplishment) and catch an early morning train. The only problem being that the shuttle down to the station didn't start running until 7:10 and our train left at 7:20. So we carried our suitcases through the tiny main street of Corniglia (it's only about 5 feet wide, made entirely of cobblestone and more of an alley than an actual street so we didn't dare roll them and make too much noise) and then rolled them down the long winding mountain road to the train station. It was beautiful being out that early and watching the sun come up.

BREAKFAST IN PISA

Pisa was not on our original itinerary. But when we saw that we had to switch trains there between Cinque Terra and Sienna we couldn't resist a quick side trip to see the famous tower. So we hopped off the train, checked our luggage at the station and walked to the other side of town to check it out. I'll be honest and say we were just seeing it to say we saw it, but I was surprised by how amazing it was to see in person. That thing is really leaning!



We tried to do one of those goofy pics where it looks like I'm pushing over the tower but it really didn't turn out....so here is our do-it-yourself shot of us at instead.

LUNCH IN SIENNA

A few train rides later we found ourselves in beautiful Siena. This side trip got of to a rocky start. We had read that there was no luggage check at the train station but that the bus station had one. So our plan was to catch a bus to the bus station, check our luggage and then go check out the town. We ended up not catching a bus and walking instead....with all of our ridiculous amounts of luggage....aimlessly....ok, we had an aim--we just didn't go in the right direction...for over an hour looking for that stupid bus station.

We were ready to throw in the towel, give up and head back to the train station when one of our wrong turns finally led us to the main gate into old Siena. We were totally hooked and knew we had to check it out, even if we had to carry our luggage the whole way. Luckily we did finally find the bus station and were able to get rid of our suitcases for a bit.

Siena was definitely worth all that trouble. It is relatively small and has a very gothic, mideivel feel that was really cool. This is the main cathedral there, you can't really tell by the picture but it was one of the most beautiful and ornately decorated ones that we saw on our trip.

The other main feature in Siena was Il Campo, the towns main square. It is huge and they still hold massive horse races there a couple times every year. As a tourist it is the perfect spot to grab lunch, yet another gelato, and people-watch.

Our final train ride that day took us to Florence. We got there late and went straight over to the B&B we had booked pretty close to the train station. After being so charmed by Sienna earlier that day my initial reaction to Florence was disappointment. We had heard so much Florence-related hype but to me it just seemed huge and overcrowded with enough scooters flying around to rival even some cities in China. The couple who ran our B&B though were young and really nice and even gave us a ride to dinner. That was a plus after a long day of walking.

The next morning we checked out, took our luggage to the train station and went to see what all the Florence-hype was really about. Florence is famous for having the best gelato in Italy....it was really good but I'm still partial to our little gelato shop in Corniglia. Here is a pic of the Florence gelato:

This is the Ponte Vecchio, Florence's famous and very beautiful bridge. Florence is the birthplace of the renaissance so the history there is absolutely amazing. We spent the morning at the Galileo Science museum, it was incredible to see the huge strides made in science in such a short amount of time. I was surprised to learn how many famous artists were contemporaries in Florence during the same time period too. It was super crowded that day so we weren't able to get into the Uffizi Museum which is supposed to be pretty incredible, but we had fun wandering around. By the end of our day there I had definitely warmed up to Florence and would love to go back sometime.

Cinque Terre - Cornglia

I know that we have already done a post on Corniglia, but we wanted to add a few pics so you can see how beautiful it was. Corniglia is one of five villages of the Cinque Terre - the smallest and most quiet of the five. It is also the only one of the five NOT on the water...it's perched on cliffs several hundred feet above the water. In fact, to walk from the train station to the village is over 400 stairs, and A LOT of sweat! We loved it! We were able to hike/train to all five villages during our stay, and we loved that ours was much less crowded than the others. A short hike down to our little cove found clear, cool blue water, warm rocks, and very few people to share it with. So, here are a few pics... Jamie on our train ride to Corniglia...you can catch a glimpse of the coastline out the window behind her. This a quick look at the 400+ steps leading from the train station to town. We walked down, but never had to walk up them...we always caught a ride. Good thing too, cause normal people were drenched in sweat by the time they made it to the top...and we all know I am no normal person when it comes to sweat! A view of the swimming hole from the trail/stairs down... And another looking up at the town from the cove. Our apt was the one next to the yellow house on the far right. Jamie and I on our hike from Monterosso to Vernazza...Monterosso is the small town way behind us on the water. That's it for now. We will post again soon!

Venizia

By the time we got into Venice and to our apartment it was almost 11 and we were starving. We wandered around the corner from our apartment and found a little cafe right on a canal. We were the only people there and I had some of the best lasagna of my whole life....and I love lasagna. It was a great welcome to Italia and one of my favorite meals this whole trip. The best gellato in Venice...according to Rick Steves...it was quite good. I ordered chocolate mousse, it was pretty intense. You'll notice we are holding gellato in most of our Italy pics. When in Rome...St. Marks SquareRialto Bridge (and my head unfortunately)A romantic gondola rideAnd the outer door to our apartment. All of our apartments so far have been in great locations and have had a lot of local personality and style. It's definitely a gamble and we have had some very interesting bathrooms and beds but I would recommend going this route over a hotel any day, we've loved it.All in all I absolutely loved Venice. It was a very laid back couple of days and the overall ambiance and history in that city was amazing!

Corniglia!!

Sorry about the lack of updates...internet access has been spotty at best.  We found a little cafe though so we though we would catch up a little, no pics though....sorry! 

We spent two full days in Venice, catching the sites, roaming the streets, and enjoying fine Italian food!  After Paris, we wanted to keep the sight seeing to a minimum and slow the pace A LOT, so we caught the major Venice attractions, and then spent the rest of the time roaming the streets and (mostly) enjoying getting lost...a lot! 

Yesterday, we hopped a few trains to the other side of the country to a small village name Corniglia, one of the five villages of the Cinque Terra.  It is small, quiet, slow, and beautiful.  The villages are on the coast and the water and weather have been perfect.  In the day and half weve been here we have already done plenty of hiking and swimming.

We will try and get online again tomorrow and post some pics from Venice and Corniglia.

Day 4 was another busy one, trying to make up for the easy day we had the day before. We started early and went ALL day, hitting the Louvre again for the DaVinci Code tour, seeing the Monets at the l'Orangerie, climbing WAY too many steps up to Sacre Coeur, trying to figure out how budding artists actually make it into Museum of Modern Art, and then capping off the day with a river cruise and a LATE dinner.






We would have taken more pictures but our camera batteries died while we were out. Guess we will have to post more later. On to Italy!

Paris day 3

Day 3 in Paris was a pretty leisurely day- we needed to recover from our marathon the day before. We woke up late and took a day trip out to Versailles. The palace was impressive and beautiful, as were the gardens. But there were lots of people shuffling around and the house got hot pretty quickly, so we didn't linger too long. On our wa back we stopped for pizza and then hopped on the train and called it a day.

Paris cont.....

Just a note: blogging and iPads are not meant to go together!! This has been ridiculously hard. But that's not what you want to hear about.....after arriving in Paris yesterday morning we got through customs, grabbed our suitcases and headed into the city. After one wrong train and several wrong turns through the Marais neighborhood we're staying in (dragging our suitcases and looking ridiculously touristy) we finally found our apartment. Francois met us at the buildings door and informed us the lift is broken so we hauled our 50 lb. Suitcases up a six story steep spiral staircase to our apartment. It was worth all the trouble, we love it! It's a little studio with a Murphy bed in a really quaint part of town that is full of cafes and shops and locals. We then broke one of the all-important jet lag rules and took a nap. I know you're not supposed to but what can I say? We're rebels. When we woke up we went for a walk down to the river, ate a pastry on a bridge and then walked through Notre Dame cathedral. They were having mass at the time, it was so beautiful to hear the Priests singing and chanting echo off those enormous ceilings. After that we bought some crepes and a Coke from a street vendor and walked down to eat by the river. We saw a rat down there just like in Ratatoille! I've got to go to sleep! You can see what we did today on the pics below. We were looking at the louvre paintings to find pics of the kiddies. We found one of the girls (below) but we're still looking for the boys. It has been a little surreal so far but an amazing experience. I miss my kids!! I feel a little like Rapunzel in Tangled right after she leaves the tower with Flynn: ecstatic one second and ready to break down and cry the next.....

Paris! Day 1 & 2

FINALLY safe and sound in our apartment and the beautiful view of the rooftops from our windows.

Notre Dam from the front and back.

Eating a yummy dinner crepe down by the river with Ratatoullie!

This is as far down as I can comment (stupid blogger!) above is Kyle at our front door and the street our apt Is on, the rest are us at the Louvre, some of the Louvre Highlights, us on top of the Eiffel Tower at sunset, the tower lit up at night, inside the pyramid at the Louvre, a painting with Hallie & Izzie in it (bottom 2 girls), us at the Arc de Triumph, and me at a sidewalk cafe having dinner.