When the moon hits your eye...

Ah, Italy... I wish we could still be there!

The trip was so amazing, and of course it's too much to be able to write so I'm going to give the nutshell version (which will still end up being a novel, I'm sure)! And keep in mind, the theme for this trip was no planning, which is a type of trip we have never experienced before so it was a little out of my comfort zone! Another theme that we experienced along the way was that this trip was all about PURE LUCK! From beginning to end this trip was just a series of fortunate events, and it was exciting and adventurous!

So Curt and I were leaving a couple of days before the family was (long story, but jist is cheaper flight) so we embarked on our flight, which was late in getting off the runway as a result of stupid Newark airport just "deciding" to ground all planes so we were REALLY worried about catching our connection as we only had an 1.5 hour layover to begin with! So we FINALLY get in the air, sprint through the terminal to our connecting flight to Rome and got there JUST as the lady was calling final boarding call - Lucky Instance #1! So we made it, and we were sweating and exhausted, but we made it and that's all that mattered! So the flight was great, we made it Rome, and then we were off to Florence to meet Tom in Figline! We had a few hour train ride to get there and Curt got to see a lot of Tuscany and the smaller Italian towns, and it was just gorgeous and we had such a great time. Tom met us at the train station and we had a lovely dinner, and it was just so lovely to be there with him. The next morning Curt and I took a few hours to go to Florence and had a great time tooling around the leather market, the Duomo, Palazzo de Vecchio, and just seeing the sights. We left early in the afternoon, Tom picked us up again, and then we went to see Tom and Carolyn's digs! We went to their other place at the mill, which is so awesome, it's actually a home that used to be a mill that they converted! We also got to see the olive grove which was amazing - 100 trees that they manage and harvest olives from to make their Amici oil! Tom walked us around the property, showed us the trees and the baby olives that will grow big by fall, and we had cherries from their cherry trees! Then we headed back to their place for dinner, and while Tom prepared us an amazing Italian meal, he suggested that we go hiking in the mountains so we did, and it was so peaceful! Then our meal was just so delicious, probably one of our best on the whole trip! And Tom also treated us to Vinsanto, and also some *grappa* which Curt and Tom had fun with!

The next morning we got on the train to Rome and headed out - it was sad to go but luckily Tom and Carolyn only live an hour away so we'll them again very soon! Rome was great as well when we got there - we did the Colesseo and Palatine hill tours which were GREAT, and then went out to dinner with the Mariandes! We met at the Trevi and made our wishes, and had a lovely dinner... the next morning we were heading out to make our way down to Sicily!

So we had an obscenely long train ride, but we made it down south, took a ferry to Messina and spent the next couple of days to see Taormina and the area, and Taormina was just so beautiful... we saw the Greek theatre ruins, and the sea was just beautiful, and this town was just so picturesque - probably one of the most beautiful that we were in the entire time...

It was so fun to have Grandpa Dan there - along with my family (Mom, Dad, Kendyl, Curt and myself) Grandpa Dan was there to share in our quirks and family time... it was fabulous! We had such fun making jokes and spending this time with him... and he was such a trooper with the backpacks! We literally did a true backpacking trip and we all had our backpacks and walking sticks making our way all through Italy!

We then started our journey back up the coast, and stopped next in Cosenza to head into San Giovanni in Fiore which is where my family is from! This town is way in the mountains, and we rode a bus to get there, and then we hiked down to find the church that my Grandpa's grandparents got married in and where everyone was baptised, etc. It took us awhile to find it as no one along the way spoke English but we found it, it was very old and felt very holy and special. We found a special hotel where a guy was very helpful in giving us a map, some history, and everything! We would have stayed there but they didn't have hot water (just for the night) so we ended up going back north and up to Salerno (I think? It's all blurry) so that we would be well positioned to go to Sorrento the next day! So In Salerno we saw their local church, an old man who thought I looked familiar (so sweet) and then we got on our way...

Sorrento was another amazing town - one of my favorites from last time and we had a great time there! They had the most amazing gelato place there, the sea was gorgeous, our hotel was GREAT (Il Faro on the seaside) and we even got a dive in (Curt and myself I mean, not the fam). On the dive, Curt ended up seeing 5 octopus (or is it octopi?)... (I had troubles with my dive suit, which led to ear-clearing problems and so much pain, so I had to abort the dive but “told” or rather communicated to Curt to stay down, and of course he sees 5 octopus, and on the second dive when I abandoned the dive hood and was fine, we didn’t see any – ugh… but nevertheless we dove in Italy, saw some wonderful things, experienced the cold Mediterranean, and had a great time. Ever since then, however, I have still had troubles with my equilibrium and ears, so hopefully no lasting damage there, but still giving my body some time for recovery with everything we were doing! Also in Sorrento we went to our favorite inlaid wood factory – Notturno – and I bought a few things there, and the owner, Michele (Michael) remembered me! Was very excited! I bought a beautiful box (to go with my music box from Grandpa from 5 years ago) and have them both on our new furniture at home.

Next we went back to Rome, and had a lot of fun doing the catacombs tour, which was very special and humbling for me, saw the Circus Maximus, the Catacombs themselves, the Mouth of Truth (Curt and I stuck our hands in – we’re free and clear!) and also St. Peter’s Chains at a smaller church near there, and then of course the Vatican, Sistine Chapel (this is amazing every time I see it – how the people on the ceiling look like they come out of the ceiling is so amazing, it almost makes you dizzy!), and of course St. Peter’s. I have to say that St. Peter’s has gotten a lot more confusing with the way they try to herd people around in there – it wasn’t like this at all when I went last, and it didn’t seem to serve any purpose? By the time we were finished no one wanted to climb to the top with me, and I conceded as I was tired, and have already done it once by myself, so maybe next time.

Curt and I also did some shopping from our souvenir budget that we had been saving up for – Curt bought some shoes that he loves, I bought my box of course from Sorrento, and we also bought some art in Piazza Navona, one of which is a very large painting of Venice (yes, we know we didn’t go there this trip but it is beautiful and Curt fell in love with it) that we got for so cheap! You couldn’t buy a print at Bed, Bath and Beyond for this price, and this one is an original oil painting! So we’re excited to get it framed – it will go in the living room above the couch, and Curt will rig some lighting so watch for it!

Top Ten Most Funny Moments:

10. Curt and I literally running down the hill with our backpacks, a sack of food, and walking sticks in Castiglion to make sure we caught the train back to Rome!
9. Guessing Kendyl’s next meal (was ALWAYS pizza margherita)
8. Walking through the Naples train station with our walking sticks poised as swords for whoever dared approach (pickpocket centrale)
9. Seeing a taxi cab driver in Cosenza dance in the street to an accordion music mix blaring from his cab (he asked Mom to dance)
7. Seeing a large boxer first chase a dog down an alley, and go back up the alley, only then to jump on his owner’s scooter and head down the road (seriously, this dog had to weigh 80 pounds and loved riding on this tiny thing – hilarious and we have a picture!)
6. Meeting the dog who refused to lick my gelato bowl clean b/c she only liked “Vaniglia”
5. Looking at each other in the evening to see who would suggest more gelato, and then us ALL agreeing
4. Having grappa with Tom, enough said
3. Seeing the road sign with a car going off into the water in Sorrento, clearly b/c it has happened
2. Trying to stalk the man who had a Spadafora bag to get a picture of it
1. Seeing Grandpa make our pbthhh face and many other funny moments on the train when we had to entertain ourselves

Hardest laugh I have had in years: Kendyl is in the shower, and Curt and I are unpacking – all of a sudden, I smell something very odd and look up at the a/c vent and make a face. I go about my business, and then I smell it again and make a really bad face, and am saying to Curt, omg, do you smell that (thinking, and the next sentence out of my mouth would have been, “I think someone upstairs died,”) but at that same moment, I looked at Curt and he was taking off his socks and shoes, and it dawned on me that this atrocious smell was his feet, and I just died laughing for like 10 minutes, and then the next morning when I was retelling the story, I couldn’t even get it out… disclaimer: normally Curt’s feet do not smell (hence why I had no idea where this smell was coming from) but for some reason with us walking non stop all day, and possibly the lack of Zinc in his system, it really was smelly… and omg so funny… I’m giggling to myself just picturing it again… LOL!

Top Ten Favorite Things I Saw:

10. A line of the Olds’ and Proske’s with our backpacks, walking sticks, walking all through Italy like ducks in a row…
9. Family’s roots in San G. in Fiore
8. Statue on a very tall mountain as we passed in a train – was a huge angel with arms outstretched open towards the sea - gorgeous
7. Tom & Carolyn’s Olive grove
6. The rows and rows of trees planted by the monks after WWII in the mountains of Saltino, near Figline by Tom’s house
5. Palatine Hill and Domitian’s Palace - incredible
4. Taormina: the bougainvillea vines, and alley ways, and sunlight in the town with Mt. Etna off to the side was just so gorgeous
3. Pompei – I still can’t get enough of this place… Curt really loved it here and I would venture to say that this, Taormina, and Sorrento were his faves
2. Castiglion Fiorentino with Curt, and showing him my school, room, where I would eat, etc.
1. Catacomb tombs in Rome

So in a very small nutshell, this was our trip... there is so much more to tell, but of course I just could go on for hours so I will spare you! We had such an amazing time as a family, and it will be a trip that is with me always so I'm very grateful that we all got to go together.

Next up is Tiff's wedding - stay tuned! And I'll get some pics posted soon, as well!

Love,
Tasha xx