So the beautiful thing about this blog post is that I type it knowing my husband will finish work tomorrow morning and will be home with me for the weekend. He finished his first deployment, which was almost 5 months. We were able to see each other halfway through, thank goodness. But I can't say how happy I am that he is home with me. I sleep better, cook real dinners, and love just spending time together doing basic things like grocery shopping and losing our 5-minutes-new Frisbee over the neighbor's yard. I wanted to document our dream vacation to Italy through mostly pictures. When we first starting dating we both agreed that Italy was on the top of our bucket lists. We were so happy to go on this trip and grateful for the opportunity to do so while we are on this side of the world.
To start, I am just so happy he is home. Have I said that yet?
To start, I am just so happy he is home. Have I said that yet?
I am not looking forward to the number of times we will have to have this hug. But for now, we travel!! Vamos a Italia!!
We first went to Rome and stayed in a wonderful hotel called EuroStars, During our travel, we had one full day in Rome to start and we spent the entire day walking all over the city. We started off at the Colosseum, naturally,
We first went to Rome and stayed in a wonderful hotel called EuroStars, During our travel, we had one full day in Rome to start and we spent the entire day walking all over the city. We started off at the Colosseum, naturally,
It was a crazy thing to imagine the kind of things that would happen in this arena. It wasn't as large as we were expecting but there was definitely not a shortage of people from all over the world trying to get in to see it. Next up, the Roman Forum...
Swung by the Pantheon. Happened to be in the nieghborhood....
We ventured over to Trevi Fountain which was of course under construction during our visit. I'll spare you pictures of tarp and skip on to the idea that as a short person I had to practice the art of "looking up" in Rome. There was beautiful statues and artwork everywhere!
I mean...is this real life??
And this is the part where my cell phone/camera battery dies. We saw probably over a dozen of the bucket list landmarks all in all. We also were able to visit the Vatican. However, after standing in line an hour long, I was refused at the door because of my tattoos.
Really.
So we wandered til we found a place to cover my ink with a tacky tourist t-shirt and scarf for my legs. We were not going to go to Rome and not see the Vatican. I mean, come on now! Anyways, it was a great day and we slept well before catching a train from Tremini station to Florence for the remainder of most of our trip. The train ride was beautiful and none of my pictures do it even close to justice so I won't bother... it's worth a trip across the world, I promise. A train ride through Tuscany has been on my dream list forever and I was so happy to cross it off. We spent the next two and a half days wandering around looking for gorgeous and delicious things. It was on every corner though!
Really.
So we wandered til we found a place to cover my ink with a tacky tourist t-shirt and scarf for my legs. We were not going to go to Rome and not see the Vatican. I mean, come on now! Anyways, it was a great day and we slept well before catching a train from Tremini station to Florence for the remainder of most of our trip. The train ride was beautiful and none of my pictures do it even close to justice so I won't bother... it's worth a trip across the world, I promise. A train ride through Tuscany has been on my dream list forever and I was so happy to cross it off. We spent the next two and a half days wandering around looking for gorgeous and delicious things. It was on every corner though!
My favorite Basilica out of the half dozen we went into... Santa Maria Novella. Without a doubt! Probably the most moving artwork I have ever seen in my life. I am surprised none of the other tourists helped me pick my jaw up off of the ground when I spent a good ten minutes just analyzing this painting of the Virgin Mary. It was huge and the detail stunning...
We also went to the Santa Maria Novella pharmacy that looked like this picture but for the entire store. We could smell their homemade brews the minute we stepped in the door, it was on point!
Patrick read up on this sandwich shop that had a crazy line literally the entire time we were there. They literally had a baker from across the street bringing over an armful of fresh loaves of bread every 5 minutes to keep up with the crowd. It was literally the best sandwich I have ever had in my life. Literally.
We checked out the Museum of Galileo. So much of it was sooo over my head. My brain just isn't designed that way ha!
Our view of Florence from halfway up inside the Boboli Gardens.
We took the Cyprus Alley route back down the gardens. I felt like I was in Alice in Wonderland!
Pit stop at the Ponte Vecchio!
We had a truly amazing time. We ate gelato twice a day and every time it was the best I have ever had. We definitely plan to go back someday. I think my favorite part of this trip was just getting to spend it with my guy and letting our adventurous sides run wild. We both work alot and to be able to explore with no deadlines, eat at the same amazing hometown Italian restaurant for dinner twice (Pizza Man in Florence) and shut our phones off a bit was more than worth it.
He also surprised me with an early birthday gift- an upgraded wedding ring. He took me completely by surprise on our last night in Tuscany and proved again that I found a good one. I will always love my original engagement ring for the memories it held but it seems like from another lifetime. I will always remember this vacation, especially as we prepare in a few months for him to go out again for far too long. But for now, we live every moment... for the big and little things :)
He also surprised me with an early birthday gift- an upgraded wedding ring. He took me completely by surprise on our last night in Tuscany and proved again that I found a good one. I will always love my original engagement ring for the memories it held but it seems like from another lifetime. I will always remember this vacation, especially as we prepare in a few months for him to go out again for far too long. But for now, we live every moment... for the big and little things :)
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