We're here! When we got here we immediately hit the ground running. It was amazing how easily we were able to jump back in to the nomadic lifestyle. No sleep, no showers, little food, lots of being lost, and a few unexpected twists sprinkled throughout. We were doing great!
We arrived in London on Saturday morning and made a quick stop on our way to the other London airport for some ice cream at Hyde Park. We knew we had just enough time to order, sit in the grass for a few moments, and finish it on the underground. As long as we allowed ourselves the exact amount of time needed to get to the airport we'd be fine, right? I'm sure you can see where this is going. After waiting in a huge line to check in, our liquids were chosen for extra inspection. Airport security not being the kind of people you want to be pushy with, we waited patiently then sprinted to our gate when all was finished. We were about 30 seconds too late. They hadn't even closed the airplane door yet but they were still not letting us on. So, we slept in the airport and caught the early flight out the next morning. A rough start but a good lesson learned. On our last trip we cut it close to everything and always made it with about 2 seconds to spare. We took pride in this skill! This trip we've quickly become those people that arrive way too early! So far so good. No more missed flights! Although, we did have to run to catch our train yesterday... Baby steps.
After a very sleepless night in the airport and an early flight to Naples, we were in Italy. We took a bus to the Amalfi coast and spent the day in wonder at how unreal it was. There were the most beautiful little cliff side towns sprinkled all along the coast. Sorrento, Positsno, Amalfi... All so colorful and filled with lemon trees. This is where the limoncello originated:) The views were breathtaking! The bus ride was also breath taking.. But more so because we were driving on the very edge of unbelievably tall cliffs! I couldn't get myself to lean over and look out the window, partially because I didn't know if I could handle knowing just how high up we were, and mostly because I was afraid the leaning of more body weight to look out the window would send our whole bus careening over the edge! It was a wild ride but I will never forget those views. I'm bummed because it was super hard to get photos of the views as we were driving. The bus was either going to fast around the corners or I was trying to keep my head still so I wouldn't get car sick. Haha! I promise it was an incredible day.
We took a train in the late afternoon to Rome and arrived right as the sky started to turn shades of gold, purple, and blue. It was the perfect back drop for the ancient golden buildings and shiny cobblestone roads all around us. Brett and I practically skipped to our hotel, stopping every few moments to breathe it in and ask each other if this was real life!
We checked in to our amazing luxury hotel, minutes away from the Spanish steps, where a junior suite awaited us. Hotels and suites are typically not our traveling style (only because we'd go into debt if we traveled that way) ... But Brett booked us this ritzy little room for a whopping $1 a night. Yes, you read that right. $1. He found it on a booking website and booked it quick. Later we found out that it was a website error but that they would honor it because that is the price it was advertised as!! We checked in and immediately relaxed. Going on 80 hours without any real solid sleep, we were beyond thankful for this room.
After a quick Skype session with my family (our awesome room had wifi!), we headed out for our first Rome night walk. Night walks in Rome were reason enough to put Italy on our itinerary this trip. Our first night walk was extra special because it was the Euro 2012 quarter finals that night! Italy was playing England. You could hear cheers and televisions echoing all through out the streets. Everyone was watching! Waiters, storekeepers, shoppers... They even set up a giant television in one of the big squares. It was this big square that we stumbled upon right as Italy won the game in the very last moments. The place went NUTS. Flags were flying, people were singing, the streets were buzzing. It was so much fun to watch! We finished our night walk and headed back to the hotel for a glorious full night of sleep. It was such a wonderful first day!
We spent yesterday and today exploring Italy. We revisited a few places and saw some amazing new ones! I can't wait for you to see the town we went to in Tuscany. I'll post pictures soon. Right now we're in the Geneva, Switzerland airport and should be sleeping. Sleeping in airports is quite the experience and each experience is very different. So far, this one has become really funny and kooky. There are some interesting people in here and everything and everyone is making us laugh! We check in tomorrow at 4:30 am for our flight to Egypt! We're a wee bit nervous considering some current events but we've kept our eyes on the news and think its safe to go. We did have to make some last minute amendments to our plans because of some recent safety things but it should be amazing! I can't wait! If you could, we would love prayer for safety. Ciao!
P.S. I'm doing all of my blogging from B's iPad this trip so forgive any auto corrections or other imperfections:) This thing is tricky!
Hyde Park
Amalfi Coast
B waiting in the hot sun at a bus stop
Lunch! Only in Italy can you throw some cheese and sliced tomato on bread and have it be decadent.
Limoncello
Night walk in Rome!! We were dying to get some gelato!
Euro 2012 celebrations!
Spanish Steps
Trevi Fountain
Read other posts from our trip by clicking here! :)
