Venice, Italy

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Venice, Italy

Samantha and I arrived in Venice at mid day and it was HOT.  Luckily, the airbnb we had booked was only a short walk from the train station, though it did take us a little while to find it as the entrance was tucked between some shops and a restaurant.  It was a small flat but it had air conditioning so it was perfect.  We only had 3 nights in Venice and wanted to make sure we made the most of it.  We had some things on the agenda that we knew for sure we wanted to do, like spending some time exploring St. Mark's and taking a gondola ride, but otherwise we just wanted to explore and take in the city.

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Metz, France and Milan, Italy

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Metz, France and Milan, Italy

After leaving the Netherlands, Samantha and I were feeling like we wanted to slow down a little bit and have some down time. We also only had to return our rental car back in Milan, so we figured we'd head south and spend some time in the small French town of Metz. On our way we stopped at a third trappist monastery, Orval Abbey, for a couple beers and some trappist cheese.

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The Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, Capri, and Sicily

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The Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, Capri, and Sicily

The first day Chuck fired up our crappy rental car to drive up the Amalfi coast. It felt much like the Cinque Terre—steep, rocky cliffsides tumbling down into the crisp, clear sea below. Lemon, olive, and grape crops clung to the walls on terraces and hung over the roads. The houses stack up the sides of the coast in any place that seems even slightly horizontal (and many places that are not) with roads crammed in between them barely big enough for a single car to pass.

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Rome, Italy

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Rome, Italy

After Florence, Sam and I drove the couple hours south to Rome.  It rained our last night in Florence which meant that it had finally cooled down a little bit.  We booked and Airbnb geared towards "lovers" which we thought was strange at first, but made perfect sense when we arrived.  Everything was red and almost everything had a heart on it.  The bed had satin sheets and a satin bed spread.  It was weird.  But the location was incredible and it had an enormous patio furnished with a big table for dinners.  We were a short walk, about five minutes, from Vatican City, and maybe 30 minutes to central Rome.  

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Florence, Italy

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Florence, Italy

We left our little villa in rural Italy and steeled ourselves for hordes of tourists in Florence. Our AirBNB was across the Ponte Vecchio bridge and past the Pitti Palace, which made for some picturesque walks each day. The weather was incredibly hot, and we were grateful to have a washing machine and two air conditioners in our apartment.

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The Cinque Terre, Rural Italy, and Pisa

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The Cinque Terre, Rural Italy, and Pisa

After the mountain-town vibes of Ortisei, Chuck and I decided it was time to relax on the beach for a few days. We headed south towards the Italian Cinque Terre, a string of centuries-old seaside villages known for the hand-built terraces marching up the steep slopes from the sea. It's another UNESCO world heritage site.

We decided to stay in Manarola, and were lucky enough to be upgraded to an ocean-view apartment. You can see our view below, but we didn't really take too many pictures. Instead, we spent two full days laying on the beaches in nearby Monterosso, consuming books and beer.

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Ortisei, Italy & the Italian Alps

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Ortisei, Italy & the Italian Alps

In Milan we picked up our gem of a rental car.  Its an a little Opel hatchback that struggles with just about everything.  But for $20 per day it’s tough to complain, and the AC works great!  We left Milan and headed up North to the Dolomites (part of the Italian Alps) on recommendation from Dad and Cindy.  We stayed in the beautiful ski resort town of Ortisei, which while technically in Italy has a very Austrian feel.  This meant real beer (!) and hearty food.  

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Pula & Rovinj, Croatia to Verona, Italy

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Pula & Rovinj, Croatia to Verona, Italy

One of the first items on our agenda once we got to Rovinj (pronounced "row-VIN") was to relax and have a beach day. We drove down to a national park called Kamenjak, pausing at a supermarket and a roadside fruit stand to buy cherries and sandwich fixings. Instead of butter, we bought a jar of something red with pesto-like consistency, mainly because we couldn't figure out what it was. I'm still not sure, but it was delicious!

The beaches in Croatia are all rocky, so we spread our towels on the hot black rocks between pine trees and the sea.

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