Amalfi Coast

I think I would be pretty content watching about 6 or 7 of these with my hubby during some warm summer month:

Even though that would be fabulous; I'm still glad we got to enjoy one cold, rainy day exploring the Amalfi Coast with these little ones in tow:

Tuesday morning we headed out from our hotel and drove roughly 45 kilometers down the Amalfi Coast. Even though it was only 45 kilometers it takes quite awhile because the drive is quite windy and very scenic. We enjoyed the views along the way...

Grabbed a quick family picture:A miniature town on the side of the road: A random cool building:Our final destination was Amalfi City. Can you tell it was a bit windy??? Here we are out on a pier in Amalfi City:

More pictures on the pier:

There's nothing like traveling with a friend (especially for 3 year-olds):

Andy and Rachel in front of a church in Amalfi City: Audrey and I sharing some gelato in Amalfi City - just having fun!
The rain actually stopped for a bit while we stretched our legs in Amalfi City. We then loaded back in our cars and headed up a hill to Ravello. Let's just say I was pretty amazed to see bus stops along our way up to Ravello. And I am very grateful we didn't happen to meet a bus as we drove to and from Ravello. Kind of reminded us of a really long Lombard Street. This picture doesn't really do it justice, but you can see the teeny zigzag road:
And here's a picture of one of the troopers:
Audrey's still rear-facing, so couldn't grab a picture of her. The girls were really good for the amount of time we spent in the car on Tuesday. We ended up in crazy traffic once again as we headed back to our hotel. We grabbed some takeaway pizza, ate dinner in our hotel room, and then enjoyed some swimming at the hotel that evening. And I have to say that it was one of the first European swimming pools that was actually heated to my comfort level. All the kids had fun for a bit - I believe we were kicked out when they were closing up the pool.

Pompeii

On the third day of our Italian adventure we spent the majority of the day in the car. The drive from Florence to Pompeii took roughly 5 hours. I had to do quite a bit of convincing to have Andy stop in Pompeii, but after it was all said and done, he was glad we made the stop. As a matter of fact, all of us wished we had had more time in Pompeii. By the time we got there we only had about 2 1/2 hours before they closed. So, Andy was our tour guide as he read out loud a self-guided tour out of our Rick Steves' Italy book. It was quite amazing to see how much survived the volcano eruption and roughly 2000 years later items are still be discovered. We actually saw some people at work excavating a particular area.

Here's the ancient Roman city at the entrance: A picture of us with the Temple of Isis in the background:While we followed Andy through Pompeii we were about to see forums, remains of houses, public toilets, pipes, a bakery, a brothel, signs that had survived, bath houses, the Temple of Isis, etc...
Pottery that survived:
One of the plaster casts of a victim: Cast of a dog that is believed to have been chained outside a house:One of the many paved streets with "stepping stones" to help you get to the other side when it flooded. You could even see the tracks the chariots made in the streets.
I believe this is where the Romans would have their daily markets:
Inside a bath house, Terme del Foro: Pictures of the bath house ceiling:
Audrey was a happy girl in Pompeii:

Pompeii was a lot bigger than we expected and we missed a lot, but we did enjoy seeing what we were able to see. It was amazing to see how inventive the Romans were 2000 years ago. They built a very functional city and I found it very interesting seeing it and reading about it.

That evening we made our way to Sorrento - traffic, traffic, traffic! It took us forever to get from Pompeii to Sorrento. So, we got a late dinner at a restaurant that ended up being one of our favorites as well. This is where my friend Allison discovered gnocchi pasta for us all. :) We stayed in a little hotel just south of Sorrento for the next two nights. The next day we enjoyed the Amalfi Coast...

Florence

We went to Italy at the beginning of March - March 5th-13th. On our Italy adventure we spent our first two full days in Florence with our friends, the Rasmussens. Florence is claimed to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Our first morning there we checked out the Duomo, the cathedral of Florence. Last Judgment frescoes by Vasari:
While Bailee and the men climbed 463 steps to the top of the dome, Allison and I enjoyed a yummy creme-filled doughnut with the littler ones! :) Some pictures as they climbed and the view from the top of the dome:Audrey and I outside the Duomo:The kids getting out the wiggles as we wait for Bailee and the men to make their way down:

We also wandered through the Central Market of Florence on Saturday. After much deliberation the guys picked out some high quality ties. :) Out of all the places we ate in Italy, the restaurant we found down some random street in Florence for Saturday lunch, was my favorite. The girls even enjoyed it - the yummy bread and drinking soda in a fancy glass: Rachel outside the train station in Florence:Saturday afternoon we grabbed a bus and headed up to San Miniato al Monte, which is a monastery in the hills above Florence. We enjoyed the views, exploring through the cemetery, checking out the beautiful monastery, listening to the monks chant, and a beautiful Florence sunset. Some pictures of the cemetery - quite amazing:The monastery: The whole gang: We walked down a short way to Piazza Michelangelo. We got a glimpse of what was in store the next day when we saw the real David.

Florence at night: The next day was full of museum visits. We first went to the Uffizi, which contains some of the greatest art of the Renaissance. We were able to see The Birth of Venus (probably the highlight of the museum) and many other works of art. Quite amazing to see such paintings and sculptures. We enjoyed a quick lunch that afternoon:
Then off to the Accademia, which houses Michelangelo's David. I read Michelangelo's biography by Irving Stone last winter. It was really neat this trip to see many of the sculptures and paintings that I read about in the book. The David was huge and amazing. You can see veins, muscles flexing, etc... What an amazing talent! The rest of the day we rode a tourist bus to make sure there weren't any parts of Florence we missed. The kids were happy campers on the bus:
A few more pictures of Florence:
We enjoyed our two days in Florence. As we drove from Florence down to Pompeii we enjoyed the Italian countryside. The Tuscany area would definitely be a nice place to visit for a longer period of time, but vacation time doesn't always allow for that. Our next stop was Pompeii...