Travels: 2002, 2004 Italy

     I recall a conversation I had with Leanne either when we were newlyweds or just before we got married. We agreed that the 'order to do things' was:

1. Get Married
2. Buy a House
3. Go to Europe
4. Start Having Kids 

     The thought process was that going to Europe would be too expensive both financially and logistically to do more than once,  and that is was likely that we would NOT be able to vacation in Europe once we had kids. I am glad our assumptions were wrong. Aside from the length/cost of flights, vacationing in Europe wasn't that different (logistics/expense) than most other places. I like planning trips so I didn't mind doing the work on that.

     We visited Italy on two separate occasions. The first time was just Leanne and I, it was our first trip to Europe. The 2nd trip two years later we were accompanied by Leanne's parents and Emily, who was then nine months old. The itineraries were similar, so I'm smooshing my thoughts from both trips to a single post.

     On our first trip, we had a layover in London and spent the day sightseeing before flying to Milan. We rode the Eye, had Cornish Pasty, visited Parliament and then rode the Tube back to the airport. Once in Italy (both times) we visited five main areas:

• Felizzano: Felizzano is a small town in Lombardy near Alessandria. Some of my cousins live there and we stayed with them for three or four days. We took day trips to the town in Piemonte (Barbania) where Leanne's great -grandparents were born, and Crea. We also spent lots of time with my relatives. Bruno showed us his wine cellar and where he raises rabbits, Giovanna taught me how to make Bagna Cauda, Danielle shared his grappa, and Adriana was our guide. Little Anna tagged along and played or napped. It was really nice to interact with the extended family. It was also somewhat challenging because I know only a couple hundred words in Italian, and they spoke even less English, we somehow muddled through. 
• Rome:  We visited the Colosseum and Forum, Vatican, Pantheon, etc. I took Emily for a walk through the Borghese gardens at the end of the Via Veneto. We also had an amazing meal at Piccolo Abruzzo, a restaurant that, like everything else, our concierge said was a 15 minute walk away, but wasn't. Rome was the kickoff site for our side trips to the Amalfi coast and Tuscany.
• Sorrento: The Amalfi coast stretches south from Napoli to Salerno, with Sorrento about half way down the coast at the tip of a peninsula the separates the Gulf of Naples from the Tyrrhenian Sea. Leanne and I stayed in Sorrento in 2002, we stayed just north of there in the town of Meta in 2004. The excavated sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum are nearby (Pompeii was a stop on the bus trip down from Rome in 2002, Herculaneum a quick trip on the Circumvesuviana train from Meta in 2004) Capri, and it's famous Blue Grotto, was a short boat ride from Sorrento, and a nice side trip. Leanne especially liked the shopping in Sorrento, I especially liked the lemoncello.
• Tuscany: Arcidosso is a tiny town up in the hills of Tuscany, about halfway between Grosseto and Siena. We stayed at a B&B and took cooking lessons form Carlo Innocenti and his family. Romeo or Isabel would take us on day trips to surrounding towns and local wineries, restaurants, etc. In 2004 Romeo did all of the guiding as Isabel had moved to Miami to run the U.S. side of the touring company, but we got to meet his wife Federica and their baby, named Emily who was also 9 months old!
• Florence: After the stay in Arcidosso, Romeo dropped us off in Florence. In 2002 we hung out at a local bar and watched one of the World Cup (Futbol/Soccer) matches with Romeo and some locals before starting our sightseeing in Florence; the cathedral, art museums/galleries and the Ponte Vecchio where I bought Leanne a souvenir that she still wears almost daily.  In 2004 we also took a day trip to Lucca and Pisa.

The order of where we visited varied a little between the trips.

 In 2002: Milan(Felizzano)->Rome->Sorrento->back to Rome->Tuscany->Florence (I screwed up and we had to sleep in the Milan airport after taking the train from Florence to Milan)

In 2004: Rome(via Madrid), Furnos arrived the next day via Warsaw->Tuscany->Florence->Alessandria (Felizzano)->Meta (Sorrento)*via train to Napoli then Circumvesuviana->back to Rome.

*That was a LONG day on the train. If I recall correctly, 6 or 7 hours to Napoli, wait/transfer to the local train then another 70-90 minutes to get to Meta. Between having far too many bags, the hustlers and shifty characters in the Napoli station, and a baby who was just done, by the time we got to our hotel, we were all ready for a stiff drink and a nap! It was a hoot however to run into fellow travelers on the local train who were from Hanover Park a town adjacent to Carol Stream where we were living at the time.