Honeymoon blog: Italy -- Positano

We arrived in Naples via a Train from Florence. We then had a driver who drove us the hour and a half road to Positano, a little town off of the Amalfi coast. Ben and I both agree that this was our favorite part of Italy -- extremely relaxing and beautiful. Cars are only allowed to go to a certain point in the city, which is where our driver dropped us off, and we walked the rest of the way down to the coast to our hotel, Covo dei Saraceni.


We had our own little balcony attached to the room, with a magnificent view of the ocean. After unpacking, we headed down to the hotel restaurant and had a wonderful meal overlooking the beach. Ben had really good ravioli (hand made pasta) stuffed with cheese and prawns for the main course. I had spaghetti bolognese and swordfish for the main course.

The next day, we headed out for an all day excursion on the Isle de Capri. We were in a group with about 12 other people. The boat dropped us off at Capri and told us when to be back for pickup. They also provided a map with the main attractions of Capri. Ben and I went to the smaller town, Anacapri, first and rode a chairlift to the highest point on the island where we had incredible views of all of Capri. We then had lunch at a small cafe outside and shared a pizza. Next, we explored the Villa San Michelle, the home of a famous doctor. The villa also had a gorgeous garden and incredible views of the ocean.


We then headed back to the harbour (stopping for some gelato along the way) to catch our boat. The boat tour then took us to the blue grotto where we got into a very small rowboat and entered the cave. Once you're in the cave, the water at the entrance appears to be the brightest blue you have ever seen because of the way the sunlight enters the cave and reflects off of the water. The boat tour also highlighted some of the other grottos around capri (the green grotto and the white grotto) and gave us an opportunity to swim in the Meditterranean (extremely cold). They also treated us to snacks, water, and prosecco (sparkling wine) along the trip. It was a really fun day! That night we headed out to a restaurant on the beach where we had some pasta and pizza, and spent some time exploring Positano.

The next day we spent just exploring the island and doing some shopping. I got some really cute beach dresses, some shoes, and a very pretty beach hat. Ben also got some nice Italian leather shoes. We also spent some time laying out by the hotel pool, and I also got a massage. Later that evening, we headed out to the restaurent, Le Tre Sorelles (the three sisters), which was probably our 2nd favorite meal in Italy. Again, the staff was very friendly. I had some amazing lasagna and Ben had really good pasta as well. We also got some sparkling wine with fruit in it after dinner that was very good.

Overall, positano was incredibly relaxing and was definitely the highlight of our trip to Italy.

Honeymoon Blog: Italy --Firenze

We arrived in Florence by train at about 1pm in the afternoon. Our driver then took us to our hotel -- Lugarno Suites. It was the most spacious accommodations we've had in Europe. There was even a little kitchenette with a dining table and a living room area. Furthermore, it was right on the river, providing a great view.

Since our time in Florence was limited, we then headed out to explore the city -- do some shopping and see the historic district including the Duomo -- Santa Maria del Fiore, Europe's 4th largest church. Before we started all this, we stopped at a little cafe for lunch -- focaccia sandwiches and some chianti wine (typical red wine of the tuscan region). The architecture of Florence is very typical of the renaissance style-- simple and symmetric. The church was anything but simple -- it was very beautifully and intricately decorated along with the campanile and the baptistery. The baptistery doors are covered wit 12 different scenes from the bible (below is a picture of Joseph being sold into slavery), and the ceiling of the dome is painted in scenes from the last judgment.



Ben was needing a nap at this point, so we headed back in the direction of the hotel and we went to bed while I went to the Palazzo Pitti (originally built for the banker, Luca Pitti who wanted to the rival the Medici family, who ironically, ended up buying the palace). Instead of exploring the inside of the palace, I spent my time in the Boboli Gardens attached the palace. It was a true tuscan villa -- so beautiful! The gardens ascended uphill and provided some magnificent views of Florence. There were statues, fountains, and cypress trees all throughout the garden and all the way at the top was a beautiful pink rose garden attached to a porcelain museum. Spending time in the gardens was one of my favorite things I've done in Italy -- it was so relaxing and beautiful, and made me feel like I was truly living in a Tuscan villa.


That night, Ben and I were originally planning to get to the piazza Michelangelo which overlooks the city and a drink some wine while watching the sun set over the city. Romantic right? Unfortunately, we needed to take the bus to get there, and we couldn't find a place to buy bus tickets. I suppose it's something we can put on the list for next time we come to Italy. When our sunset plan failed, we decided to head out to dinner to one of the restaurants recommended by my guide book, 4 Leoni. We had one of our favorite meals of Italy here, and I think this is also the friendliest staff we encountered. We shared an appetizer of shark lasagna (a little weird...but the pasta part was very good). We also shared the main meal of bistecca alla florentine (a classic florentine dish)...which was basically a 1kg steak prepared with beef from a specific brand of cow in Italy. It was delicious! We finished it off with a cheesecake covered with fruit and chocolate -- very tasty.

The next morning, I got up early to go to the Uffizi museum of art (known as Italy's greatest art gallery). Since I hadn't thought to get tickets in advance (I didn't know quite how popular the museum was), I ended up waiting and hour and a half to get in. I would say it was mostly worth it. One of the rooms I was most looking forward to seeing (the room containing all of the Medici family's favorite pieces) was closed for refurbishment. However, Botticelli's works were beautiful, and I'm really glad I got to see his work as well as some of Leonardo da Vinci's earlier pieces as well.

ITALY--honeymoon blog (Venice)

Sunday: Arrival in Venice

We arrived at the venician airport and traveled by taxi to the island. Once we got to the island, we traveled by water taxi to our hotel. We could not travel along the grand canal because there was a big regatta happening that day and thousands of boats were racing around the lagoon and through the grand canal. We ended up being dropped off in San Marco’s square and walking through the shopping district to get to our hotel – The Westin: Europa & Regina. It was beautiful. The lobby was ornate, marbled, and beautiful. The hotel is right on the grand canal and has a boat entrance for pick up/drop off. Our room was beautiful. I felt like we were sleeping in a room in a mansion. Our hotel used to be the home of the famous 18^th century Italian artist, Tipelo. We were exhausted from our flight and ended up taking a 3 hour nap before heading out to explore Venice. We headed to San Marco’s square, where we saw the outside of the Basilica di San Marco, the Campanile, and the Palazzo Ducale.

We walked along the pier where we observed the other tourists, hagglers trying to sell knock off designer purses, and cafes, restorantes, and tratorrias every 10 ft. We ended up eating at a little café. Ben had a quarto fromaggio pizza and I had pasta ragu (pasta with meat sauce). We shared a bottle of white wine (chardonnay) and ended our meal with limoncello (Italian lemon-flavored after dinner drink). After dinner we went to the old prison and watched a quartet perform Vivaldi’s four seasons. We then went to the piazza de San Marco and had dessert (tiramasu and red wine) in one of the café’s in the square. Each of the café’s in the square had a live band that performs traditional/classical Italian music.

Monday, May 24 -- touring venice

Ben and I started off the morning with the hotel's complimentary breakfast out on the patio next to the grand canal enjoying a gorgeous view. We then set off to explore the city. Venice has so many little squares or (piazzas), bridges, and little streets, and we explored a good deal of them before ending up at the Rialto bridge around lunchtime. The Rialto bridge is the largest bridge spanning the canal, and the surrounding area is a bustling marketplace, selling everything from meat, fruit, and bread to jewelry and murano glass.

We stopped to have a drink at a cafe next to the canal before heading to explore the marketplace and the San Polo district. Later in the afternoon, we also explored Dorsoduro and Ca'Rezzonico -- a palace once owned by Browning. It's now a museum with beautiful decorative items and paintings. We then took a vaporetta (a sort of public waterbus) back to San Marco's square, we we tried to find a place to eat lunch. We ended up getting some mozarella and tomato paninis at a cafe near the square. We then did some shopping (buying some murano crystal and glass) and then took a brief nap at our hotel before heading out to San Marco's square to see the Basilica de San Marco, a beautiful chapel in San Marco's square. Later in the evening, we took a romantic gondola ride to dinner. Although our gondolear did not sing, it was still a great experience.

We ate at Sempione which definitely had some authentic venecian food (such as a fried sardines and eel). After dinner, we walked back to San Marco's square along the pier and tried to go into the famous "harry's bar" founded by an American. However, they wouldn't let Ben in because he was wearing shorts, so we ended up going to a tratorria near our hotel to get a late night snack and some drinks.

The next day, our travel guide picked us up from the hotel and we traveled by water taxi to the train station, and we were off to Firenzie (Florence)!