Showing posts with label Italy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Italy. Show all posts

Sunday, July 30, 2023

Italy Day 3 {Cinque Terre}

 In the morning, we drove up to Cinque Terre, which translates to Five Lands. It's a National Park consisting of 5 coastal villages and the surrounding area. We stayed in Manarola.

Thanks to the language barrier, we had quite the time figuring out the gas pump. Braylee must be smarter than her old dad, because she figured it out and high fives were given! 😄
In honor of Bria's current favorite cartoon, Alex named the car Bluey.
Random convenient store stops for snacks and drinks look different in Italy.
Spotted a dress outside a shop and just had to have it. There wasn't a size tag but it fits perfectly!
We arrived! Since Manarola is built into the mountain, we had to park and then walk up to the village.
It was a bit of challenge to find our Airbnb. We were given directions to this call box for check in.  Then the guy sent us a video explaining how to get to the apartment. The alleys are small; it's easy to get lost.

The view from our apartment was amazing! 😍
We watched several jump from the cliff and Alex did later in the day.
Focaccia sandwiches. This area is known for focaccia bread.
More gelato
Fanta in Italy is 12% orange juice, made with blood oranges from Naples.
We had planned to take a sunset cruise, but the company called us to say the weather forecast was showing rough waters for the evening and wondered if we would prefer to go out in the afternoon. The sun was shining and we had a great time seeing all 5 towns that make up Cinque Terre from the water.
Riomaggiore
Swimming in the Ligurian Sea (part of the Mediterranean). The girls jumped in too.
Braylee started feeling sick at one point but felt much better once we turned around and the wind was in her face. Meanwhile, her little sister was living her best life.
Back in Manarola. No filter needed.
We had hiked over to this area to get reservations at a restaurant on the cliff. But then we decided getting all dressed up and eating there really wasn't our style. 😊 So instead, we grabbed food from little shops and ate down by the water to enjoy the sunset.
Braylee had spotted these fish & chips bags earlier in the day so she grabbed one for dinner.
The rest of us ordered pasta from this little place.
The chocolate mousse was delicious!
Raspberry covered cheesecake
Beilyn called while we were eating dinner so she got a little tour of Manarola.

Saturday, July 29, 2023

Italy Days 1 & 2 {IN to Pisa}

We had planned to leave for Italy the week after graduation until we realized the girls' passports had expired. 🤪  So we expedited new ones in June but as the trip approached, we began to wonder if they really would. I watched the passports' progress online for weeks and was almost in shock when I saw on Tuesday they had already shipped, completely skipping the approved stage! The local post office was able to confirm they would be delivered by Thursday, just in time for us to leave on Friday! PTL!

Braylee went from Bible Memory HS camp to Michigan to Bible Memory Elementary camp to Italy with only 2 nights at home! What a summer!

God is faithful!
7/28 - Made it to Chicago
7/29 - Easiest customs process ever!
Rental car picked up and on our way to Pisa!
We needed some caffeine! Italy is 6 hrs ahead of EST, so while it was 8am here, our bodies thought it was 2am. This is a "large" coffee. 😄
I love trying new snacks when we travel. These chips were ok but do not compare to the Keogh brand we had in Ireland!
When we spotted the islands off shore, we stopped in Follonica to see if we could see Sardinia (where my dad's family is originally from) and happened upon this cute beach! 
Our Airbnb in Pisa
Our host told us the building dates back to the 11th century. 🤯
Visitors from all over the world, but we were the first to put a pin in from southern Indiana.
Our Airbnb was right on the Via Santa Maria. It's lined with shops & restaurants and leads right to the tower.
Piazza del Duomo de Pisa
When we went into the tower, it felt like an optical illusion. We climbed the steps to the top. The steps were grooved in the middle from so much wear. The tower construction was started in 1174.
Our first gelato of the trip.
We walked back around to the tower before calling it a night. We were all exhausted!
No worries about the little girls! Gramma took them to Holiday World and they ran into my sister Trista and Miles!