Last night my aunt and uncle came over for a typical family dinner (complete with juicy steaks, delicious salad, baked potatoes and they brought amazing cupcakes for dessert, YUM!). However, this was the first dinner we've had since my aunt returned from vacationing for three weeks in beautiful Italy! So of course we were all dying to hear about her travels and see some of her pictures.
She spent time in Rome and Venice (and I think Florence? I got a tad lost with all of her fun stories! I do know that she spent time on the Amalfi coast!) and her scenery was absolutely gorgeous! Her villa was surrounded by gorgeous olive trees and lemon trees (my mother's new obsession) on the mountainsides. It sounded phenomenal! She said that walking everywhere and talking to locals was the best way to find things to do and food to eat--although three different people told her three different places for the "best gelato", so of course she just tried all three! I guess you could say that she immersed herself in somewhere like this:
 |
| Gorgeous right? It's breathtaking! |
She even brought a few treasures back for us, which was so sweet. My mom got a beautiful, Italian painted salad bowl that she has always wanted and my siblings and I all got Italian leather wallets. Ahh Italian leather! I love it!
I can't wait to get to Italy someday! Has anyone ever been? What's your favorite spot to go to?
Hearing about her travels has gotten us even more excited for ours! We leave tomorrow for Colorado and I am so, so excited! Our view is going to look something like this:
 |
| These are some mountains we get to tackle! I can't wait! |
There is just something about traveling and experiencing new things that really makes you feel complete. You just never know what you have in store when you travel and it's those unexpected moments and experiences that make me love traveling even more.
I can't wait to come back and tell you all about our adventures out West! Since it is such a big trip, we are taking a computer so on my down time I can't wait to read what everyone else has been up to! Until then, happy blogging! Live up every beautiful summer day, before we know it they'll be gone!
~Susan
P.S. Happy Birthday to my younger brother Michael who turns 19 today! Cake? I think so!
wow that is so sweet of your family to bring back presents for everyone, how thoughtful! those photos are outstanding, i definitely would be hit by the travel bug too after hearing all their travel stories. meg
ReplyDeleteThose pictures are beautiful!! I absolutely love them :)
ReplyDeleteLove your blog!
madeline
changingtunestheblog.blogspot.com
I would love to go, but Paris is on my list first!
ReplyDeleteOhh, I wanna go to Rome so bad!!
ReplyDeleteI've only been to Italy once and it was a pretty short trip but it was really beautiful. I loved Venice. Didn't make it to Rome, though, so if I ever get to go back, THAT'S where I'm headed!
ReplyDeleteYou better have fun in Colorado for me (I'm homesick just thinking about it). You know what else is in/around Durango? The Narrow Gauge Railroad. There's a train you can take through the mountains for an hour or two and see some incredible vistas. One of the routes takes you through an itty bitty mining town called Silverton. I lived there for a summer about 8 years ago. It only has a couple paved streets but there's some great food/fun shops and history up there and the train ride is a pretty neat experience. IF you make it up that way, look for a big blue house on the side of a hill (there's a big white statue dedicated to the lost miners above it on the mountain). I lived in that house.
And someone should order Rocky Mountain Oysters. Just because. ;)
Drive safe!
I've had a serious case of the travel bugs too! I studied abroad in Florence, Italy in college and loved it! Can't wait to go back someday!
ReplyDelete