4/19 - Our trip started with an early wakeup and a Taxi to LAX. We got on our 7:30 flight to Boston and arrived early, then spent the afternoon in Medford with JoJo, Grandpa, Bethany, Kevin, Eamon & Quinn.
4/19 - Our trip started with an early wakeup and a Taxi to LAX. We got on our 7:30 flight to Boston and
arrived early, then spent the afternoon in Medford with JoJo, Grandpa, Bethany, Kevin, Eamon
& Quinn.
4/20 - We drove to Lowell to visit Mame in the hospital. She was doing well after suffering a minor stroke and certainly perked up after a visit from her favorite great-grandsons!, After getting Devin settled in Lowell, we caught a ride back to the airport.! Apparently we had received paper tickets for the BRU-FCO flight, but we didn't have them. Some quick computer work and an extra fee and we were on our way to Heathrow, sitting in the nice exit row seats with nobody in front of us. Note to new parents, no exit rows for kids under 16, so take advantage when you can!
4/21 - Arrived in London at 7AM. The inter-terminal transfer was much easier than on our honeymoon, and we went to the beautiful new Terminal 5 at LHR. There are some nice benches and couches that seemed to be designed for sleeping where we caught a small nap after breakfast. Then we hopped on a quick flight to Brussels, where we cleared customs and ate lunch, then our final flight to Rome. After 3 airlines, our bags arrived quickly, and we hopped in a Taxi to our hotel, where we met up with Jonalyn's Aunt Pat and Uncle Barry for some pre-dinner (for us, post-dinner for them) drinks, then walked 2 blocks to a great restaurant (as they seemingly all are in Italy).
4/22 - Our last travel day on the way to Sorrento, we slept in, took a taxi to Roma Termini (train
station), a train to Napoli Centrale, then hopped on the Circumvesuviana (small commuter train) to
Sorrento. Note this is A LOT of public transportation for Jonalyn, but she is warming up to the idea
after 10 years of being spoiled by business travel. Our taxi driver in Sorrento had lived in Los Gatos for
a few years and loved it. He wanted to find an American woman so he could move back. I told him
we've got the hookups in LA for him. We met up with my mom Jennifer, cousin Heather and her
husband Joe and my cousin John (the groom) at the Hotel Regina, then walked up to John and
Stephanie's Villa in the hills above the ocean for dinner. Their place was fantastic! It was a manageable
walk from the city center, a four story house, fantastic views over the town and bay, and an incredible
porch, patio, and roof deck. Of course we couldn't stop after dinner, and all headed to town to hit the
bars.
4/23 - We took a tour through the excavations at Pompei, which were fantastic.
It's amazing to see
how well the city has held up for so long, and how built up and modern it must have been when it was
thriving about 2000 years ago. They had running water, (partial) plumbing, semi-paved streets, the
works. In the afternoon we took a 45-minute hike to the top of Mount Vesuvius, where it was so
cloudy we couldn't see more than 30 feet. It cleared up just enough for us to see into the volcano and
out over Naples a little on the way back down. We went back to the Villa for a take-out pizza dinner
with a wonderful spread of appetizers, then headed back into town for the bars. You can only imagine
that "take out" pizza in Sorrento means the best pizza that you have ever had in your life. Please also
note that this is the portion of the trip where the South Beach Diet went out the window.
4/24 - The wedding! With no tours scheduled, we slept in to 11, then went out for lunch and
shopping, where we saw the Google Maps car driving around to take pictures. Hopefully
you'll see us
in the Sorrento pictures soon. The wedding was outside in a Villa overlooking the ocean and harbor
(which was under construction). After the ceremony and pictures we all hopped into a bus to the
reception, at a large restaurant in the middle of Sorrento, with a large enclosed back patio. The staff at
the restaurant helped make the occasion with their over the top service. Of course we headed out to
the bars again after dinner, including an impressive showing from Stephanie's grandmother who made
it out to two bars with us.
4/25 - A day long tour of Capri. We took a boat from Sorrento to the island, then immediately went to
the Blue Grotto, which involved a lot of waiting on a boat outside, followed by a couple minute tour in
the Grotto, which as you would expect, was beautifully blue. Though it was a lot of waiting in a rocking
boat, I would have been just as happy staying in town munching on some Italian snacks. We shuttled
up a crazy cliff road to Anacapri, walked around and ate lunch. Then back down to Capri, a crowded
town with lots of high-end shopping. (A favorite pastime of Jonalyn's: finding the different Prada
locations throughout Italy.) After taking the boat back into town, we were too full for a large dinner,
so we picked up some snacks of meat, cheese and bread, with wine of course, and took in the sunset
from the roof deck of our hotel. It was a national holiday celebrating freedom from Nazi occupation,
and the town had a nice fireworks display over the ocean. We had a great view from our hotel, and
the sound of the fireworks echoing off the mountains was incredible. After dinner we went out for
our first Gelato, and ran into the group heading to the bars yet again. Though everybody was
exhausted and sick from all the late nights, so the group died quickly.
4/26 - After some more morning shopping, I took us on a bus ride to Positano. Another crazy drive
through the cliffs. This alone was worth the price of the tickets. The bus drops you off in the middle of
the cliff town giving a nice walk down to the waterfront. We had a wonderful lunch at a beachside
restaurant, and walked through the town a little. Back at our bus stop, there were a lot of people
waiting for the bus, clogging the small mountain road. One bus came an hour late, with few empty
seats, and people fought on the bus, packing it to the brim, leaving another busload of people waiting
for the next one, which was so full it didn't even stop. We gave up and paid for an (expensive) Taxi
ride back to town. We found a popular restaurant and had a wonderful dinner, highlighted by my
Spaghetti Carbonara.
4/27 - A little under the weather, we took it easy in the morning, then got fired up to go to a local
soccer match. Tourists received free tickets to the Sorrento Serie C
(approximately equivalent to AA baseball) match. We met up in the main
square, and helped carry a large black and white flag in a parade through the town to the stadium.
There were probably ~1000 people at the match, led in cheering by a couple dozen young men who
sang through the entire match. We left after halftime at a 0-0 tie, and found out it indeed ended in a
scoreless draw.
4/28 - Early wakeup at our hotel. We checked out and even dragged our bags to the train station, where we caught the commuter train to Napoli Central, then hopped on a Eurostar to Roma Termini. Then a quick lunch in Rome, hopped on the airport express train, then flew to Brussels. In Brussels we stayed next to the Grand Place, which made it an easy train ride from the airport. We indulged in one of the many chocolate shops, toured the Grand Place in a light rain, then sampled several rounds of Belgian beers during dinner, ending our last night out before the next morning's flight to Boston (through JFK), then picking up Devin and flying back to Los Angeles on Wednesday.
Notes:
There was an open access point near our hotel lobby, allowing us to use Skype for cheap phone calls
home. This alone made lugging the laptop around worthwhile.
Restaurants always serve bread as part of the cover charge, but never butter or oil to eat it with.
You've got less than a 50/50 chance of getting olive oil if you ask for it. How do the locals eat this
bread?
I'd love to carry a toilet seat around with me...
We actually remember a watch this time, but not the paper tickets for the
plane flights. Though we still swear we never
received tickets in the mail, nor did we even realize we needed them.
Things in Italy that Devin would have loved: the fact that there are apparently NO car seat laws, the
fact that he could get a pizza crust to nibble on every three feet and most of all, the people
watching!