Hello from Venice everyone! Another new day, another new city to explore. Today was another travel day for us with an early morning train ride from Florence to Venice. We woke up early and got ready so we could get breakfast as soon as they started serving it (7am), then packed up our stuff and checked out of our hotel. Our train departed at 9:50am so we got to the Florence train station around . The ride was about 2 hours so I just relaxed and watched some more Netflix. We arrived in Venice at noon and were ready to eat lunch.

Our hotel isn’t on the water so we had to take a water taxi from the train station to the area closest to it and walk through the streets until we finally found it. It was interesting though because we got a nice view of the water and the city; it was just like a leisurely boat ride. We’re staying in Hotel Antico Panada and our room is nice enough but it seems very outdated; however, based on looks most places here are older as well. It’s very pretty here especially when on the water, there’s a lot of charm within the town. After settling in we found a restaurant to eat at near our hotel- I got a margherita pizza per usual and it was decent but not the best.

My mom wanted gelato so we walked to St. Mark’s Square and stopped at a gelato place there. I got mint chocolate chip and it tasted more like ice cream than gelato but it wasn’t bad. The square was bustling with people and it was huge (very open unlike the crowded and tiny streets) so we stayed for a while and just looked around. A nice breeze was blowing by and there were birds everywhere which was a peaceful scene. There were a lot of luxury shops and more unique shops like all the local glass vendors nearby. We looked at the church that was there which was enormous and very beautiful with the multitude of colors used in its architecture. My brother had to go to the bathroom so we made our way back to the hotel and took a rest for a while while unpacking our stuff a bit more.

We left the room again around 4pm and went more towards the water. I took some pictures on various bridges that had scenic waterfront views and we stopped into more of the local shops. My dad tried a pistachio cannoli from a bakery that he really enjoyed, and we bought some sweet treats for our family members back home. We made our way through the city and ended up back in St. Mark’s Square, so we sat and people-watched with views of the canals and the church/other buildings.

Once we started getting hungry again, we headed back towards the hotel to find a restaurant for dinner near there. There was a place that looked good right across the street so we ate there- I got a steak and it was juicy and delicious, plus I needed my daily protein fill. We stopped back at our rooms to get ready and then left for a gondola ride we had booked for 7:30.

My brother didn’t come since he gets seasick, but it was a 30 minute ride and it was a great experience. My mom, my dad and I were in a gondola with another couple as someone rowed us down the canals of Venice. We got to go under the bridges that we walked on earlier and just get a better view of the entire city while actually being on the water. It was also cool because we ran into a family that we sat next to at breakfast in our hotel in Rome, and we talked to them for a while before starting the actual ride.

After we got off, we walked back to the hotel to check on my brother and then went back to St. Mark’s square to watch the sunset and just relax outside. I had to catch up on some forms and emails for school but other than that it was just a nice time sitting and people watching. We headed back to the hotel around 9:30pm and got ready for bed. It was a successful day and we were all tired by the end.

I’m a little sad we’ll only be here in Venice for one more full day, but I think we’ll still be able to see everything we wanted to. It’s a very small city but because of the canals and lack of “normal” transportation it’s still somewhat hard to navigate. I think for this city the location of your hotel is very important to your experience here, since the streets are very narrow and crowded and the best views are obviously on the water. Tomorrow we have the full day to explore (no tours!) and it’s our last day in Europe, so I’ll make sure to update you guys with all the details on the bittersweet culmination of our trip.

-Brooke

The church in St. Mark’s Square from both close up and far away angles.

There are so many examples of wonderful architecture here, as seen in and around St. Mark’s Square.

A view of both the buildings and water.

A cute little side street we passed by while walking through town.

A picture I took of our surroundings before boarding our gondola.

Welcome back everyone! Today was a busy day for us and it started very early in the morning. We woke up at 6:30am and got ready for the day so we could be at the breakfast room promptly at 7am. Breakfast in this hotel was good- they had a really cool self-service pancake maker that popped out pancakes in 60 seconds. After we finished eating, we met our tour guide in the lobby to begin our walking tour of Florence.

Our first stop was the museum that held David and other Michelangelo works, Gallery of the Academy of Florence. David was much larger than I originally imagined, and it was so detailed. It was amazing to see it in person since I’ve always heard about it and have previously studied it and Michelangelo in general in school. We then walked past the Duomo and stopped to admire it and the surrounding area. Our guide led us through the city bringing us to some of the places we briefly saw while walking around yesterday like the Ponte Vecchio bridge area, and she pointed out some shopping and restaurant recommendations. We finished the walking tour around 11am, and we were all hungry so we set out to find a restaurant.

We didn’t feel like walking anywhere far away, so we stopped at a restaurant on the way back to the hotel. I got a margherita pizza (surprise!) but it actually wasn’t the best- it just didn’t seem as fresh as the other ones I’ve had. They gave us a lot of bread with our meal but it was kind of rough so I didn’t eat much of that either. Side note- the bread in France was much better than the bread in Italy based off of my experience so far, the rolls and bread given at restaurants here is much rougher.

Yesterday we dropped off our laundry at a nearby laundromat so on our way back to the hotel we picked it up there. It was actually really nice since the place folded everything and packed it up for us; going there was a great decision even if it was a little late in the trip, and it felt so nice to have all of our clothes clean again. We carried the clothes back to our hotel and put everything back in our suitcases, then took a break in the rooms. Noon to 4 is an extremely hot part of the day here and since we didn’t have any other plans or main things we wanted to see, we decided to relax and save our energy for when we went out walking later in the day.

My mom, my brother and I went back out around 4pm after a few hours of rest and stopped for gelato. I got chocolate chip in a huge cone (I normally get one scoop and I got 3) and it resulted in a delicious sugar coma! My mom wanted to walk back down to Ponte Vecchio and look at the rings again so we wandered around there and took more pictures. My dad met us around 6:30 for dinner at a restaurant close by the bridge. I got grilled chicken for some much-needed protein and I throughly enjoyed it. We walked back through town after dinner to get back to our hotel and relaxed for a bit, then went up to the roof to enjoy the view of Florence on our last night. It was relaxing and we had a wonderful view of the Duomo and other big buildings. Once it got dark we headed back inside and got ready for bed, packing up our stuff for our fairly early train tomorrow.

Florence has been such a beautiful city and I wish we had more time here; the past day and a half flew by and I’m sad to leave. Tomorrow we take a train to Venice at 9am and I’m very excited, especially because the early start will mean we have a little more time there then we had here in Florence even though it’s the same amount of days/nights there (we planned 1 full day in each, but 2 nights because of the half-day where we arrive). I can’t believe the trip is coming to an end but I guess it’s not really if we still have one more city to see, so I’ll hold my feelings and reflections in for now. I’ll update you guys tomorrow from Venice, and I really hope you’ve enjoyed the content from my trip and this blog so far!

-Brooke

The statue of David in the museum, much taller than I originally thought.

More angles of the Duomo, such a beautiful and large cathedral.

I just took this because our tour guide pointed it out in passing by- the water-feature looking thing on the wall is actually a CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN.

The view of the river from a different section of the bridge.

Happy travel day everyone! Today we left Rome and took a train to Florence, our next city destination and our second to last on our trip. We woke up around 7am and wandered down to breakfast at 8 since we weren’t in a rush; our train was at 12:15pm and we didn’t have to do anything else except finish getting our stuff together beforehand. I had a mini chocolate donut-type thing that was a good start to my day, along with the other protein items like eggs that I’ve had every morning. We went back to our room and packed everything back up before check-out at 11am.

After check-out, we got some snacks for the ride at the supermarket and hauled our bags to the train station. The train ride was about an hour and a half and it was very relaxing, I just watched more Riverdale and ate some snacks to tide me over since we were waiting to eat until we arrived in Florence. We also had pretty views since we got to see more of the countryside of Italy. We arrived in Florence around 1:45pm and checked into our hotel, the Glance Hotel, which seems really nice so far and even has a swimming pool!

As soon as we dropped off our stuff in our rooms (in this hotel we have two rooms instead of one because their rooms are smaller), the guide for our day tour tomorrow met with us in the hotel to give us our information/schedule and a map with other places to see in our free time. After meeting with her, we ventured out into the city. Our first stop was to drop off all our dirty laundry at a laundromat since we were all running out of clean underwear and such. We didn’t eat a real lunch since the train ride was right around our normal mealtime, so we ate at a restaurant around the corner- I got a margherita pizza, of course! It was really good and I ate the whole thing for once since I was starving.

We wandered through the streets and saw the Duomo, which is even more grand and beautiful than I imagined. We didn’t go inside since we weren’t wearing appropriate clothing but it was just unbelievably stunning from the outside. However, we did stop for gelato- I got Oreo flavor (my go-to when there’s no mint chocolate chip) and it was the perfect treat especially with the heat today. I knew summer in Italy is hot and I figured I would be used to it from California summers, but the humidity is another element thrown into the mix that I was not prepared for. The town square type area adjacent to the Duomo and near the gelato place was bustling with life, and we continued walking towards more of the shopping area (but there’s honestly adorable shops on every street here!). There was another Brandy Melville that we popped into and I purchased a shirt that said Firenze on it for a souvenir (Florence in Italian). All of the typical high-end and middle-end shops we see in America were there plus more I hadn’t heard of that must be exclusive to Europe.

Eventually we came to the Ponte Vecchio bridge and began making our way down that area. My mom was looking at all the different jewelry vendors in search of a ring, and all of the options were so beautiful! There’s definitely unique pieces I’ve never seen anything like back home. We took some pictures of the river and the view from the bridge which was nice, but we eventually started to overheat so we made our way back to the hotel. We relaxed for a little bit and my parents went to sit outside by the rooftop pool while my brother and I chilled out in the rooms on our beds. I joined my parents just to see the view but I didn’t go in the water, it seemed warm though.

We continued resting for a bit and set out for dinner around 8pm. Originally we planned on going to the Hard Rock Cafe for hamburgers but we ended up at a nicer restaurant around the corner that had burgers as well as normal Italian foods for the sake of my brother. It was in a piazza that had a carousel and a nice view of the city nightlife. I got a plain hamburger with fries and it was exactly the protein I needed- I love Italian food but I miss certain foods from home! My brother got dessert and my mom got coffee after the meal so it took a while and we stayed at the restaurant for over 2 hours total. We headed straight back to our hotel after eating while observing the beautiful streets lit up at night and then got ready for bed around 11, ready to wake up bright and early for our guided tour tomorrow.

Florence is definitely a beautiful city and I already like it better than Rome. Even though I’m exhausted and starting to lose stamina for this leg of the trip, I’m trying my best to pull it together. Florence seems to have the charm, unique shopping, and smaller-town vibes of Sorrento while at the same time having the city atmosphere, architecture, and beauty of Rome. Not as many people speak English here and while it’s definitely still a huge tourist destination, it still is way less overcrowded than Rome at least in the streets. It’s definitely still the best of both worlds compared to our visits of Sorrento and Rome and I look forward to exploring it more tomorrow. I’ll update you all as always!

-Brooke

A few angles of different portions of the Duomo from the outside- we were too close up to fit the whole thing in a picture.

The street/bridge of Ponte Vecchio and all the jewelry vendors.

The view of the river from Ponte Vecchio.

The rooftop pool and view of Florence from the roof.

Good evening everyone! Today was our last full day in Rome (we leave by train for Florence tomorrow) and it was the day we saw a couple of the major sites that people (like us!) travel all the way here to see. We had a day tour of Vatican City scheduled at 9am and one of the Colosseum/Forum at 2:30pm, so we got up early to prepare for the day and get over there. Our alarm was set for 6:30am, and we quickly got ready to make it to the breakfast room by 7. Breakfast was fresh-tasting and great; I had scrambled eggs, bacon, a slice of berry pie, and some plain slices of turkey for extra protein. We had to get to Vatican City by ourselves since the tour meeting spot was there, so we took a taxi from our hotel there.

The taxi ride was about 30 minutes so we were a bit early. We waited for our tour by the steps across from the Vatican museum, and our tour started promptly at 9am (it was 3 hours overall so it ended at 12). Our guide gave us some information on what we would be seeing and showed us some interesting landmarks outside, then led us through the museums. We passed through an Egyptian museum, a museum of maps, and some apartments belonging to former popes. Everything was very impressive and learning about all of the immaculate art was interesting. After finishing at the other museums, we walked through the Sistine Chapel. It was smaller than I had always thought and I was disappointed we couldn’t take pictures, but it was still beautiful. I tried counting how many detailed people were painted and I lost count around 80 just looking at one portion of the ceiling. We had 30 minutes admiring the Sistine Chapel and then as a tour group we went through Saint Peter’s Basilica. I loved the architecture in there, and it was amazing to see all of the people praying and getting holy water- there was so much activity in there. After seeing the basilica our tour was over, so we went to eat lunch.

We exited Vatican City and found a pizza place called PizzaZizza across the street from the exit. It was actually hilarious as there were two pizza places right next to each other and the owners were fighting about stealing customers as we walked in- they were so animated when they spoke and watching them was so entertaining. The staff were very friendly and the pizza was very good plus their restaurant was different than most: there isn’t a menu, they just bring out mixed plates of individual slices of different kinds of pizza. We also got a plain margherita plate, but I tried a bit of everything. In Vatican City we all had to wear pants (knees and shoulders must be covered for entry) but it was extremely hot, so we changed into shorts in the restaurant’s bathroom. After we were ready to go, we called a taxi to take us to the Colosseum for our next day tour. It was only a 20 minute ride, but it still was a distance too far to walk in the heat.

We arrived at the Colosseum an hour before our tour began so we walked around a bit beforehand. Our tour was 3 hours again and unfortunately we didn’t cover much ground. Our tour guide had a lot of technical difficulties with his microphone and just trouble guiding us in general so we spent the first 2 hours just trying to get through one floor of the Colosseum, then we had to leave to make it to Palentine Hill. It was very tiring and draining overall since we were basically just standing in the heat and not moving that much for the first couple hours. Our guide led us up a bunch of stairs leading to Palentine Hill and we looked at the ruins of the buildings. It was quite pretty once we got up there but he didn’t give us much background information and I was unfamiliar with the site so I only really saw it for it’s surface-level beauty. It took us an hour to get situated and walk through there, so the tour ended before getting to the Forum. We had the option to walk around there by ourselves, but my family was so exhausted that we only took a quick look and snapped some pictures before leaving for dinner.

We walked back in the direction of our hotel while looking for a place to eat dinner, and we found a nice little (air conditioned!!) restaurant off a side street on the way. I got a steak just because it sounded good and I really needed the protein for energy, and it ended up being very nice and juicy. We didn’t have any other plans for the rest of the day/night and we knew we probably wouldn’t do anything else since we were so tired and sore from the day of tours and walking in the heat, so we relaxed and took our time while eating. After dinner, we continued walking back to our hotel and stopped for gelato. I got an Oreo flavor and it was delicious as always, and then we finally got back to our room. Tomorrow we leave by train for Florence, so we had to pack up our belongings again and just rest up to gain energy for the travel day.

In case any of you are wondering, our tours were both booked with the company CityWonders. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend them after today’s experiences, but a lot of it also had to do with our own personal fatigue and dealing with the heat. However, I also found the tour guides a little boring and stiff (not sure how else to describe them), and even though we were aware of it at the time of booking, it was a bummer they didn’t offer any forms of transportation each way. I’m sure there are people that have great experiences with them on different tours but it really depends on your guide and their style of tour-giving. For example, our guides went through very slowly by standing around at each spot which got us behind schedule, and we didn’t do as much walking around. Either way, today was very draining and a bit disappointing as we didn’t get to see as much as we thought we would; however, I’m still glad we had the experience and that we at least hit the main sites of Rome before leaving. The city is definitely beautiful and I’m sad to leave before getting to know it a bit better, but it hasn’t been my favorite so I’m looking forward to moving on and seeing Florence! I will update you all tomorrow with our latest adventures.

-Brooke

The ceiling in the museum of maps.

Different angles of St. Peter’s Basilica and its wonderful architecture.

Our view as we exited the basilica.

The building we had a view of as we exited Vatican City.

The view of the first floor from the second floor of the Colosseum.

Another angle of the first floor from the second.

Some of the ruins we saw on Palentine Hill, lots of pretty grass here.

Some views as we got closer to the Forum.

Hello from Rome everyone! Today was our first full day in Rome and even though we got off to a late start, we were able to do and see so much. We woke up at 7:30am and went to eat breakfast in the main building of the hotel which was amazing! There were so many options with both hot and cold foods (scrambled and hard boiled eggs, many meats and cheeses, a variety of pastries, fresh!!!! fruits, breads, cereal and other dishes). We previously booked tickets for a hop-on hop-off bus tour of the city so after eating we walked to the bus stop and got on the next bus that came at around 9:30am.

Our plan was to just stay on the whole time so we could get a view of the city and an idea of what we wanted to come back to and actually walk around. It took about an hour to go around the whole route so we really got to see everything, from various piazzas to Vatican City in addition to the Colosseum, basilicas, and other historic monuments. There was a nice breeze and I actually took a nap for a little while when we stopped. After getting off the bus, we walked to the Pantheon so we could go inside. The architecture was insanely impressive (especially the dome and rounded hole in the ceiling) and each wall had something different to look at.

It was time to grab lunch so we walked towards the area of the city that had all of the shopping since there were lots of cute cafés as well. Before we found a place to eat, we noticed there was a Brandy Melville right nearby. I went in, tried on some clothes, and ended up purchasing a few things that were unique to this particular location. After shopping, we stopped at a restaurant that had a shaded area near some trees since it was such a tranquil spot. I got a margherita pizza (noticing a theme here?) and it was delicious as always.

We considered doing a hop-on hop-off river cruise down the Tiber River, but the reviews on all of them were bad so we ultimately decided against it. Instead, we walked back up the Spanish steps and even went into the church above it. Once we walked past that area, we eventually found ourselves in another piazza with an area covered in white pebbles. It had an amazing view of all the city’s buildings so we stopped and sat there in the shade. After we got up, we went to buy some cold waters at a supermarket and decided to take a break at our hotel since it was so hot. We had seen most of the sites between last night, the hop-on hop-off bus, and our walking around today, and the main ones we didn’t visit in depth (Colosseum, Vatican, Forum) we will see on a day tour we have tomorrow anyways.

After relaxing for a while (I watched some Netflix), we set back out for dinner. My dad wanted to see the Colosseum lit up at night even though we have our tour tomorrow, so we walked in that direction. We found a restaurant right across from it with a view so we ate there. I got spaghetti and it was pretty good, but you could tell the restaurant was mainly frequented by tourists for the view. When it started to get dark, we walked across to the Colosseum to see it lit up and took some pictures. There were people playing music and it was very lively; it was a good scene and probably my favorite memory from Rome so far. Around 9:30pm we walked back to our hotel and got ready for bed, tired but ready for our tours tomorrow!!

Frankly, Rome is beautiful and sprawling with tons of marvelous architecture and sites to see; however, it has not been my favorite city. The weather has been lovely in the morning and at night but scorching hot in the afternoon (as expected, typical of Italy in the summer). The city is kind of dirty as I mentioned before, and feels sketchy in many areas farther from the tourist sites, but there’s also many sketchy people and solicitors near the tourist sites. However, the streets are wider so it’s easier to walk and there’s a lot more grassy areas and greenery around.

Even though there are endless amounts of things to see here, after this trip and viewing the main attractions of the city I’m not sure I would ever come back to visit again. That being said, our time here is not over yet and our main excursion/tour is tomorrow so my mind could always change! I might be swayed by my anxiety towards pickpockets since the Paris incident, and my cold has continued to get worse which doesn’t help either. Beyond the heat and sickness, Rome still has a lot to offer and I’m trying to stay positive and enjoy it while I’m here. I will update you all with the details of our day in Vatican City and at the Colosseum/Forum tomorrow.

-Brooke

An up-close view of the Pantheon- there’s also a little statue/monument in front of it not pictured.

The inside of the Pantheon, including the bottom of the beautiful dome.

A view of the Tiber River (this shot was taken as we decided not to take the cruise!).

An adorable carousel with a castle we saw on the bus in the background.

The view of the city from the piazza.

The church above the Spanish steps- it was beautiful on the inside.

A church we passed on our way to the Colosseum.

The Colosseum as seen from the restaurant we ate at.

The Colosseum at sunset as we walked closer.

The arch of Constantine adjacent to the Colosseum.

More angles of the Colosseum as the night went on.

Hello from Italy again everyone! Today we departed from Sorrento to take a short tour of the Pompeii ruins and then head to Rome by train. We woke up and ate our last breakfast at this hotel’s delicious buffet and then repacked all of the stuff floating in our room into our suitcases. My mom and I made a quick run to the local supermarket as soon as it opened to buy cold waters for the day. We came back and checked out of our hotel, waiting for our driver to pick us up and take us to Pompeii. Side note- I’m really going to miss Sorrento and the Amalfi coast. The weather was beautiful today as we were walking to the supermarket, and this town has been such a wonderful place to visit and relax in.

The drive to Pompeii was about 45 minutes and once we got there we immediately started walking around. It was blazing hot and we were kind of confused (maybe we’re just dumb but it was difficult for us to figure out the maps. We saw some of the main sites/house areas and then went to go see the plaster bodies. It was crazy to think how old everything was and how it must have been to discover this buried town, but I have to admit we weren’t the most interested in this particular site. It was extremely crowded and hot, and we kept getting lost. From certain points there was also a very pretty view since it was so sunny out. We only stayed in the site for about an hour and 20 minutes because we had to eat lunch and we only had 2 hours for the excursion total before our driver picked us back up and took us to the train station.

We ate at a restaurant just outside the entrance- I got a hamburger because I needed to eat something with protein but I also had a slice of my mom’s pizza. It was decent but nothing great (which we expected in such a tourist spot). From there we got picked up and went straight to the Naples train station. I was pretty nervous since I’d heard it was a sketchy area with pickpocketing and such and we had a long wait (about 2 hours) for our train, but it ended up being fine. It was a very boring wait and we did see some suspicious characters walking around but we were careful and everything was fine. Our train boarded at 3:50pm and surprisingly it was actually really nice inside- there was wifi, small tables in front of each seat, and fairly comfortable leather seats. The train ride to Rome was about an hour and 10 minutes.

We arrived in Rome and walked about 10 minutes to our hotel, Hotel Mascagni. It was hot and seemed like a lot since I was wary of pickpockets and all the stuff everyone has warned me about near the train station, but it’s actually a very central location which would be considered a plus. The staff was very welcoming and showed us to our room, which was somehow upgraded for free to a suite. The odd thing about it is that our room was actually in a separate building we had to walk to that needs to have us buzzed in. We have to take an elevator and use our card to get into a hall of rooms, then take another elevator to get to the next floor of rooms (our floor) and use our card to get into the room.

Our room is pretty spacious and modern-styled with one actual bedroom with a TV, a nice bathroom, a closet that actually opens up with a safe, and a living area that has another bed that could be folded into a couch and a desk, coffeemaker, and TV. We freshened up and got settled before leaving to find a place for dinner.

After leaving the hotel we began to walk and immediately we could see Rome’s rich history reflected in every building. We wanted to see the Trevi fountain so we walked in that direction while trying to find a place for dinner. It was extremely crowded but it was SO BEAUTIFUL and it looked very clean/well-kept as well. My dad found this modern underground restaurant with decent ratings so we went there and I got some spaghetti. It honestly wasn’t the best and the service wasn’t great, but it was still better than most pasta back in the US.

We then walked and got some gelato in the direction of the Spanish steps, our next destination. I got mint chocolate chip and I can confidently say it was the best gelato I’ve had on this trip so far. The Spanish steps were in a more central part of town so they were even more crowded, located in this huge open square area. There were also tons of shops; mainly luxury stores. We walked up the stairs and took some pictures as the sun set, listening to locals play music and just observing the busy town. The weather was perfect as it had cooled down, and we finally trekked back to our hotel around 9:30pm and got ready for bed.

Rome is definitely dirtier than Paris (cigarettes littering the streets, dustier buildings) and in the main tourist destinations much busier (with a lot more concern for pickpocketing), but in other areas and just on random streets it actually seemed quite empty. It may be because it was a Sunday but the city felt very open for the most part besides the few stuffy and crowded areas. It also seems more spread out than Paris (lots to see!), but a lot of the buildings are less tall so it makes sense. Tomorrow we are exploring the city by a hop-on, hop-off bus tour as well as any other walking around we may do, so I will report back with more about this lovely city!

-Brooke

A grassy area of Pompeii with some wildflowers sprouting near the ruins.

One of the more open areas- look at the pillars!

I took this shot because I particularly liked the horse statue.

Some of the plastered over people behind a glass case- this was such a crazy sight but honestly made me a little sad.

My view from the train window.

A building we walked past right outside our hotel.

The wonderful Trevi fountain- we made sure to throw a coin in.

One of Rome’s many town squares showcasing these lovely buildings.

The Spanish steps in addition to the fountain in front and the buildings behind.

The view of the street after climbing up the first two levels of steps.

Welcome back everyone! Today was our last day here on the Amalfi coast so we decided to do a beach day. We got up early and ate breakfast at the hotel per usual, then went back upstairs and put our bathing suits on. We walked down the steps and windy road to the beach. Our hotel didn’t have beach towels and we didn’t bring any, so we chose to go to the only beach that had towels available to use.

After paying for towels and tickets, we set up shop on the sunbeds on the little “pier” next to stair access to the ocean. There were also stairs that went down to the small sand area (what you would normally consider a beach), but the stairs nearest to us went straight into the water and you could swim out there if you wished. There were also little rafts attached by anchors to float on. I put on sunscreen and sunbathed for an hour while my dad swam around and my mom and brother waded by the sand. After my dad returned to our stuff, I finally got in the water. It was cold at first but I warmed up quickly and swam to the rafts to continue sunbathing. The water was a rich, deep green but would definitely be clearer if it weren’t for the sand being such a dark brown.

Once I swam back to the pier/lounge area, we decided we were hungry and ready for food. The beach club had a restaurant so we ate there- I had a margherita pizza and it was delicious as always. You can’t really go wrong with getting pizza or pasta at any of the restaurants in this town. After we finished up with lunch, my mom and I searched for sea glass on the sand. There was actually SO MUCH, which was surprising for us. We both had full handfuls by the time we came back. I kept sunbathing until I decided to go in the water again and lay out. The beach was stunning, I could’ve stayed there forever between the views, warm water, and food.

We went back to the hotel room and showered off because after a day in the sun and the sweaty walk back we all felt disgusting. My mom and I walked through the town and brought all of our clothes to a local self-service laundromat because we were running out of non-sweaty warm weather clothes. It took about an hour and a half to do laundry (30 min wash, 1 hour dry) and we stopped for gelato on our way back to the room. My dad’s friend’s family met us at our hotel a little while after we got back, and they brought us to a more “local” dinner place in a little square more frequented by actual town residents than tourists.

The food was AMAZING- I got a pepperoni pizza and it was light yet filling and the pepperoni was the best I’d ever had. It was also just so fun to see my dad’s friend and her family (they’re going to the US soon and hopefully we’ll get to see them!), and get a taste of actually living here in Italy by the coast. I was talking to their daughter who’s 7 years old and I was just fascinated because I can’t imagine being so young and just naturally bilingual, calling this beautiful town home. After we ate, we went next door to a gelato place that was WAY better than the touristy ones on the main side of town. I got an oreo flavor and even though my stomach hurt after (I’m sensitive to dairy, clearly the food here isn’t helping but I love it anyways), it was so worth it.

The little plaza we were in was so cute. All of the local kids were out and eating gelato, there was live music and a girl singing who was really good, and the town just came alive. Our friends walked us back to our hotel and we took a group picture for memories before saying goodbye. Afterwards, we had to repack all of our stuff and fold the clothes we washed earlier because tomorrow morning we leave for ROME! I’m really going to miss this adorable beach town but I’m excited to move forward with our trip. We’re touring Pompeii tomorrow on our way to the Naples train station and then taking a train to Rome. I’ll keep you updated!

-Brooke

A picture of the beach/boardwalk from the interesting angle of the women’s bathroom line.

The view of the ocean from my sunbed, facing the sand/shore.

A lovely picture of our laundry machine that took us 10 minutes to figure out how to start.

Hello everyone! Today was a much-needed day of decompressing for us, and luckily we still had some fun in this beautiful town. We woke up early and got ready for breakfast, which was AMAZING! There were so many options here with SO many pastries, eggs, fruit, yogurt, toast, pancakes, cereal, ham, cheese, and more.

After eating, we began to walk around the town. It’s a smallish area so there were mainly tourists out and the locals seemed to still be sleeping for the most part, but it was already so hot even at only 9am! My dad was curious about what some of the nicer hotels with coastal views looked like, so we wandered around the grounds of some of those and explored most of the main streets. We were all sweating so we stopped back at the hotel to go to the bathroom and then went out to meet a friend of my dad’s who happens to live in a nearby town. She moved here once she met her husband who is from the area, and she showed us around and explained how we could access the coast/beach areas. We went to a park area where we could see the beach down below and the water was stunning. We were considering doing a day trip to Capri but were unsure, and she talked us out of it (my brother and mom get seasick, plus she said it’s not too special).

We grabbed lunch at one of the restaurants, and I got spaghetti. It was delicious and it tasted so fresh. As a side note, the bread that all the restaurants put out is heavenly and I really appreciate more opportunities to eat bread. Anyways, it was fascinating to hear about my dad’s friend’s experience living here in Italy. She brought her two-year-old son here to meet with us and I kept thinking how insane it would be to live in a small town like this but in such a beautiful country, living your daily life here. After we finished lunch, she escorted us to the nearest supermarket so we could stock up on water bottles and then we said goodbye.

We came back to the hotel again, as most things close in this town after lunch for the afternoon siesta/nap. My brother and I just watched some YouTube and caught up with social media while my parents slept. It was so hot outside (especially compared to Paris) that we were all drained. After a couple hours we were ready to head out again, but we still weren’t prepared for how hot it had gotten at that point in the afternoon. We got some gelato first to prepare ourselves- I got chocolate chip and I enjoyed it, but it didn’t taste too different from ice cream. We wandered through the streets again and decided to walk down to the water. It seemed daunting at first because of how high up we seemed to be and how many stairs there were, but it actually was a very quick walk once we got started. The stairs only took about two minutes and then we were walking down the main road to get to the pier area.

We walked through the area (there were lots of boats and travel agencies for excursions, etc.) and made our way down the boardwalks that led to the “beaches” and the sand. It was super crowded but it didn’t matter because we just wanted to see it, not go in at this point. It was gorgeous and the water looked very refreshing. It was about 85 degrees and the humidity was pretty strong by our standards (meaning it felt even hotter), so we decided to buy some cold waters by a nearby stand and sit on some benches in the shade for a little while. When we were done, we began the short journey back. We walked around a bit more and found another little viewing area where you could see the ocean as well, but after that we were all tired and sweaty and ready for another break.

My dad and brother went back to the hotel room while my mom and I decided to try and go shopping to find her a dress. We had no luck, but it was still eventful because we got to explore more streets and spend more time outside getting to know the town (even if we were basically melting). We then met back at the hotel room and relaxed, getting ready for dinner. Clearly it was a lazier day, but it was quite nice.

We went to the restaurant right next to our hotel because they have a window where you can see them making pizza fresh for take-away, and it smelled delicious. I had already had so many carbs today that I decided to get roast chicken instead, but it was also very good and juicy. My dad got a pizza and I had a bite- it put all other pizzas to shame. After dinner, we walked around the town and went back to the ocean viewing area we found previously to try and watch the sunset. It was kind of cloudy so there wasn’t a real sunset, but it was still a pretty view and we stayed for a little bit.

I wanted to walk all the way down the main street in town (the street we kept walking on) so we did, and we made it all the way out to a completely different section of ocean view hotels. There was a nice spot where we could see the ocean from a different angle so we took some pictures there, and headed back. It was finally dark, so we stopped at a bar/restaurant to get drinks and a snack before finally returning to our hotel at around 9:30pm. It was funny though at the bar because they were playing European MTV on the TV, but it was still all American music videos. We’ve been in the hotel room just getting ready for bed since, and making rough plans for tomorrow.

Traveling is fascinating to me because whenever I visit a new place it is evident of its own lifestyle and culture, even if only a short distance away from home. My suburban environment in Southern California just seems so standard/normal/typical, but this trip is opening my eyes to the completely different lives that people lead all over the world. Seeing my dad’s friend and hearing about her family is just an example of that; we also saw very young kids dancing in the town square at night after dark, and people drive CRAZY here. It’s just so different, and I know that may seem obvious, but it’s just interesting to put yourself in these local people’s shoes and observe the uniqueness of each place. Tomorrow is our last full day here on the Amalfi coast and we’re planning on heading to the beach, so I should have fun things to write about!

-Brooke

The entry to one of the stunning hotels on the edge of the cliff/coast we saw.

Dozens of scooters parked in lines on the street- everyone drives these here!

A strange angle from above, but these are the “beaches” here- the water is beautiful, but there’s not much sand at least in this town.

The beach once we walked down.

A different part of the beach from the viewing area.

Our sunset view from that same area.

The view at the end of Sorrento’s main street, a bunch of hotels that have coastal views up on the hillside.

Good morning from Italy everyone! I am writing this a day late (the next morning) from our beautiful hotel room in Sorrento, on the Amalfi coast. Yesterday was more of a travel day, with our flight to Italy taking up the whole morning and mid-afternoon because of transportation to the airport and it running late. We ate breakfast in our Paris hotel one last time and packed up all our belongings, and a driver came to pick us up and take us to Orly Airport. We arrived there around 10am.

We went through security pretty quickly since Orly is the smaller airport in Paris, and then ate lunch at one of the cafés that was near our gate. Another side note- we ended up checking all of our bags instead of just my dad’s, because apparently what works as a carry-on in the US is too big for a carry-on on most European flights. We still had about an hour and a half to wait, so my mom and I sat by our gate while my dad and brother played video games in the free Playstation game lounge. It turned out we needed a bus transfer to our actual gate, so we got shuttled there and waited a longer time than anticipated to board. We finally got on the plane at 1:10pm, the time we were supposed to depart; we ended up departing 30 minutes later.

Our flight was on Transavia, and we were on a very small, old-fashioned plane. I don’t usually get sick on planes, but the air pressure was really bothering me for some reason. My brother gets very airsick, and he ended up throwing up three times during the flight, and once in the airport afterwards. Other than that the flight was fine, but definitely not the smoothest or best. It was only about 2 hours so I just watched a few episodes of Riverdale I had downloaded on Netflix.

We landed in Naples airport and waited for our driver to pick us up. We had an hour drive from Naples to our hotel in Sorrento, and I just took a nap the whole time. Once we arrived and I woke up, I instantly fell in love with this place. Our hotel, Hotel Villa di Sorrento, is adorable and the workers are so friendly; our room is much nicer than the one in Paris and it has a blue and white beachy theme. We also have two windows with views of some other pretty buildings. It’s right in the heart of the town, near Piazza Tasso. Once we got in and put our stuff down (and rested for a bit since my brother was still sick), we walked to find a place for dinner- which was easy, because everything was Italian food and sounded so good! We walked up and down a couple streets just to sightsee, but ended up eating across the street from our hotel. I got a margherita pizza and it was delicious- it was really big too, I didn’t finish!

After eating, we walked down the main street nearby (which our hotel is adjacent to) and just looked at all the cute little shops, restaurants, and cafés/gelato places. This town is adorable and there’s lemon themed things everywhere. We stopped at a pharmacy to get more cold medicine, and just kept exploring until it got dark. The temperature was great too, warm even when it was dark but not too hot. We missed the sunset but it was still a beautiful night, and everything was so centrally located near our hotel! My brother was tired so we went back to our room around 9pm and got ready for bed. We just relaxed and went to bed around 10, but I had trouble falling asleep again. I love this town, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the time here!

-Brooke

The stairs of our hotel- it looks like we’re in Inception to me.

The flags hung in the Piazza Tasso.

The view from a street nearby.

A cute little shop in a narrow street- all the streets are very narrow here.

The view from our hotel room of some nearby buildings.

Hello everyone! Today was my last day in Paris and even though I’m very sad to leave, I’m looking forward to being in Italy for the next week and a half. We had already seen most of the sights on our agenda, but we still were busy sightseeing for the first half of the day. My parents did laundry right when we woke up so we had clean pants (we all only brought two pairs of pants and it’s been cold everyday here) and then ate breakfast in the hotel as usual. We headed out for the day with three main points of interest: the Museum d’Orsay, the Pantheon, and Sorbonne University.

We arrived at d’Orsay about 20 minutes after it opened so there was barely any line. I was interested in going there to see the works of Monet, Manet, Renoir, and Van Gogh. It did not disappoint; there was so much to look at and all of the paintings were so beautiful. There was also a lot of different sculptures that my dad enjoyed looking at, but I stuck to viewing the paintings for the most part. My favorite painting was the famous Water Lily Pond, Green Harmony by Monet. After seeing his gardens in person, it was surreal to compare them to one of his actual paintings in person as well.

After finishing up at the museum, we ate lunch at a local restaurant. I don’t remember the name because we just wandered in, but I got thin crust pizza and it was very tasty. We walked around the Latin quarter of Paris since that’s where both the Pantheon and Sorbonne were located. We saw the Pantheon first and decided not to go inside, but we admired the outside and took pictures. The architecture was beautiful and there were many other large and impressive buildings on the same street/right across from it too.

The Sorbonne was very close by and we were not able to enter it because it was heavily guarded with security and there didn’t appear to be a public entrance. However, we were able to admire the numerous buildings from the outside and we went to the store selling apparel with its logo and I got a sweatshirt (which I had been hoping to do, especially because I was unprepared for the cold!). The store didn’t open until 2:00pm and we got there at 1:00, so beforehand to pass the time we went to another nearby café and got dessert. I got chocolate ice cream (glace in French) and it was good; I mean it was just chocolate ice cream. I’ll be able to give much more input on food (and probably actual pictures of it) in Italy.

Honestly, after visiting the Sorbonne the day went south. We were planning on trying to go see the Sacre-Coeur church so we went to take the Metro there as we did to get to the Eiffel Tower on Monday. We got on and two men came on right after us and one purposely bumped into my mom with his bag, proceeding to yell at her and cause what we later realized was a diversion so the other guy could steal my dad’s wallet. At the next stop, the guy who stole the wallet got off the Metro just as my dad realized he had been pickpocketed, and my dad yelled out what happened and rushed out the train to follow him. My mom, my brother and I got out at the next stop (in an area we were unfamiliar with) and so did the other man, so we were startled and lost and quickly exited the metro station. Luckily the other man didn’t follow us, but we got outside to find it was pouring rain and we needed to walk back to the hotel because we clearly didn’t feel safe on the metro.

I used Maps on my phone to guide us back to the hotel safely, where we met back with my dad. My dad caught up with the guy who took his wallet and questioned him but he didn’t have anything on him, so he must have passed it off to someone else. It was a very scary experience and he lost his driver’s license, 100 euros, and all of his credit cards which he had to cancel. It was only about 20 minutes later that he began canceling all the cards and there were already thousands of fraudulent charges being rung up.

We spent an hour and a half in the hotel recovering from the incident and figuring things out for our flight to Italy tomorrow, and then went to a restaurant down the block for burgers. It was good and I was glad we could go out one last time, but we didn’t feel like going out and seeing anything else after the incident so we came straight back to the hotel afterwards. Even though our time in Paris didn’t come to the best end, I’m glad we still saw everything we wanted to for the most part and that we made some good memories here. It’s still an amazing city but clearly we learned even when you feel safe, you still have to be careful. I’m kind of scared for Italy now since the pickpocketing is supposed to be so rampant there and we already had this experience, but I’m still very excited! I’ll keep you updated as always.

-Brooke

A picture of a post I took on the way to d’Orsay.

My favorite Monet painting I saw.

The huge clock face of d’Orsay from the inside- one of my favorite shots.

The Pantheon from the outside- the columns remind me of Greek architecture, it seems very Greek in general.

The cathedral across from the Pantheon, it was gorgeous inside.

The Sorbonne from the outside, such a beautiful building in a great location.