i am...mai

Italy Trip 2011 - Milan

The Italy withdrawals continue as I skim through another batch of photos from our September trip. It's been two months, and all three of us still find ourselves saying, "I want to go back!" I guess revisiting Italy via our pictures will have to do... for now.

Our trek across Northern Italy had us spending a night in Milan.

We spent the day getting to know Leonardo Da Vinci at the MUSEO NAZIONALE DELLA SCIENZA E DELLA TECNOLOGIA LEONARDO DA VINCI. 

We were completely taken aback by the sight of the Duomo. Thankfully we recovered quickly enough to note the pickpockets swarming this area.

We enjoyed a fantastic (but pricey) dinner next door in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.

And then spent the rest of the evening just taking in the atmosphere on the Piazza della Scala.

The rest of the Milan photos are here on flickr.

Italy Trip 2011 - Cinque Terre & Bagnone

Our first weekend in Italy found us on a road trip to Northern Italy with Jenny and her family. What an adventure! Four adults and four children in five cities over four days.

Cinque Terre and Bagnone are definitely on my list of places to which I'd like to return. Our itinerary only allowed us enough time to visit one of the five villages that make up Cinque Terre - Riomaggiore. But the few peaceful hours we spent enjoying a dip in the Mediterranean sea, eating some delicious gelato, and shopping for souvenirs, were enough to show me just why this area is such a popular tourist destination.   

 Rob loved swimming in the Mediterranean Sea.

Arwen had such a great time collecting rocks striped with marble. We only let her take home a few small ones. These big boys had to go back.

For me, there was just something about this door... 

Bagnone was a delightful discovery we made thanks to the limited availability of rooms for a travelling party of eight.

By broadening our search on booking.com, we came across a great rate at a hotel that was once a watermill. The place was beautiful, and the village easily became one of my favorite stops. It felt like we'd stumbled upon a secret. Even a woman with whom Rob tried to converse seemed a bit surprised. "You American?!? How you find?"

I would've loved to have spent another week here. It was so peaceful and quiet. Perhaps next time.

The rest of my pictures from Cinque Terre and Bagnone are on flickr at http://tinyurl.com/3j2q5hf.

Italy Trip 2011 - Pompeii & Naples

Last month, we pulled Arwen out of school for three weeks and flew to Italy. It is so difficult to put into words all that we saw and did, so I'll just share some photos from our first of what I hope to be many trips to Europe.

We spent our first full day in Italy exploring Pompeii. Arriving shortly before the gates opened, we decided to grab some breakfast in the neighborhood. It turns out that breakfast (or at least eating breakfast out) isn't big in Italy. Most restaurants don't open until lunch. The one place opened was a little coffee shop attached to the train station across the street. Thankfully cappuccino and espresso were two words we did have in our tiny little italian vocabulary bank. A few finger points to pastries in the glass case, and we were in business. Italians know coffee. This was delicious. 

Pompeii was absolutely amazing. We spent a good time of our visit simply awestruck by our surroundings. Here we were walking about ruins - an entire city! - from the 1st century.

Arwen's biggest fascination seemed to be the castings of the human and dog remains found buried in the ash.

Rob pointed out the cryptonite effect the italian sun was having on our adventure. While in the shade, we felt as though we could do this all day. The second we were exposed to that hot afternoon sun, we found ourselves scanning the map for the nearest exit.

We survived a full day of exploration and rewarded ourselves with our first taste of authentic gelato. After this, how will we ever enjoy the stuff they try to pass off as gelato at home?

We also managed to successfully find our way to downtown Naples via the regional train when we were done. Go us.

More of my Pompeii & Naples pictures are loaded to flickr. Click here for the slideshow.

Remembering George

Last month, Arwen and I flew up to Philly to spend some much needed time reconnecting with family.  Unfortunately, Rob's work schedule didn't allow him to join us, but this gives us a reason to plan a return trip with him soon.

The first full day of our Philly vacation fell on the second anniversary of my brother George's death, so we spent some time that afternoon at his grave site in the Hillside Cemetery in Roslyn, PA.  My sister and her boys, Grandma Cats, and Aunt Ri joined us there, as did Kim, who drove up from Baltimore to bring my nephew Gianni, George's son.

Only two years since the accident, the loss of George still causes us all a great deal of pain.  But somehow, the time spent together as a family, especially with George's beautiful, two (almost 3) year old son kept the visit somber yet sweet.

More photos from this visit are available on flickr and hopefully, I'll find some time over the next couple of weeks to post the rest from our trip.

Greetings from Hershey, PA

We're in Hershey, PA!!!  We arrived this morning and are staying at the Hotel Hershey.  Wow is this place a dream.  The property is beautiful.  The staff is amazing.  We received chocolate bars upon check in, and the turn down service included Hershey Kisses on the pillow.  We are in heaven.

After 10 1/2 hours of flying and a 2 1/2 hour drive from the airport, I was surprised we were all still hanging in there by the time we got to the hotel registration desk, but we made it...still smiling (and smiling even moreso when we got our chocolate.)  Rob was the first to hit the shower and couldn't stop raving about how the combination of mint scented shampoo and chocolate scrub soap has left him smelling like mint chocolate chip ice cream.  He was right. 

Arwen made short work of her chocolate bar as soon as we got into our room.  She managed to pinch her fingers in the elevator door on the way up.  She's fine, and the tears stopped as soon as the chocolate hit her lips.  She even insisted I take her picture with "dolphin" almost immediately after.  You can kind of see the chocolate smudges around her lips in the photo. 

 

We relaxed and napped in the room for most of the afternoon to try to work out the time zone difference and jet lag.  Then we took the hotel shuttle to Chocolate World to check out their 3D Show and Chocolate Tour.  Arwen freaked out during the 3D show.  She was fine at first, but then the mice showed up and that was that.  The free chocolate at the end helped her get over it.  She loved the Chocolate Tour and of course the free chocolate samples that followed that ride as well.  We hung out at the food court there for dinner and did a little shopping for... well...chocolate.  Rob picked up the most amazing hot chocolate I have ever had.  We will definitely stop back for another before we leave on Wednesday.  I haven't tried them yet, but we also picked up Caramel Apple and Candy Corn Hershey Kisses.  Interesting flavors, no?  I was surprised to find that they do not carry the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Hershey Kisses that we are able to get in Hawaii.  I know the packaging actually says they are only available in Hawaii, but I was sure the Hershey store would have them, especially since they have a Mauna Loa stand where you can find Mauna Loa chocolate bars and macadamia nuts.  Weird.  Another weird thing I found... shelves of Starbucks chocolates.  Does Hershey make the Starbucks brand chocolates?