La Dolce Vita

I'm home! After a whirlwind 10 days, 3 blisters, 618 pictures, many euros, 3 train rides and 3 cities later, I'm back home in good old CA. In all honesty, I'm a little dazed. It's a little cruel actually how life demands that you hop right back into the routine at full speed ahead. It seems like you need an extra 3 days to process where you were and what you saw. I don't know where to start. I feel like there's so much to share and tell and describe, how do you encapsulate our adventure in one little blog? It would be big, boring, and probably scare all you off reading my posts for sure. So what I think I'll do is share things by topic, and sorta spread it out. So have some patience with me. I will say now, however, that it was definitely the trip of a lifetime, and something that I'll be forever grateful that we decided to do now, rather than relegate into the category of "someday". In Italy, they say they live the "dolce vita", or "sweet life", and I have to completely agree. The pace is slow. The people are wonderful. The food is amazing. Truly, whether you're at a little mom & pop trattoria, or a tiny pizzeria, or a big hostelaria, you can't get a bad meal. The blend of ancient and modern together in Rome, Florence, and Venice is beautiful and surreal. You feel richer just for seeing the things that those cities have to offer you, be it works from the masters like Michelangelo and da Vinci, old ruins from the Forum built by slaves, or the lazy rivers that glide through the cities. Rome absolutely stole our hearts, and will forever be a special place to us. On our last night there before we flew home the next morning, we went to our favorite restaurant in the city, and then walked across the street to the Colosseum, where we laid out on the grass in front of it, and got some amazing pictures. It was the perfect way to say goodbye. Even though I could have stayed on vacation for a whole lot longer, 10 days was a good amount of time - we left in love with Italy wanting more, rather than feeling like we were sick and tired of living our of our suitcases and just ready to be home. The funny thing about travel though, it once you get a taste of it, you want more, more, more!! On the plane ride home the wheels were already turning as to where we could explore next. It would be really nice if we could swing another big trip before any wee-ones come along. But I don't know...if we get into a house, that's where all the $$$ will be going... so who knows. It is nice to be home though. Nothing feels as good as your own sheets, pillow, and bed, plus this is the land of complementary ice with your drinks. And fall is almost here, which means my birthday is just around the corner, as well as my favorite season of the year. So stay tuned, much more to follow...Ciao!