Europe 2014 (part 4)

Day 6: Naples/Isle of Capri

Right before we left on the trip, J lined us up with a boat tour of the Isle of Capri. It looked a bit sketchy on the website with titles like:

4 hours tour (OMG) and 3 hour tour (so cool I could die)

But we decided to risk it and book, and we are so glad we did! The entire front of the boat was a sunbathing area and the views and water were breathtaking. This was everyone’s favorite day of the entire trip. We even got to swim in the Mediterranean, surrounded by yachts (and a jelly fish). Of course diving contests and synchronized swimming were a must, and I’m sure the yachtys were highly impressed with our level of sophistication (the jellyfish-not so much).

 

 

 

My pictures can’t show you how blue the water was but this picture I stole off the internet will help.

Interesting fact: On the boat taxi ride to the Isle several tourists took pictures of j. Just stuck their camera right in her face and took a picture. We are curious to know what celebrity they thought they had spotted. They didn’t speak English so we weren’t able to ask.

Highlight: I may have mentioned Mr. M’s obsession with pizza (he dreams in pepperoni). Naples is the birthplace of pizza and boy do they know what they are doing.

Look how happy he is!

 

Lowlight: J bought us all a round of Lemoncello and forced us to drink it. In case you are wondering, it tastes just like lemonheads mixed with rubbing alcohol.

 

Next week: Fun on the cruise ship and Mykonos

 

Europe 2014 (part 3)

Day 4: Pisa/Florence

 

Lots of original pictures were taken in Pisa:

 

On the way from Pisa to Florence we took in the gorgeous Tuscan countryside. Some of us enjoyed the view…

Some of us didn’t….

Our tour guide recommended a fantastic restaurant for lunch where I had two of my favorite things:

House wine & homemade pasta (my favorite meal of the trip!)

Than stopped for ‘the best coffee in Italy’ and channeled our inner Dr. Evil.

Oh yeah, and we went to see this guy (naked statue: as promised).

 

Day 5: Rome

We did all the typical tourist things and went to all the typical tourist attractions…and it was AMAZING!

 

The Collesseum: Did you know it had a retractable roof? Did you also know they retracted it several times per day to get rid of the smell? I’m thinking about putting a retractable roof over Mr M.’s mancave.

 

Piazza Navona: A random moment of sibling love….don’t get too impressed-I’m sure a slap fight broke out 5 minutes later.

The Pantheon:  Those itty bitty people in front are Mr. M and I.

 

The Spanish Steps: You are welcome for the action shot! I was worried you would have wondered how we got up the steps otherwise.

 

The Trevi Fountain:  They say if you throw a coin in the fountain, you will come back to Rome.  2^nd time in Rome… 2^nd Coin toss… can’t wait for the 3^rd!

The Vatican: J and I had already toured on a previous trip so we didn’t go inside with the rest of the family. Apparently we missed quite the adventure….but I’ll leave that story for one of my sisters to tell (subtle hint to start blogging you losers!) All I know is they were following this cane very quickly through a LOT of people.

 Our final meeting point was next to an adorable pack of mangy dogs. *no picture available* This was considerably preferable to the spot J and I met our Vatican tour on our last trip. (In case you were wondering, it was next to a sewer grate where a, let’s just call it, ‘plague’ of locusts were pouring out.  ‘Should we be worried?’ )

 

OK OK, this is getting a little ‘and here is a slide of a famous fountain we can’t remember the name of, and this slide is the same fountain from another angle’. But it’s Rome, and if you can’t be a cheesy tourist in Rome, than where can you?

Next week: I’m on a boat (I know- again with the theme song?)