Italy Trip

So this trip post is incredibly overdue, but I haven't had time to sit down and catalogue it yet! I have an extremely active boy on my hands these days and I am sure it's just going to get even more difficult to find time to post in the coming months and years, but I love getting everything documented, so here goes!

A couple weeks ago, my brother, Andrew, and his fiance, Lauren, arrived at the doorstep of our flat! We were very excited to see both of them! Andrew came out last summer and he also got to meet Camden for the first time in April in Texas, but only got to spend a couple of days with us bc he was working in New Orleans. He was off from teaching for summer break, so he decided to come visit us! Camden loves his Uncle Andrew and all of the fun games they got to play together. Camden also was carried around by Uncle Andrew a good amount in Italy as well!

I have always wanted to go to Italy (my second highest desired holiday spot after Paris). I looked in my Best of Europe book by Rick Steve's, and he recommended the Cinque Terre as one of the top destinations. I had never heard of it, but it sounded awesome! A combination of hiking and swimming in the ocean! He had me sold! As I started planning, I realised how detailed this trip was going to be! So many different modes of transport and exact timings of trains, planes, and buses. I thought we would be ok since we had 4 adults and one baby. It turned out to be spectacular, but it was a lot of work getting there and getting around! We definitely appreciated the things we got to do and see more bc of all of our efforts to make it there!

We woke up at 4 am Sunday the 26th of June after not sleeping the night before bc our neighbors had a crazy loud party with ridiculously loud music!! We walked to the bus stop and realised we had forgotten to print out the bus tickets for the EasyBus to the airport. Jared ran back to the house like a champ! We didn't catch the city bus in time to take us to Marble Arch Station where the EasyBus picked up, so we had to hail a cab and flew down to Marble Arch. We literally made it on the EasyBus 1 min before they left. We then rode for an hour to Luton Airport outside the city and arrived to madness at the airport! So many people in line for security and we had to test so much of our baby food we brought! It was too heavy to leave in the checked luggage!! We made the mistake of having Lauren and Andrew run up ahead to the gate bc we didn't know if we would make it. The boarding pass said queue 2, so they assumed that it was gate 2 (bc in the states the gate is usually printed on the boarding pass). Not here! They wait until 20 minutes before boarding to release you to your gate and it flashes up on the monitor. Jared, Camden, and I ran to the gate we saw on the monitor, and saw they weren't in the queue to board!! Oh no!! Jared once again ran down the hallway to see where they were! They luckily had already started running back to us. We got in the queue just before the gate closed for boarding! We were all so relieved to be on the plane...And can I just say that Camden was a champ and just chilled in the pram the entire time while we were all running around like mad! And he had been up since 4 am, too!

So we flew in to Pisa and were going to see the leaning tower, etc. before we took the train to the Cinque Terre. We got a cab to the tower and the driver says, no trains....strike! What!??? How were we going to get to Riomaggiore?? This is an incredibly small town...we didn't have Camden's car seat so we couldn't rent a car, and at this point I really didn't care about seeing the leaning tower any more. But we did any way...

Classic Pisa pose...

Did I mention it was realllllly hot in Pisa?? So we are trying to figure out how to walk to the train station to get some more info about the strike and if we would be able to get out of Pisa later that night. We walked to the station and it was a ghost town (except for one other trio of Americans who were waiting for their train..). I kindly mentioned to them about the strike of which they had no clue, and then we proceeded to get across town to the other, larger station to see if there was anyone there with info. We waited for a bus to take us across town and I was drenched by this point in my black jeans (thank you 60 degree London). Camden was actually sweating, too! Crazy times.

After waiting for about 30 minutes in the desert we squeezed on the bus and the driver didn't stop to let anyone else on after us! We made it to Pisa Centrale Station and it was open! Could it be that there were a few trains leaving!?? Yes! There were!! We had to make it to Riomaggiore before their office closed at 5:00 pm, and there was a train leaving Pisa at 3:30! We bought tickets and ran to the platform...do you detect a theme to the day?? Yes, Running, a lot of running! Haha! We were on the train! But wait...we still had to change trains in La Spezia and buy tickets to Riomaggiore. We didn't know what time that train would be leaving or if we would make it by 5:00. We got off in La Spezia and Jared ran in to the ticket office. I noticed that there was a train leaving in 5 minutes to Riomaggiore!! Hurry, Jared, Hurry! Run, Jared, Run! We threw Camden and the luggage in the train and the doors closed! Made it by seconds once again! We were only 8 minutes away from our destination!

The doors opened in Riomaggiore and we were inside a tunnel (Just like Rick Steve's had said...thank you Rick!). I ran to get out of the 2 foot platform with the pram before the train started moving right next to us. Alas! There was the ocean! I have never seen anything that refreshing looking in my entire life! After 12 hours of traveling (only a 2 hour plane flight I might add)...we were finally there. So we ran up to the office and got our keys to our flat at 4:45 pm! So Thank you Jesus for allowing us to make every leg of the journey by just minutes, seconds, etc.

Arrival in Riomaggiore!!

The Cinque Terre was beautiful!! It was really fun to hike and jump in the water whenever you wanted too along the way! I would highly recommend this trip for anyone who likes to hike and be at the beach!

Here are some shots from the 5 towns:

Hike from Riomaggiore to Manarola
View in Manarola
Manarola
Beach on Day 2 in Monterosso al Mare. We layed out and swam and buddy played on the beach chair for 3 hours...
Then passed out after a brief crying sesh on the beach...
Then woke up for dinner on the patio of a restaurant overlooking the water.
Camden and Andrew chillin in the apartment
View from our apartment in Riomaggiore! The church up on the hill had a wedding the first night we were there, and the whole town proceeded down the main street by our window singing, etc. It was so beautiful! I love being able to experience the true culture of a town so far away from home.
Day 3: View of Vernazza harbour from the top of the Castello. We swam down in the harbour for a loooong time that day after climbing the Castle.
At the top of the Castello
View of Vernzza on the hiking path from Vernazza to Monterosso al Mare. We saw Mitchell from the show Modern Family which was so random!
Buddy was enjoying the boat ride a lot!
View of the Castello on the Boat from Vernazza back to Riomaggiore.

After 3 days in Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso al Mare, we took the train to Florence and stayed there one night. It was very hot there, too, but it cooled off that evening and it was amazing! We paid waaaaayyyy too much money to see the David, but I still say it was worth it!!
We found a tiny 4 seater lunch spot in a back alley in Florence. The lady made us a specialised meal! Some amazing tapas style Italian treats!
The David....So magnificent
Giotto's Tower on the right...414 steps to the top (Andrew and I decided to take the climb). It was tiring, but soooo worth it when we got to the top!
The Duomo from the top of Giotto's Tower
Camden sweating in Florence
Andrew and Lauren in front on Pont Neuf. We took a lot of engagement pics of Lauren and Andrew and we aren't posting the ones they are going to use for their save the dates! I will post more from the photo shoot soon.
In front of Pont Neuf
Camden was excited to get back to London!
Waiting at the Train Station in Florence to go back to Pisa.

All in all an adventerous trip to say the least, but some really great memories! Hope you enjoyed hearing about our adventures!

Next up...Mike, Catherine, and Mason Haskew are coming this Thursday and we are going to Paris with them on Monday for the week! Can't wait till they arrive!!