Home!!

On the way home now! Flying through Paris then Atlanta and HOME! On Air France they served us some really good lunch and dinner. My brother and I watched five movies each on the long flight. There was little tv's on the back of each chair. While we were going through all the different airports my brother kept telling the flight crews that he loved them!! All in all this trip was such a great experience I learned about a new culture and different country. It was so amazing to see people in their own element in a different light in a different country.

Piazza Navona

Last day in Italy. Going home tomorrow. Today we took a three hour train ride from Pisa back to Rome. We went back to a couple different places that we had really enjoyed before. There is this one place called Piazza Navona. There are three different fountains and a beautiful church. Also during the day there are artists selling there paints of all types of different locations throughout Italy. Of course we bought acouple to take home and display in our home. Then my dad and I went back to this mall I found randomly. So that I could go to my favorite store that is only in certain cites called "Zara." While we were down there they were having some type of debate on there goverment acting like the mob. It was very interesting.

Wine...

What an experience this was wow wow!! My parents own a liquor store and one of there wine reps got the hook up with a wine tour of there vineyards. It was amazing they told us all about how they separate the skins from the seeds and the insides and then what the do with the parts they don't use. They make another liquor called grappa which is very strong. When they took us through where they keep there aging wines and there wines from the first collection that made. Also the owners have 9 grandchildern and with every special event they save a bunch of wine for that year in a special location for each. At the end we got to enjoy a couple different types of there wines which were amazing and there drinking age is 15 so my little brother got to enjoy as well. Which was a treat for him. He enjoyed them very much it was very weird for us though!!

Pisa

On the way to Pisa we were of course on autostrade where they have lanes but don't use them and go about 90 mph and my dad is right there with them. Oh my lord was it a little crazy at times. We got to Pisa parked the car and found this wonderful suite down the road from the leaning tower. We settled in and it the streets towards the tower. First we had lunch at the street side restaurant next door. While we went to all there different restaurants and such we quickly realized that they dont get paid on tips as they do over here and also it is rude to give you a check. They expect you to sit there for hours and eat and drink while not when you have had a long day and your tired and then when you ask for the check it takes them another 20-30 minutes to actually bring it to you. There are also dogs and cats everywhere in the restaurants on the streets it was very strange. When we got to the tower my dad, little brother, and myself climbed all the way to the top which was very scary because you are walking sideways and you think the tower is coming down! When you get to the top there is a beautiful view of the town and our hotel and the streets.

Siena

When we left for Siena it was supposed to be only a five hour drive. Well when the signs are in Italian and your dad is driving a stick shift that he keeps stalling every couple minutes it take nine hours instead. When we finally got the we were starving and still need to find a hotel room; therefore we pulled into good ole Mcdonalds!! Where we had to pay 10 cents for one packet of ketchup and they served beer. Also while you are walking around these lovely little towns if u perhaps have to use the toilets you must pay 50 cents to the random people in the bathroom!! What i noticed on the nine hour drive was most of the cars and scooters run on diesal fuel which is about 1.20 liters which comes out to around 8-9 a gallon. When we found literally the last hotel room in siena and went into our room we had to put the room key into an insert in the wall to turn the electric on.

Capri

We woke up early and went down to the docks to wait for our yacht to arrive. We went on a tour around the island it was the highlight of the whole trip to me. We say the white, green, and blue grotto and went swimming in the green. It was such an experience. The water is so clear and fresh! Then we went on to Capri the "playground of the rich." It was a lot like Positano. Buildings built right into the cliffs, shops, restaurants. It wasn't to impressed. All in all the islands were beautiful.

Positano

Well it took us forever to get to the Amalifi Coast but when we did Wow!! It was different and up hill and back down. We went down into the market and look out over the ocean. It is so beautiful there. The water is so different you can actually see through it. Amazing huh!! There is a lot of different scents going on it the air. From the diesal gas to the smell of foods and seafood. It can kinda make you sick. The also make this lemoncello and a bunch of different things with lemon so that really smells. The lemon liquior is very strong. It tastes kind of like a sour vokda or rum.

Tour of Roma

Today we went on a adventure around Roma. We hit the ground walking. First of all there breakfast is bizarre. I think we lost like 10 pounds each. Our hotel was very close to all the amazing monuments. From the Coliseum, the forum, and back to the Vatican for more crosses and pictures. For lunch we eat at this wonderful little place of the street. We shopping and took so many pictures i cant even believe. It was so amazing to be in the coliseum and see where the fighters and the lions used to be and how they used to raise the animals up on elevator type things. Learning how the forum was constructed was so interesting. The is this one arch that has names on it and one of the brothers scratched his other brothers name off of it.

Vatican

WOW!!! The vatican is amazingly huge! haha It is very well preserved and managered. There are so many different tours that you may take to explore. If your not going to take one you may wait in the 3-4 hr line that wraps around the whole square. Have Fun! We opted to get a tour with is guy who knew more about history then i think any history teacher i have ever had. Which was awesome because I learned alot. What was really cool though was the movie "Angels and Demons" was filmed in the Vatican so my little brother and myself were pointed out all the specific locations that the movie featured which to me was marketing on their part due to the fact that i wanted to see all the different locations throughout where the movie was filmed. Which lead us to more locations in the Vatican which we probably wouldn't have seen otherwise. There were all these wonderful little shops down the road from the city. There was anything from roseries to crosses, shirts to magnets of the Vatican City.

Eco Friendly

Today was out first day in Roma. It was a very long day we started in Orlando on Delta Airways. Their a very good company they served us with a smile and dinner and breakfast. One of our flight thought was a little bumpy so we only got a water service. When we finally got to our hotel we soon figured out that it was eco-friendly one. To turn on the lights you had to put your room key in a slot to get electricity. If the windows were open and it was before 6 pm there was no air conditioning. Which to us floridian is unhear of. haha Although from a marketing stand point if they advertisted that they might caught the eye of others "going Green" like myself included. There are so many different things that the italian's do that is ecogreen they also drive very small cars and scooters. To conserve gas and oil and on top of that their gas is about 8 american dollars a gallon.