L'Italia parte due...

Ah Italy.  You know you have found a very special place when your heart aches because of how much you miss being there.  It crushes me to know that this summer I won't be going back...won't get to walk up that hill and see the beautiful vine covered house.  Say hi to the neighbors.  Take the girls for gelato and wander through town.  Trekking down the steep steps to head to the little grocery stores, happy when the shopkeepers would recognize us, and then back up the steps lugging my groceries behind me. Enjoying the little park or spending a few hours at the pool or watching the girls fly over the ledge and into the lake.  I can't explain how much Menaggio and Italy mean to me...its home.  In a sense.  
Last summer I was blessed to spend a whole month there again...but this time it was just me and my girls.  Matt had to stay and finish up in Saudi, and well, none of my family could make the trip this time.  So, yep, it was just us three.  And you know what?  It was amazing.  Some days we didn't do much of anything...maybe a walk to town for groceries or a snack, then back home to hang out, cook, watch movies.  Other days we'd venture out to some of the towns we didn't visit the previous summer or back to some of our favorites, like Bellagio and Lugano.  There is something magical about Italy that just stays with me always....and I will get back there...at some point.  :)  
Something special we did that summer was get to visit with some friends of ours from Saudi.  My friend is from Italy and her daughter was in the same kinder class as Sara.  They were good buddies and so when she invited us to spend a few days with her...we happily agreed!  :)  I was a little nervous trying to figure out how to get to her though...just me and the girls having to travel by train...4 hours.  But I was able to get it all sorted and we ended up on a fabulous train ride through Tuscany and down to Orvieto.  My friend lives just outside the city, but in the summer her family heads to Montalto...a small beach town that we just loved.  Her family was so amazing and took such good care of us while we were there.  We spent days on the beach, went to see an Italian circus, went into the countryside for some horseback riding, ate AMAZING pizza that her sister and brother in law make at their local restaurant, and basically just had a great time.  It was wonderful.  
Once we got back to Menaggio, I took the girls on one last day trip to Lugano, Switzerland (we had visited there the year before as well) and then Matt finally arrived and we headed off to enjoy the rest of our summer vacation in Prague and Iceland (those posts to come soon!)  :)
I'm going to talk about the rest of the trip through the photos (many many photos) I took.  (remember, this blog is going to eventually be turned into a book for my darling daughters to have...so pix are very important!)  :D  
here we go:

My home away from home.  Our house was the little one in the center there...over the tunnel with the little Juliet balcony.  Top left is the view from the balcony.  Top right is the little market that would take place every other Saturday in the main piazza.  Bottom right...a small local market whose owners were related to my neighbors just down the hill.  The girls and I would stop there often for cheese, meats, wine, and the owners would always give the girls a little sweet.  :)  Bottom left is the little park we would stop at often; the girls had so much fun playing on all the equipment.   

Top left...They would have concerts in the piazza...I took the girls one night, they had fun listening to the orchestra..even getting up and dancing!  :)  Bottom left: the stairs.  The 155 stairs we would climb both ways to get to the grocery store and back (or well, just to get to town if we didn't want to go down the big hill)  Who needs a gym?!  Middle and bottom right:  one of the beautiful little restaurants in the main piazza and another shot of the Saturday market.  Top right:  the girls and their Italian friends...the Italian kids spoke very little English, my girls spoke very, very little Italian...and yet...they played together all the time.  :D

The previous year we never made it out on the lake unless we were taking the ferry somewhere.  This time, I was going to get myself a boat!  We rented one of the little boats and took off for an hour.  We had an absolute blast.  Went up the lake where we hadn't been before and raced back down past Bellagio and over to see the beautiful Villa del Balbianello.  I was a great way to spend an hour!  :)

Some of the amazing scenery we saw while on our boat ride.

The girls LOVED jumping into the lake!  

lazy days in Menaggio

Pasta, pizza, and gelato....oh my!

Bottom left was a dinner at one of our neighbors houses.  So lovely!  Middle pic is the girls and their Italian friends at the lido.  (aka pool)

We spent a day visiting one of the smaller towns we never went to the year before.  Bellano.  We wandered through the streets, stopping at shops, checking out churches and having lunch.  We also went to see a really pretty waterfall with catwalks through the trees.  (a few pix in another collage)

above are more of Bellano.  I love the top right...a bunch of old men were sitting outside sipping wine and playing cards...so Italian!  ;)

More of us just enjoying ourselves with friends and just the three of us.  Bottom left and top left are at the river a friend of ours took us to..a little hike through gorgeous woods and then a dip in the water!  Bottom right is the girls keeping themselves entertained outside our house.

The next few collages are of our trip to Orvieto and Montalto.  We took a train down through Tuscany and past Florence.  It was gorgeous!!  Of course, the girls mostly just watched movies in our private cabin that we had on the train!  :)

Top left and bottom right are the views of Orvieto from afar.  Such an awesome town.  And the church of Orvieto.

Some shots of Tuscany from the train.  Meeting our friends!  

Spending time at the beach, circus, and some outdoor relaxation after horseback riding.  :)

Oh man, the pizza was incredible!  They used huge scissors to cut the slices.  And the toppings were fresh and super tasty!  My friend also shared with me some wine that was 16% alcohol!  Needless to say, we sipped it slowly!    

Bottom right is where we ate dinner most nights in the hotel with my friend and her family.  Her family runs the hotel and so we would have a nice dinner there altogether.  The food was always fantastic.  Other pix of the girls just having a great time.

We had to visit Bellagio one last time before we left (and so I could get a special bottle of wine for my brother and his wife)  I enjoyed a lovely mimosa while Sara took my picture!  :) 

Top left are photos of us by the waterfall in Bellano.  Middle and bottom right are pix of this fabulous little bistro in Bellagio.  Great wines paired with cheese and meats, but the setting was amazing..carved out of stone and wine bottles everywhere.  

Just some fun shots.  We had some great rain storms followed by a gorgeous rainbow one day!  And Lily was happy to get a new doll.

We took the bus back to Lugano for one last day trip before Matt arrived.  Hiked up a ton of stairs to get a beautiful view.  The main piazza has such beautiful buildings.

Some pix of Lake Lugano.

They had a display of horses throughout the town, and of course, the girls wanted their photos taken with every single one.  :)  

Well...that pretty much sums it up!  We had a truly wonderful month and we have memories that will last a lifetime.  I hope to get back to that little house soon...though, there is so much more of the world we still want to see.  But like I said, Menaggio will always have a very, very special place in my heart. :)

Almalfi Coast, Italy

Time to wrap up our trip to Italy.  This was the final part of our journey...meeting up with family in beautiful Positano.

upper right and lower middle are the views from the house.

The hubby, girls and I were still in Mennagio, so we needed to catch a couple of trains from northern Italy to the south.  The day started off fine...we got a ride to the train station and then...waited.  The train was late.  Really late.  Once we finally got loaded and moving Matt and I realized we were barely going to make our connecting train...if we made it at all.
So here we were, pulling up to the train station...we have three large suitcases, a couple of carry on's, a back pack, two kids, and their little rolling luggage.  We stood at the ready and bolted as soon as the doors opened...
And when I say bolted, I mean we flat out ran!  I had a death grip on Lily basically dragging her along the station and yelling at Sara to keep up.  Sara is crying as she's running.  Matt is behind us...pulling a crap load of luggage...which at the moment one bag decided to lose both of its wheels.  We keep running, keep dragging...and we actually make it.  By all of 2 minutes.  Now, we weren't the only idiots running through the station to catch this train, but I'm sure we made the most commotion.  Could we have caught another train?  Sure...at some point, but we wanted to get to Positano before it was the middle of the night.  We still had to get our taxi to drive us to the house.

All said and done, we made it all the way to the house in Positano.  My mom and stepdad and Aunt and Uncle were waiting for us.  The house we had rented was incredible with a killer view.  The only downside is that Positano is very, very hilly...so lots of hiking up and down stairs.  Ah well, it worked off the pasta and wine!  :)  

a few of the rooms and the two patios of the house.

The rest of our trip was spent touring the Almalfi Coast.  The highlight of the week was taking a private boat out for the day.  It was our baby girl's birthday (already 4!) and we wanted to make it special.  (seeing as how her sister got to spend her 5th birthday at the top of the Eifel Tower).  The boat ride was amazing.  We all felt like superstars relaxing on the nose of the boat as we skipped across the water to the Isle of Capri.  We toured around there a bit and then spent more time just jetting around the coast line.

upper middle and lower left are in Capri.  Other shots from Positano.

We stopped to do a bit of swimming, but found that the water was already occupied...by jelly fish.  My poor mother got stung but good right on her wrist.  That put a little damper on things...but not too much.  We sang happy birthday to Lily while anchored in the Mediterranean Sea.  That was pretty awesome.
Another highlight of the trip was this amazing amazing restaurant we found.  This place has been owned by the same family for over 30 years.  They send a car to pick you up and bring you to the restaurant.  It's a fixed menu, so you get what you get.  But, oh my, what a feast!  Everything was so good.  It was a three course meal with wine included.  Each course included anywhere from 6-10 plates of different dishes.  They grow their own veggies right outside the restaurant.  It was so good we went there twice in one week!

We spent time shopping, went to Ravello, and chilled on the gorgeous beach.  Even rented a stand up paddle board and took the girls out on the water.  Positano is just so beautiful and we enjoyed every day.  It was a wonderful way to end an incredible 5 week trip to Italy!  Can't wait to go back next year! :)       

all of these photos were taken in Ravello.

Cinque Terre, Italy

After seeing photos of Cinque Terre, I just knew I had to see it for myself.  It was very close to where we were staying in Lucca, so we decided another day trip was in order!  
Be prepared to walk when you go!  There are trains connecting the five towns, but there is still quite a bit of walking if you really want to see the sites.  

I wish I'd done more research before going....totally would have brought along towels and bathing suits.  It was another hot day in Italy and man, that water was beyond tempting!!  We let the girls wade in the water a bit and our little one looked just like a local in black short pants and no top!  :)
The towns were quaint and lovely.  We had an enjoyable meal overlooking the harbor of Vernazza.  I really wish we would have had time to stay into the evening, I have a feeling its a place that comes alive at night.  A bit of a rushed trip, but still glad to see that I got to see it with my own two eyes!  

Back to Lucca for the night and then we'd be heading back to Menaggio for a few more days....this trip sure was going quick!  ;)

Pisa and Lucca, Italy

During our trip to Italy, we were lucky to be able to travel around and see some of the nearby towns.  My mom and step-dad rented a house in Lucca and we joined them for a few days.

Lucca is a large town, actually, but when you get inside the old walls, everything becomes quite tight.  We were so lost trying to find the apartment when we got there.  Thank goodness for nav on the iPad!  The house they rented was lovely place tucked away in the old town.
We wandered the streets a bit, ate at some nice restaurants and sampled the local gelato.  The next day we ventured off to Pisa!

I must admit that caught my breath at the first site of the Leaning Tower.  I mean, when you see pictures of something your whole life...and well, there it was!  It is so beautiful.  
Total tourist trap of course.  Tourists everywhere.  I took some amazing photos, but we weren't allowed in the tower.  Ok, well, adults are...with a tour only.  No way was I going inside and leaving my poor girls to stare up at us with longing.  So we settle for touring the Baptistry and listened as a man sang to show off the incredible acoustics.  My sweet baby girl was so moved, she asked Grandma, "is that God talking?"  Actually brought tears to my eyes.

As wonderful as Pisa was...we didn't spend very long there.  Barely half a day.  It was hot.  Overcrowded and overpriced.  I'm sure there are some lovely places throughout the town, but with the heat...nobody was up for meandering around.  
It made for a very nice day trip and we drove ourselves back to Lucca for dinner and a nice night in the lovely flat.

quaint Lucca

more of Lucca, and a pretty little wine shop!  :)

   

Venice, Italy

The winding streets, the Grand Canal, San Marco's piazza, the gondola's....yeah, it doesn't get much more romantic than beautiful Venezia. 

I was fortunate enough to have visited this lovely city once before with the hubby on our one year anniversary.  We had heard mixed reviews about it and we weren't sure what to expect.  Well, we loved it.  Only three days, but it was just right.
Therefore, I wasn't hesitant to return when I knew my mom and stepdad would be in Italy with us.  With the help of the amazing owner of my house in Mennagio, we were able to book our train travel to Venice from Como.  Through Hotels.com I found a nice room for the night.  We were set to go.
Up early, walked down to the ferry landing.  Took the ferry across to Varenna and walked to the train station.  Caught a train to Milan, then from Milan to Venice.  The train ride was nice, the girls played on my iPad and mom, stepdad and I played Scrabble on mom's iPad. 
We arrived mid afternoon.  Not sure where the hotel was located, my stepdad decided to just hire a water taxi.  The man was very friendly, called the hotel, got directions...and off we went.  The ride was so fun...if we'd been on the Strip in Vegas, we would have been those goofy tourists with their heads sticking out of the top of the limo.  Snapping pictures along the way....and just 10 minutes later we were at our hotel.  

The girl who worked the front desk was so nice and upgraded our room.  We walked into a mini palace.  It was something!  Black walls, red and white Murano glass chandeliers, red covered bed...lets just say it kept us talking for a few hours!  We were in a nice location close to San Marco's piazza. 
Dropped off our bags and headed out! 
Found a nice restaurant to eat lunch...but ended up costing us $200 Euro...okay, so THAT was not a fun bit.  We headed to the piazza and since my stepdad had a bum knee, mom, me and the girls headed to the clock tower.  Well, stepdad could have gone with us...the stairs to climb up were closed, so everyone had to take the lift.  The girls were so disappointed (so were me and mom!).  Ah, but the view was incredible...just breathtaking.  Such a small city, but so unique.

The kids and stepdad went back to the hotel later that day and mom and I went for a quick drink so we could see Venice at night.  So pretty.

The next day mom and stepdad headed off for some couple time and I took off with the girls.  We took a gondola ride...which they totally loved.  The got the giggles every time the guy had to duck under a bridge...so, yeah, they were laughing every minute along the way.
Then we took the ferry along the Grand Canal.  Found the same restaurant where Matt and I had dinner one day and sat down for a nice lunch.  

The up side...it was tons of fun sharing this with my family and the girls.  The down side...it was really crowded...and hot.  I totally recommend going when it's not peak season.  But would I go back again...you bet.  :)

What is your favorite thing about Venice?

  

Bellagio and Varenna

I'm am going through my photos and I'm overwhelmed....I can't believe the amount of things we crammed into 6 weeks!  We were a busy family, that's for sure!
So, here's a quick post about two of the most famous towns on Lake Como.  Bellagio is infamous of course...the movies have made this place glamourous.  It truly is a lovely little town...lots of little alleys to take you up and down.  Restaurants and shops tucked here and there.  The town is small, and it doesn't take long to see the whole of it.  Unless of course, you stop at all the shops along the way! (or for a glass...ok, bottle...of wine)  We found an amazing little wine bar tucked away along one alley...floor to ceiling wine and beautiful stone.  The wine was fabulous with a side of salty Italian cheese and prosciutto.  I had been to Bellagio once before with the hubby on our one year anniversary trip.  We had a blast wandering around.  This time, I had so much fun with my girls...we sat outside at a little cafe where they ate a delicious risotto and mommy sipped white wine and used the cafe wifi to message daddy...then we'd stop for gelato and wind our way back to the docks to catch the ferry home.

Visiting Varenna was just as beautiful.  Personally, I think the view of Varenna from the water is the most stunning on the whole lake.  The colorful houses, the church, the flowers...stunning.

When the girls and I first went, I had no idea where I was going.  I assumed it would have a piazza near the water like Mennagio.  So, we when got off the ferry...well, we just started walking.  We found our way along the road and then through back alleys and ended up in the piazza.  Which is not located near the water.  But it was a beautiful area with large trees and a stunning old church.  After some water and gelato we headed off again.  We cam upon a path that led us along the water and past quaint little restaurants.  We picked one, parked ourselves outside, and sat down to enjoy a lakeside lunch.  It's beyond peaceful.  We went back twice more with my mom and stepdad and when the hubby got there. Each time we ate somewhere new...but always near the water.  
It made for such fun times...just hopping on the ferry in the morning...a 20 minute ride across the lake and then just getting lost in the narrow paths throughout the towns.  Can't wait to go back...

Welcome to Lake Como, Italy

6 weeks in Italy is a long time to try and blog about...at least, not like I did with the Egypt and France trip.  So, I'm going to do my best to just talk about the highlights of the trip and not so much the day to day.  

I'm blessed that this was my second trip to Lake Como.  Six years ago I visited this beautiful piece of Earth with my husband.  We were celebrating our 1 year wedding anniversary, and we stopped in for the day in Como on our way to Venice.  We took the slow ferry ride to Bellagio and just enjoyed wandering the streets.  It was a wonderful time and it really stuck in my memory.  
So that's why, when the time came to find a place to spend the 5 weeks of Ramadan, Lake Como came to mind.  I was trying to stay as far north as I could in hopes I could escape the heat.  I knew that Florence and everywhere south could be wicked hot in the summer, and well, I have that here in Saudi...no interest in melting in Italy!
I spent weeks searching for the perfect place (meaning one that was in our budget).  I surfed VRBO, HomeAway, FlipKey and lord knows what other small sites.  I almost don't want to share where I found this gem because I want it always available for me to return.  :) 
First let me just fill you in a bit about this gorgeous lake.  Lago di Como is home to many small towns and villages.  The major players are Como itself, Bellagio, Varenna, Menaggio, Tremezzo, Lecco, and Colico.  There are others such as Aregeno and Lenno that have wonderful little things to see too.  It is surrounded by beautiful green mountains where you can spot random homes and towns and wonder how in the world they built those up there!  There are wonderful trails for hiking and you'll always see road cyclists braving the traffic and steep hills.  The people are very friendly and very proud of their lake.  It has made such an impact on me that I feel I left a part of myself back on that lake.  
After all my searching, I found the perfect house.  Let me just say, the best part about this house is the owner.  You could not ask for a better man to help you with ANYTHING while you are staying in his home.  Fabio was amazing and I can't thank him enough for everything he did for me over the weeks.

The house itself is just has wonderful.  Coming in at a young 500 years old and situated in the historic Castello above the town of Menaggio.  (pronounced Men-Ah-Jo)  Its nestled among other homes and we came to know the neighbors very well.  The girls played with the neighbor kids and we even got invited to dinner a few times.  (A-mazing)  The house was two stories and had some lovely views of the lake (ok, we weren't on the lake, but I didn't care...I wouldn't have wanted to stay anywhere else)  Menaggio has a beautiful piazza right on the lake front.  A beautiful park with playground and even a merry-go-round.  It's by far my favorite town on the lake and I'm so, so glad that we stayed there and not anywhere else...
So, let me walk you through a typical day for me and the girls while we were there alone... (before my mom or Matt arrived)

We'd wake in the morning and the girls would start playing with their princesses right away (yes, we dragged 20lbs worth of princess figurines with us...best idea I've ever had).  I would head to the kitchen and cook up some eggs and pancetta (it's all about the pork baby).  We'd eat breakfast and talk about what we wanted to see that day.  First we would head to the grocery store to get food for dinner and snacks.  I'd grab my little rolling shopping bag (best thing I bought during the whole trip) and we'd head...down.  
The house is uphill from the main piazza...so, down we would go.  You could either take the steps or walk down the cobble stone path.  The girls loved taking the stairs...so, down we would go...155 steps (yes we counted them)...and then walk a bit more to the store.  We'd stop at the market that just sold veggies and fruits first.  Just remember...no self service!  You point and ask and they grab and bag.  My Italian got good enough that I could ask for almost any veggie/fruit in Italian, and if I couldn't well, they would help teach me.  From there we would head to the regular grocery store...nothing fancy, but we had fun picking out new things to eat each night.  (pork, pasta, pork, pasta...oh yeah..and wine, wine, wine!)  
Then it was back UP to the house.  I would indulge the girls and walk back up the 155 steps carrying the damn grocery bags.  Lemme tell you...I didn't feel bad about eating tons of pasta...I worked it off every day!! (I should also mention that 9 times out of 10 it was HOT outside!  and humid...so yeah, so much for escaping the damn heat!...no AC in the house either...thank god for open windows and breezes!)  Groceries put away and then back DOWN.  (see, almost all the stores close from 12-4...so you better get what you need early!)  We'd walk all the way back down to the piazza (taking the cobble path)...and head over to the ferry landings.  We'd have picked a town and we'd get our tickets, jump on the ferry, and cruise across the lake.  I just loved it on the ferry, the breeze was so cooling and just staring at the water, the mountains, the towns...so serene.  
And there we would go...to visit Como or Varenna, or maybe Bellagio...or Tremezzo or Argeno.  We'd wonder through the towns...eating gelato and for the most part having a grand time.  (no, the kids were not angels for 5 weeks, but let me tell you, those girls were amazing...aside from a few blips here and there, they were just a blast to be with...and we did ALOT of walking...)
We'd ferry back home...and walk back UP.  lol...what a workout.  They'd play while I'd cook dinner.  After dinner we would Skype daddy and tell him all about our day and how we couldn't wait to cheer him on as he tried to hike up the street.. :)  Then after they were tucked in bed, I'd pour some wine (okay, okay...I have another glass of the wine I'd opened while cooking dinner)...and curl up on the couch and read a book with the Olympics on in the background. 
Some days we would just chill in the house, the girls would play and I would take my lunch, glass of wine and my book and sit out on the little terrace.  I'd wave to the neighbors and the tourists wandering through the Castello...it was so peaceful.   
It was beyond wonderful and I truly enjoyed every single day.  I'll talk more about the other towns in a future post...  :)