Weekend Getaway to Tuscany

We had always wanted to spend more time in the Tuscany area, visiting some wineries and experiencing this region of Italy. Our good friends Sarah and Colby suggested we go to Montepulciano with them. They had been there numerous times and kept saying it was one of their favorite places in Italy.  We took them up on their offer and found a weekend we could up there and spend some time in the beautiful Tuscany region of Italy. It was about a 3 hour drive from Naples and boy, it did not disappoint. After the trip, we realized we should have made more trips out to Tuscany!

Shannon found us a fantastic place to stay out in the countryside. First order of business after the long drive; kick off the shoes and have some wine (thanks for driving, Shannon). 

We hit the town of Montepulciano early the next morning. It was more crowded then we expected and was very lively. 

The views were spectacular! Just like what you see at the Olive Garden. 

We found a couple places for wine tasting. I dont know why they gave us the extra large glasses, but they sure made the wine tasty! 

After a day out on the big town, we came back to the Villa for some pool and hot tub time. The pool was heated which the girls loved. 

Beautiful sunset!

The vineyards were stating to grow now that the weather was getting warmer. 

Pretty sweet place! 

On the way home from Montepulciano, we stopped at the Monster park. 

In between the girls' whining and complaining, we saw a few neat statues.

It wasn't as good as we thought it was going to be and the girls were over it as soon as we stepped foot inside the park. So we made a quick trip around the grounds to check out the highlights. 

We waited in line to take this pic of the most popular statue in the park. 

Copenhagen, Denmark!

We had such an incredible time in Norway that we decided to come right back to Scandinavia and visit Copenhagen. It was Easter weekend so the kids had a few extra days off from school and the days off aligned perfectly with my schedule. 

The girls have become quite the little travelers! Here we are, loading up in Naples to fly to Copenhagen. 

The apartment that we rented was right in the center of the downtown area so we had lots of shops and restaurants to choose from. 

Before we go on a trip, we check out a travel book from the library to learn about what the cities have to offer. We always try to get Rick Steeves books -- he has walking tours that cover the major highlights and gives great information. Here are the girls posing with the Hans Christian Anderson statue. 

The streets were super clean and the city was very walkable. 

Another "check-in-the-box" that we sought out was visiting the Little Mermaid Statue. Here we are walking along the river to the statue. 

We ran into a trampoline area where we let the girls burn off some energy. It took a dozen attempts to get this simultaneous shot of the girls jumping together. 

This is Nyhavn, which is the older part of town where trade used to rule All the boats would tie up here and trade, buy, and sell goods. Now it is lined with bars and restaurants. 

This is Frederik's Church. Its and 18th century Lutheran church with the largest dome in Scandinavia. 

We made it to the Little Mermaid Statue, along with thousands of other tourists. Here are the girls taking pics with their cameras. 

Rick Steeves said that it wasn't that impressive but that you have this obligatory feeling that you have to go see it. He was right. There really wasn't anything special about it.... and the people were lined up to get pictures of it which was annoying. Oh well, we checked the box. 

Everything in Scandinavia is much more expensive then the rest of Europe. To help keep costs low, we picnicked in the park and bought food/drinks from a local grocery store. 

We visited the Rosenborg Castle which is a museum that houses the crown jewels. 

We also took a canal boat cruise out of Nyhavn. We are such a cooooooooool family with these fly shades! 

The boat tour also took us right by the Mermaid Statue. It was still not that impressive. 

And last but not least, we spent one whole day (Easter day) at Tivoli Gardens. Tivoli is an amusement part right in the city with rides and shows. Unfortunately, I didn't take many pics. 

We had the best of times and this is something the girls will forever remember. They had really good rides there and both girls are tall enough now to ride just about everything. Both of them kept eye balling the upside down thrill rides. They were interested, but weary to commit. We hit a bunch of others and finally convinced LC to go one one. I went with her and absolutely loved it. It was such a neat experience for me because she had the best of time and couldn't believe she was going upside down. We got done and she immediately wanted to go again. She couldn't stop talking about it to E, which then inspired E to go. And it was the same thing for E. We probably rode if 4 times in a row and they loved every second of it.  Unfortunately, it was the end of the day so we couldn't ride any of the other rides. The whole way back to the apartment for the next few days, that is all they could talk about. I think we created some thrill seeking monsters! 

On the flight home we passed over Amsterdam and were able to see all the tulip farms with all the pretty colors. Funny cause exactly 2 years ago we were in Amsterdam!

Another good and memorable trip in the books! Scandinavia did not disappoint one bit! 

Grammy, Papa and Uncle Jamie Visit!

We were lucky to have back-to-back visitors. A few weeks after my parents left, Grammy, Papa and Uncle Jamie flew across the pond to visit us. We tried to cram in as much as possible to give them a little taste of Italy. Here are a few pics and memories! 

We booked a tour of the Amalfi coast early the next morning, despite jet lag. We got a nice tour  of a couple towns along the way. One stop was at a Limoncello factory where they and this neat, old Fiat 500 cut out. 

The views from the Amalfi coast are one-of-a-kind and we were blessed with a beautiful day. We visited the towns of Sorrento, Amalfi and Salerno (I believe). 

We also visited the Herculaneum ruins and then went to a winery for lunch. Here we are getting a brief tour of their grounds. 

The winery was on the base of Mt Vesuvius, which you can see in the background. 

The food was quite delicious, as well as the wine. 

Speaking of food, we also took them to the famous Napoli pizza joint downtown and ordered a couple delicious pies. We will definitely miss the pizza from Naples. Yum yum. 

And of course, we had to take them to sample lots of gelato places. 

And then a stroll through the Christmas alley downtown. 

Here are the girls next to the Pucinella statue. He's famous here in Napoli. 

Mt Vesuvius in the background along with the Naples bay. 

Shannon participated in a CrossFit competition in Salerno. Here she is crushing it during one of many workouts she participated in. We are proud of you, Mommy! 

The girls also wanted to play baseball this year. So we signed them up and they seemed to like it.... sometimes. Their team name was the Oriels which they had trouble pronouncing at first (oreos). 

They both progressed nicely through the season and actually liked playing towards the end of the season. 

I took the girls to the annual Daddy/Daughter dance at the school.

Looking good!

And E passed the swim test at the pool which means she can go wherever she wants to at the pools on base (water slides, deep end and high dive). 

We also went on our last boating trip. The weather was warm and the water was refreshing. 

We went with a group of our friends and their kids so we would all anchor the boats and go swimming in all the different inlets and coves. I will definitely miss doing this! 

It was nice to have all the family be able to come see what we've been up to over here. We were able to show them all the sights and let them get a small taste of Italy. The next few posts will be about our last few trips that we lodged prior to our departure from Europe.