High Up in the Mountain Tops: May 2011

I know everyone has anxiously been waiting to hear about the rest of our Italian adventures and I am truly sorry but going straight to nursing school orientation then to camp and back to school for good has been quite hectic, but I truly am so excited to write about the amalifi coast because it was my favorite part of our vacation!

Positono-the town built into a cliff
We woke up early Monday morning and went to the Rome train station where we took a train from Rome to Naples, which was very cool to me because we do not ride high speed trains too often in the states! Jay and I being the little kids we still are had to have constant entertainment the whole train ride so we throughly enjoyed using dad's ipod to play backgammon (of course I beat Jay the whole time).

Jay and I on the train

We arrived in Naples and was greeted by our AWESOME driver, Chris, he was so fun and full of life and definitely loved the Longosz family. He really enjoyed saying Joe and he decided that Jay's name was Jim and throughly enjoyed saying Jim. Calling Jay Jim definitely became another fun joke of the trip. The first thing we did when we arrived in Naples was head towards Pompeii to see the ruins. This was really cool for me because I took Latin in high school and we always studied Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii and now I got to see it with my own eyes. I really enjoyed seeing Pompeii and once again we were amazed to think that it was a running city thousands of years ago. We also had a very entertaining tour guide, Raphael, who knew everything about Pompeii. Jay and I once again decided to be 12 year olds and after Raphel told us there was no sewage system and that everyones waste just ran down the road, we would push each other into the road and say, "haha your standing in people's poo" ya we are really mature. Mom and dad never got sick of us. seriously.

Jay and I standing in what used to be a pond (hints my expression)

The roads of Pompeii

The family with our tour guide

After Pompeii, we were ready to get to Positono. It took about an hour to get there but the view (or as jay says the vistas) were beautiful. It was literally mind blowing to understand how someone one day just decided to build all these little towns literally in a cliff, but glad someone decided to because the views were unbelievable. The first day in Positono we walked around to get the lay of the land, had some nice vino over looking an amazing view and then ate dinner at our hotel, which was supposed to be really good, but honestly wasnt very good, but hey you cant have a perfect dinner everywhere.

View from our room!

Jay and Mom on the beach with Positono in the background

The best parents in the world.

I was feeling artsy

The next day Chris came and got us again and we drove along the whole amalfi coast and got to see many different little cities. As we were pulling out of Positono we got to see some very nice hotels where different famous stay when they visit the Amalfi coast. Our first stop for the day was in the town of Amalfi. This was a very touristy town because this is where all the cruise ships came to port, but it was very cute and very small. We walked around for a little while and then Chris tried to convince us to go to a paper museum where we walked in looked at the lobby and immediately decided to head to the next town!

This awesome nativity someone built on the side of the road

We just thought these MASSIVE rocks were cool

The most precious parents. About to celebrate 27 years of marriage! whoo hoo

What a family!

Just call me a Daddy's girl

Jay finding his inner self as a rock skipper!

Next on the agenda was Ravella, where we got some delicious pasta that our waitress brought us. There was definitely a language barrier there and we just let her bring us food and luckily it was delicious. This small town was known for two big villas and we were so worn out of touristy things that when chris told us we had about 2 hours in this small town we said no way see you in 30-45... well then we discovered a villa and an hour and a half later we showed up. There is not much I can say about this villa other than it was one of the prettiest places I have ever been and definitely would not mind having a destination wedding here, but pretty much only pictures can describe it.

Chris, our driver, and Jay

The walkway to the Villa

Jay and I posing

Pure Bliss.

Mom wanting to dance. Jay not so much

By this point in our day we our very excited and Chris takes us back to Positono. We took a short little nap and then get some dinner by the beach and walk around by the beach at night. Keep in mind when I say beach I do not mean the beautiful white sand you are thinking of its more like a bunch of small pepples.

The next day our plan was to go to the island of Capri, but the Lord did not want us going there so we had to go with the flow. We took a different boat to Salerno so we could go to Vietri, where mom really wanted to go get some of her favorite pottery. (little did we know that her type of pottery is actually from Tuscany, but they call is Vietri) It still turned out to be another amazing day in the amalfi coast where we just walked around. Dad got a new cutting board and mom bought a piece of pottery and we walked the streets and enjoyed a nice lunch. The joke of the day this day was that we were all so anxious to get back to Salerno because we DID NOT want to miss the boat back otherwise we had to take a 2 hour bus ride back. Well dont worry we had to wait for an hour for the boat by the time we got to the dock. When we got back we relaxed for a little while and then went to the best dinner of the WHOLE trip to a restaurant called Brunos. It was the best pasta and fish we had the whole trip with by far the best view I have ever seen in while enjoying dinner. literally. you can see for yourself.

On the Boat to Salerno

We did NOT want to miss the boat

View of Positono from the boat

With my awesome parents on the way to dinner

Jay and I walking the streets in Vietri

Dad and I in Vietri

View at dinner

From our table. Life changing.

The next day was our last day in the Amalfi Coast and we decided to carry out our original plans from the day and go to the island of Capri. This place like everywhere else was BEAUTIFUL! it was two islands, Capri and Anacapri, it was also very touristy but there were two amazing things we did while there. When we got off the boat we took a taxi, which might I add was a convertible. The taxi took us to the Blue Grotta, which is where we got in a canoe like boat and the "driver" took us into a cave where the water was the bluest I have ever seen water and meanwhile they sang songs for us. It was a really quick and awesome experience. Next, we took the bus to a chairlift my mom said we had to take. We were a little skeptical but had to trust her. Well obviously she was right about it and we took the chairlift up the mountain to see some of the best views EVER!! Lastly, we walked straight up the mountain because we got off at the wrong bus stop (naturally something the Longosz family would do). It was a good workout for an enjoyable lunch. We came back to Positono and had another amazing meal. Where we enjoyed, for the second night in a row, a little band that came around to play for us (of course mom felt compelled to buy their CD). We also got some great footage of dad's awesome dance moves

Outside the Blue Grotta

Waiting our turn

About to go in...excuse the awkward poses

Inside the cave (this doesnt even do it justice)

On top of the chairlift

Soaking up the views

Two of the best men I know

Our taxi

Views!

Dinner time!

I only hope to be half the mother she is to me one day!

If you cant tell the Amalfi coast is AMAZING and I recommend it to everyone! The best part was everytime I look at the sceneary around me there was not a doubt in my mind that God was present. Being able to take this family vacation was one of the best blessings my family has received in a long time. The relationships only got stronger and I thank God for that every day. I am truly so blessed to have a family like mine and would not trade it for anything!

The next day we woke up at 5:30 AM to head to Venice...

I know I have not blogged in awhile but that is because I have been on the trip of a life time with my incredible family in italy. I have decided because there is so much to write about that I am splitting the trip in the three different blogs, which are going to be the three different places we went.

Roma- the Italian Capital
The Longosz family boarded the plane around 4:40 pm in Atlanta and after an hour delay, 3 movies, 2 meals, a short nap, and 9.5 hours later we landed in Rome around 9 o clock! We were all so excited to have finally arrived but also SO exhausted because none of us slept very long. Everyone had blood shot eyes and tried to act energetic but it just wasnt working. After getting our luggage we took a cab to our hotel and dropped all of our bags off. Unfortunately our rooms were not ready so we had to go entertain ourselves where we went and got a quick bite to eat. You can see how tired we were...

Dad and Jay

When our rooms were ready we went back and a took a nice big family nap in two twin beds pushed together because the other room wasnt ready...that made us a closer family instantly. Against my will, my family made me wake up so we could go explore. (i wanted my 8 hours of sleep) After walking around for a little bit I finally woke up. Our first adventures were to the spanish steps and the trevi fountain. As well as our favorite hang out spot, piazza novana! My fun story from the spanish steps was there are many people there trying to sell cheap little toys as well as people walking around with bouquets of roses. Right as we arrived, I clearly looked like the American tourists, and some of the men with roses came and brought me three roses. They told me it was a gift from them and I said thanks and walked away. Little did I know they were going to follow us until my dad gave them money, so I gave them back, but I did feel really special for about 5 minutes. It definitely became one of the jokes of the trip how naive I was. Oops sorry I enjoy receiving flowers! Most a lot of walking around picture taking and we had to of course stop and indulge in our first experience of the famous Italian wine. We also had a fantastic Italian dinner consisting of caprese salad and a margharita pizza! The first day minus our exhaustion was a success to say the least.

We finally arrived!

The family enjoying our wine in the piazza

Mom and Dad in front of the spanish steps

The trevi fountain (beautiful..I wanted to jump in)

Jay and I on the top of our hotel in Rome!

The next day we woke up and headed to one of the most sacred places in the Catholic religion, The Vatican. I had studied this in art history my junior year, but I honestly had no idea what to expect. We had a great tour guide but those can get really boring after a while. We saw many different paintings, tapestries, and sculptures, but we were all anxiously awaiting to see the Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel. Finally after making our way through crowded hallways we got to the Sistine chapel. I walked in and was immediately BLOWN AWAY. First of all it is a million times bigger than I ever expected, and second of all to see all the messages in one painting was unreal. The ceiling was just as exciting, but the Last Judgement really hit home and I am so thankful I got to see it. Next, we were heading to St. Peter's Bascillica where as I was walking in I was told I could not go in because I had shorts on (something that italians never seemed to wear). Dad and Jay went in a took lots of pictures of us while mom and I hung outside and enjoyed people watching, which is very fun/interesting to do in a foreign country.

St. Peter's Basilica

Inside St. Peter's

My favorite picture of the whole trip...outside St. Peter's

After the Vatican, we walked around grabbed some lunch (pizza again) and then headed back to the hotel for a little rest. We all freshened up and headed to dinner. Where again we enjoyed a delicious meal filled with pasta, bread, vino, and fried zucchini flowers (that was a new one to me but very delicious). After dinner, mom and dad insisted we see the trevi fountain, spanish steps, and our favorite piazza at night. Jay and I complained, but boy were we glad we went it was so cool! This was also the same night that we decided we wanted some gelato, italian ice cream, so we went and got some ordered a couple flavors each and headed to the check out line only to find out that some how for 3 ice creams it cost 45 EUROS!!!! we were a little confused and dad double and triple checked that but the lady insisted so we paid it. In case you dont know that converts to around 75 dollars for ice cream. It was a little disappointing when the next day we got it for 2.50 each! All we could do was laugh and we didnt stop joking about it until the end of the trip! This night along with many others was really special b/c we got back to the hotel and were playing 500 Rummy, which we did almost every night. It sounds so simple but honestly was so fun and something that was so special. Lets be honest how often do you get to just hang out with your family in a foreign country and just relax and play cards?? God is Good!

Dad enjoying his Italian pasta...clearly he is Italian

Trevi fountain at night...spectacular!

Me and My one-of-a-kind brother at our piazza novana (we decided it would be such a cool hangout place in highschool...we got a little jealous)

The next day was our final day in Rome! We woke up this day and of course had to get our history in for the day so we headed to the Colesium for a tour of the Coliseum, Palatine Hill, and Roman Forum. Of the three different places my favorite was definitely the Coliseum. The others were cool too but just not as good. There is so much history in Rome it is mind blowing. We were also so amazed at the fact that buildings and statues that were built thousands of years ago were still standing...that is CRAZY! Again after this tour we got some lunch, walked around, and went to take our nap. This last night we went to a place for dinner my parents went when they were in Rome almost 2 years ago. It was very local, cute, and the best part was our waiter. My grandmother was italian and I have never seen a lady look so much like my grandmother. It was honestly kind of weird but at the same time so special. My grandmother passed away in 2007 and we have all missed her very much, but it was cool because we honestly felt like grandma had met us in Italy and was our waitress! After dinner we obviously got some more gelato and then headed back for our nightly routine of playing cards.