2009 Summer Travels Have Come and Gone

I have been back in Dubai now 2 months and I have not posted about my adventure back to the US via Italy....

Having always thought of backpacking through Europe as the ultimate adventure of a lifetime I decided Europe is best taken in bits and pieces so this summer I planned my summer holiday to just travel through southern Italy focusing on seeing Rome, Tuscany, and Amalfi. I had only dreamed of seeing these places from pictures in books, so looking back now this was an adventure of a lifetime, only not with a backpack, but with my Rick Steve's 21 inch roll-on which has become my favorite travel companion.

Since Laura and Neil are living in Rome it was only fitting that I base my travel out of Rome and get to see a bit of Laura, Neil, and the dogs/cats. Rome is fantastico! The food, the people, the history....It would take many visits to see and do it all. I did get to see the Vatican and I got a close up of St Peters Chair- remind me to tell you that story sometime and I did something unexpected. Laura was back in the US so Neil and I had dinner with other ex-pats eating Thai and then going to their suburban Roman apartment where they cooked authentic (as you can get in Rome) Mexican food. I never thought I would be eating Thai and Mexican in Rome though I did eat real pizza every chance I could.Pizza is my favorite food :)


I headed out of Rome to the Amalfi, just me and Rick Steves. I stayed in Sorrento; it IS a place I could live. Actually the little hotel I stayed in St Agnello was great - minus the train and the church bells constant ringing every 15 minutes. ha...Taking the bus down the Amalfi Coast stopping in Positano, Amalfi and then water taxing it back to Sorrento was quite an experience for everyone on the bus- but after driving in Sharjah and Dubai last year it wasn't bad at all to me...I went to Pompeii and sweated through the buried ruins and met some really nice people from Vancouver Canada (she was an kindergarten teacher) who shared their lunch with me under a tiny bit of shade we found. Pompeii I now know would be best seen in fall or spring....I purposely didn't go to Capri and Sicily, saving that for another trip....

Then I took the train to Florence and explored the area. Again I would need many trips to see everything in Florence, especially the art, but I managed to see David and David and David..not remembering from my art history classes that there were so many Davids... and spent hours just looking at art from every angle. I sat. Looked. And devoured its' absolute beauty. The food, the wine, the ART, the people. It was everything I expected and more. I have so many more places in Tuscany I have added to my "must see" list for next time.

On the train back to Rome from Florence I spent looking out the window at the mountains in the distance (having lived in Washington State- I would call them hills) and the fields of Sunflowers- Brilliant, just Brilliant.

Flying out of Rome for the next half of my summer holiday all I kept thinking about was what I would do when I returned to Italy. Neil did remind me to throw my coin in the Trevi fountain to insure that I would go back - so I know I will return.

I remember on one trip to San Diego with the kids Trey asked me if I was writing it down - all the things we had done- so we could go back and do it all over again. Well this was that kind of holiday - it was so good I want to go back and do it all over again.

That's the memories we take with us, one reason we travel. I hope to go back again, but not alone next time. Traveling is an adventure and adventures are so much better when you can share the actual experience with others. Then you have someone you can say- "Remember when----"