Mae Abroad

I believe it was my father who jokingly asked me what about the 17th Chapel when I told him we went to the Sistine Chapel. I miss that humor! Our hotel provided breakfast but we slept through it so we grabbed cappuccinos and I got a chocolate croissant from a cafe down the street. We checked out and packed up the car then headed toward the Metro so we could go over to the Vatican. We made it there and the line was pretty small so we made it up to the front door fast and were instantly turned away because my dress wasn't long enough. Stupid California outfits. I wore my longest dress too! But it was just above my knees and needed to be way below them, which I'm pretty sure doesn't exist in my wardrobe. So we went back up to the shopping area and bought some leggings. It worked out perfectly actually because we grabbed lunch right as it started to pour hard. Once it cleared up we worked our way back to the Vatican and this time made it inside. The line moves fast because...

Guess what? Its raining in Rome. Typical. We made it to our hotel, Hotel Saint John. Its really close to the Colosseum so we just walked down there. Actually the San Clemente Church is right across the street, I didn't bring pants with me though so I need to get something to cover up my knees because all I have in my wardrobe are dresses. I have a cover for my shoulders, I was told that before I left but I read in many books today thats its proper to have your knees covered as well. Since today is Sunday a lot of places are closed but we did stop at this small place down the street for lunch, Kyle got pizza which he wasn't too impressed with. He's too spoiled with Naples pizza now, hes ruined for life with all other pizza places. I just got the house insalata caprese (caprese salad), the mozzarella di bufala (buffalo mozzarella) is heavenly over here! L for Laura! This was laying on the street and of course I had to pick it up, Kyle thought it was gros...

We are on our way to Rome right now. The weather has been beautiful so far today! It's made for such a wonderful drive. Much better than yesterday's adventure through the rain. We had amazing cafe freddos (sweetened iced espresso) at the little cafe down the street from Kyles place. We booked a hotel in Rome at Eurostars Saint John Hotel which is near the Colosseum. I think that will be our first adventure, the Colosseum and Imperial Fora which includes the Trajan's Markets and the Arch of Constantine which I want to see more than the actual Colosseum. Freaking LCAD did that to me haha. Then off to the Foro Roma (The Roman Forum) and if we have time the Pantheon. We are going to see the Spanish steps for sure but not till nighttime as well as the Fontana di Trevi (The Trevi Fountain). ♥   Mae

Today was the first day that Kyle got to sleep in. It also was the first time this trip I had heat exhaustion and was pretty dizzy. Luckily the cloud cover came in and it ended up raining later in the day so I went and sat out on the balcony for a bit and felt better in the cool morning air. I wasn't the only one out on a balcony this morning. The Italians love doing this, they all just hang out outside on their balconies and stare around at the world and take in what's happening down on the streets. It's amazing, I love that. You just look around and see just individual people on their own taking in the morning, such a difference from the craziness in a California morning. Kyles Building Kyle and I made breakfast burritos and planned out our day to Amalfi. It wasn't the best day to go there that's for sure. Once we got on the road it started sprinkling on and off and then really bad once we hit the winding hills up to Ravello. We did not expect that road to ...

It rained tonight which was a change since its been so hot lately. There was thunder and lightning too, but mainly "fulmine" (lightning). We watched it from the balcony before we went out to dinner. Kyle really wanted to take me to this place right downstairs that has amazing pizza called Fresco's which means "Fresh" in Italiano. Their name doesn't lie. Since I still don't really know the language Kyle ordered for us. Their pizzas were huge! I only finished a fourth of mine, it had tomatoes, basil and mozzarella di bufala (buffalo mozzarella) that was very Fresco! We took a walk down to the harbor after dinner. It wasn't raining then but there was still fulmine over the island Ischia, which is like a Catalina to us. It was really very pretty to watch and there wasn't any rain, just light over the island. The harbor is really close and on the walk down we saw a spot of Locks of Love that Christine and Dan were telling us about. We will...

Kyle lives in Pozzuoli  (pōt-swō'lē)  Italy, which is right outside of Naples. I slept till about noon today, the timezone really hit me. Kyle had to work today thanks to someone at work :( But I guess it was good because I got to catch up on my sleep then I unpacked my suitcase into the wardrobe he had for me.  My wardrobe for the next three weeks. The sunset and view of the Flavian Amphitheater from Kyle's balcony. Yes, I made pasta for dinner even though we are in Italy. It was easier than going out, plus we got to have dinner on the balcony and watch the sunset. The weather was perfect tonight! It was so hot out earlier today it felt good to sit outside and enjoy the evening. ♥   Mae

This is the last night I'll spend in my bed! Tomorrow night I'll be sleeping on a plane for 11+ hours and then the night after that will be the start of my nights of sleep in Italy! It has been quite the intense week with preparing as well as seeing people before I leave. I just saw the whole LCAD gang again one last time tonight which was was awesome! Soooo good seeing Dana too =) I think I'm all packed and ready! Well I know I'm ready that's for sure but as for packed, well we shall see once I get there what I forgot! I did have to pack a carry on which I was trying to avoid. It seems like I will be carrying all this onto the plane with me! Yay!! That's what I get for packing my suitcase over 50lbs oh well. ♥   Mae