Italy 2015 Highlights

 Our trip got off to a rough start.  We flew to New York on Sunday where we had a couple hour layover then we began to board our flight to Milan.  As they scanned Matt's passport they informed us we were not allowed on the flight since Matt's passport expired in 2 months.  What?!?!  Apparently passports are no longer valid 6 months BEFORE the expiration date (who knew!).  You can not imagine the pit I had in my stomach!  They assured us it could be fixed in a day and we would be able to fly out the next evening.  So we began trying to book a flight for the next evening.  I became even more sick to my stomach when they informed us all flights were full to Milan the next day but we could go in 2 days- are you kidding me!!!  We had them check into Florence flights and they were also all full! Then we checked Rome - hallelujah there was room on the plane for us!  So that ended up being the silver lining - we hadn't planned to see Rome and now we were :)  It was also lucky we were in New York where there were 2 passport offices nearby (one in Manhattan and the other in Connecticut) that deal with these emergency type situations.  So we went first thing in the morning to Connecticut and had the new passport by noon.  Then we killed some time in Manhattan until our 8:30 pm flight.

ROME:

 Since we were "supposed" to be in Florence and had a hotel room booked there, we just spent the afternoon in Rome, then took the 1.5 hour train to Florence that night.  Although we only had about 6 hours in Rome, we were able to see just about everything (we just didn't have the time to go inside the Vatican or inside the Colosseum).  There was a "hop on, hop off" tour bus that made it all very handy since it drives to every major destination around the city.  The city is also a lot smaller than I imagined -so everything to see is very close to each other.

FLORENCE:

Each day we enjoyed walking along the Arno river and across the Ponte Vecchio bridge into the city.

The Boboli gardens at the Pitti Palace were so large and impressive, we spent a couple hours there.

We walked up 463 steps to the top of Brunelleschi's famous Duomo.  A huge rainstorm started just as we reached the top and we had to huddle in the tiny eaves. We waited it out a few minutes and thankfully it subsided enough to enjoy the view and get some pics. ;)

 We got to see the David.  Thanks to the "Firenze Card" we didn't have to wait in line :)

The next day in Florence was Matt's bday so we celebrated with a 20 min. Ferrari drive around part of the city.  Matt loved it and it made for a memorable birthday!

LAKE COMO:

 We arrived the night of Matt's birthday to our favorite spot in all of Italy, Lake Como.  We stayed in the same place 5 years ago and have been dreaming of coming back ever since.  Above is our hotel room balcony, below is the beautiful Villa Balibianello.

Around Lake Como there are lots of towns and each town has at least one spectacular villa you can visit, so that's what we did!  Below is the Villa Melzi in Bellagio.

 Villa Monastero in Varenna

Villa Olmo in Como

Villa Carlotta in Tremezzo

All the villa's have incredible grounds and gardens- and all have the fabulous view of the lake! 

 Most people know about Rome, Florence, and Venice but very few have heard of Lake Como (which is one of the reasons why it's so nice, it's not overcrowded with tourists).  I strongly recommend that if ever in Italy, you visit Lake Como.  Here's why.....

I love the quaint narrow, steep walkways in the villages with lots of fun shops to browse.

I love that there is no need for a car and all traveling is done by ferry boat from city to city.  It's a scenic way to get around.

It is tropical!  I was so surprised my first visit to Italy to find Palm Trees, citrus trees, magnolia trees, and beautiful flowers that smell incredible!  The climate reminds me a lot of California.

Swans swim on the lake - seriously!  Could it get more magical?!

And then of course, there is the food!!!!!  Which really is good everywhere in Italy, but they have a special pasta dish that is only served in these northern regions near Switzerland.  It is called pizzocheri.  It's a buckwheat pasta served with potatoes, swiss chard, and the most amazing swiss cheese sauce - sounds weird I know but it is INCREDIBLE!

 MILAN:

Our last night, we took the train into Milan and enjoyed seeing the Duomo (both inside and walking along the outside terrace at the top).  We enjoyed our last Italian meal then flew home the next morning.  I'm already making plans for the next trip (once you go you just can't stop!).