Cousins in Italy

       March 23rd was a super exciting day for us here in Italy.  Our cousins from Oregon flew in to Rome to travel around a bit with us.  It's crazy how the time really did go by quickly; it seemed like it was 'just yesterday' when Kat and I were talking about the possibility of travel to Italy.  I told her that we were moving to Italy for a few months and she said, "wouldn't that be cool if we came out for spring break and then left Dante with you until you fly home?"  It seemed that, all of the sudden, it was happening! 
     Since we have a car that only seats 5, I drove solo to Rome.  It's a 2 1/2 hr drive from our appartment in Naples so I popped in my Italian language CD's and drove.  It was a decent drive and I had no problems finding the airport plus free parking right up front!
     I didn't have to wait long until I saw some familiar faces: Kat, Eric, Dante and Mati!!!  I know Race and Juliann would have loved to have been there to greet them too but 7 people and luggage in the Mondeo would have been a rough ride home from Rome :-)
     I honestly didn't know what the Stones were going to think about Naples.  It can be a bit intense and overwhelming for the first time visitor.  It didn't take them long to find they loved this crazy city!
    First item on the agenda: pizza! off to the local pizzeria we went-actually, the boys went down and brought pizza back to the appartment.  We have made that a tradition. Company comes over, we get pizza to go :-)
    Second: Amalfi coast and Walk of the gods hike. Complete with our(The LeClairs) second visit to the little restaurant, Santa Croce where the owner grows his own vegetables, and where Eric felt the need to traverse part of the trail like the goats-up the side of the hill..haha (he took a wrong turn)
    Next: walking tour of Naples; castles, waterfront, many piazzas-including Piazza Dante, etc.  We enjoyed a few road side treats of pizzette, sfoliatella,etc. and rode the metro.
    Tuesday took us to Sorrento where we found the most amazing liquers! Chocolate, apple, limoncello (of course), etc.  Then, to Pompeii.  For Race, Juliann and I this was our second visit there and we finally found the casts of some of the residents..eery..  we didn't see them last time because we spent all of our time on the other side of the site.  This trip, it rained on us..blah..
   Wednesday we took the metro to the train station to go to Florence.  We walked up to catch the metro at 6 something in the morning..bleh.. also, we stood at the metro station for almost 30 min while we watched 4 metros pass by going the opposite direction.  What was that all about?!  Anyway, finally got to the main train station to catch our Florence train.  We chose Italo rail. It was the best travel experience I have ever had! The employees were kind and helpful, the train was on time, and the seats were comfy!  We got a good deal on our tickets so that was an added bonus too.
     Since it was the 2nd time the kids and I visited Florence, we enjoyed watching the Stones see it for the first time (minus Mati: she had been there already on a trip w/her Grandma).  We stayed in a little 1 bedroom appt. on the west side of the Arno river.  It was comical putting 7 people in a place that could sleep 3-4 people comfortably.  The first night, all 4 of us girls slept in the same bed.  HILARIOUS! The boys were in the living room. They said buses and what sounded like armored tanks drove up and down the street all night. ugh. We switched it up the 2nd and 3rd nights and it was still hilarious, but doable.
     As during most of our ventures, we walked A LOT! I don't mind walking and R & J have resigned themselves to it, for the most part.  We saw all of Florence in detail.  For us LeClairs, Florence will always be filled with lots of comical memories-especially relating to sleeping arrangements. haha
       

Well, I will have to write a second part to Cousins in Italy. I still have to tell you about Venice!