Here is the slideshow of picture if anyone wants to see http://good-times.webshots.com/slideshow/564155546xGJyPd;jsessionid=abch7LK5YCFmJ_Lzei3Sr
First we went to visit some relatives in the south. They are very distantly related, I think our grandparents were cousins or something. Anyway they live near Salerno on the Amalfi Coast. Down there we went to the beach, took a boatride up the coast, checked out the Paestum ruins of old Greek times and ate a lot of delicious food. I think the south was my favorite place to eat, and the pizza was amazing!
Then we headed up north. We stopped in Viterbo, where my grandpa grew up, took a walk around, saw my Dad’s only living cousin and did a lot of eating. Afterwards we stopped in Orvieto, a hilltown in Umbria to have a walk around. Next stop, Siena, where we climbed to the top of the panorama and saw the head of St. Catherine of Siena (sorry no pictures of that).
Our final destination was Villa Zambonina, a manor from the 1700’s that my whole family was staying at, along with some potso (crazy) family friends. It was right outside of Verona. The first day I we went into town and wandered and saw Juliette’s Balcony, total tourist trap! And a cool castle bridge. The Villa is surrounded by working farms, so I took a bike ride around the area.
This trip was for my Dad’s 60th Birthday. We went when he turned 50 too. To celebrate we all went to the opera in the Roman Arena and saw Nabucco. Other highlights include The Dolomites (kind of like the Yosemite of Italy) and wandering around Milan all by myself, while my parents and brother went up to the lakes (don’t worry I’m really travel savvy) I ended up in a quasi seedy artsy hostel, but got to talk to a few people from Milan.
All in all it was a great trip. I liked the South better, mainly for food and beach days, and spending time with fun, Italian relatives. The North was nice too, since it was less hot. The most handy thing was everyone already assuming I was Italian as I walked into shops, and still being nice to me once I couldn’t speak the language. But hey, I still know a few. Anyway, check out the slideshow if you get a chance. Thanks for reading!