Istanbul and Italy Pictures

We finally got our trip photos ready to share! Click Here to see the photos from our trip! Here are some highlights: 

The first 4 nights of our trip, we toured Istanbul with family!

It was a blast thanks to our guide, Necip, who showed us all of the sights! 

After our 4 nights in Istanbul, Jamie and I headed to Italy. We started in Vernazza, in the Cinque Terre. 

The views were absolutely breathtaking! 

After a long day hiking, swimming, and eating, we headed south to Florence, and stopped at Pisa along the way! 

It was exhilarating to climb the leaning tower.

We were on top of the world! Then, we got back on the train to visit Florence. 

We enjoyed walking around the city, and our first night, we enjoyed one of the best meals we had during our time in Italy! 

The next day was jam-packed full of museums, hill climbs, and lots of walking! 

After a full day in Florence, we were ready for some relaxation, so we headed to the Agriturismo Marciano in Siena.

This was one of the highlights of our trip! We enjoyed wonderful meals at the agriturismo as well as wonderful wine and a tour of the vineyards. 

After 3 nights of relaxation, we left Siena for Rome. Rome was beautiful, too!

We walked through the entire city and stumbled upon many famous fountains and buildings. 

Our first day in Rome, we sampled many foods in Testaccio, a neighborhood just south of the main Roman attractions. We enjoyed sandwiches, suppli (fried rice balls) and pizza!

We enjoyed exploring a city with so much history!

After 3 nights in Rome, we headed even further south to the Almalfi Coast. But first, we stopped in Pompeii!

Visiting pompeii was an incredible experience. And then, onward we went to Positano (we stayed in a small village called Nocelle). And when we arrived, we were greeted by the most spectacular views of the coast. 

We spent 3 nights in Positano, enjoying the clear waters and beautiful scenery, along with the local wines!

After all of that, it was time to head back home. It was a pleasant experience traveling home because Turkish Airlines is such a nice airline to fly with. They treated us very well with nice meals and a free hotel in Istanbul during our layover! 

2014 Vacay Overview

I have not been good at keeping up with this little website of mine... this past year has been crazy at school and I just haven't had the time share everything we've been up to.

I know I don't have many readers out there... and I don't write on this blog to build readership. For me, this blog is a digital scrapbook - I mainly write it for myself and for Jamie, so that we can look back and remember all the special times we've spent with each other and with family and friends. It is also nice to have a way to share what we're up to with family and friends, since we don't live close to many of them.

All that being said, if you are reading my site, please leave a comment and let me know you're here! I'd love to know if anyone is reading this... and getting inspiration for travel or recipes or just plain fun!

Now, for the fun part! The trip planning summary!

We began the planning for this trip with a Turkish Airlines flight from Boston to Istanbul. Turkish Airlines just started flying out of Boston, so they had a really good fare deal. To take advantage of the deal they offered, we booked the flights for our trip in October!

We decided to fly from Boston to Istanbul, spend 4 nights in Istanbul, and then fly from Istanbul to Genoa. From Genoa, we would travel via train to explore Italy for 2 weeks. Then, we would fly from Naples back to Istanbul, and finally from Istanbul back to Boston.

The map below shows the cities we visited in Italy:
A: Vernazza (2 nights)
B: Pisa (day trip)
C: Florence (2 nights)
D: Siena (3 nights)
E: Rome (3 nights)
F: Pompeii (day trip)
G: Positano (3 nights)

Pictures and details to come very soon!

Europe 2013

Last year, I posted day by day accounts of our first European Vacation. This year, I am overwhelmed by the thought of writing such lengthy details about our trip, so I'm not doing that this time. If you'd like to see all of our pictures (really only 1/6 of them... we have a picture taking problem), click here.

This year, our travels began in Amsterdam. After 3 nights in Amsterdam, we took a train to Cologne, Germany, where we rented a car, drove south and stayed the night in Cochem, Germany. The next day, we drove to Alsace, France where we stayed in Rosheim for 4 nights. We then drove to Rothenburg, Germany where we spent 2 nights, and we then ventured to Austria for 3 nights in Reutte followed by 2 nights in Salzburg. We ended our trip with 3 nights in Munich. Here is the map of this year's trip:

This year, our planning was similar to last years' planning. I spent my February Vacation finding accommodations, and Jamie spent lots of time researching travel options. We started out with a budget flight (Iceland Air) that arrived in Amsterdam and departed from Munich. At first we were going to take advantage of the free Iceland stopover, but after researching the cost we decided against it. It cost us less to spend more time in Amsterdam which in the end we were happy about.

A big difference in our itinerary this year was taking advantage of the low rental car rates from Hertz in Germany. Last summer, we rode trains and planes around Europe, but this summer, we decided to rent a car. It sure was an adventure! It gave us freedom to travel to small places that we wouldn't otherwise be able to travel to, but it required us to learn to navigate a whole new world of driving. Jamie quickly got better at driving a manual, and I quickly tried to learn how to navigate foreign maps. We both looked at many roadsigns with much confusion and hoped we weren't breaking any laws. Let's just say we were happy to return the car in one piece after a 12-day driving adventure.

Since this was our second trip to Europe, we were experienced in planning the details. We took Rick Steves' advice of planning out our lodging, travel, and activities for each day in advance. This year, we didn't follow our planned activities too closely as we found the weather to be so beautiful that most of the time we wanted to stay outside and enjoy nature. We did lots of hiking and biking which we really enjoyed. We used Rick Steves as well as TripAdvisor to plan and both were very useful in their own ways. Rick Steves' Audio Europe Tours are also extremely informative and fun to do in the big cities.

Here are some highlights of the trip...

Biking through the parks in Amsterdam

The return of fries with mayo!  

Listening to Rick Steves in the heart of Amsterdam! 

Eating lunch on the library rooftop. 

Visiting a local brewery.

Re-discovering La Chouffe!!

The canals of Amsterdam at night.

Hiking back from the Burg Eltz Castle.

Driving across Europe in an Opel Astra Turbo.

Doing a little off-roading in the Opel Astra.

Experiencing the beautiful Mosel Valley.

Driving through the German countryside.

Sleeping at La Rose d' Alsace.

Hunawihr.

Alsatian tarts and wines.

Gasoline, petrol, diesel?!?

Climbing to the "top of the world"?

Goat cheese salad!

Delicious apple strudel.

Jamie being recruited for the German army... in France.

Driving too fast in the Opel Astra on the Autobahn.

Laughing at all of the ausfahrts.

Walking the wall in Rothenburg.

Eating way too much pork.

Enjoying the beautiful views in Rothenburg.

Meeting Rick Steves' biggest fan.

A true biergarten experience! 

Following around the nightwatchman!

Sleeping at Gintherhof.

Climbing castle ruins.

More beautiful views...

And castles!

Beautiful castles!

Experiencing wildlife.

Drinking Franziskaner.

Crossing this shaky bridge with a fear of heights and lack of trust in engineering.

Hiking A LOT while trying to keep smiling!!

Hotel Maximilian.

Meeting the locals :)

Beautiful Salzburg!

A traditional show.

The Salzburg Festival.

The candlelight music.

Biking around Salzburg.

More natural beauty.

The famed Hofbrauhaus.

Drinking enough German beer to fully appreciate the beauty of American craft brews.

Strawberry rhubarb ice cream.

Walking around Munich.

Tasting almost every German beer.

Climbing for a view in Munich.

Enjoying an American treat.

Touring BMW.

As our trip came to a close, we were happy to return home. Afterall, it was HOT without A/C and we missed iced beverages. We had a blast and are excited for future adventures!