Category: Family

Family, Oregon

2018 Ego-Spoo Family Photos

Amanda

My family isn’t always the greatest at remembering to take pictures and ones of us as a whole group are few and far between. So when my Mom asked that we take some over this past Christmas we made it happen. Christmas day was our only option so we made the best of it by using my DSLR, taking turns as I jumped in some shots and soliciting help from our neighbor for a picture of all of us.

We’ve always joked that we should get our own sitcom and let me tell you, we were a bit of a hot mess that morning. Sawyer was grumpy, we only partially succeeded at coordinating our colors, the dogs saw our idleness as an opportunity for attention, some of us were sick and we made Dad take his glasses off because they darken when he’s outside, which made him grumpy too 🙂 I totally forgot about a few different picture combos, most importantly one of just my sister and I, and then one of us with Sawyer (just grandkids).

But this is us, imperfections and all, and I am so thankful for these people of mine. It takes thick skin and a good sense of humor to survive in this clan, but I will never take for granted how close my family is and how incredibly supportive they are of me.  We always have a good time together.

Sharing just a few of my favorites.

(Yes family, I will be sending these to you soon!)

Managed to catch a smiling one of Sawyer!

All of us.

I did forget to get a picture with our old family dog, Jack, so I had my Mom take one a few days later.

Cheers!

Family, Travel Journal

Travel Journal: Italy – The Colosseum and Exploring Rome

Amanda

In September, I traveled to Italy for two weeks with some of my family, which included an 85-mile, 6 day self-guided walking tour through the Italian countryside. We also spent time in Rome, Venice, Florence, Pompeii and Naples. 

Catch up on my other posts about this trip here:

Walking Rieti to Rome – Summary
Doors of Italy
Exploring Rieti
Self-Guided Walk Day 1
Self-Guided Walk Day 2
Self-Guided Walk Day 3
Castello Orsini Hotel
Self-Guided Walk Days 4 and 5
Self-Guided Walk Day 6
The Colosseum and Exploring Rome
St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museum
Pompeii and Naples
Venice
Florence

**********

After our self-guided walking tour ended, we still had about a week left in Italy. Our first night was in accommodations that were still a part of the tour, which was a nice hotel on Borgo Pio. This was a fun street very close to the Vatican with lots of restaurants that had tables set out in the street which was mostly closed off from cars. On our first night my Mom and I took some time to just walk round. For the two other nights we were in Rome we used VRBO to find a small apartment that could comfortably fit our group of seven. I’ve only used AirBnB in the past, but I thought we had a great experience with VRBO in Rome and in the two following cities we visited.

Other than the afternoon we arrived, we had one full day in Rome for exploring and an additional morning. I’m going to split up my pictures from Rome into two posts.

Along Borgo Pio.

I’ve always said that I could eat these kind of plates every day and not get tired of it, and after this trip that is definitely true!

The rooms in our hotel were all so different, but my grandparents had the best one. This is just a small glimpse, but essentially the whole room was painted like this! It was so pretty. And for my Grammy, who is an artist herself, this was a fun stay.

Grammy and Mom. Can you tell they are related?

We didn’t know what this was when we came up on it, but after some help from trusty Google, I think it is home to the Museo Centrale del Risorgimento (a research institute) and the Sacrario delle bandiere (an army museum). Regardless it was beautiful!

My Mom and Grampy decided to tackle these insane stairs while the rest of us went around another way. We thought we’d connect with them sooner, but it actually took them on a little detour through the Basilica Dell’ Ara Coeli.

Meanwhile, we hung out for a bit on the Campidoglio, a square designed by Michelangelo and lined with museums and a statue of Marcus Aurelius, a Roman emperor from the 2nd century.

This area is called the “Roman Forum” (forum meaning plaza or square) and holds the ruins of several ancient government buildings, including a prison and a basilica. This was a hub for religious and public life in ancient Rome. We didn’t have the time to explore this area and learn more about it, so it is definitely on my list if I ever go back to Rome. But it was still beautiful to walk by.

We didn’t do much planning ahead and arrived at the Colosseum in the early afternoon when there was already long lines, so we opted to pay a little more to “jump the line” with a small tour group. I know generally when traveling, people say to avoid things like this because that’s where you end up spending more money than you might have originally planned. We didn’t super plan out the second half of our trip after the walk because we just didn’t know what we would feel like doing and decided to take our second half of the trip day by day. So honestly, this option was the best for us. We decided we wanted to do a tour and paying to jump the line meant that we could do more later in the day. But I would say, if you were planning a trip just to Rome, or at least had multiple days there, buying your ticket online and/or going at a less busy time would be the better option.

Anyway, I thought the Colosseum was incredible and am really happy we did the tour. I felt like I remembered enough Roman history from school to apply it to what I was seeing and it just amazes me to see something built that long ago to be standing today and full of so many stories.

The Colosseum was commissioned around AD 70-72 by Emperor Vespasian as a gift to the Roman people and opened in AD 80 with 100 days of games, including gladiatorial combats and wild animal fights. After four centuries of active use, the arena fell into neglect, and up until the 18th century it was used as a source of building materials. Though two-thirds of the original Colosseum has been destroyed over time. It measured some 620 by 513 feet, had seating for more than 50,000 spectators and three stories of arched entrances supported by semi-circular columns.  (Source: www.history.com)

The “floor” of the area would have been level with where you see tourists on the opposite end of the photo. The tunnels and structures in the middle are where the slaves and animals were kept underneath the main level.

After the Colosseum, we walked over to the Trevi Fountain (Fontana di Trevi) which was beautiful! It is the largest Baroque (a highly ornate and extravagant style of architecture from the 17th to mid 18th century) fountain in Rome. The legend is that if visitors throw a coin into the fountain, they are ensured a return to Rome. I think I had read that before our trip, but to be honest, by the time we made it here we were pretty worn out for the day and the crowd was pretty heavy, so we didn’t stay long. So hopefully I still make it back someday 🙂

I’ve read since then that the coins are collected each day and given to charity. I don’t know if that’s true, but that is pretty cool if it is.

Rome is such a beautiful city and we didn’t even scratch the surface of all the things there is to see and do.

I’ll be back soon with another post on Rome and our visit to St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museum.

**********

And just for fun here are some of my other past Travel Journal posts:

Nashville, Tennessee – Girls Weekend
London, England
Estes Park, Colorado
Thailand and the Philippines
Tumon Bay, Guam
New York City – Girls Weekend
Lake Tahoe, Nevada
Antigua, Guatemala

Family, Travel Journal

Travel Journal: Italy – Self-Guided Walk Day 6

Amanda

In September, I traveled to Italy for two weeks with some of my family, which included an 85-mile, 6 day self-guided walking tour through the Italian countryside. We also spent time in Rome, Venice, Florence, Pompeii and Naples. 

Catch up on my other posts about this trip here:

Walking Rieti to Rome – Summary
Doors of Italy
Exploring Rieti
Self-Guided Walk Day 1
Self-Guided Walk Day 2
Self-Guided Walk Day 3
Castello Orsini Hotel
Self-Guided Walk Days 4 and 5
Self-Guided Walk Day 6
The Colosseum and Exploring Rome
St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museum
Pompeii and Naples
Venice
Florence

**********

The sixth and final day of our self-guided walk started in the Monte Sacro district in Rome and took us to the Vatican. It covered about 10 miles and even though we were walking through the city, our path still took us on the scenic route, along a bike path, around the second largest park in Rome and down along the river.

I realized pretty quickly that it was a good thing I had taken the day before off, because after the first 2 miles or so I was back to hobbling along. But there was so much to see on this day and it was interesting to see the city transition from just pretty normal, modern city surroundings, to the more historical “old” (and touristy) parts.

This is the Mosque of Rome, and is the largest mosque outside the Islamic world, Russia and India, making it the Western world’s biggest mosque. After some opposition, Pope John Paul II gave his blessing to the building project. It’s minaret approximately 1 meter shorter than the dome of St. Peter’s.

Just about the time that we all admitted that we needed a longer break we found this weekend market where we tried some fun, different drinks and enjoyed looking around. There were also some meat and fish stands.

This is the Milvian Bridge (Ponte Milvio), which has quite a bit of historical significance, including the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in AD 312 led by Constantine. That victory led Constantine to total control over Rome and the Western Roman Empire, and the issuing of the Edict of Milan, which officially recognized Christianity in the Roman Empire.

In 2000, the bridge began attracting couples who were inspired by Federico Moccia’s book and movie “I Want You,” and attached padlocks to the lamp posts of the bridge as a token of their love and threw the key behind them into the Tiber River. In 2007, one of the lamp posts collapsed under the weight of the the padlocks, so in 2012 they were all removed and the practice was banned. But it had already spread as a common ritual elsewhere in the world and we still saw a few padlocks here and there.

After the Milvian Bridge, we turned and walked down along the river for the remainder of the way. The guidebook told us that we would pass under six bridges and the seventh bridge would be the Ponte Sant’Angelo with five arches each topped with a statue of an angel. I was so excited to finally see this bridge!

We walked up the stairs onto the bridge and quickly saw our end mark, St. Peter’s Basilica just down the street to the left.

This was our “finish line” photo! It was quite the adventure walking some 85 miles through the Italian countryside and truly a one-of-a-kind experience (even without the sprained ankle). If you are interested in really seeing a country at its heart, aside from the tourist attractions, I highly recommend considering doing a guided walk of some sort. It was beautiful and humbling in so many ways and I am so thankful that I got to share this experience with my dear family. Though I don’t know who else really would have put up with my crankiness 🙂

This was the end of our walk, but we still had another week of our vacation in which we explored more of Rome and visited Pompeii, Naples, Venice and Florence. So I still have a couple more blog posts coming at you soon!

**********

And just for fun here are some of my other past Travel Journal posts:

Nashville, Tennessee – Girls Weekend
London, England
Estes Park, Colorado
Thailand and the Philippines
Tumon Bay, Guam
New York City – Girls Weekend
Lake Tahoe, Nevada
Antigua, Guatemala

Family, Travel Journal

Travel Journal: Italy – Self-Guided Walk Days 4 and 5

Amanda

In September, I traveled to Italy for two weeks with some of my family, which included an 85-mile, 6 day self-guided walking tour through the Italian countryside. We also spent time in Rome, Venice, Florence, Pompeii and Naples. 

Catch up on my other posts about this trip here:

Walking Rieti to Rome – Summary
Doors of Italy
Exploring Rieti
Self-Guided Walk Day 1
Self-Guided Walk Day 2
Self-Guided Walk Day 3
Castello Orsini Hotel
Self-Guided Walk Days 4 and 5
Self-Guided Walk Day 6
The Colosseum and Exploring Rome
St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museum
Pompeii and Naples
Venice
Florence

**********

I am combining Days 4 and 5 into one post because we took just a few less photos on these days, so I worked on making the ones I wanted to share fit in one. They were still both great days, but Day 4 ended up being another difficult one that involved us getting lost again and then I sat out on Day 5.

Anyway, the fourth day of our walk started in Nerola and took us to Monterotondo. I believe it was supposed to be our longest day, covering about 15 miles, but according to Mom’s Apple watch we did about 13 miles. We did not end up completing our route because we got lost again and after adding in a few miles to correct ourselves we realized that the last 4 or so miles would put us at our destination after dark and after our designated dinner time. I was also physically done. I had been hobbling along for a few days pretty well considering the circumstances, but the swelling in my ankle was only getting worse and my poor “healthy” foot was pretty torn up from the blisters. At one point just before we decided that we were not going to make it the rest of the way on foot, I stumbled again because my legs pretty much just gave out. I swear I wish I was being dramatic, but the rest of my family said that they were pretty done for the day too.

The problem was we were still a couple of miles from any town and we couldn’t use our own cell phones to make a call (we had a Wifi-hot spot with us but it only would work to text or Face Time if the receiving end also had an iPhone). So two of us walked up to a winery/home and used their phone to call and ask the hotel if they could come pick us up, which ended up working out.

Castello Orsini Hotel

Even though this was probably my least favorite days of the walk overall, this is one of my favorite memories! We were walking by a peach orchard and saw the farmer harvesting. My cousin and I walked up to him holding out some money and asking if we could buy some. He did not speak English, but waved the money away and just handed us a couple. These were the biggest peaches I have ever seen and they were so good!! It was a really nice, refreshing break and just one of the many examples of the kindness that we experienced throughout the trip. I do not have any pictures, but we also received a handful of apples later in the day. We were walking about an asphalt road and a man drove by with a car FULL of boxes of apples. He stopped all on his own, waved us over and gave us a handful!

For perspective, it really was almost as big as my face!

So about getting lost… I think I mentioned this in my introductory post, but for the most part the guide book we had was very thorough and easy to follow. But it seemed as if every time we came upon a town throughout the day, that is where the directions either got vague or led us astray. Once we were in this little town we had to ask for directions two different times to eventually find the bar that the book mentions. Looking back at the book later, we still had no idea how the book’s directions would have gotten us there.

The only time we got rained on during the walk was while we were waiting alongside a very busy road for my Grampy and cousin to go use the phone at the winery. As many cars sped by I just kept laughing and wondering what those drivers must have thought of this mix-matched group sitting outside a cement factory/yard (?) at dusk in the rain.

Dinner was so welcome that night! We enjoyed the food here (and the wine!), but it was the second of two places that we did not really care for staying at during the walk. It sort of felt like college dorm rooms and there was someone banging on doors in the middle of the night that we were pretty sure was a drunk looking for his room. We were safe but it just was not relaxing.

DAY 5

The fifth day of our walk started in Monterotondo and took us to the Monte Sacro district in Rome. It covered about 12 miles and took us through more farmland and a nature reserve before transitioning to the outer suburbs of Rome.

I actually decided to sit this day out. I knew that I had hit my limit pain and energy-wise and I really wanted to be able to join my family for the sixth and final day. I hated the thought of missing out but looking back after the final day and how hard that still was for me, I know that I made the right decision. So my family took off with my camera in tow again (thanks Mom!) and I got a taxi to take me to our next hotel.

Just to be clear, the remaining pictures in this post, including the ones with my name mark on them were actually taken by my Mom. Again, she did a great job!

We saw and used these watering fountains multiple throughout the week.

Since I got to our next hotel so early, I could not get into my room yet, so after I rested a bit in the lobby I ventured out a bit. Now don’t get me wrong ,I had a wonderful time with my family, but it actually ended up being nice to have a few hours of solo time. For the most part I am out going and an extrovert, but as I have gotten a little older I have learned that I do actually need to have time to myself to recharge. I did not go far since it was technically my rest day but I did find some amazing bacon pizza (seriously I am still thinking about it) and a relaxed outdoor space where I tried the croquettes and a class of my favorite type of white wine (Gewurztraminer).

My family made pretty good timing without me to drag along 🙂 so we all had a bit of time to relax together for the afternoon.

Dinner was at the Ristorante Casa Claudia and was so good! I wish I remembered more about its history. The restaurant sits along the Aniene River near a bridge that originally indicated the entrance to the city. I want to say a restaurant of some sort has always stood here for hundreds of years but do not quote me! I do remember that the restaurant has been owned by the same family for quite a long time. Pizza was their specialty so my Mom and I each got their personal serving size… We switched pies a couple of times, but still were only able to eat the equivalent of one together, partially because we also were not going to miss out on dessert!

Honestly, because of all the walking, most us actually either lost weight or maintained weight on this trip which was nice. Regardless though, in my mind you do not visit a foodie country like Italy and not indulge!

OK, I will be back hopefully tomorrow with the sixth and final day of the walk… then we can move on to the rest of the trip!

As always, thanks for stopping by!

**********

And just for fun here are some of my other past Travel Journal posts:

Nashville, Tennessee – Girls Weekend
London, England
Estes Park, Colorado
Thailand and the Philippines
Tumon Bay, Guam
New York City – Girls Weekend
Lake Tahoe, Nevada
Antigua, Guatemala

Family, Travel Journal

Travel Journal: Italy – Castello Orsini Hotel

Amanda

In September, I traveled to Italy for two weeks with some of my family, which included an 85-mile, 6 day self-guided walking tour through the Italian countryside. We also spent time in Rome, Venice, Florence, Pompeii and Naples. 

Catch up on my other posts about this trip here:

Walking Rieti to Rome – Summary
Doors of Italy
Exploring Rieti
Self-Guided Walk Day 1
Self-Guided Walk Day 2
Self-Guided Walk Day 3
Castello Orsini Hotel
Self-Guided Walk Days 4 and 5
Self-Guided Walk Day 6
The Colosseum and Exploring Rome
St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museum
Pompeii and Naples
Venice
Florence

**********

Our walk on the third day took us to Nerola where we stayed at the Castello Orsini Hotel, which is a 12th century castle!

This was SO COOL and without a doubt my favorite place we stayed throughout the whole trip. We took so many photos and enjoyed it so much that I decided it needed to have its own post. Unfortunately the lighting was not all that great inside, so even the few I am sharing in this post really do not do it justice. However, the castle does have an Instagram account and they feature some beautiful photos so you should definitely check that out!

In the 12th century, the fiefdom (an estate or territory granted to someone in return for allegiance or service), was granted to the Orsini family, who built the present castle. Since then it changed hands a number of times until the last change in 1939. It was eventually restored and now houses the hotel.

One of the most unique parts was that every private room was so different. Most of them had built-ins added to create more living space since the ceilings were so high. The public spaces were essentially museums and since we got in later than expected the evening before, we took some extra time in the morning to explore a bit. There were lots of balconies and terraces with beautiful views, and my Mom and I eventually found a way to go out on part of the roof. There had been a wedding there a day or two before so we also saw the remnants of that event.

If you are planning a trip to Italy and looking at spending some time outside of the major cities, then I would highly recommend a visit here or something similar.

Most of the rooms had these built-in stairs that led to platforms where most of the beds were in the rooms.

This was a homemade creamy gnocchi with mushroom truffles. Basically it was like really fancy mac and cheese and it was delicious!

From the rooftop.

The views were amazing!

The inner courtyard.

Everywhere they had empty wine bottles, corks and wine glasses incorporated as decoration.

Like I said, the lighting was difficult in some areas, including this area near the kitchen that had this pit of corks. The picture above with the bottles was in the same room so you can kind of see the lighting. I think I took the cork picture in the morning though when the bright colored lights weren’t one or as bright, plus I think this one was with my phone. But the point is, that this was a really fun feature! And my Mom may or may not have snatched a cork from there for me. I’m guessing it wouldn’t have been a bit deal if I had asked, but this makes a better story 🙂

Thanks for stopping by again. I still have about eight or so more posts planned for this trip so stay tuned!

**********

And just for fun here are some of my other past Travel Journal posts:

Nashville, Tennessee – Girls Weekend
London, England
Estes Park, Colorado
Thailand and the Philippines
Tumon Bay, Guam
New York City – Girls Weekend
Lake Tahoe, Nevada
Antigua, Guatemala

Family, Travel Journal

Travel Journal: Italy – Self-Guided Walk Day 3

Amanda

In September, I traveled to Italy for two weeks with some of my family, which included an 85-mile, 6 day self-guided walking tour through the Italian countryside. We also spent time in Rome, Venice, Florence, Pompeii and Naples. 

Catch up on my other posts about this trip here:

Walking Rieti to Rome – Summary
Doors of Italy
Exploring Rieti
Self-Guided Walk Day 1
Self-Guided Walk Day 2
Self-Guided Walk Day 3
Castello Orsini Hotel
Self-Guided Walk Days 4 and 5
Self-Guided Walk Day 6
The Colosseum and Exploring Rome
St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museum
Pompeii and Naples
Venice
Florence

**********

The third day of our self-guided walk started in Poggio Moiano and took us to Nerola. It was “supposed” to cover about 11 miles (more on that in a minute) and took us down from the mountains onto the Tiber Valley plain passing through more farmland and orchards.

Looking back, this was somewhat of a roller coaster day. Overall, I think it was the prettiest day we had as far as views go. But we also had what might have been the two steepest sections of the entire walk. And of course, going up steep inclines usually meant that the way back down was just as steep which most of the time was just as hard. And I say this with very little exaggeration, my right foot, (the healthy, not-sprained one), basically felt like it was on fire the whole day. I thought the day before had gone well considering my sprained ankle, but I completely underestimated what that would do to my other foot, which was covered in more blisters than I had ever experienced at one time while playing sports and dancing growing up.

Oh and… we got lost.

Or more specifically, we missed where we were supposed to veer off for our hotel (the guide book directions didn’t always take us all the way to the front door) and continued on another 3-4 miles and the NEXT day’s route. We had also gotten too spread out as a group, so when we finally all got back in one spot, we were in the next town over and then had to figure out how to catch a bus that would take us back to where we originally supposed to be. It all adds to the adventure I suppose but at the time I was never more happy to see a bed.

This was the view outside of my grandparents room. My Grammy took the picture above earlier in the morning when the fog was still settled and I took the ones below a while later. I felt like this should be part of a Lord of the Rings movie set!

The first stretch leaving Poggio Moiano was so pretty!

There are sheep and Great Pyrenees (guard dogs) in there off to the left, but what I wanted to point out was the bathtubs! We saw this a few different times and assumed that they must use them for water troughs.

Even in another country, my Mom had to pull me away from studying the livestock. This guy and his gals were pretty different from what I am used to.

This field looked plowed and ready to go, but all of the white/light color that you see? Those are rocks!!! We saw this quite a bit in most of the olive tree orchards and I just couldn’t wrap my head around it.

Me and Mom

My cousins Ginger and Daryl

Aunt Diane, Grampy and Grammy

We stopped in Poggio Corese for some Coke Zero’s and a late lunch. They were actually closing for the afternoon (which a lot of the little towns we passed through did), but stayed open for us, which was VERY appreciated. We seasoned this pasta with a spice called “peperoncino.” It was delicious and I hoping I can find it again here, possibly at the Italian grocery store that is a few blocks from my apartment.

It was a long, but beautiful day. That night we stayed in a 12th century castle and I’ve decided to give that its own blog post because it was just so cool and definitely one of the main highlights of our trip.

I’ll be back in a few days with that post!

**********

And just for fun here are some of my other past Travel Journal posts:

Nashville, Tennessee – Girls Weekend
London, England
Estes Park, Colorado
Thailand and the Philippines
Tumon Bay, Guam
New York City – Girls Weekend
Lake Tahoe, Nevada
Antigua, Guatemala

Family, Travel Journal

Travel Journal: Italy – Self-Guided Walk Day 2

Amanda

In September, I traveled to Italy for two weeks with some of my family, which included an 85-mile, 6 day self-guided walking tour through the Italian countryside. We also spent time in Rome, Venice, Florence, Pompeii and Naples. 

Catch up on my other posts about this trip here:

Walking Rieti to Rome – Summary
Doors of Italy
Exploring Rieti
Self-Guided Walk Day 1
Self-Guided Walk Day 2
Self-Guided Walk Day 3
Castello Orsini Hotel
Self-Guided Walk Days 4 and 5
Self-Guided Walk Day 6
The Colosseum and Exploring Rome
St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museum
Pompeii and Naples
Venice
Florence

**********

The second day of our self-guided walk started in Poggio San Lorenzo and took us to Poggio Moiano. It covered about 9 miles, taking us south through unsealed country roads, through the mountains and past lots of orchards, fields and farms.

Most of our breakfasts on the walk were pretty light, consisting of cappuccinos and light bread and pastries. Some of our stops did have continental spreads which usually added in hard boil eggs, yogurt, meats and cheeses.

After resting the day before, my ankle was still really swollen and stiff, but I was determined to join my family again. It was definitely slow most of the time, but once I got going and loosened up a bit it wasn’t as bad. At least my hobbling was consistent 🙂

Our walk first took us through Poggio San Lorenzo, which was a sleepy little town that we stayed outside of the night before. It was interesting to see how each town differed and what remained consistent. They all were made up of earthy, warm colors, with a mix of different stone and bricks. The windows almost always had shutters and there were lots of little balconies, all garnished with greens and flowers.

Ancient Roman walls.

Most of our walk throughout the week took us through farm land. It wasn’t necessarily promoted this way, but after looking at the descriptions of the other walks the company offers, I’d say our could easily be dubbed the “ag tour,” which is obviously right up my alley. We saw hundreds of acres of olive trees, which is a commodity that we don’t know much about so thanks to Google for filling us in 🙂 We also saw quite a few different varieties of grapes, lemons, limes, tomatoes, berries, peaches, apples and various other vegetables.

That is an olive tree orchard above. Some looked prettier like this picture, but most were not this well-manicured.

The yellow and blue marker that you see above were the markers that coordinated with our guide book. Sometimes it was a sticker that looked more like a flag and other times it was painted on rocks, trees and posts.

So there is a version of this picture that is not blurry, but no one is smiling in that one and this one makes me laugh. I was trying to explain to my Aunt that she could still step back further to take the picture but use her fingers to zoom in. I think she finally figured it out but by that time I think I was too worn out to continue smiling and it still ended up blurry 🙂

Anyway this is where we stopped in the town of Monteleone Sabina and rested after a pretty intense climb and found some ice cream.

This home was partially caved in and overgrown with vegetation. I took some video and other pictures of it, but its just not the same. It felt like I was in a different time. My Mom and I hung around for a bit and tried to piece together what the house would have looked like when it was all in one piece.

Our accommodations in Poggio Moiano were one of two that I didn’t care for at all. These were small studio apartments (except I think the one my grandparents stayed in had a few rooms) and functioned more like an AirBnB. They did have kitchenettes which was nice, but they were just a bit strange overall and not very comfortable. However, ironically, the dinner we had here was by far my favorite from the walk. As I mentioned in my summary post, all of our dinners and breakfasts were organized for us. It was prepared by the people who owned the apartments which were right next to their restaurant. We had a round of appetizers, multiple family-style entrees and a selection of desserts. If I remember correctly, nearly everything came from their extended family’s farm and garden, and it was all homemade. They didn’t very much English, but they had a family friend who did speak English serve as our host and shared about each dish as they brought it out. It was all amazing.

They brought us a bottle of both red and white wine, and with that good of a meal, there was no way that I wasn’t trying both. Plus I just walked 9 miles on a sprained ankle through the countryside so I shamelessly told my family that I thought I earned it.

Thanks for tuning in today! I believe I’ll be back on Wednesday with another post.

**********

And just for fun here are some of my other past Travel Journal posts:

Nashville, Tennessee – Girls Weekend
London, England
Estes Park, Colorado
Thailand and the Philippines
Tumon Bay, Guam
New York City – Girls Weekend
Lake Tahoe, Nevada
Antigua, Guatemala

Family, Travel Journal

Travel Journal: Italy – Self-Guided Walk Day 1

Amanda

In September, I traveled to Italy for two weeks with some of my family, which included an 85-mile, 6 day self-guided walking tour through the Italian countryside. We also spent time in Rome, Venice, Florence, Pompeii and Naples. 

Catch up on my other posts about this trip here:

Walking Rieti to Rome – Summary
Doors of Italy
Exploring Rieti
Self-Guided Walk Day 1
Self-Guided Walk Day 2
Self-Guided Walk Day 3
Castello Orsini Hotel
Self-Guided Walk Days 4 and 5
Self-Guided Walk Day 6
The Colosseum and Exploring Rome
St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museum
Pompeii and Naples
Venice
Florence

**********

The first day of our self-guided walk started in Rieti and took us to Poggio San Lorenzo. It covered a bit over 13 miles, taking us along creeks and through fields and forests, and across a 4th century Roman bridge . On this day we didn’t pass through any other towns so we had the hotel in Rieti pack us some lunches.

I’ll add here, as I mentioned in my summary intro post, part of our tour package included a baggage transfer service. So at every place we stayed we collected our luggage together usually in the lobby and the service came to pick it up and take it to the next location for us. It was always there when we arrived at the end of the day and we never had anything missing. It was really great.

Each of us carried a backpack of some sort with water, snacks, bandaids, bug spray and obvious other things we thought we might need throughout the day. I brought my backpack, which has a compartment for my DSLR camera and extra lens that you access from the back side. I bought it back when I first got my camera in 2015 and it is hands down one of the best purchases I’ve ever made. It functions well for my needs (including a spot that is perfect for my Surface when I am carrying that), its lightweight, super comfy even when its full and breathes well if I sweat. It even comes with a rain cover that otherwise lays flat and is stored in the very base of the backpack. I have taken it everywhere with me over the past 3 years and it is only starting to show a little wear and tear now. It doesn’t look like it is available anymore, but I’ve linked it here regardless. I’m sure something else from this brand would be just as good.

Two florists checking out a flower shop in a different country.

One thing that we thought was interesting was that most homes and fenced in business had guard dogs of some sort, with Great Pyrenees probably being the most common breed. This guy looked friendly but I decided it was best to not stick my arm in there to pet him.

Probably not even a minute or so after taking this picture is when I stepped into the pothole and sprained my ankle. We weren’t even a full 2 miles into the walk. I recapped all of that in my first summary post which you can read here.

Since I wasn’t joining them on the walk for the rest of the day I asked my Mom to take my camera with her. And I just have to say that I am so happy that she went outside her comfort zone. She claims that she “so bad” at it when someone hands her a cell phone to take a photo but I think she did a great job considering I don’t think she has ever touched a DSLR before. Now I’m pretty sure she just took it because she just felt really bad for me, but for the rest of the walk she continued to carry it off and on and actually started to enjoy using it.

This is the 4th century bridge that was almost completely covered by vegetation.

My family said that this guy (a donkey) snuck up on them to say hello. We found that it wasn’t uncommon for homes, especially out in the country, to be hidden behind fences and stone walls that were overgrown with vegetation.

I put my name mark on some of these for the sake of consistency, but this pretty one was all my Mom 🙂

And so was this one!

Our first nights stay was at the Agriturismo Santa Giusta, which was just outside of Poggio San Lorenzo. Agriturismo’s are essentially bed and breakfasts, and while nothing compares to the castle we stayed in later in the week, this was by far my 2nd favorite place that we stayed.

I am also really thankful that this happened to be the place we were staying on the day that I sprained my ankle. There were only two other guests besides my family and just a few staff (I think it was a family that ran it). Once I arrived I was able to relax outside in a chair with my ankle propped up and enjoyed a beautiful view and some wine. There was even a small pool that was nice to soak my ankle in for a while.

 

We took quite a few pictures of our rooms in most of the places we stayed, but I didn’t know I really wanted to fill my posts up with those. This room below is where my Mom and I stayed. The ladder leads up to a small loft that had another bed. In every place we stayed all of our rooms were a little different from each other instead of being really cookie cutter like a traditional hotel.

 

Thanks for stopping by again! I have a post for Day 2 of our walk almost ready to go, so I should be back tomorrow!

Have a great rest of your weekend!

**********

And just for fun here are some of my other past Travel Journal posts:

Nashville, Tennessee – Girls Weekend
London, England
Estes Park, Colorado
Thailand and the Philippines
Tumon Bay, Guam
New York City – Girls Weekend
Lake Tahoe, Nevada
Antigua, Guatemala