Closing Thoughts

I can't even begin to express how awesome this trip has been for me, and I'll go ahead and speak for my parents and say that they thoroughly enjoyed themselves as well. Italy was all that I dreamed it would be and more and I can't wait to save my money and go back again and again!

I suppose I should chronicle our last day in Italy just to close things out properly. So we began Wednesday with a 3am wake-up call...fun. A shower, quick last minute packing, and the trials of lugging our bags down ourselves due to lack of bellboys took up an hour and we were on the road by 4am. Sorrento is only about 3 hours from Rome and the airport but we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time before our 11:15am flight. The drive was mostly uneventful and we arrived at the international terminal by 8:15 or 8:30. Flights were all on time, and it was smooth sailing in the skies back to Philadelphia, then on to hometown of good ol' Richmond, VA. Mark graciously met us at the airport to take us home, and by the time we got back to Villa Rosa we had been awake for 24 hours! Exhausting, but completely worth it. The end of the week and a nice relaxing holiday weekend have proved to be necessary for getting over jet lag for all of us. Now we are back on our feet and back to the daily grind.

I can't wait to post all the pictures and share all the memories and sites and gorgeousness with all of you! The only thing that would have made it better is if we could have taken you all along for the adventure. Just to name a few of my favorite things and memories about L'Italia, in no particular order: kids on leashes, dogs in strollers with diapers, crema gelato, sidewalk cafes, intense hand gesturing everywhere, yelling everywhere, getting to say "buongiorno!" and "buona sera!" all the time, seeing zero SUVs and zero pimped out cars and zero spinning rims, Gucci, most delicious pizza anywhere, watermelon gelato, walking down public streets with a beer, having 2 glasses of wine with every meal (not just lunch and dinner), tasting gnocchi and realizing we really do not like it, tasting the original Alfredo sauce and realizing no American knows how to make it, seeing the motherland - Sicilia! Trying to speak Italian and failing miserably, trying to speak Italian and having a coherent conversation (kind of), adding 11 spoons to my collection (haha), buying a pair of genuine Italian leather shoes (they are beautiful), tasting Limocello for the first time and realizing why they serve it in such small little glasses, lemon trees growing in every possible crevice of every street and yard, fields of sunflowers, vineyards, tiny cars everywhere, stracciatella gelato, motor scooters taking over the streets, moms with three kids on one scooter, taxis that overcharge, hotels that overcharge, getting free food at our hotel, custom-made omlettes that weren't on the menu, Mount Visuvius, Mount Etna, thousands of years of history next door to modern government buildings and apartments, the Roman Road, umbrella pine trees, Oleander flowering 7 months of the year, wild roses everywhere, "2 Euro, special price!" from the unauthorized vendors, winding roads that are illegal in the US, views that do not exist in the US, and a thousand or more pictures to remember it all by. I could keep going...

Thanks, Mum and Dad, for taking me on the trip of a lifetime! It was simply amazing. And thanks to the fam and my dear friends for reading our adventures...I know I'm wordy and probably too detailed, but you know this is as much for you as it is for us. Love to everyone, look for our pics coming soon!

Arrivaderci,
Sara