Amalfi Coast - First Stop Agropoli

Agropoli...hmm, I have never heard of that city on the Amalfi Coast.  That's what most people say when I tell them about this stunning little seaside village.  My motivation for going to Agropoli was to find my family roots.  My mom's family came from Agropoli.  My great grandmother, Angelina came to America in 1909 shortly after getting married.  She was one of 21 children born to her parents, Davide and Elisabetta.  She lived all her life in Agropoli until she came to America.  My mom was raised in the same house with my Great Grandmother so she always heard the amazing stories about Agropoli since she was a baby.  We were so excited to find the actual family villa that Angelina grew up in - still in Agropoli.  It even has the family name on the column outside the gate....it was the most amazing moment for me to take my mom to this sentimental, special place.  We know that family members still live in the house, but we were not able to reach them to see if a visit was possible.

Here is the photo of the column outside the family villa:

Here is the photo of the street name that the villa is on:

Here are the amazing views of the Agropoli marina from the entrance to the old town of Agropoli:

Views from the Old Town:

Views of the Old Town:

The castle in Agropoli:

The amazing views from old town:

My son and I on the stairs leading up to the old town:

Agropoli was an amazing, beautiful place.  As I walked the streets, I imagined my family walking those same streets years and years ago.  There was just something special about being there for me and my mom.  This trip was a surprise trip for her and this was the highlight for me....taking her to see where her beloved grandmother was from.  My mom always told me how grandma told her the stories about the "scalone" (stairs in Italian)...and here I stand in the photo above on those same stairs with my son.  It's amazing to me. 

As far as trip details, we drove from Tuscany directly to Agropoli.  It was a fairly easy drive.  We stayed outside the town in a hotel and restaurant called Il Ceppo.  We had a 1BR/1BA suite for 120 euros per night including breakfast.  The staff was nice, but spoke little English (as most people in Agropoli).  The room was basic, nothing amazing, but clean and met our needs.  The breakfast was pretty good with lots of choices.  After checking in, we set out to check out the town of Agropoli.  The hotel had no map of the town, so we just went....and crossed our fingers!  We ended up at the marina area.  It was beautiful at sunset too!  We could see the old town up on the hill, but had no idea how to get there.  Somehow, we found it....(God bless my husband for driving....it's nuts there!!!).  We found some parking and walked to the main piazza and wandered around. We found a restaurant on the piazza for dinner and a book store that sold us a map of the town - which was a big help.  After checking out the piazza, we headed back to our hotel for the night.

The next morning, we wanted to try to find our family home and see the old historic town.  We went back to the main piazza and with a little wandering, we found the street the villa was on!  It was such a incredible feeling.  We walked down the street...until it ended.  We couldn't quite find the villa - it seemed like there were lots of apartment buildings and grandma use to tell my mom all about the olive groves surrounding the house.  I walked to the very end of the street and noticed the family name on the columns outside the gate of an old, beautiful villa  - that was it!  My mom's eyes teared up....she was speechless....so was I.  It was the best gift (other than a grandson) I could give my mom!  The villa was behind an iron gate and completely walled in, but we peeked through the gate and took photos through the bars on the gate as best as we could.  It was just as grandma described it..but clearly they had sold the land surrounding the villa (there were no olive groves anymore). 

For dinner tonight, we headed towards the beach (on the opposite side of town). What an amazing beach!  Wow...I wish we had time to enjoy the beach, but we were leaving in the morning.  There were so many restaurants and hotels in this area right on the beach.  This would make a perfect spot to stay if you wanted to enjoy a beach holiday and have dining nearby. 

It was so hard to say goodbye to Agropoli...I think I left a part of myself there.  I promised myself to go back one day and see it again as it is such a special place for me and my family.  It is a charming, non-touristy Amalfi Coast village with a wonderful beach.  I highly recommend a visit for a few days!  It's worth it. 

Three Days in Venice

Venice...lovely Venice.  What a great way to start our 16 day adventure in Italy!  Venice is a charming, amazing city.  After arriving after a long overseas journey, we got checked into our apartment and set out for Piazza San Marco.  Here are views of Basilica San Marco and the piazza:

Views of Piazza San Marco and the Campanile (tower):

We just had to take a gondola ride while in Venice, right?  Massimo led us through the canals to the Grand Canal while telling us all about the history of the various buildings.  He sang to us n Italian, although my son wanted him to sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider"....too funny!

My husband and son were enjoying the gondola ride and waving the Italian way to everyone on the canal.

Ah, Piazza San Marco......it's amazing!

Views of us with the gondolas near by

The architecture of Doge's Palace is amazing:

This was the view out the window of our apartment...looking onto a quiet little canal:

Our first dinner in Italy at Ristorante Alla Conchiglia in Venice:

Scenes of Murano:

Jayden and me walking the streets of Venice:

Jayden enjoying the scenes of Venice and the boats!

Mom, Jayden and I in Venice:

The beautiful windows of Venice:

Jayden's first look at a gondola:

That really is a "Grand Canal"

The Rialto Bridge over the Grand Canal

So this is what gelato tastes like......I like it!

We spent three amazing days in Venice upon arrival in Italy.  Once we arrived the first afternoon, we got checked into our apartment (booked through Views on Venice) and headed out to explore.  Our first mission was food!  We grabbed a few pannini's and slices of pizza and headed towards Piazza San Marco.  We found a spot for a picnic for dinner and took in the sights.  Later we walked around and relaxed at our apartment in San Marco. 

The next morning, we took a long stroll through the less touristy areas of Venice and headed for Fondament Nove to catch a boat to Murano for the afternoon.   We stopped and had a gelato while seeing the beautiful Rialto Bridge.  Gelato was only 1.30 euros each...what a deal on the Grand Canal!!!  After arriving in Murano, we found an outdoor cafe (Gran Cafe Laguna) right near the boat dock and had lunch.    Our lunch consisted of a pepperoni pizza, Greek salad, grilled cheese, and a few beverages - cost 42 euros total.  It was nice to sit outside and enjoy Murano over lunch.  After lunch we walked the main street in Murano visiting the shops and taking it all in.  We found some beautiful glass items including Christmas ornaments which were great souvenirs.  By 6:30pm we were ready to head back.  It took about an hour to get back by boat.  Now we needed to find a spot for dinner.  We stumbled on a place called Ristorante Alla Conchiglia (http://www.ristoranteallaconchiglia.com/).  We ate inside, but the restaurant was right on a canal and offered outdoor seating.  The four of us ate bruschetta, pasta carbonara, gnocchi Gorgonzola, beef with zucchini, wine, tiramisu and lemon tore - total cost 122 euros.  After dinner we took a long walk back to our apartment....we got lost and took a scenic route!
On day three we took the boat to St. Elena and let my little one hit the playground for a while.  He had a great time playing there and watching all the boats go by.  We relaxed and just enjoyed a nice stroll in the park.  We headed back to the San Marco area for lunch and picked up panini's on Calle della Rasse (a street full of panini shops near San Marco) and took them back to the apartment for lunch.  We bought our panninis from Bar Verde (3 paninis, a few sodas, a beer and 1 slice of pizza for 26 euros).  After lunch, we went to San Marco to tour the Basilica.  We then walked towards the Accademia Bridge.  We also stopped at Campo San Stefano and had a glass of wine on the piazza.  Two glasses of wine and an iced tea were 13 euros at Le Cafe on the piazza.  Now we were ready for a gondola ride!  It was 100 euros for a 45 minute ride.  Our gondolier, Massimo, showed us the town and told us all the history..oh and sang in Italian!  We headed back to the apartment for some down time before dinner.  We had dinner out our last night at a small cafe outside called Ristorante Al Teatro - not too far from San Marco.  It was more expensive...total cost was 173 euros.  We had veggie soup, gnocchi with red sauce, 2 asparagus risottos, 1 steak fiorentina, 2 glasses of prosecco, 1 glass of red wine, milk, 1 piece ricotta cheese cake and 2 cappuccino's.  There was outdoor seating and live music playing, which was nice. 

The next day we took a water taxi to Piazzale Roma (65 euros from San Marco) and picked up our car rental to head to Tuscany.  It was easy to get out of Venice from there and get on the autostrada quickly.  Overall, Venice was a wonderful first stop on our 16 day adventure.  This was my second visit to Venice.  I did enjoy it, but in my opinion, it is very expensive.  The San Marco area is lovely, but so incredibly crowded.  Once you get away from San Marco, you can enjoy getting lost in the real city of Venice without the big crowds.  I highly recommend getting lost in Venice for a few hours.....it's simply lovely.