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.

Vacation Sanity With Kids

We love to travel and have done a lot of trips with our son (almost 4 years old). Each time we go on vacation I do a little better job of getting it all together so the trip runs smoothly. It's hard working full time and juggling everything to get ready for our trips, so I thought I would share my best tips with anyone else interested. I hope this helps you get out the door on vacation a bit easier so you can actually enjoy your vacation!

Accommodations: We usually stay at a condo when possible. We do this for a few reasons. We love having our own room at night. We can stay up and watch movies, play games, etc...while our little one is sleeping in he other room. The other reason we like it is having a kitchen! I hate having to get up and out the door first thing in the morning while on vacation....I like to sit and relax a bit. My son however, likes breakfast when he wakes up. Having a kitchen in the condo allows him breakfast while I relax a bit and get ready for the day. My other main reason for the condo is a washer and dryer! Yes, it is vacation and I don't really like doing laundry all the time, BUT knowing I can pack only a few days of clothes so our suitcases are smaller is a huge bonus. Picture going to Italy for 16 days with a 2 year old, stroller, car seat, and large suitcases for 4 people....so, doing laundry is not so bad, right? The other thing I do to make it easier when we return home, is spend the last night on vacation doing laundry..when we arrive home I have all clean clothes to put away and NO laundry to do! It's the best....especially when I have to return to work the next morning after getting home late from our trip.

Food: I always pack tons of non perishable foods to take with us. Sometimes we have travelled overseas where you cannot buy the foods my little one is use to. I plan ahead and stock up on things like: cookies, crackers, granola bars, fruit strips, cheeze its, peanut butter crackers, applesauce containers, fruit cups, etc....If you have room for juice boxes, that's a plus too! I also try to bring some type of water bottle with a straw for my son so I can buy juice/milk on the road while we travel and fill it up for him in the car (this way it prevents spills with open bottles of juice or water). I always pack ziplock bags too so I can pack snacks or sandwiches while on the trip. It also helps to pack some bigger ziplocks to store leftover food (pizza, etc..) in the condo. I just take the ziplocks out of the box...they are easier to pack that way without the bulky box. Once I buy everything I plan on taking with us, I make out a grocery list for shopping when we arrive to our destination. The nice thing is if I do this, I can easily give the list to my husband and send him off to the store while I get us settled in the condo. I also try to plan what days we may eat out or eat in so I know how much food to buy based on our plans. I do bring a small soft sided cooler with us so we can pack lunch for the beach or a picnic dinner. I do try to pack coffee and small ziplocs with sugar/powdered creamer so we have it upon arrival (my husband NEEDS coffee!). I also throw in a few coffee filters just in case the condo has none.

Grocery List: (things to get once we arrive - for breakfast and lunch)
Frozen pancakes, syrup, bagels/cream cheese, OJ, Milk, soda pop, bottled water, apple juice or juice boxes, eggs, lunch meat, sliced cheese, bread, mustard/mayo, chips or pretzels, fresh fruit, yogurt, butter, beer/wine. If we plan on cooking dinner in at all, I try to pack some spices in ziplocks (they are too expensive to buy on vacation and throw away because we can't pack them to take home). I also like to buy meat marinades and fresh veggies to grill while there...hot dogs for my little one are a great treat. Mac n cheese is a good thing to have on hand too for the kids. Don't forget salad fixings and salad dressing.

Packing: Oh the joys of getting everything together while your husband only packs for himself.....right? I pack 3-4 days worth of clothes and a few ziplock baggies full of powdered laundry soap. Don't forget a few dryer sheets too...if you pack them in your suitcase, you clothes smell fresh when you arrive too. to minimize too many suitcases, I pack my son's clothes in my suitcase so we only have two bags to check. If there is room in my husband's bag, I put all the non-perishable foods in there (if we are flying).

Pre-trip Organizing:
I try to gather information on the Internet about our destination in advance and copy and paste it all into a MS word document. I print out the information and take it with us so I have detailed information. The things I like to look fore are restaurant recommendations, family activities, playgrounds, best beaches, best shops, etc.....and site seeing attractions with hours/costs. I also look for coupons for any of the attractions we plan to visit...sometimes there are coupons on line that will help save you a few bucks! I also make a list of ALL shopping that needs to be done for the trip (food, toiletries, clothes, toys, etc...) and shop for these things 3 weeks before vacation. I try to run errands on my lunch hour and on my way home from work. Two weeks before vacation I start getting clothes together in the guest room and make sure I have everything. Once I have everything together, I make a list of the things I can't pack in advance (things we still need to use) and keep that handy for the day before. Once all of that is packed the night before, I have a list out on the counter for the morning of...cell phones, empty garbage, my son's lovey toy, etc....then we are off! Don't forget to print your list of travel information to take with you!

Kid Pack: I always plan some fun things for my son so that travel goes well for him. I always fill his back pack with new toys for the trip. I don't let him open the backpack until we are on the plane either. I usually do color wonders, pipe cleaners, sticker books, stickers, small cars, magnadoodle, etc.....I also pack his lunch box full of snacks for the trip. He loves this! I also pack a few little toys wrapped in tissue paper as "presents" for him. When I need them, I pull them out of my bag and it buys me some sanity for 20 minutes or so. The presents work well when site seeing too...we got through a whole Vatican tour this way in Rome!

Kid Pack for a Road Trip: We just did a 15 hour drive to Hilton Head and I wanted to make sure my son had some fun things to do. I got a canvas bin and filled it with fun things for him to do and put it on the seat next to his car seat. My favorite toy was a new metal cookie sheet (yes, a cookie sheet) and a huge bag of magnetic letters and numbers. He had fun sticking the letters/numbers all over the cookie sheet. We also played word games...when he picked a letter, everyone had to name a word that started with that letter. Other toys he liked was the Leap Frog Writing/Letter toy, travel magnadoodle, travel aqua doodle, color wonders, Toy Story Stickers/Sticker book, pipe cleaners (to make shapes with), a light up spinning toy, books, matchbox pop up toy with cars, starwars stickers and a Thomas the Train Computer toy.

Other Things I like to pack: travel size first aid kit, bug spray, aloe/anti itch creams (in case we get too much sun!), travel thermometer, child meds (Benedryl to goes are great!), blow up water wings/inner tubes (From the Dollar store!), sunblock, sun hats, frisbee disc/small football, travel umbrella (just in case), disposable table cloth (for picnics), glow sticks (if we do night time activities, my son loves these), purell hand sanitizer, toilet seat covers (in case my son needs them in a public restroom), small packs of baby wipes, small packs of antibacterial wipes (to wipe off the remote control in hotel or meal tray on the airplane...ick!).

Making Coming Home Easier: I also try to plan a bit in advance to make things a little easier when we return home and try to get back to work. I try to spend the last vacation night doing all the laundry...I would rather spend my first night home putting away CLEAN clothes than doing 5 loads of laundry!. I also stock up on food before we go....I make sure we have chicken/meat in the freezer. I also stock up on frozen veggies. If you need sandwich meat, by the pre-packaged kind and don't open it before you go...if it's sealed, it will be good for several weeks. I also buy organic milk (it has a much longer expiration date than non-organic milk), yogurt, apple sauce, fruit cups, cottage cheese, sliced cheese, eggs and bread (I have to keep in in the fridge to keep it fresh). If I do this...we don't have to run to the grocery store right away.....it is much easier for me this way. I also make sure to empty the garbage before I go, run the vacuum and make sure there is little laundry. This makes the transition SO MUCH easier after a week out of town.

I hope my learnings are helpful to someone else trying to get ready for vacation. It's a lot of work, but in my opinion, vacations are worth it!!! I just had the best 10 days with my family!

A Day Trip to Florence, Tuscany

So we set out for Florence for the day. It was about an hour drive from Casa Cornacchi. We decided to navigate ourselves to Piazzale Michaelangelo to park and get started. I chose this location because it was not in the center of Florence, it has FREE parking, it offered amazing views of the city and it offered bus service into the historic, old center of Florence. I am not usually a fan of any type of bus tour, but since we were only going to be there for the day and my mom can't handle all the walking, we decided on a Hop On Hop Off bus tour around town. Little did I know this would be such a big hit with my son. He still talks about riding on top of the big red bus in Italy. He loved riding on top and they allowed us to bring our stroller on the bus making it easy to navigate with a child. The cost of the bus tour for the day was 20 euros per person.

Here are the amazing views from Piazzale Michaelangelo in Florence:

Once on the bus, we rode to the Tournabouni stop and then headed for Piazza Della Republica. I knew there was a carousel there that my son would love. It was a great way to start out with something I knew he would love after a car ride. Here is Piazza della Republica:

We walked from the piazza towards the Duomo. Wow...I have seen it twice before, but it is still so impressive when you see it........

After seeing the duomo, we headed for my favorite shopping spot, Mercato Centrale. We shopped for some scarves, purses, jewelry and a wallet while my little one snacked on gelato.

By now, we were getting hungry and my little one fell asleep in his stroller after a gelato snack, so we headed for lunch. We found a small restaurant and thought we would give it a try. The restaurant was called Antica Ostera Napul: Cucina Napoletana (Via Guelfa, 50129, Firenze). It offered a lunch special which consisted of a 3 course meal for only 10 euros per person! It included wine and water too in the price. What a steal for a lunch in Florence....Sounded good so we went right in with my little one sleeping in the stroller beside our table.

The meal consisted of a primi (pasta course), secondi (meat course) and a dessert course. For the primi we each tried something different: Ravioli in a Rosa Sauce, Gnocchi Bolognese and Neapolitan Risotto (risotto with peas).

We tried two things for the meat course: chicken with balsamic sauce and a veal with peppers. Both were tasty. A great lunch was followed by a nice dessert too. The staff was very nice, but did not speak much English, but that was not a problem for us as we speak some Italian. I think this was a great value for a sit down lunch in Florence and the food was very good! I recommend giving it a try.

After lunch, we got on the bus again and headed for one of our favorite piazzas, Piazza della Signoria. My little one was up and hungry, so with a slice of pizza to go, we explored the beautiful piazza and checked out the statues, gorgeous architecture and fountains. What a day!

What a way for my little one to see the art and enjoy pizza!

By now it was late afternoon and it was time to head back. We hopped back on the bus to Piazzale Michaelangelo. One at the piazzale, we enjoyed our last views of beautiful Florence and headed back to our Tuscan paradise at Casa Cornacchi for dinner.