This was our second trip to Italy so there was more limited time in Florence and Rome since we had been to both before. This trip also was our "wedding" trip (we were married while in Positano) so the itinerary reflects our wedding activities.
Day 1 - arrive Rome; Leonardo Express train to main train station (Termini) and catch the train to Florence; check in hotel; nap and dinner out.
Day 2 - (Florence) wedding paperwork at US Embassy/Italian Offices in the morning; visit Ponte Vecchio, Piazza Della Signoria, shop in the afternoon.
Day 3 - (Florence) Day trip by train to Lucca; see the town, shop and have lunch before returning to Florence for evening
Day 4 - (Florence) Day trip to San Gimignano by train/bus; see town, have lunch and shop before heading back to Florence for evening.
Day 5 - (Positano) Train to Naples; taxi to Positano; check in hotel; pizza at the beach for lunch; relax on beach for a few hours; shop and dinner out
Day 6 - (Positano) Wedding planning in the morning; afternoon trip by bus to Amalfi; see town and have lunch; meet with wedding photographer in Amalfi; boat back to Positano for dinner out.
Day 7 - (Positano) Day trip to Capri; morning ferry over to Capri; see town, shop and have lunch; afternoon scenic hike; ferry back to Positano for dinner
Day 8 - (Positano) Day trip by boat to Sorrento; see town, shop and have lunch; afternoon ferry to Capri; shop and see town; evening ferry back to Positano
Day 9 - (Positano) Wedding at 11am; photos until 1pm; lunch 1pm; afternoon relaxing; dinner out
Day 10 - (Spoleto) Private driver from Positano to Naples; train from Naples to Spoleto; check in hotel; see the old tower, scenic walk, visit shops in town; dinner out
Day 11 - (Spoleto) Day trip by train to Assisi; see basilica, town and have lunch; return to Spoleto for evening
Day 12 - (Rome) Train to Rome; check in hotel and transfer back to town (we stayed outside Rome); afternoon walking at leisure for lunch and shopping; visit a few pizzas.
Day 13 - Fly home from Rome
HOTELS:
Florence - Hotel Hermitage (we love this hotel! charming B&B hotel with great location, great roof terrace and views!)
Positano - Villa La Tartana (charming B&B hotel; great view from our balcony; breakfast served on balcony every day; great location and staff!)
Spoleto - Hotel San Luca (charming B&B type hotel right outside old town walls; great service)
Rome - Sheraton Roma (free shuttle to downtown Rome, we used Starwood Points; not a great location for seeing sights)
Italy Itinerary One
Day 1 - arrive Venice by plane; check in hotel; have lunch; afternoon nap to rest from jet lag; get up and go out for dinner
Day 2 - (Venice) Piazza San Marco, Basilica San Marco, Campanile Tower, Rialto Bridge, shop.
Day 3 - (leave Venice for Rome) Take the vaporetto all the way up the Grand Canal to train station; train to Rome; check in hotel; Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, afternoon gelato.
Day 4 - (Rome) Colosseum, Roman Forum, Villa Borghese, Borghese Gallery.
Day 5 - (Rome) Pantheon, Vatican Tour, St. Peter's Basilica
Day 6 - (leave Rome for Tuscany) Pick up car near train station in Rome and drive to Orvieto; park near train station in Orvieto and take funicular up to town; see the duomo, shop and have lunch; drive on to Siena; evening walk town of Siena and dinner on main piazza.
Day 7 - (Tuscany) Drive Chianti Road; visit Castello di Brolio (tour caslte grounds) and visit wine tasting room (Ricasoli - very nice!); visit Varanzzano tasting room; pannini lunch in Greve; drive back to Siena for dinner.
Day 8 - (leave Siena for Florence) Drive to Florence and drop car near train station (scary driving in Florence for sure!!!); Boboli Gardens; visit Ponte Vecchio, Arno River, Piazza della Signoria
Day 9 - (Florence) Accademia Museum, Duomo and Uffizi Gallery
Day 10 - (leave Florence for Camogli on Ligurian coast) Take the train to Camogli; walk through town, shop, check in hotel, afternoon cocktails on the terrace and dinner out
Day 11 - (Camogli) Day trip to Cinque Terre by train; hike the shorter hikes between the five towns, boat between the further towns, shop, have lunch, walk the towns. Dinner in Camgogli.
Day 12 - (leave for Milan) Train from Camogli to Milan; check in hotel; Last Supper tour; visit and tour the duomo, dinner out
Day 13 - Fly home from Milan
HOTELS: (we recommend all hotels - we loved them all!)
Venice - Antica Locanda Venezia (cute roof top terrace; B&B type hotel)
Rome - Hotel Barberini (nice breakfast; nice rooms; good location)
Siena - Hotel Santa Caterina (charming B&B type hotel; great views of Tuscan hills)
Florence - Hotel Hermitage (B&B hotel right on the Arno River; great roof terrace)
Camogli - Cenobio Dei Dogi (pool, amazing terraces, nice hotel, great breakfast)
Milan - Millenium (more upscale type hotel; nice)
Day 2 - (Venice) Piazza San Marco, Basilica San Marco, Campanile Tower, Rialto Bridge, shop.
Day 3 - (leave Venice for Rome) Take the vaporetto all the way up the Grand Canal to train station; train to Rome; check in hotel; Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, afternoon gelato.
Day 4 - (Rome) Colosseum, Roman Forum, Villa Borghese, Borghese Gallery.
Day 5 - (Rome) Pantheon, Vatican Tour, St. Peter's Basilica
Day 6 - (leave Rome for Tuscany) Pick up car near train station in Rome and drive to Orvieto; park near train station in Orvieto and take funicular up to town; see the duomo, shop and have lunch; drive on to Siena; evening walk town of Siena and dinner on main piazza.
Day 7 - (Tuscany) Drive Chianti Road; visit Castello di Brolio (tour caslte grounds) and visit wine tasting room (Ricasoli - very nice!); visit Varanzzano tasting room; pannini lunch in Greve; drive back to Siena for dinner.
Day 8 - (leave Siena for Florence) Drive to Florence and drop car near train station (scary driving in Florence for sure!!!); Boboli Gardens; visit Ponte Vecchio, Arno River, Piazza della Signoria
Day 9 - (Florence) Accademia Museum, Duomo and Uffizi Gallery
Day 10 - (leave Florence for Camogli on Ligurian coast) Take the train to Camogli; walk through town, shop, check in hotel, afternoon cocktails on the terrace and dinner out
Day 11 - (Camogli) Day trip to Cinque Terre by train; hike the shorter hikes between the five towns, boat between the further towns, shop, have lunch, walk the towns. Dinner in Camgogli.
Day 12 - (leave for Milan) Train from Camogli to Milan; check in hotel; Last Supper tour; visit and tour the duomo, dinner out
Day 13 - Fly home from Milan
HOTELS: (we recommend all hotels - we loved them all!)
Venice - Antica Locanda Venezia (cute roof top terrace; B&B type hotel)
Rome - Hotel Barberini (nice breakfast; nice rooms; good location)
Siena - Hotel Santa Caterina (charming B&B type hotel; great views of Tuscan hills)
Florence - Hotel Hermitage (B&B hotel right on the Arno River; great roof terrace)
Camogli - Cenobio Dei Dogi (pool, amazing terraces, nice hotel, great breakfast)
Milan - Millenium (more upscale type hotel; nice)
Second Birthday Elmo Party
My almost two year old just LOVED Elmo so I knew it would be a great birthday party theme for his second birthday. I wanted to really get creative and make it fun for him, but it's hard when you work full time. I had to see what I could come up with and fit into my schedule and get it all done by Saturday afternoon! Yikes...
My Elmo Cupcakes (instructions below)
So how am I going to make a few dozen Elmo cupcakes and get ready to host a party for 45 people between Friday night and Saturday afternoon? Find short cuts! I tried to call a few cupcake places but they wanted to charge a few dollars for each cupcake. That was going to be way too expensive so I searched the Internet for inspiration. I got creative with candy and things to make Elmo's face and viola!
I ordered cupcakes from Kroger (yes Kroger) with red, grass frosting only. I think they charged about $6.99 per dozen. Then I got marsh mellows for the eyes and cut them in half. I used black jelly-belli's to make the black part of the eyes by cutting them in half with a sharp knife and wetting my finger and wetting the marsh mellow so they would stick in place. I used orange large gumdrops for the nose and I had Elmo's face.
My son LOVED the Elmo faces on the cupcakes. It only took about 30 minutes to assemble these. Everyone thought I baked them too...I kept the secret to myself!
First Birthday Luau Party
I had a hard time deciding what would be the perfect theme for my son's first birthday party, but then I landed on the perfect theme - a luau! This was only fitting considering we call our son "our little Hawaiian souvenir" (since I got pregnant in Hawaii while on vacation). Once I figured out the them, where do I begin? I am Italian..I know nothing about Hawaiian food. Thank goodness for the Internet....a great resource for food, recipes, decorations and more!
I started searching the Internet for Hawaiian recipes and put together a menu the adults would like along with some of the kid's favorites so everyone would be happy. Here is the menu I decided on :
Appetizers:
Potato Chips and Maui Onion Dip
Tortilla Chips and Mango Tomato Salsa
Tropical Fruit Kabobs and Fruit Dip
Asian Pot Stickers with Ginger Soy Dipping Sauce
Cheese and Crackers
Banana Bread
Goldfish Crackers
Swedish Fish Candies
Dinner:
Huli Huli Chicken
Polynesian Pork
Asian Cole Slaw
Veggie Fried Rice
Palm Tree Pasta and Cheese (Mac and cheese)
Hawaiian Hot dogs (Hot dogs)
This is the menu I posted over the food table:
Now that I decided on a menu, I needed to figure out decorations. I went to Party City and decided on a tropical themed print table cloth and napkins. I then tried to put together some other things to go with it. My first idea was to make a Tiki Hut for the food table. I had a huge cardboard box that I cut on a diagonal to make a roof like structure. My husband build some "legs" for it to hold it up over the table out of some 1x2's. I simply covered he 1x2's with some strips I cut from one of the plastic table clothes. To make the tiki hut look, I used a hot glue gun to glue two straw beach mats on top. I got those at Big Lots for about a dollar each. They were trimmed in aqua so they went well with my colors. I cut a surfboard shaped object out of extra cardboard and covered it with more of the plastic table cloth. I then made a sign to say "Jayden's Tiki Hut" on it and hot glue gunned it to the top of the tiki hut. I hung some colored paper lantern's from the tiki hut (I got those from Michael's for about a dollar each). The total cost for my tiki hut was about $12!
Here is the Tiki Hut:
Here are scenes of the Tiki Hut with some of the food:
Here is the Birthday Banner I made to hang near the table:
Now it was time for the party hat, favors and birthday cake. I got crafty for the party hat and the goody bags, but the cake and cupcakes were done by Party Cakes in Berkley, MI. For the party hat, I used a few foam sheets from Michael's. They were cheap and durable for a 1 year old. I cut out a piece and made the cone for the hat and used a stapler to keep it in place. I used a hot glue gun to decorate it with shapes I cut out of foam. I also used the hot glue gun to add the letters for Jayden's name on the hat. It was really cheap and easy to make. It cost me a few dollars for the foam sheets.
The goodie bags were simple white bags with embellishments I bought from Michael's. The fish on the front were a craft kit that contained several crafts in the pack. I simply made them and stuck them on the bags and wrote the kids names on the bags. I used some neon colored string and a hole punch to close the bags...I simply folded the bag over, punched the holes and threaded the string through the holes and tied it with a bow. It was an easy way to make some goody bags. I filled the bags with bubbles, candies, goldfish crackers and fruit snacks.
Here are some close ups of the cake and cupcakes:
Here are a few scenes of my little one having fun!
I started searching the Internet for Hawaiian recipes and put together a menu the adults would like along with some of the kid's favorites so everyone would be happy. Here is the menu I decided on :
Appetizers:
Potato Chips and Maui Onion Dip
Tortilla Chips and Mango Tomato Salsa
Tropical Fruit Kabobs and Fruit Dip
Asian Pot Stickers with Ginger Soy Dipping Sauce
Cheese and Crackers
Banana Bread
Goldfish Crackers
Swedish Fish Candies
Dinner:
Huli Huli Chicken
Polynesian Pork
Asian Cole Slaw
Veggie Fried Rice
Palm Tree Pasta and Cheese (Mac and cheese)
Hawaiian Hot dogs (Hot dogs)
This is the menu I posted over the food table:
Now that I decided on a menu, I needed to figure out decorations. I went to Party City and decided on a tropical themed print table cloth and napkins. I then tried to put together some other things to go with it. My first idea was to make a Tiki Hut for the food table. I had a huge cardboard box that I cut on a diagonal to make a roof like structure. My husband build some "legs" for it to hold it up over the table out of some 1x2's. I simply covered he 1x2's with some strips I cut from one of the plastic table clothes. To make the tiki hut look, I used a hot glue gun to glue two straw beach mats on top. I got those at Big Lots for about a dollar each. They were trimmed in aqua so they went well with my colors. I cut a surfboard shaped object out of extra cardboard and covered it with more of the plastic table cloth. I then made a sign to say "Jayden's Tiki Hut" on it and hot glue gunned it to the top of the tiki hut. I hung some colored paper lantern's from the tiki hut (I got those from Michael's for about a dollar each). The total cost for my tiki hut was about $12!
Here is the Tiki Hut:
Here are scenes of the Tiki Hut with some of the food:
Here is the Birthday Banner I made to hang near the table:
Now it was time for the party hat, favors and birthday cake. I got crafty for the party hat and the goody bags, but the cake and cupcakes were done by Party Cakes in Berkley, MI. For the party hat, I used a few foam sheets from Michael's. They were cheap and durable for a 1 year old. I cut out a piece and made the cone for the hat and used a stapler to keep it in place. I used a hot glue gun to decorate it with shapes I cut out of foam. I also used the hot glue gun to add the letters for Jayden's name on the hat. It was really cheap and easy to make. It cost me a few dollars for the foam sheets.
The goodie bags were simple white bags with embellishments I bought from Michael's. The fish on the front were a craft kit that contained several crafts in the pack. I simply made them and stuck them on the bags and wrote the kids names on the bags. I used some neon colored string and a hole punch to close the bags...I simply folded the bag over, punched the holes and threaded the string through the holes and tied it with a bow. It was an easy way to make some goody bags. I filled the bags with bubbles, candies, goldfish crackers and fruit snacks.
Here are some close ups of the cake and cupcakes:
Here are a few scenes of my little one having fun!
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