Brian and I have been talking about taking another European vacation together. The last time we went to Europe, he proposed to me under the Eiffel tower! We spent a week in Paris and it is hands down on my top five lifetime events! We have talked about taking another ‘dream’ vacation since then and Italy keeps coming up. We have even started talking about taking a dream trip there NEXT summer! It is hard to plan a trip away from the kids, especially when you are THAT far away… so, even though I get really excited about going, I also get really anxious. I’m a stay-at-home mom to my two kids and I feel guilty when I leave them behind. But, after a summer that was chock-full of activities with them, I know that a little time away from them (and them from me) will only make our reunion a week later much more sweeter!
So, when ProFlowers sent me this bouquet of GORGEOUS sunflowers and asked me to talk about #MySummerStaycation… I gladly accepted! Plus, I am one that loves to dream and actively work towards making my dreams come true… so, I thought why not?! (P.S. That is a little sneaky peek of the bar cart I am working on in our family room!)
Before I launch into my post about the dream trip I would love to take to Italy, I have to share the flowers Brian delivered to me in Paris. These were the flowers Brian sent to our hotel room the day he proposed to me. Uh, yeah… flowers are done a little differently in Paris I guess? Ha! I was blown away! We desperately tried to take some of these back home with us to the states, but we couldn’t. 🙁
This was the card on the flowers… hmm, yeah… I sort of knew something was up after I read that 🙂 Brian always writes me the sweetest cards every time he sends me flowers. I have them all on magnets on our refrigerator, but I am running out of room… it is one of things he does that I love 🙂
So, what would we do in Italy?
If we went to Italy, it would be a short trip… only a week. It is hard for us to get away from the kids. So, we would probably have to focus on seeing only two cities, such as Rome and Venice. Unfortunately, these cities aren’t neighbors and we would probably fly into Venice and then take one of those super-fast trains to Rome. However, I would really like to see Florence, Milan, Naples and the beaches on the Amalfi coast sometime. Hmm, may have to plan a second or third trip sometime. 😉
Rome:
When I think of going to Rome, the first image that pops in my head is the Roman colosseum. This would definitely be one of the first tourist sites we would hit. I would want to do one of the guided tours, to hear all there is about this 2,000 year old structure!
Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel Ceiling – I took 45 credits of art history in college and this was one piece we studied diligently. I would LOVE to see massive fresco painting by Michelangelo in real life. 
The Pantheon, with its unreinforced concrete dome and the oculus in the center of the dome. I studied this in school and would love to see it in real life, too.
Florence:
Florence is sort of in-between Venice and Rome and it would be nice to stop here on the way from Venice to Rome. However, I’m just not sure if we would have enough time to do that. I would love, love, love to see the David. Just once. I would pick the David over anything else to see in Florence.
OK, but… I do love wine and a wine tour of Tuscany (close to Florence) may win out over the David… Sigh.
Venice:
I have seen online that they offer a lot of walking and gondola rides, I think this would be a neat way to see the city. I think a gondola ride is sort of a must for a first visit, even if it is overpriced (as they say).
It would be neat to leave Venice to do a Venetian island tour. We could see the neighboring islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello. You can see glass-blowing, lace-making, eat seafood and there are lots of brightly colored buildings. A photographers dream!
Naples:
And, although Naples is probably out for this trip… (they do say the pizza IS better in Naples), we would probably still enjoy lots of yummy pizza while in Italy. This pizza is a Margherita style with basil, mozzarella and tomato in the same colors as the Italian flag. YUM!
Amalfi coast:
Ahhh… Why don’t we do ‘holidays’ here in the U.S.? I could spend a whole week in Italy just vacationing in this region.
Milan:
Milan would be neat to see on a second or third trip to Italy. It is the fashion capital and also home of the Last Supper.
Now I really DO want to go to Italy in the summer of 2016. 🙂 Thank you to ProFlowers for the beautiful sunflowers and also for giving me some time to sit and dream up a vacation with my husband. We do love to travel together, especially to big cities! #MySummerStaycation
