Napoli: Pizza, Piazzas and Plenty of Sun

Jon managed to finagle a TDY trip to Naples in mid-August for two weeks, and I was able to join him for 10 glorious days in this chaotically beautiful city. I had visited this southern region of Italy only once before as a day trip from Rome over 13 years ago, so I was grateful to rediscover this incredibly gorgeous part of Italy in greater depth. Naples is Italy's third largest city, and Europe's most densely populated. With almost no open spaces or parks and a haven for mafia families, Naples has long had the reputation of being a very dirty, polluted, crime-ridden city. In recent years, however, and due to the influence of an activist mayor, Naples has literally cleaned up its act as piles of trash no longer line the street and the public places are now swimming with police who patrol the city. Our hotel was near the harbor, on the waterfront in a lovely part of the city with an expansive car-free boardwalk and park nearby. It was the perfect location for morning runs along the water and each evening around 9:00 p.m., the area was packed with locals taking their passeggiata (evening stroll) along the restaurant-lined promenade.

View of Castel dell'Ovo from our hotel balcony

View of the harbor front promenade from our hotel balcony

On days that Jon worked, I enjoyed mornings exploring Naples' many pedestrian shopping streets and historical churches. The afternoons were spent on the hotel's rooftop pool soaking up the sun before Jon would return and we'd try to squeeze in a sight-seeing activity before closing time.

Perusing the stores at Galleria Umberto

17th Century Gesu Nuovo Cathedral

As Pompeii is a mere 30 minutes away, we were able to spend a late afternoon here, which was the perfect time when all the big tourist crowds had left. Pompeii was once a thriving commercial port of 20,000 and an important Roman city. It was buried under 30 feet of hot mud and volcanic ash in the A.D. 79 eruption of Mt. Vesuvias. Pompeii was rediscovered in the 1600s and excavations began in 1748. It is amazing to explore an entire city of well-preserved ruins, imagining what life must have been like during that time with chariots lining the streets of elegant homes, shops, and bath-houses.

The Forum - Pompeii's commercial, religious and political center

Cast of a volcano victim

Cast of a volcano victim

Roman baths

View of Pompeii from the hillside

Using the Roman-style crosswalk

Pompeii Theater

Pompeii Forum

Another evening, we visited Naples' Archaeological Museum, which contains Pompeii's best art and artifacts that were excavated from there in the 1800s.

Battle of Alexander Frescoe that decorated the floor of a house in Pompeii

The day I departed Naples, Jon spent that afternoon hiking up Mt. Vesuvias, mainland Europe's only active volcano. The top of the 4,000 foot summit is desolate and lunar-like with hot rocks, and occasionally steam can be viewed from inside the crater.

View of the Vesuvias crater

View of Naples from atop Vesuvias

After evenings of sight-seeings, our nights consisted of searching for the best pizzerias Naples has to offer. And considering Naples is the birthplace of pizza, there are plenty to choose from. Our favorite pizza came from Pizzeria Trianon, where we had mouth-watering delicious pizzas baked with just the right combination of fresh dough, mozzarella, and tomatoes in traditional wood-burning ovens.

And of course, no summer Italian evening would be complete without gelato. Visiting the decadent Gambrinus Cafe was a highlight and its location across from the beautiful and expansive Piazza Plebescito was the perfect setting for our passegiata.

Jon had two free days during my time there, and the first day we spent on the island of Capri. We took an early-morning ferry from the Naples harbor and were in Capri a mere 45 minutes later. As we were visiting in August when tourist crowds are the worst, we were worried about being able to see the famous Blue Grotto. As soon as we landed in Capri, we made our way to the ticket booth where we waited to board a small boat that would ferry us and 15 other tourists around the island to the entrance of the cave.

Making our way around the island of Capri to the Blue Grotto

Once there, we wait in "line" again with several other boats to be ferried to the entrance in a tiny rowboat with two other passengers. We enter through a tiny hole all leaning as back as flat into the rowboat as possible so not to scrape our heads on the rocks.

Rowboats waiting their turn to enter the Blue Grotto entrance

Once inside, we're paddled around the surprisingly small area for a couple minutes, all while our rower is singing "O Sole Mio" to emphasize the incredible sound in the cave, while I'm trying to capture the brilliant blue on the camera. Eventually I give up trying to take pictures, and enjoy our brief stint in this remarkable cave. The whole experience is, as Rick Steves says, a scenic hoot. But, it's another "1,000 places to see before you die" we can now mark off our list.

The brilliant blue water reflected off the limestone bottom

The chaos existed inside the cave as well with as many rowboats crammed in there as possible

After the Blue Grotto, we took a bus to the hilltop town of Anacapri, where we rode a chairlift to the top of Mount Solare. From here, we could experience the lush vegetation of this beautiful, blossoming island. It's no wonder this island was the vacation hideaway of Roman emperors.

From Mount Solare, we hiked back down to Anacapri, before boarding a bus to Capri Town where we perused the narrow winding streets and beautiful scenic overlooks. Back down by the water, we spent about an hour on a rocky, crowded beach before taking our ferry back to Naples.

On Jon's second day off, we drove the incredible Amalfi Coast. I was a bit nervous about doing this drive as the guidebooks recommend taking a bus to avoid the hair-pin curves and oncoming tour buses. But, Jon handled the drive beautifully, though I feel bad he didn't get to enjoy the breathtaking scenery quite like I did.

Due to the chaotic August crowds, we were not able to stop in the towns of Amalfi and Positano as there was no parking available. No parking in the town or even along the road on either side of the town. It was absolutely nuts! I had, however, done some research on some secluded beaches and we managed to find a place to park on the road near some 400+ steps that led steeply down to Laurito Beach. Not only was this a gorgeous, pebbly beach, but it also had an incredibly delicious restaurant, Da Adolfo, where we enjoyed a fantastic lunch.

The beach in the town of Amalfi

The start of our descent down to Laurito Beach and views of Positano in the distance

Laurito Beach

Most people arrive to this beach from a 5-minute ferry boat from Positano, which we could see from the distance. Jon was in heaven swimming around the many rocks and even found an emerald grotto further down the coastline. It was the perfect day, watching the sun glitter off the crystal clear water, on this gorgeous stretch of coastline.

Positano

Though I don't remember a great deal from my day trip to this area 13 years ago, I do remember the beauty of the quaint coastal town, Sorrento. I wanted to visit this beautiful place again, and ventured here on my own one day. I took another quick 30 minute ferry from Naples to Sorrento and enjoyed a day of re-discovering this relaxed town with a spectacular cliffside setting. I enjoyed strolling through the piazzas and old town streets filled with shops selling leather, lemon products, and hand-made sandals. I also visited a beautiful lemon grove where they harvest lemons and even offer free tastes of limoncello.

Sorrento Street

Lemon Grove

But, the highlight of my time in Sorrento was searching for an inlaid wood piece, Sorrento is famous for. I stumbled upon a humble shop with gorgeous hand-crafted music boxes, jewelry boxes, wall hangings and trays. My eyes immediately gravitated on a beautiful green and gold tray with a delicate floral design. The artisan/owner was so very friendly and though he couldn't speak much English, I enjoyed hearing about his work. I am so pleased with my purchase and every time I look at it, I will remember my beautiful day in serene Sorrento. 

Me and my new friend, showing off some of his handi-work

View from my ferry leaving the cliffside town of Sorrento

I can see why this bit of Italy is such a popular destination for travelers. It is Italy as its best. The coast with the most. Gorgeous scenery, historic ruins, and an in-love-with-life attitude by all. It was a glorious 10 days visit in Naples and the surrounding area and the best part was, I got to experience it all with my love. Ciao, Napoli!

A Clough Reunion in Luxembourg

The first weekend in August, we were thrilled to have another fantastic Clough reunion - this time with the addition of Mark, Karen and Sam. Karen and Sam had been visiting Neil and fam in Ramstein for the previous week and when Mark arrived, we decided to all meet up somewhere. After researching various places between Ramstein and Sittard, we decided to go to the lovely Vianden, Luxembourg. I had not heard anything about Vianden before, but it proved to be yet another absolutely gorgeous medieval town, complete with a hilltop castle, river running through town, and flowers abounding everywhere you look. 

Just the 10 of us

Vianden, Luxemburg

Soon after arriving and having lunch along the river, we took the chairlift to a beautiful overlook of Vianden and short hike down to the castle. 

View of Vianden and castle

Karen and Mark

Emily and the girls

And, it so happened, that there was a medieval festival taking place in the castle while we were there. We enjoyed visiting the extensive rooms filled with vendors, activities for the kids, musicians and even sword fights and dancing. 

Jon enjoyed meeting the medieval ladies

Sam and Cassie

Waiting for the sword fight to begin

The start of the fight - these actors were great and so expressive!

Medieval sword fight

And some dancing - not sure how medieval belly dancing is, but the guys sure enjoyed it

The castle was quite impressive even without the festival taking place; especially the chapel and gorgeous views of town from the windows.

Castle chapel

Castle by night

Vianden and castle by night

Vianden and castle by night

The next day, we spent the morning at the Indian Forest, an adventure obstacle course in the trees. It was so much fun and the kids loved doing the zip lines and various obstacles high above the ground. I had a blast myself, but came away with a massive rope burn. Note to self, when wearing a harness, wear pants! Afterward, we enjoyed walking around Vianden, and visiting more of the medieval festival, which spilled out into the town's squares. 

Gathering the troops outside the hotel

A medieval food tent

A medieval tavern in the castle

Me and Karen strolling along the river

These three aren't able to get together too often with Neil and Jon living in Europe and Mark in North Carolina, but it's always a memorable event when they do.

Come Sunday, Neil and fam returned to Ramstein and we were thrilled to be bringing Mark, Karen and Sam home to the Netherlands with us. We enjoyed showing them our area as much as possible over the next four days with visits to Maastricht, Margraten, Aachen, the Drielandenpunt and the Open Air Folk Museum near Arnhem. 

Maastricht Mill

Aachen Printen shop

Aachen Dom

Drielandenpunt - where the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany meet

At the Open Air Folk Museum

Open Air Folk Museum

We are so very appreciative that they came to visit, as we always have the best time with them and it was such a treat to see Sam experience Europe for the first time. It's amazing to see Europe through the eyes of a 9-year-old and he did so well as drug him all over the place. Although he did eventually get somewhat jaded from the many castles we showed him, he absolutely loved the medieval festival and simply playing with his cross-bow souvenir in our backyard. I guess boys will, after all, be boys. 

With 10 people and lots of kids, it's always a little chaotic when we're all together, but that's what makes it an adventure. One thing's for certain, I can't wait until our next Clough reunion!

Celebrating the First Anniversary of my 29th Year

After returning from Cabo on the 4th of July, I spent two night in Dallas with Mandy before we drove to Austin for my birthday weekend. Although I had hoped to do something special for this milestone year, the first anniversary of my 29th year, I hadn't planned anything ahead of time, partly because it was a holiday weekend and I knew it would be too difficult to get friends together who lived all over the State and had kids.

So, I was looking forward to a weekend with Mandy and Laurel in Austin visiting my favorite places. First on the list was lunch at Hula Hut. Sitting down for my birthday lunch, I all of a sudden saw two people walk past the table out of the corner of my eye, and low and behold it was my two dear friends, Allison and Kelly, both who live in Houston. I had seen Allison the week before when she visited College Station, but I didn't think I'd be able to see Kelly this trip and I was absolutely shocked seeing them stand before me. They were going to celebrate the entire day with me and stay overnight - I was overjoyed and the tears were flowing. I felt so appreciate of the effort they made to come, as they had arranged for their husbands to watch their kids so they could get away for the weekend. This was the best birthday surprise ever!

After lunch, we all went shopping at the Domain before heading back to Laurel's where she had done up her house in birthday decor. I was feeling more and more pampered by the minute. After getting dressed in our going-out duds (which coordinated by pure coincidence, by the way), we trekked downtown for dinner on W. 6th Street.

Afterward, we went to check out an 80s cover band at Cedar Street Bar before ending the night at Highball. I had hoped to sing karaoke there, but alas all their rooms were booked. However, we were pleasantly surprised to learn there would be an 80s dance party in their ball room. This night was just getting better and better. The music was amazing and it was great to see so many normal, young people get pumped about 80s music and dance. The bar pulled out all the stops with crazy props and effects for the crowd and it was an absolute blast to say the least.

I couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate my big 3-0 (there, I finally said it) and more importantly, couldn't have had better people to spend it with. I felt so incredibly spoiled and am so appreciative of all they did to make this birthday an unforgettable one.

Tres Hermanas in Cabo

Summer in Europe can be absolutely beautiful, but this year, it seemed to take forever to get any kind of genuine summer weather. Lucky for me, I was headed across the pond to sweltering temperatures and endless sunshine. From London, at the end of Macy and Carly's visit in late June, I flew home to Texas for a short two-week visit home. 

I had a few days with my parents before meeting up with Laurel and Mandy to travel to beautiful Cabo for a sisters-ony vacation. Growing up, we traveled to Mexico almost yearly, but since moving to Europe, I have only been once. It was such a treat to travel to Mexico again and this was an area we had never visited before. We stayed at a beautiful all-inclusive resort with fantastic views of the Pacific Ocean. 

It was completely relaxing with no must-dos on our list, which was a nice change from the go, go, go traveling in Europe. Our days usually consisted of a big breakfast, a stroll along the beach, laying out by the pool, snacking at the pool bar, afternoon beach volleyball and finally, dinner and drinks. My kinda trip! The most stress we experienced the entire five days was deciding what restaurant to eat dinner in each night. Oh the decisions!

I had never stayed at an all-inclusive before and I could't get over the fact that I could keep ordering whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. It. Was. Amazing. 

In addition to the two restaurants at our resort, we could also visit a sister resort for dinner as well. We enjoyed seeing this resort which, in contrast to our minimal and serene desert-like landscape, was overflowing with flowers and vegetation. The resort was so large that they have golf cars from the lobby that shuttle you wherever you need to go.

Although we were perfectly content to stay at our resort the entire time, we did venture out into Cabo one evening for dinner and nightlife. 

We ate at the festively decorated, Mi Casa, before exploring the main strip of Cabo and the famous Cabo Wabo bar. The first thing we noticed was how much more casual the bars and clubs were than Acapulco, where we normally visit. Also, the lack of Mexican tourists was obvious as it was mostly Americans everywhere. Nonetheless, we had a fantastic time and certainly nothing can beat the fantastic climate with the dry heat, breeze off the ocean and beautiful vistas. 

I feel so fortunate to have had this special time with my two best friends in the world - my sisters. With Laurel about to have her second in October, there's no telling when we'll have the chance to do this again, but I know that we will make it a priority throughout our lives to have these unforgettable sister trips. I love you, mis hermanas!