Vacation in ITALY!

Well, this was definitely the most amazing vacation I've ever had, or ever hope to have. Scott and I departed from San Fran on May 30th (just barely back from Heather's wedding) and headed to Rome. Our first 3 days and 2 nights in Rome were spent in awe of the city and walking around trying to see everything that we could see: Trevi Fountain (Rome's most famous fountain), Palazzo Chigi (the official residence of the Prime Minister), the Pantheon, St. Peter's Basilica and Vatican City, the Sistine Chapel and the other Vatican famous museums, the Colosseum, the Arc of Constantine, the Palatine (where Romulus - founder of Rome - killed his brother Remus), the Roman Forum (most famous ruins of the city) and the Spanish Steps...just to name a few of the big ones. There were many cute little restaurants, cafes and museums in between. We almost even saw the Pope our second day there as he was giving a speech to the young teens that evening. People lined up and filled St. Peter's Square very early in the morning. There were literally tens of thousands of people there that day, so we decided to get out of the crowd early since we didn't have any translators.
The next few days spent in Rome we stayed with one of my best friends Marika, who I met while in Sydney over four years ago. It was a much awaited reunion and I was so happy to see her after so long! Although she has been living in Norway with her boyfriend Matt for a few years, her family still lives in Rome. Her mom was so sweet and very accommodating. We were so happy to be saving some money on hotels - Italy is definitely not cheap, especially with the crappy exchange rate.
On June 6th, the four of us (Marika, Matt, Scott and I) borrowed her mum's car and drove down south of Rome about 3 hours...heading to our destination of the Almafi Coast. Along the way, we passed Naples and Mount Vesuvious and stopped to walk around Pompei. The history of everything in Italy is just amazing and it was all so cool to see all the places you read about. Scott has been studying many of these places in Art History for many years and he was excited to finally see them in person. The Almafi Coast is supposed to be a must-see and it's a place that the rich and famous stay. It definitely surpassed my expectations...it was a beautiful coastal drive and the towns were cute and had breath-taking views. We stayed 2 nights at a B&B in a town called Positano. The view from our rooms was the coolest - we were up on the hill and could see most of the town below us and straight down to the ocean. It was a perfect place to stay and was actually very cheap compared to other places around. The next morning after arriving in Positano, June 8th, 2006, we took a 45 minute ferry ride to another must-see place - an island called Capri. It was cute - there were only a few towns on this island, which was only 6km (about 4 miles) wide, and had really cute shops, cafes and again beautiful views and beaches. This was without a doubt my favorite day in Italy - this was because this was the place that Scott proposed to me! :) It was completely unexpected and so romantic...while we were looking out over the ocean, Scott pulled a homemade, velvet purple box out of his packback. It contained leaves of rose-pressed paper with lines of a poem written on each leaf that opened up to the bottom. In the bottom there was a heart-shaped book that had more beautiful words on it...the last page reading: Please will you marry me? He got down on one knee and I started crying I was so happy. It was the perfect day and I couldn't have asked for a better man to spend the rest of my life with. :) After I got over the initial shock and dried my eyes, we headed into some jewelry shops to look for a ring. He wanted me to pick something out from Capri so that I would always have something from there that would remind me of our engagement vacation...as if I could ever forget. But we found a beautiful sapphire and diamond ring in one of the shops that was custom made by the shop owner's son. The son's wife (who ran the gelateria accross the street) even came over with Champagne for us to celebrate. I love the ring because it is unique and is very sentimental. Once we have more money saved up when Scott graduates (he has about 1 1/2 years left at the Art Academy), I will get to pick out my diamond wedding ring and my engagement ring will become a perfect right hand ring...with many memories.
That's really the longest story I have about our trip as the rest of it flew by so fast. When we got back from Positano, we rested for a day, watched some World Cup action and relaxed at the pool. On June 11th, we hopped on a train and headed for Venice for 2 days and nights. It was a really awesome city and so cool that the only way to get around was by foot or by water. All of the canals were so neat and there were lots of great shops and restaurants again. It was good that we didn't have more time to spend there as it is the most expensive city in Italy. We were again lucky with finding hotels and found a great one with a canal view, a central location and a fair price. I liked it best because it had a regular queen sized bed, not just 2 twin beds pushed together like most of the European hotels have. :) We visited the famous St. Mark's Square (Piazza San Marco), the Peggy Guggenheim Museum (a rare collection of some of the most famous modern artists), the Gallerie dell'Accademia (one of Venice's best art museums) and walked along the streets next to the Grand Canal. We definitely got our workout with all the walking we did! One of my favorite parts was actually taking the ever popular gondola ride...although it was really spendy, we got to float down the Grand Canal at sunset and our gondola guy (the guy that steers with the stick thingy and wears a striped shirt) sang some love songs to us in Italian...and he was actually really good! :)
On June 13th, we headed back to basecamp in Rome. Scott and I rest for a few hours, packed up our bags and headed to the airport to go home. It was so nice to see Marika and we couldn't have asked for a better way to spend our time. Scott and I got to enjoy half of the trip as newly engaged, which was really weird but fun! We left Rome that night and flew in to Amsterdam for an overnight stay. The cool part was, I got to see another friend who I met in Sydney, Edo. It was great to see him again and to introduce him to Scott. He was so sweet and let us stay at his apartment with him that night after taking us out for a couple of beers. We woke up the next morning and headed back to the airport for our last leg of the journey home. When we returned, we slept that night for 13 hours straight and spent a few days getting over jet lag, washing clothes and relaxing in the quiet of my apartment. I feel so lucky to have had that experience and so excited about having such a great fiance! Italy...I'll be back again someday....Scott...I love you so much and thank you for such an unforgettable vacation....Marika...I was so happy to finally get to see you again and can't wait until the next time....and finally, my family and friends...I love you all for your love and support and am so blessed to have so many caring people in my life. Enjoy the pictures and have a wonderful summer!