Paradise; Lake Garda

Today was my first solo adventure in Italy.  It wasn't half as fun as it would have been with T by my side, but hey, crystal clear waters and fresh squeezed lemonade don't warrant too many complaints from this gal.  

Since we arrived in Italy I have been dying to get on a body of water. I didn't care if it was a lake, beach, or river, I needed a dose of water and sunshine ASAP.  I got my fix! I spent the afternoon relaxing at Lake Garda, specifically in the town of Sirmione, only about an hour away from our house.  It is the largest lake in Italy and by far the most beautiful lake I have ever seen. This lake isn't filled with murky, stinky water, but "I-can-see-the-bottom-crystal-clear" water. I didn't bring my fancy camera because I was too afraid of it getting damaged, but I am pretty impressed with what my iPhone produced. 

   How amazing is that?! I felt like I was back in the Caribbean on our honeymoon minus the husband and the pebbly beach.  

I had to park like 60 miles, or should I say kilometers since I live in Europe..., away from the beach, and it is a good thing I did because I had the pleasure of walking through Sirmione in order to arrive at this paradise. Like the traditional Italian town, Sirmione was filled with colorful gelato shops, cozy restaurants, and lots of high heels.  I mean seriously.  How the heck do Italians walk on cobblestone in their 6 inch heels? It is an art form of it's own.  I did snap this amazing picture in the center of town.  Why doesn't my house look like this?

Anyway, it was a little bit of a trek to get to the water almost to the point I thought there was no lake... So I climb up this giant hill and I see this sight...

My own piece of paradise. Check out my cute pink polka dot towel.  

I spent the rest of the afternoon lounging, swimming, and reading. Repeat.  Best part? There are swans in the area that are so used to humans, they acted like dogs, I swear! They would swim right to the bank and let you pet them, only after you shared your lunch.  Which I had my ham and cheese sandwich ripped right out of my hand from this dude! Rude.  

Best day ever.  On my way back to my car, I saw this huge castle.  Pretty sure I saw the Little Mermaid flipping around...

I finished my afternoon with a fresh squeezed lemonade while I tried not to stare at all the topless sunbathers.  Not in a creepy way, but I just was so surprised!! A cute picture of the lemonade, not the topless sunbathers...

The only way this almost perfect day could have been perfect was to have my husband by my side.  I'm ready to go back pronto! Who is coming with me??

Until Next Time, 

Always 

   

Three Day, Three Cities Part II

After spending the day in Venice on Friday, we rested up and headed to Verona on Saturday. I was mostly excited to see the famous balcony of Juliet Capulet, whom we know from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Little did I know Verona is sneaky and likes to trick tourists into seeing this balcony (and spending a lot of money around the area!) which was actually built in the 20th centruy. Yeah, not Juliet's balcony.

The fake balcony, the trickery! 

 No one seemed to care though and still were scribbling love messages in the tunnel leading to the balcony and locking their love on Juliet's lock gate. Even though we knew it wasn't true, the lovey doveyness took over and went in full tourist mode taking pictures and sneaking smooches in front of all the locks. 

 Apparently it is a thing to touch/rub/do weird things to Juliet's statue for good luck on a certain woman part...her umm chichis...we won't ever tell if we did it or not...

So now that we got our dose of love, we stopped in a few stores to look around and ended up in Zara. And I'm not kidding y'all we spent two hours while T tried on clothes! Alex and I were basically like his personal shoppers switching out sizes and different options. Does anyone else see anything wrong with this? The women are supposed to do the shopping! He ended up with some green pants, a sports coat, and a dress shirt. I came out with nothing. What the heck?! 

We met up with our awesome friends that were also visiting Verona that day, to take a stroll through this beauty.

Unfortunately we didn't get any history on this garden. Shoot I don't even know what it is called. The path took us up to a high point that over looked the city which gave us gorgeous views! 

Best part of the gardens? T and our friend, Brett, racing through a labyrinth and Alex getting assaulted by a turtle she tried to pick up. Fun times. 

One of the most remarkable sights we saw was the arena!  It is internationally famous for the large opera performances given there! Guess when this structure was built? AD 30???? WHAT! How crazy is that! It's amazing getting to see these sights that have been so well preserved! Plus this little street performer hanging outside the arena was interesting...

Verona made me think of a true Italian town. From the hills, the cypress trees, and the cobblestone roads, it was beautiful. Definitely will be visiting again!

Now, onto Milan! We spent Sunday and Monday in the shopping capital of the world! Three interesting things happened on this trip:

1. We stayed in a hostel. I, Amanda Spanoudis, laid my head to rest in a hostel. It was repulsing. Don't think I took my shoes off once and the smell? Cannot even think of the right words as to what that stinky room smelled of. Ew ew ew. 

2. Normally, going on a day trip I would take a couple of outfits and some heels so I could switch up my outfit depending on what activities we would be doing. NOPE! Not this time! I took one pair of clothes to wear home on Monday and a couple of toiletries (like a toothbrush.....). Europe has changed me! 

3. We got hustled at the train station even though we knew we were getting hustled we couldn't stop it once the little sneakster gypsie was in the middle of the scam. T lost a euro and almost lost his temper on the woman who stole it. Learning experience I guess, but I guarantee you, that won't ever happen again. 

Besides all that, Milan was super! I decided I didn't need my fancy camera since for some reason, so dumb. There were so many sights I wanted to capture! Especially the Duomo di Milano, which is the 5th largest cathedral in the world! It dominates the main square of Milan with it's amazing architecture.  It is the most breath taking sight I have seen in Italy thus far.  We briefly walked through to see the inside, and I was moved to tears. Here is an iPhone snapshot, still amazing without the fancy camera!

I feel as though God has placed Italy in my lap for many reasons, but specifically for the opportunity to dig deeper into my faith. What better place in the world is there to do so?  I'm looking forward to continuing this faith journey! 

I realize this post is a little behind, but T and I have moved into our new home and just had internet hooked up! YAY for that! I'll be posting some updates very soon! 

Off to plan our next trip! Leaving Italy this time! 

Until Next Time, 

Always