My Italian Dream

Its 5:26am. This is the fourth day in a row where I have woken up and not been able to fall back asleep. It doesn't help that my grandma tendencies have me asleep before 9pm. It's almost as if I am not capable of staying awake past 9, and I become a zombie and beg Jonny to come snuggle me. This of course is from Jet lag that I am experiencing from our beloved trip to Italy. 

The trip was indeed a dream. I saw so many beautiful sights, experienced rich history, and ate enough gelato to satisfy me for a lifetime. Rome stole my heart. I adored the small streets in which cafe's and stores are located below apartments and hotels lofted above them. Little faces peer out from glass windows watching the passerby's below. Our favorite sights included The Colosseum, The Vatican Museums, and St. Peter's Basilica which took my breath away.

In front of the Pantheon 

Vatican City 

There was a particular corner that sold flowers and I had Jonny take my picture because I never wanted to forget the darling alley with lovely blooms. 

We began planning for our trip when we received a wedding invitation from Jovani & Anastasia last Summer. Jonny & Jovani sang together a few years back and have remained friends. When we got the invitation, I told Jonny, "WE HAVE TO GO!!!" So we began planning and saving, and were blessed immensely by our families who gifted us with money for our trip at Christmas.

This last year has been some what of a trying year. It's crazy to believe that this past weekend was the 1 year anniversary of some of the hardest moments of my life. I won't go into the details, but a year ago I was in a very different place. I have wrestled with God so much over the last year. I have begged Him for answers to questions that I have, and I don't think I will ever receive any. My faith has been tested. I have experienced pain that I never wish on anyone. So in a sense, Italy was a getaway trip for us. We haven't been on a big trip like that since our honeymoon, so it was indeed overdue.

We did all of the things. We saw all of the major sights, except the beloved Borghese (sorry Non). We ate all the pizza and gelato our hearts could desire. Surprisingly and thankfully, we walked so much that we didn't gain any weight. All the praise hands. We spent our first two days in Rome and it was a dream. I am so thankful that we got to experience it.

We headed to Tuscany after that for Jovani & Anastasia's wedding. I don't think I was emotionally prepared for the beauty of that wedding. Jovani is a photographer and shoots head shots for actors in New York City. His wife, Anastasia is his partner in crime. She does makeup & hair for clients before the photos Jovani takes. They are a dream team, and have made a business out of it. Their wedding was nothing short of extravagant. The wedding was pushed back a half hour due to lighting, and we were not allowed to take photos during the wedding, because I am sure it is going to be published in a magazine. Yes, you heard me right.. published.

I had overheard that dinner was a 5 course meal, but again, I was not emotionally prepared. In Italy- 5 courses is 5 full courses of pasta. It was unreal. When we sat down at the 80 foot long table overstrung with market lighting, flowers, and candles at every place setting, we were greeted with a meat and cheese plate that sent you straight to heaven. I enjoyed a piece of cheese matched with fig jam that I am still swooning over. We began dinner around 8pm, starting with the meat and cheese heaven plate, then onto four delicious pastas: meat sauce, gnocchi, pesto ravioli, and another pasta which I don't remember.

I remember looking at my phone to take an instastory, and realized that it was MIDNIGHT. We had just received our final course of pasta, and it was midnight. Nobody seemed tired... well maybe except the flower girl. Everyone was lively and enjoying themselves. I mean, how could you not? You're at a wedding in Italy. How many times in your life will you get to enjoy this?

The Bride and Groom addressed their guests around 12:30am, thanking all of us for traveling such a long way to celebrate them. They informed us that dinner was now over, and we could enjoy the dessert bar.

Woah. DESSERT BAR? You just fed me 5 course of PASTA, and now there's a DESSERT BAR?

So I went for a little walk with myself, and had a real talk. "Listen," I told myself. "I need you to find some space in there. I need you step up your game. This is ITALY. This is a WEDDING in TUSCANY. WITH A DESSERT BAR."

While I was on my walk I noticed some guys smoking cigars, and unraveling what looked like white sheets of paper. So I asked if I could help, as it looked like some sort of surprise for the Bride and Groom who were now entering said dessert bar. As I began unraveling the papers, I realized they were paper lanterns. You guys, they were paper lanterns like in Tangled. I was going to be able to send off a lantern into the Tuscan sky. WHAT IS MY LIFE?

So I went and grabbed Jonny and we assembled our lanterns (these things are no joke, you gotta be careful with them). We lit our lantern and I made a wish. We sent it off, watching it drift with other lanterns into the Tuscan sky.
Now I know all my fire safety people are asking "What happens to the lanterns? What if something catches on fire?"
Listen people. I was not thinking about ANY of those things, I was simply living my Disney dream of being just like Rapunzel and sending off my fire lantern with the man I love into the night sky.

Moving on.

Tuscany was a dream. I wish we could have stayed longer, but we had a train to Florence to see the Duomo at 9:30am. I was a walking zombie because we didn't leave the wedding until 2:30am. By the time we got to Florence, we were pooped and sightseeing seemed like a drag. (Sorry all you Firenze lovers) We saw an advertisement to rent Vespa's for a tour of the city. Jonny looked at me and said "that would be so fun!" So we walked in, and purchased our tickets for the Vespa tour.

I grew up riding dirt bikes. I am experienced. I KNOW I can manage a Vespa. The Italian man who was our tour guide wanted to see it for himself, as I am sure he gets the whole "I know how to drive a Vespa" Shpiel a lot. He had me practice on this side street, and while I thought I was doing a great job, it turns out I wasn't fit to be a Vespa driver among crazy Florence traffic that day. Jonny and the Italian man watched me practice, and Jonny asked him "How's she doing?" His response "I think 10... maybe 15% she crash."


So needless to say, I rode on the back of the Vespa behind Jonny that day. Thank God Jonny had a small time frame where he rode a motorized scooter back when we were dating. Even the Italian Vespa tour guide who was a previous Formula 1 pilot commented on how great Jonny's Vespa driving skills were. The Vespa tour was definitely a highlight, but I was excited to get to Cinque Terre.

I was most excited for Cinque Terre as it is located on the Italian coast. Hello beaches and salt in the air. We had a little hiccup with Expedia and our hotel room and ended up getting airbnb the last night in Cinque that overlooked the small town of Manarola.

The view from our room was breathtaking, and Cinque Terre was every bit as dreamy as I had hoped it would be. We even did a mile and a half hike which took 2.5 hours (gasp) overlooking the water. It was amazing. It was also a gentle reminder that my body needed some TLC when we got home. #graceabounds. 

We took the Train from Manarola to Monterroso and hiked to Vernazza. Picture is with Monterroso in the background.

End of hike view with Vernazza below.

Italy was a dream. I miss it already, but I am glad to be home. I 'll wrap up this post with my favorite

part of Italy. The most beautiful thing in Italy to me was not the Colosseum, nor the beaches in Cinque Terre. 

The most beautiful thing to me in Italy, was Jonny.

I fell in love with him all over again while we were there. I am not sure I can put to words all the ways in which I discovered new things about him, or fell more in love with him. I just know he's my favorite part about life, and going to Italy wouldn't have meant much without him. We've been through a lot together, so it seems funny that with all the hurt and the pain he's still my favorite. But that just goes to show you what God can do. How God can heal broken things and make them beautiful. 

Ciao!!