leaving Amsterdam |
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"Dr"... never heard of that brand before. Don't recommend it either. |
Rome
Since the best flight got us to Rome airport already late in the day, we didn't feel like driving 3.5 more house in the same day to the Amalfi Coast would be a good idea.
So we had a nice time exploring Rome on Christmas Eve. The only person who had not been there before was Raj so it was fun to show him around.
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Christmas lights in Rome |
Spanish Steps |
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first of many pasta carbonara |
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roasted chestnuts |
Piazza Navona |
Pantheon |
Trevi Fountain |
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romantic hotel room <3 |
we enjoyed attending the Pope deliver "Urbi et Orbi" (for the people of Rome and the people of the world) in the Vatican |
video of "Urbi et Orbi" |
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Santa drove by on Christmas day |
AirBnB (Furore)
Our AirBnB had possibly the most beautiful view of the ocean of any place we have every stayed. The city of Furore is located between the towns of Positano and Amalfi.
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the best part about our AirBnB |
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Lyra living her best dog life |
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we remembered to bring our chromecast so we could still have family movie night |
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Unstable Unicorns :) |
Raj decided (probably wisely) not to join us on our the LOOOONG and STEEEP walk from our apartment down to the popular "Fjord of Furore" |
<3 |
Fjord of Furore |
the "sea glass" on the beach also included beautiful broken tiles |
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the Amalfi Coast is famous for lemons (and Lemoncello) |
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panettone and oj |
a familiar place to find the writer in our family |
Amalfi
Amalfi was the original trading post established on the "Amalfi Coast". Aside from being a trading port, it also became known for exporting paper and pasta.
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beautiful tilework showing the entire amalfi coast |
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1 more year to 20! |
cuoppo d'amalfi - popular street food made of fried calamari, shrimp, anchovies and small fish in a con |
visiting one of the original paper presses was really interesting |
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anniversary dinner with a view |
Capri
Capri was a short ferry ride from Amalfi. It was first discovered by emperor Augustus in the early years of the Roman Empire. He often resided there and built many temples, villas and gardens.
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our guide and friend for the day |
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view from Giardini di Augusto |
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The Saint James' Charterhouse is the oldest monastery and was built in 1371 |
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Positano
Positano became a wealthy market port from the 15th to 17th century and has only continued to grow in popularity over time.
It is frequently listed on the top most Instagrammable places on the planet.
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this extremely delicious pasta with clams dish gave Tony food poisening for a day :( |
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under the cathedral or Positano archologists have discovered a sprawling 2000 year old villa which was burried in the eruption of vesuvius |
a crypt was later built by a brotherhood on TOP of the 'then' undescovered villa |
Altrani
Another spectacular city on the Amalfi Coast. The famous dutch artist the city and it is easy to see how his stay impacted his work.
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too bad Axa didn't come on this day trip to appreciate all the lizzards |
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it is difficult to describe how OVERSIZED the church is for this city |
google Escher art and look at the IMAGES |
probably our best meal was in Altrani |
Emerald Cave
The Emerald Grotto just outside Amalfi is one of the natural highlights along the Amalfi Coast, a blend of dazzling beauty and historic legend.
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the sun shines from under the water to create the beaufitul emerald color |
Amalfi coast is also famous for ceramics |
our gift for Grammy from this trip :) |
coffee in style |
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Pompeii (top) and Mount Vesuvius (bottom row)
The city of Pompeii is famous because it was destroyed in 79 CE when a nearby volcano, Mount Vesuvius, erupted, covering it in at least 19 feet (6 metres) of ash and other volcanic debris. The city's quick burial preserved it for centuries before its ruins were discovered in the late 16th century.
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gaming night! |
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one of multiple amphitheatres in the city |
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the city was absolutely stunning... and it was much much BIGGER than you might think |
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hiking up mount vesuvius (about a 30 minute hike) |
view of Naples and the bay of Naples |
view of the cone |
we didn't expect for smoke to still be rising from the volcano. It is actually still very active. |
Naples
Founded by Greeks in the first millennium BC, Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited urban areas in the world. At over 3 million population, it is also more populous than Rome.
Food historians believe the Neapolitan pizza evolved from a meal eaten in ancient Rome.
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Naples was a stark contrast of rich and poor |
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Piazza del Plebiscito |
to be fair... there was a lot of tasty pizza in Naples! |