In June 2009, Rob & I spent a week and a half in Italy. We made a point to relax, and didn’t try to see every major sight or town. However, in our time there, we did manage to see San Benedetto del Tronto, Ascoli Piceno, Grottammare, Venezia and Roma.
Our favorite part of the whole trip was getting to spend time with Rob’s cousin Ania, her husband Eric and their twin girls (Julia & Maya) where they lived in San Benedetto del Tronto. San Benedetto lies on the Adriatic Sea and has an active fishing port. It is also one of the main seaside resorts on the central Adriatic coast. Ania & Eric were wonderful hosts and make us feel very welcome. It was awesome to get a chance to see what it is like to live everyday life in Italy, rather than just seeing it as a tourist. We are just sad that we didn’t get to stay longer. While we were with them they also took us to explore Ascoli Piceno and out for a moonlight dinner in Grottamare.
We also took the train up to Venezia and stayed there for a day or two. It was so neat to see the canals running through the city… we explored a lot, got lost in all of the twists and turns of streets and canals, went to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum and took silly amounts of photos.
The last few days of our trip were spent in Roma… we walked all over the place, trying to see as much as possible in the time we had left. Managed to see most of the major attractions there (Pantheon, Coliseum, Palentine, St. Peters Basilica in Vatican City and the Vatican Museum), and wandered through most of the well-known squares, saw fountains, etc.
There are just so many stories and moments that I could talk about, so I think I’ll just leave it at that. But ask me sometime and I’ll tell you one.
Highlights: the gelato, coffee, food, wine, family, the Pantheon, the Coliseum, canals in Venice and dining by moonlight in Grottammare.
Lowlights: general directional confusion.