TRAVEL 10.03.19
ITALY AND GREECE VACATION
Alright y’all, I can’t recommend to you enough to visit Italy and Greece. Chris and I just celebrated our one year of marriage and we decided for our anniversary to take a 16 day European trip. I thought I would share with y’all travel tips/hacks, where we went, activities we did, things we loved and so much more.
TRAVEL TIPS:
10/10 recommend using packing cubes or some form of packing organizers for any trip abroad. It helps keep everything organized and allows you to know exactly where all of your clothes are. Shirts are together, bathing suits together, dresses together, you get the point. Saves you SO much time getting ready, and us girls need all we can get!
Here are the packing cubes that I use and love, but, there are so many good ones on amazon. You can’t go wrong!
Traveling abroad can often be daunting. But, I want to share with you some helpful hacks to help ease all of your traveling worries. Okay ladies, this one is really for you.. We all want to bring super cute shoes, and depending on the season you’re traveling you want to bring your cute wedges, or booties.. BUT, let me tell you do not expect to wear those shoes the whole time. I only wore wedges one time when we went to dinner because it was right by our airbnb. Invest in comfy sneakers because your feet will thank you later. Cobble stones look very beautiful but, kill your feet. Therefore, you want to invest in shoes that are not going to 1. break the bank and 2. break your feet.
I purchased vintage Reebox (from Urban Outfitters) for our Europe trip but, honestly wish I would have bite the bullet and invested in Golden Gooses. Many of my friends told me they are extremely comfortable and last forever. But, who has $500 for a pair of sneakers? Those will be a splurge item that hopefully Santa brings before our next trip abroad. But, if you’re like me and can’t just splurge and buy $500 pair of sneakers, here are a few goodies that are comfy and cute.
Frye Ivy Sneakers $197
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Next Tip: Pack as light as possible
Chris and I traveled to Rome, Florence, Positano, Capri, Naples, and Santorini. Packing light helps the constant moving around from city to city.
STORY TIME: CHRIS AND I BOOKED THE CUTEST AIRBNB WHEN WE WERE IN ROME. ON THE APP IT HAD THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PICTURES, AND WE HAD OUR OWN PRIVATE TERRACE WITH VIEWS OF THE CITY. SERIOUSLY GORGEOUS! BUT, WHAT THEY DON’T TELL YOU IS BECAUSE YOU HAVE YOUR OWN PRIVATE TERRACE THAT MEANS YOU’RE ON THE TOP FLOOR. STILL FINE, NOT THINKING ANYTHING OF IT UNTIL WE ACTUALLY ARRIVE. SO, THEY HAVE AN ELEVATOR WHICH, BTW IS THE COOLEST OLD TIME LOOKING ELEVATOR. BUT, THE ELEVATOR ONLY GOES TO THE FLOOR THAT THE DOOR IS ON. STILL, AS THIS POINT WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT WE ARE ABOUT TO ENCOUNTER. WE GET THE KEYS FROM THE HOST, GET OFF THE ELEVATOR AND ARE SO EXCITED BECAUSE THIS IS OUR FIRST ITALY LOCATION. OPEN THE DOOR TO SPIRAL STAIRCASES THAT I KID YOU NOT LAST FOREVER. WE ARE TALKING DARK, SPIRAL STAIRS THAT GO ABOUT 3 STAIRWAYS UP.
AIRPORT:
We started our trip by flying from Charlotte to New York and stayed a few days with my family. We were able to save on airfare because flights from NY to Rome were way cheaper. So, if you have the option to do this I highly recommend it. Also, it breaks the trip up and we were able to see family!
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Once we were in JFK, we flew from JFK to Germany on Lufthansa. Then, Lufthansa into Rome. Such a great airline, and I highly recommend using them if traveling abroad. We flew economy. Which, truthfully on the way there was not bad because it was an overnight flight. I took a Tylenol PM, had my pillow and my blanket, and went to bed. Definitely recommend purchasing a neck pillow for any overnight flights. However, on the way back because it was a day trip was a different story. This is where I so wish we had purchased Business or First Class tickets. If you can not afford one of these tickets, then I recommend definitely bringing Benadryl or Tylenol pm or something to help you sleep. To avoid feeling cramped on this long haul I recommend binge watching movies, bringing a deck of cards, and getting up from your seat and walk around. Lufthansa allows you to walk around and walk in the lower deck where the bathrooms are. This helped me tremendously and allowed me to stretch my legs and get out of the seat even for 5 minutes.
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PLACES WE WENT:
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ROME
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Vatican City Pantheon Trevi Fountain Sant’Ignazio Church, Rome Colosseo, Roma Ice Club - It is an ice bar that is FREEZING but, so fun! They give you these blue coats that you have to wear and you sit inside the ice club which, everything is made of ice even the seating! You listen to music, have a few drinks, well and freeze. Such a fun/cool experience.
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Rome Airbnb: Via Merulana, 117, Rome, Lazio 00185 Italy
FLORENCE (*FAVORTIE PLACE*)
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Academia for David/Michaelangelo - Bought tickets on Viator App, easy download and you can purchase tours, skip the line passes, etc.
Duomo Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence
Boboli Gardens
Ponte Vecchio
Explore the city, Florence is seriously the prettiest city that we saw in Italy. They have the friendliest people, the most amazing architect and the best gelato.
Restaurants - Trattoria Za Za Firenze, SandwiChic (Hands down best sandwich we ever had, went 2 days in a row. HIGHLY recommend)
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Florence Airbnb: Via Maggio, 41, Florence, Tuscany 50125, Italy
POSITANO/AMALFI COAST
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Rented a Vespa - saw a sign on one of the streets and rented them for 2 day! Highly recommend- so much and fun and helps get you around way easier as Positano is very hilly (Hubby drove the Vespa)
Hotel Poseidon - Great views, great food and drinks
*Be sure to have cash on you for the beaches. You will want to rent chairs for the beach and you pay for the day! So be sure you have cash on you for each day you plan to be at the beach.
Restaurants - Chez Black, Hotel Poseidon
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NAPLES
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We booked a boat tour to Capri from Naples- we used the Viator App. We toured Capri and was able to see the Blue Grotto and had time to go to lunch and shop in Capri.
We also met up with my family in Naples and I was able to see my cousin and my uncle! They showed us around the city and showed us around Naples.
Restaurants - Any pizza place you can find. Naples founded pizza, so obviously you want to eat all the pizza you can in Naples. Yes, we had pizza everyday and no, I have no regrets.
Naples Airbnb: Via Duomo, 196, Napoli, Campania 80138, Italy
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SANTORINI, GREECE
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We rented an ATV in Greece. We stayed at a boutique hotel in Santorini, called Sophia Boutique Hotel and boy was it beautiful.
We were only in Greece for a few days, but, in that short time we had the opportunity to rent an ATV and explore the entire city.
Also, highly recommend staying at our hotel because they helped us with all of our plans. We were able to rent the ATV through them, book a boat tour all over Santorini which, was AMAZING. They picked us up from the hotel and took us right to the port.
Greece was seriously stunning, I honestly felt like I was a cast member of Mamma Mia or The Sisterhood of traveling pants.. The buildings are all white, the water is insanely blue, and all I wanted to do was break into song every 5 seconds… Well, I did! But, it was seriously so beautiful. I highly recommend waking up super early and watching the sunrise. Chris and I woke up one morning and drove into the main part of town in Oia. This morning was one of my favorite mornings of the entire trip. I had to jump over a fence and climb a wall to get on top of this building, but, I think it was totally worth it. What do you think?
Overall, our European adventure was nothing short of AMAZING! We officially want to travel all the time, and would love nothing more than to share our journey with you all! Would love to help plan or answer any questions that you have if you’re planning to travel abroad, especially Italy or Greece! Love you all so much and so grateful that you follow along in our crazy little life!
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Amanda Xx