Italia: Milan & Bellagio

In May, my friend Isabelle and I went to Milan. Wow, has it really been so long since then? I never got to share this trip with you guys so here it is. We picked Milan because (and this is no lie) it was the cheapest flight from Paris. We are on a budget, what can we say?

I've been lucky enough to see a little bit of Italy (Florence, Rome, Cinque Terre) and so Milan had a lot to live up to. I wouldn't put Milan on my "must see" travel spots but no matter what city you find yourself in, Italy is always a treat. We drank more coffee and ate more ice cream than is probably healthy. We found some fun little spots like a Martini bar in the middle of a huge D&G and the best part of it all was our day trip to Lake Como. I could have spent days in Bellagio and been a very happy girl.

Bellagio is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The lake is perfect. I was on the look out for Mr. George Clooney but we didn't get that lucky. We did find a fun little bar that had sand and lounge chairs on the edge of the water so we posted up there for a while. It is probably the most relaxed I have felt since I've moved to Europe. I wish we had more time there and I would definitely go back again. So although Milan isn't the best spot I've been to, it was worth it to go to Bellagio. Definitely.

Have you been to Milan or Lake Como? What did you think about it?

Italia: Pompeii & Naples

Like I said, in the 3 days that I was in Rome with my family we saw more than I could have hoped for. Last time I told you about the mind-blowingly awesome city of Rome and the beautiful mansion in Tivoli. Next we spent the day touring Pompeii! It was a really humbling, eye-opening and exciting experience.

In college, I took a highly intellectual class called "natural disasters" (best GE ever!). Anyway, we spent a lot of time talking about Mt. Vesuvius and the tragic end of Pompeii. Seeing the city with my own eyes, walking the ancient and perfectly preserved Roman streets, looking at the body's of victims encased and preserved in ash... wow.

I am really happy we made the three hour drive to Pompeii because it was a once in a lifetime type of day. I could go on about how in awe I am with the Romans and everything they did and invented but whenever I do that people tend to look at me like I've completely lost it. My brother and I went around the rest of the weekend claiming that Americans are the modern day Romans. I fully agree with our idea. The Romans were pretty bad ass and we have that in common with them.

Just saying...

On our way home we broke up the drive by stopping in Naples for lunch. Now, Naples is straight Italian. Like Jersey Shore but in real life. The people looked pretty rough and tumble but the landscape was breathtaking. The blue water and the volcano in the background. It was a perfect lunch spot and now we can say we had pizza in the place where pizza was invented! How about that? Oh yeah, and shaved ice. Literally, shaved off a giant block of ice by hand.