Part I

For our 20^Th wedding anniversary we decided to travel to Italy to celebrate this milestone in our lives. Our plan is to travel to Rome, pick up a vehicle there, and drive to Naples, Florence, Venice, Milan and finally back to Rome.

Our trip starts in Rome. As they say, “while in Rome, eat pizza all day long”. Just kidding. It goes more like “walk and walk and walk some more”. There is so much history in Rome that one does not really know where to begin. I must say that we lucked out with our accommodations in Rome. Our hotel was only a few blocks away from Vatican City. We therefore decided to first visit Vatican City knowing the Pope had been waiting for us (we wish …).

· http://scarpatti.net/2009/vatican%20city/ - Vatican City

Vatican City was all of the walking we could do on day one of our journey. The next day we decided to visit the Collosseum, The Forum, The Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, The Republica and the Spanish Steps. Busy day in deed but easier to handle due to the nice Metro system in Rome.

· http://scarpatti.net/2009/Colosseum - Collosseum

· http://scarpatti.net/2009/The%20Forum and http://scarpatti.net/2009/More%20Forum/ - The Forum

· http://scarpatti.net/2009/Trevi%20Fountain – Trevi Fountain

· http://scarpatti.net/2009/Spanish%20Steps - The Spanish Steps

· http://scarpatti.net/2009/La%20Republica – La Republica

Upset that the previous day the Pope did not take the time to see us, we decided to chase him down at his summer house at Gandolfo Castle. Needles to say, he denied us an audience …again …

· http://scarpatti.net/2009/Gandolfo%20Castle

It was then goodbye to Rome and hello to Napoli. On our drive down, we decided to stop in Pompei. Needless to say, when we got there the place was in “ruins” J. Can’t take the family nowhere.

· http://scarpatti.net/2009/Pompei - Pompeii

Our next stop was Naples. To our pleasant surprise, I made a good mistake. Our accommodations in Naples where not in Naples. They were at the island of Ischia. What a great mistake. Nice hotel, nice beaches, great food, nice view of Mt. Vesuvius, and what a sunrise.

· http://scarpatti.net/2009/Ischia - Ferry Ride to the Island

· http://scarpatti.net/2009/Sunrise%20Over%20Italy/ – Sunrise from Ischia. Vesuvius Volcano in the background.

· http://scarpatti.net/2009/Castello%20Aragonese%20d%27Ischia/ - Aragonese Castle

Today we headed down to Marina de Camerota. This is the birth place of my father. It was nice to see the place he was born, and visit with a cousin of mine there.

We are now in Florence. We will be here for the next three days.

We will follow up with another email in the days to come with the remainder of our 20^th Wedding Anniversary Trip adventure and pictures.

Part II

As previously mentioned, we stopped in Marina De Camerota to see the birth place of my father. Marina is located about three hours from Naples. The distance is not that far. The challenge is that we had to drive thru many mountains to get there, and most of the roads were single lanes. We had a good visit there with my cousin. The last time I’d see him was back in 1985 or 1986 when I was still in Colombia. He has been living in Marina for the last 17 years. It was neat to find a street named after our family.

http://scarpatti.net/2009/Marina%20de%20Camerota/ - Marina de Camerota

The drive from Marina to Florence was long. It took us six and a half hours to get from one point to the other. Upon arrival we went out for dinner near the hotel. There was a live band across the street playing both American and Italian hits. The following morning we visited the main museum attractions in Florence. How many religious pictures, sculptures, etc. can one see in one day? How about two weeks? After a while they all look a bit the same. I was able to sneak a couple pictures from the Galleria dell’ Accademia where the “real” David sculpture resides. We visited a few of the plazas, churches, Museo de Bargello, and the Galleria degli Uffici.

http://scarpatti.net/2009/Florence/ - Florence

We received a call from Berlusconi when we got back to the hotel room. He wanted us to try to fix the Leaning Tower in Pisa (not PizzaJ). Needless to say no matter how much we tried, as well as the other 10,000 tourist there, we could not get the darn thing straight. After we gave up trying to fix the leaning tower we went to the only U.S. Military beach facility (Camp Darby) in the world (someone told me this) for some R&R.

http://scarpatti.net/2009/Pisa/ - Pisa Italy

The next day was a quick drive to Venice from Florence. Our GPS said it was only one and a half hour. Three hours later, thanks to traffic and the fact that the GPS did not recognize the new highway as you got near Venice, we finally made it to the hotel. We quickly dropped off our stuff and headed to Venice. Our first stop was to get something to eat since the hotel’s restaurant was closed, and there was nothing open around the hotel as we walked to catch a bus to Venice. I think it has been the cheapest lunch yet while in Italy! As usual, buying water and a Diet Coke for Mary was more expensive than the actual lunch! We walked thru some of the different districts, and plan on coming back tomorrow to do the rest.

http://www.scarpatti.net/2009/Venice%20Day%20One/ - Venice (Day One)

Our next email will be from when we back home this weekend. Until then, thanks for your audience.

Part III

Our second day in Venice included a gondola ride, and touring most of the remainder districts in the island. After a while all the buildings and canals start looking the same. We had a nice dinner at the Venice Hard Rock Café. We needed a break from pasta, tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella.

http://www.scarpatti.net/2009/Venice%20Day%20Two/ - Venice (Day Two)

Our last day in the Venice region included a visit to the border town of Trieste. The town is the gateway between Italy and Slovenia. We crossed over to Slovenia due to a GPS malfunction. We learned a valuable lesson: Always, I mean always, at least carry a copy of your passport with you. We got stopped at the boarder as we made a u-turn to return to Italy. We had to explain that the GPS had taken us into Slovenia. The gentleman did not believe us but let us thru. By the way, we also received some much needed rain.

http://www.scarpatti.net/2009/Triesta/ - Trieste

The last part of our journey took us to Milan. The drive from Venice to Milan was very nice. It was nice to contrast between southern and northern Italy when it comes to greenery and pollution. Milan is a very nice and clean city. It reminded us of Florence. We will be driving to Rome early on Thursday for a 1300 flight back to Amsterdam. We are taking Wednesday as a R&R day while in Milan. We will probably get our final fix of really good pizza for lunch, and then some nice risotto and pasta for dinner.

http://www.scarpatti.net/2009/Milan/ - Milan

Thanks for your audience.

The Scarpatti Family.