Honeymoon review

AKA, we are back.

How to summarize 2 weeks in Europe? Well, I'll certainly try...

We started our trip in Munich for Oktoberfest. I had no idea what to expect, but what we did find was not what I thought it was going to be. Huge structures holding hundreds of people, a band, and rows and rows of excited beer drinkers, singing, food (by far the best rotisserie chicken I've ever eaten), and of course even more beer. DH and I shared benches and tables with various groups of nice people and had a blast at the fair that accompanied the beer tents.

Lowenbrau tent, around 1PM on a Monday. And this isn't even HALF of it!

From Munich we traveled south to Naples and Ischia, an island off the coast. We feasted on pizzas, rode funiculars and visited castles (who knew Naples had so many castles?) and went to a natural thermal water park. I thankfully didn't get sick on any ferries, although we made a mad dash and made the ferry on the return to Naples in 8  minutes flat.

View of Mt. Vesuvius from Naples

View of the port of Ischia from our room window

From Ischia we went north to Florence and walked, ate, and drank wine through the three nights we were there. Florence is amazing - we went back to places we first went to in 2007 and even got to enjoy some sun on the rooftop pool of our hotel. Florence will always hold a special place in my heart.

Duomo at sunset 

Ponte Vecchio at night 

View from the top of Giotto's tower, 411 steps up

And from Florence we traveled to the coast and visited Cinque Terre. Just amazing. The people are fantastic and the slower way of life there was much appreciated. We visited each of the 5 towns and made a day trip to Lucca, 5 kilometers from where my grandpa was born. Pasta, cheese, wine, and olives are things I'll never forget but will always miss. Below - Monterosso.

We made it home on Sunday night after a very long delayed and bumpy flight. Happy to be home - I missed my pets and my bed.

Recommendations:

Ischia:

Aragona Hotel & Spa

Poseidon Thermal springs park

Florence:

Grand Hotel Minerva

Ristorante Oliviero

Hemingways

Per Bacco

Corniglia:

La Gatta Flora (great pizza!)

Monterosso:

Hotel Villa Steno

La Tortuga

Ciak

The honeymoon wishlist

Sometime last year when DH and I decided that we were going to go to Europe for our honeymoon I decided to start stashing a bit of money aside to buy myself something fabulous. Because lets face it - everything is mostly cheaper in Europe (and there's that awesome thing called the VAT that us non-Europeans get to claim on our way home).

I'm torn - part of me wants to get something that I can only get in Italy - but the other part of me wants to use this opportunity to get something grand.

So... for now... here's what I'm considering.

Via Hermes.com

The Hermes enamel bangle. I don't own one. I think they are gorgeous. And why not commemorate my honeymoon with something fantastic and Hermes that I can always wear? I particularly like this one. And it's a savings if I buy it in Italy vs the US. Hermes Grand Apparat enamel bracelet online.

Via Ferragamo.com

One of the first things that comes to mind when I think of Italy (besides the food) is fine Italian shoes. And well, who can beat Ferrgamo? I'm fairly sure I've been eying these for years. These are the Varina flats - I know they also come with a bit of a heel and then a full heeled version. Love. There's bows. And leather. And ribbon. I mean, Ferragamo really knows the way to a woman's heart. Buy here at Ferragamo.com.

It would really be Italian without mentioning Prada. Oh Prada, I really do love you. And since I don't have a nice wallet anymore, this kinda tugs at my heart strings a little big. Saffiano leather plus a tri color interior? LOVE. The only problem with this is .... what color? Purchase at prada.com.

There are some other ideas I have floating around... perhaps a Hermes or Ferragamo silk scarf. Or maybe a small cameo from the Ponte Vecchio. But... I'd love to hear your thoughts! What would you get on your honeymoon?

And so it's not all talk... a few snapshots of the long weekend.

Bride & groom index at City Hall

View of SF from an observation deck

Checking off a new beer for the last day of August

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Whirlwind

Hello out there in blogland. I'm so sorry that I've failed to update this recently but I'm vowing to do better.

The past few weeks have been a complete blur. Europe was absolutely amazing - and in fact it feels like we went months ago. London was cold but for some reason I didn't mind (it almost feels like it added to the charm!). I achieved my goal of eating sticky toffee pudding (holy cow, yum) went to Liberty of London (although I didn't purchase anything it was fun to look) and I did go to Topshop and came home with a gorgeous vintage silk scarf.

Royal Swan

Tower bridge

Big Ben

Barcelona was almost a complete 180 from London. We stuffed ourselves with paella and spanish wine, enjoyed the sun, and just took in the culture. I could honestly wander Barcelona for hours - the winding twisting alleys with apartments piled up so high, birds tweeting from their windowsil cages and cobbled sidewalks. Barcelona is where I fell in love with my best friend all over again.

The lizard at Guell park

Shutters and windows on our hotel



Bumblebee at Guell park



It honestly seems like time has been flying by at an unprecendented speed. I can't believe March is coming to a close and April is almost upon us. 

Lately I've kinda been into a redecorating kick around the apartment. I'd love to paint some of the walls but quite frankly I'm not too sure I have that much energy (or effort). I've been gathering up prints of places that we've traveled to and framing them on a wall. I want it to be a bit of a photo collage.



I'm also majorly lusting for a new jewelry box and ring holder. I don't currently have either of those items and you have no idea how hard it is to try and pick something out.  For some reason I can't help but want the bunny ring holder from urban. There's just something so cutesy and adorable about it it makes me smile whenever I look at it. Alas, my local store is sold out of it and I'm not too sure I want to pay for the shipping.

Anyway - that's whats going on with me at the moment. Not much else besides my daily 9-5 grind and just being content with the way things are.

Jetsetting.

Hello my dear blog. I do have some exciting news for you! I just found out yesterday that in March I will be able to travel to London and another city! I'm so, so excited I can't even contain it.

Hello, Big Ben!

In London we will be meeting up with my boyfriend's brother on his way back from Africa to celebrate his 21st birthday. I'm so excited to be able to go back to London again.  There's definitely some sites I'd like to go back to and I'd really like to go see Abbey Road. What's even more fun is that since my last trip to Europe I purchased my nikon camera so I'll have a much better camera to snap photos with.

Also, we'll have enough time to go visit another city for a few days. Our top contenders are Barcelona, Paris, or Amsterdam. I'm really pushing for Paris. Back in 2007 when we did our 6 week tour of Europe we pretty much did everything on the cheap. Hostels, cheap meals, and unassigned train tickets were the main areas in which we cut our costs. But this time around I'd really like to be able to enjoy myself  (within reason, of course) and perhaps not eat at McDonalds so many times. In Paris I could practically taste the croissaints and coffee, Amsterdam I dream of chocolate and wandering the flower marts, and Barcelona's Sacrada Familia and paella are wooing me back in.

I still haven't been able to find churros and chocolate this good in the US...

I'm also starting to think of things to bring back (hah). I'd really like to go to Liberty to bring back some of their specialty printed items and maybe visit to TopShop. Plus the teas, jams, and biscuits... oh man. In Paris I'd totally go for some macarons and perhaps if I could ever swing it a nice scarf from Hermes (hello VAT refund!). And in Barcelona it would be wine.  Amsterdam would be larger photos of flowers (or even tulip bulbs).

Okay so they aren't tulips but they're still pretty.

So - if you have the chance to go to a few European cities again.. what would you bring back? What would you not care to see?

Happy almost weekend!