This morning when we woke up, we found out that Shadley's grandparents, who are all traveling together, had some craziness trying to get here. Omi was unable to get onto the plane due to some passport issues, which really puts a damper on everything. Well, that wasn't the only thing to happen. Apparently Grammy and Grumpy's flight had some mechanical problems, so they had to wait on a plane from New York to come pick them up. Then one of the crew members was over hours on their flying time, so they had to stop in New York to change crew members. Last we have heard, they are on their way to Paris. They will be picked up tomorrow, along with Rebecca and Aaron.
As for Omi, she was picked up by Tina and Sam (Shadley's aunt and cousin) and taken to Philadelphia to receive an emergency passport. The last update we have received is that she made it before the office closed and should have her passport shortly. We expect her in on Saturday. Thank you Tina and Sam for helping her out, we all really appreciate it!
My mother and Lee arrived in Italy yesterday. We let them settle into their hotel yesterday, and were able to drive to Sorrento to visit them today. It takes us about 20 minutes to get down the mountain to the main road, and then it was only a short 10 minute drive into town. Unfortunately, it took us about another half hour or so to find their hotel due to the navigation leading us to somewhere other than the hotel. However, when we did find the hotel, it was absolutely amazing with a great view of the mountains and the sea.
Shadley and I were dropped off, and we decide to walk into town with my mom and Lee. Sorrento is a beautiful town with plenty of tourists, so we didn't feel too out of place. We found a small cafe in the middle of town to sit and have some lunch. Afterward, we walked down the street to a nice spot to take some pictures overlooking the sea.
The next area we ventured through was a strip of different shops, and Shadley found a scarf that we are going to use to blindfold me when we have to meet the interpreter before the ceremony. Trust me, it's not as bad as it sounds. I can't see her in her dress until she is walking down the aisle, so a new scarf is perfect for the occasion. We continued down the street and Lee found a shop that had a chocolate fountain in the window. This chocolate fountain is half dark chocolate and half white chocolate, and we get drawn into the store. It has all kinds of different chocolates, cookies, candies, and marmalades. Now, this next part I won't be able to put in words to do the moment justice, but I'll do my best.
The shop employee comes over to us, and in a very loud accented English, starts offering us free samples of some of the chocolate and candies. He has about 10 different things for us to try. He looks over at Shadley, who was standing off to the side, and starts talking to her about how she isn't looking at him and doesn't like chocolate. He makes her try some of the delicious chocolates and then grabed a different plate that had cookies on it. He explains that they are organic flour cookies that are hand ground, and that we have to try it. My mom looks at Lee to confirm that the cookies are good before she tries one. Well, this starts the salesman on a rant about how she doesn't trust him and that she trusts Lee's opinion more, and then compares her to Jim Carey in Liar Liar. By this point Shadley and I take the opportunity to head out of the shop, and we begin to just laugh as this man badgers my mom into trying a cookie. Now we were out of the shop, but as mom explained to me he came out with more samples from a fridge that were lemon drops filled with limoncello. Lee buys us some of the candies that were chocolate and limoncello drops (absolutely delicious), at which point the salesman starts explaining to my mom that if she comes back later, he will make her some dinner. The whole thing was just a fun experience and a great story.
We just continued through the town, and headed back to the hotel. We decide to take the time and enjoy some coffee by the pool area. It's great to just spend some time visiting and talking about everything that is coming up in the coming week.
Knud, Shannon, Killian, and Marvii meet us for dinner at the hotel, and we all enjoy the company. We then head back to the villa, and now it's time for bed.
4 days left!
Everyone should come to Italy,
Shadley and Tom
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