Is this real?

Yesterday was a hectic, but very successful day. We had to move 10 people from our villa in Ticciano to the wedding villa in Ravello, all with only two cars (don't forget they all have luggage too).

Story 1: Tom's

We started out with Knud and Shadley dropping me off with my mom and Lee at their hotel in Sorrento. They picked up their luggage so that mom and Lee didn't have to worry about carrying that around until they got to the next villa. After they left, we walked up and had some breakfast. At noon their driver showed up and took us into Positano.

The driver dropped us off at town hall, where we were able to enter and see exactly where the wedding ceremony will take place. It is absolutely wonderful, and I cannot wait to see it Monday with everyone there, especially Shadley. We also were able to meet with someone who knew who I was, and we talked about the upcoming wedding, figure out little details to make sure everything is perfect.

We continued through Poitano when we came across a sandal shop. My mom's goal, other than seeing me get married, was to have a pair of sandals made specifically for her. She was able to pick out everything she liked, including style, color of the jewels, color of the straps, and heel height. It was a great experience, and the sandals are awesome!

Afterward, we met Shannon, Killian, Marvii, Marlene, Mike, Omi (yay she made it!), Rebecca, and Aaron in a cafe. We enjoyed a light lunch, and then Shannon, Omi, Killian, Marvii and I left to drive to the new villa to get checked in. The plan was to meet Knud and Shadley there to unload all the luggage and then for Knud to head back and pick up everyone else.

The next villa is absolutely stunning. Roof top terrace, hot tub, private water access, and about everything else you could want (seriously it is kinda hard to explain the beauty of it all). Eventually Shadley and Knud make it, and we unloaded everybody's luggage. Knud then heads back to Poitano and picks everyone else up.

Story 2: Shadley's

After dropping Tom off, I head to the airport with my dad to pick up Omi, who's flight came in. It was a little late, and we started to get a little worried when she wasn't coming out. However, she came out and explained that her luggage was one of the last, and that's what took a while. 

We drive back to the mountain villa to pick everyone up. We drove the van and my moms car into Poitano, where mom parked and everyone else just got dropped off. My dad and I then proceeded to head back to the mountain villa to pick up all of the luggage. This was not fun. We had to roll everyone's luggage from their rooms down a small hill to where the van was parked. However, my dad and I had a great system and packed up the van quickly. It was now off to the new villa, where we had to meet the owner to get the keys, check in, and unload all of this luggage. 

My mom, Tom, Killian, and Marvii met us at the new villa to help unload all of the luggage, then my dad went to Positano to pick everyone else up. We sorted the luggage, and then were able to explore the villa. It is absolutely fantastic.

The owners of the villa were extremely nice and actually prepared us a welcome dinner with fresh local mozzarella, bread, tomatoes, rice salad and eggplant parmasean. It was a wonderful evening.

We don't want to ever leave this place,

Shadley and Tom

Basking in the Sunlight

I hate saying that today is the first nice day since we arrived, but it may be true. Rain was not in the forecast for the first time, and the temperature was perfect.

We got to sleep in today as Knud and Shannon went to pick up Rebecca and Aaron. It was really nice to sleep in, seeing as we haven't slept in really since we've been here (too much fun to have). When we awoke it was about 75 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. We took advantage of the nice weather and were able to relax in the sun. 

A few hours later Rebecca and Aaron had arrived, and we visited with them as we had some lunch. Shortly after,  Knud and Shannon took off back to the airport to pick up Mike and Marlene, who finally have arrived. As they were coming back, we enjoyed more of the fantastic sunshine. 

We are just missing one person from our villa. Omi we will see you soon! Can't wait for you to arrive tomorrow.

Everyone was able to enjoy a wonderful pasta dinner thanks to Shannon. It's really great to be with everyone for such an important upcoming event in our lives. After dinner, the guys were kicked out so that Shadley could have somewhat of a Bachelorette Party thanks to Rebecca, Shannon, Marlene, and Marvii. Obviously she can't go into much detail, but she obviously had a blast and Rebecca always seems to make things outrageously fun. 

3 days left!

Off to the wedding villa tomorrow,

Shadley and Tom

Mom and the Chocolate Italian

First off, I apologize for the back to back posts, but the internet wasn't working in the crazy thunderstorm we had last night. I'm doing my best to get daily posts.

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

Toes in the Water

A trip to Amalfi was in the works yesterday. We walked around the town of Amalfi and enjoyed the nice weather. We found a few shops and picked up some local wine to taste. We then sat and had some lunch by the sea.

Shadley had an appointment with her hairdresser on Thursday, and we decided to head out that way to find the location. The hairdresser was located in Maiori, which is past Ravello where our villa for next week is located. We passed right by the villa, and got super excited for our reception. It's going to be a fantastic night. 

We got to Maiori and parked. Walking around we found the hairdresser, and decided to ask if Shadley could get her test hairstyle done since we were in the area. He agreed, but couldn't do it for a couple hours. So to kill some time we found a beach spot to get our feet wet, finally. It was our first opportunity and the water was refreshing. 

After Shadley's hair appointment (it looked amazing) we drove back to the villa and did some housekeeping things for a while. We had dinner at Pizza Metro again, where Killian and my eyes were larger than our stomachs. We decided to split a meter long calzone, which we didn't even come close to finishing. We have about half left to still eat over the next day or so!

5 days left!!

The wedding day is getting closer,

Shadley and Tom

Holy Cannoli!

Today was our first day we got to sleep in, and we sure took advantage of it. It was about one o'clock or so before we left the villa to do more exploring, this time to Positano, where our wedding ceremony will take place. 

We take the winding mountain roads into Positano, and you can definitely tell it is a tourist destination. Positano is packed, and driving is absolutely crazy through the city, not to mention parking. We find a spot to park and the walking begins. We hike up to where we thought the ceremony takes place, but couldn't find it. It took us a while to find the location of the ceremony, but when we did, there was another wedding about to take place. It's great to now know where this location is because the location is a little confusing and near an extremely busy intersection. 

We realize that we haven't eaten lunch, and head down toward city center to find a spot to grab some lunch. About 150 steps later, we come to Cafe Positano, and grab a seat with a sea view. The craziness of this cafe is that the seating is actually across of one way street from the restaurant, so the waiter actually has to cross the street to bring the food to us. 

After our meal we head around the town looking at different shops and souvenirs, and find a location with Cannolis. This is an obvious stop, and we sit down to have a cannoli and some coffee. 

We take some time afterward to take some pictures of the city and take in its beauty, and this gets us even more excited for the wedding! We head back to the car and as we leave the city, we find a spot to pull off and take more pictures of the beautiful landscape. It's so perfect that it looks fake! This is definitely a spot that will be ideal for wedding day photos!

I guess I failed to mention one more crazy thing about the mountain roads. So these roads are super thin, barely wide enough for one car, let alone two. Well, cars aren't the only thing traveling down this road, but city busses as well! You can't imagine how crazy it is going around a blind turn and a bus is there to squeeze by you.

The restaurant below our villa is finally open (it's been closed the last two nights for various reasons), and we grab a bite to eat there. They don't speak much English, but enough to get by. He suggests food for us, whatever the chef wants to make I suppose, and brings out three different appetizers along with 2 personal pan pizzas. These were fantastic, with a variety of different vegetables prepared differently, mozzarella done three ways, and freshly sliced prosciutto. Now we have eaten a lot already today, but the Italians don't know how to stop when it comes to food. We get three freshly made pasta dishes to go along with all this food. Overall, the meal was absolutely fantastic and the locals made us feel very welcome. 

6 days left!

Time for bed,

Shadley and Tom

Raise Your Right Hand and Swear You Want to Marry Each Other

Today has been a long and eventful day, filled with lots of importance relating to the wedding.

We woke up bright and early to head into Napoli. We had an appointment with the U.S. Consulate at 10:00 am, so we left at 7:00. Because of traffic, it took us about 2 hours to make the 1 hour drive. And driving in Naples is just crazy. However, we made it safely and on time and got our final piece of paperwork filled out to make sure our wedding is legal. We are all set to get married in a week!

Our next stop was Casalvieri, the town where my grandfather was born and raised. This small Italian town was about an hour and a half from Naples. We parked and started to explore the town, taking a lot of pictures. It was really neat to spend time where my grandfather was from, and really wish he was still here to tell me more about it. As we started to leave, we came across a memorial for local war veterans who gave their life in the First and Second World War. One of the names was O. Centofanti. This very well could have been a relative, but I'm not sure. I can not thank Shannon and Knud enough for taking me there, it was a great opportunity. 

On the way back we stopped at a supermarket to pick up some food for the villa, and we head back to make some dinner. The weather since we have been in Italy has not been the greatest, with a lot of rain and thunderstorms and limited sunshine. Let's hope that the rain goes away by next week.

7 days left!

Goodnight,

Shadley and Tom

The Mountain People

How to some up a day that consists of Italian grandmothers yelling at you, a 3 liter bottle of wine, and heading the wrong way on what seems to be half a road? 

We wake up in Bologna and have a wonderful breakfast in the hotel, and start off the last leg of our trip to Ticciano where our first villa is. We stop at a rest area near Napoli, and find, along with an assortment of food, a massive 3 liter bottle of wine. Well, that's a garunteed purchase!

We make it into Vico Equense where we meet up with the villa coordinater who will help us the rest of the way to the villa. Well, little did we know, we still had about a half hour or so left of the trip. This part is hard to explain to its full potential, but I'll try my best. Imagine going up a mountain side with what seems to be one lane, in a van when everyone else is in a smart car or Vespa, with concrete walls on one side and a two foot "barrier" on the other side protecting you from a cliff, and hair pin turns in which you cannot see if there is another vehicle coming. Oh and don't forget, the locals don't drive very slowly during all this. 

One half hour later we make it to the villa, where a tiny one vehicle side street (but cars go both ways) takes us to the enterance. The villa is really nice, with 6 bedrooms, living room and kitchen, wrap around balcony, and a pool. The view from the balcony is of a small local town that we have dubbed the mountain people. Now this entrance to the villa isn't a very easy sharp turn, and we are informed of a close by parking lot that has a lot easier access for the van to fit. As Knud is pulling the van out to head down the side street, another vehicle with 3 little old Italian grandmothers comes up, and they reach a point where the road is blocked with two cars facing each other. They proceed to start yelling at Knud in Italian to basically say, "hey, move your van around this sharp turn that took you about 10 minutes to turn into." It was a mess, that eventually got resolved with the other car able to pull to a side lot and let Knud pass. What an absolutely crazy start.

It's about 6 or 7 o'clock now, and we haven't eaten since breakfast. The supermarkets close by noon on Sundays, so we need to find a restaurant to grab some dinner. Conveniently, there is a restaurant/bar/pizzaria directly below the villa! Fantastic! 

Nevermind, not only did they speak no English (but German as we later understood), but it was reserved for a private party. Well, we are on the top of a mountain with no other restaurants except, you guessed it, back down the mountain to the city. Off we go down the mountain!

Going down wasn't as bad as going up the first time, but still a little stressful with a big van and small roadways. We find a parking spot and walk to Pizza le Metro, a local restaurant famous for meter long pizzas. We order a delicious margerhita pizza with buffalo mozzarella. Pizza here is just so much better! We decided that sometime we have to go back and try more, everything they were bringing out looked so good.

After consuming the meter long pizza, of course gelato is a perfect topping to it all! Shadley and I share a tiramisu gelato cone, and we head back to the van. Trying to get back to the villa without guidance was a lot of fun. The navigation doesn't recognize the villa as an address, and what I assume doesn't know this area at all. It proceeds to take us the wrong way down a one way street with 10 feet walls that the van just barely fits between. Of course, we come to an Y intersection where two vehicles are heading the right way down the street, and we are in the way. A very stressful 15 minutes later we get both cars past us and turn this van around in a very tight interection and head back down. One of the vehicles that we met at the intersection waited for us at the bottom and helped us head toward the villa. This is the friendliness of Italians we had heard of. 

We make it back to the villa, and that 3 liter bottle of wine was opened. It was time to relax. 

BUT, that private party is still going on, blasting music and people yelling all around. Let's hope that the "no music after midnight" applies here as well, and we can get some rest. We have an early day tomorrow to finish up our documents for the wedding.

Overall, an interesting day of events. We are definitely looking forward to having more stories to share.

8 days left.

I wonder how early that rooster is going to wake up tomorrow,

Shadley and Tom