maudieblog: Trip

Since we are so busy in the summer we like to try and get some holidays earlier in the year so we headed over to Italy for two weeks. The first week we spent on the Amalfi coast with some friends from Calgary; Michelle, Kelly and their daughter Ella. Traveling with kids is definitely a bit “different”, but nothing a few Peroni’s (see below for photo description of this marvelous stress releaser) won’t solve. We spent our second week in Tuscany and the weather was pretty lousy, but good for shopping ;)

I get a lot of email from people wanting to know what kind of camera I use. I don’t mind telling folks, but basically it doesn’t matter at all. I took a larger SLR with us on this trip, but most of the time we just carried our small little Fuji F10, a $400 point and shoot digital. I love it. All of the photos are straight out of the camera except for the Vespa photo which was converted to BW.

There are some great hiking trails along the Amalfi coast (Costeria Amalfitan) that go from town to town. We had great weather for the hike from Praiano (where we were staying) up to Bomerano. The white stuff in the background is the town of Positano. The beauty of these hikes is that you can stop in each town and replenish with a gelato and and espresso.

Michelle, Ella and Kelly

The cure for stress I talked about

I love the Italian bitters, which are kind of like pop, but have a sour finish to them. They sell them at Lina's, an Italian grocery store in Calgary, but they are $2.00 a pop here so a bit pricy for a 100ml drink.

Scenes like this are dime a dozen in Italy.

There are a lot of things I like about Italy and Autogrill are one of them. It's a chain of gas stations, but the difference is they have an espresso bar, which also serves alcohol (because there is no reason the passengers can't have a drink) and they also offer fresh pizzas, great sandwiches and pasteries. In the foreground are the rental cars we had.

Suzanne and I, compliments of Michelle. Beauty Michelle!

If I hadn't been so lazy I would have spent more time photographing bikes while we were there. I love all of the character they have. Is this a sweet ride or what?