Good morning everyone!!

I realize that this is REALLY late. It’s been six months since our trip. In that six months so much has changed, and I have been working my BUTT off to try to get clients’ photos edited in a timely manner! In the process, personal photos have taken a back seat. I apologize for the tardiness, I will start posting honeymoon stuff now.

I kept a journal while we were traveling, so that I wouldn’t forget the little things. The memories that make up the trip. Not just the big events, the crazy things that happened, but the little things. Seeing so many countries in a short amount of time was HUGE and I met SO many amazing people, and I want to make sure to remember them all. The things they said, their mannerisms, but most of all, the way that they impacted and effected not only our trip, but my perspective.

SO! Each of these posts will be parts of my journal, parts of the story, and photos. The journaling is real, it is what I really wrote while I was there, and will help tell the stories along with the photos. The posts will be split into each day – starting with the first day, of course!

September 15, 2011

So, I bought this book for all of the little honeymoon things that happen, to remember. But first I wanted to write down memories from the wedding. It was only four days ago but feels like forever. Of course, that could be because as I write, I’m sitting on a hotel room balcony in Rome, watching the sun come up. Awww yeah! With coffee even. So I’m slightly distracted.

Our wedding was amazing, I can’t wait to see the photos! Although even the best photographer can’t catch everything. Like Lance, dancing around in a tiara to “Dancing Queen” because it was his birthday. That’s my song with Ryan, but she had left for the evening so Lance stepped in. Or Kaden pulling off some AMAZING dance moves to “Boogie Wonderland.” Where the heck did those come from? Seriously, the dance floor cleared and became his own personal stage. He needed some tap shoes – it was crazy! Oh and another hilarious moment – Braden’s feelings got hurton the dance floor, so he laid down. On the dance floor. Right in the middle, lying on the ground. So Dana laid down with him. So I laid down with them. Then EVERYONE laid down on the dance floor!

Sidenote – Tom just asked me to close the blinds LoL! I assured him that no one in Rome cares about his naked body except for me. He didn’t think it was as funny as I did.

So I’m here. I’m in Rome, thinking about our amazing wedding. It seems surreal. We haven’t done a lot yet, we’ve just kind of taken everything in. The timing for our flight was such that we flew over The Alps just as the sun was rising – what an amazing view! When we arrived there was an issue with the car service, but it worked out. A little stressful, but all ends well, right?

When our chauffeur arrived, all was well, we were going to enjoy the ride to the hotel. Right? RIGHT? Umm… scary. I was scared for my life in Rome’s traffic. It wasn’t the driver, he wasn’t a bad driver – he drove like everyone else. Scooters EVERYWHERE – and they had no concept of rules. There was no driving in lanes, signaling was non-existent. I’m usually the adventurous one between Tom and I, and I was terrified. I’m sure that Tom’s leg had nail marks in it when we arrived.

We left our bags at the hotel and went to explore the area. There are lots of shops and restaurants near the hotel, but none as awesome as Forno Feliziani. *sigh* happy place! We were walking on Via Candia and I saw the pastries. They beckoned to me from the street – seriously, talking to me. Gorgeous profiteroles and cannolis, croissants and breads of all kinds. It was like a beam of light was shining on this little cafe and angels were singing. Tom looked at me and said “I think we’ve found your spot.” Oh my, I was a happy girl! The cafe extended back much further than visible from the street, so we went in to see everything. NO ONE speaks English in this cafe. It is definitely a local spot and not touristy whatsoever – but everyone is SO nice and we get through the language barrier so that I can have my cannoli. They had pizza that was about 5 feet long, and a foot wide – rectangular. You show them how much you want them to cut off, and they weigh it, and that’s what you get! And man – was it yummy. Mushrooms, garlic and olive oil, oh my! I’ve always thought that I should have been born Italian, it works for me. I think I need to learn “what is the best” in Italian though, because if we keep ducking into these local spots, eventually I will order something I don’t want, unknowingly. I like trying what the chef or employees like though – they usually want to show off their best work, and who am I to say no to awesomeness? We sat under a gorgeous crystal chandelier and ate, and I found my first happy place of the trip. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, completely relaxing after almost 24 hours of traveling. We watched people go in and out, including an old lady with no teeth, ordering pastries. How she was going to eat them, I have no clue. She was no taller than the counter too – Tom and I felt like giants. A song I sing to Tom sometimes came on, which was kind of odd because it’s not a very well known song – “The Man I Love.” It was truly an amazing experience, and it was only the first day.

Sidenote – not journaled – I realized after the fact I went overboard with pictures of this place, but THAT is how much I loved it.

We walked back to the hotel, but because it was hot and we were SO tired, it probably looked like we were drunk, walking down the street. The flight to Rome from Atlanta was about 10 hours – which doesn’t sound too bad, right? I’ve had much longer flights before! But here’s the problem – it’s long enough that you’re exhausted and WANT to sleep, but short enough that by the time you settle down, you can’t really get a GOOD sleep. So it’s like sleeping for 2-3 hours – exhausting. We got back to the hotel, and sat and waited for our room. Our hotel was WONDERFUL, (Hotel Springhouse for anyone wondering, more to come on that later!) but we had arrived so early that not everything was ready yet. So we sat. And sat. On a bench. And had completely ridiculous conversations, because we were so tired and slap happy. Like why is it US Dollars but EUROS instead of EURO dollars? Stupid right? Who really cares! We were TIRED! When they said our room was ready, we JUMPED up to gather everything, ready for a bed! We opened the door to our room and were greeted by little mini sandwiches, wine and snacks, and a card of congratulations because we were on our honeymoon. I was saying “AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW I need to take a picture!” and Tom had already started eating. Can you believe him, the nerve! ;) I told him to put his sandwich back so I could take a picture, then he could dig in. Our room was upgraded to a balcony room – awwwwwww yeah! We rebelled against every piece of travel advice when it comes to jet lag – and slept. Not too long, only long enough to feel human again instead of like the walking dead. Or walking drunk I guess – even though we had zero alcohol. Until we got to the room. Hey, we got a little wine bottle as a present, we had to indulge or it would have been rude, right? ;)

We woke and went to dinner at a fantastic restaurant right down the street, sitting outside, enjoying the people. I wasn’t really use to eating outside ALL the time – but if you go inside, there is no air conditioning, and there are about 3 tables in most of the restaurants, with 6 people at each table in teeny rooms. So outside really is more comfortable. Tom had spaghetti carbonara for the first time – I think he just wanted bacon. He was a little confused at the lack of red sauce though. To him, spaghetti means noodles + tomato sauce + meat = yum. I, on the other hand, was a little more adventurous and had gnochetti gorgonzola, and it was absolutely delicious. I think the Italians have a skill down that I am just mastering – cooking with natural, normal food instead of processed crap. The cream, olive oil, and cheese was all super fresh and I could REALLy taste it – it was fantastic! Our servers were so sweet, we wanted to tip – that’s what we’re used to, right? Apparently in Rome, you only tip if service is OUTSTANDING, and even then it’s not much. Kind of strange to us, I think that they probably rolled their eyes at us when we asked. But not for too long when they got the tip – it’s always good to be appreciated!

Even though we had just slept… we slept more. Hopefully our bodies will start to catch up to the 10 hour time difference soon! I really, really love it here… what an amazing first day, and we haven’t even DONE anything yet.

Sidenote – I miss my Sweetpea.

I have always said that this blog isn’t necessarily JUST for my clients, friends or family – it is also a journal for me. I’m not usually much of a journal writing kinda girl – but on the trip, I really enjoyed it. That said, I love seeing the photos come together with the journaling together.

Next post – The Vatican and more Rome!