Italy pics

It was all it was meant to be.  Met every expectation.  Our little getaway to southern Italy was the perfect reunion after a long separation.  And it was just so, so beautiful


We met up in Naples after a long chaotic day of waiting and waiting for the carrier to anchor and the crew to be shuttled to shore.  What we thought would be a noon reunion turned into a midnight spectacle of high seas and happy reunions.

There's the Enterprise, anchored about two miles off shore.

Ohhh Sorrento!  This is our balcony and the view from our room.  I could not have asked for a more perfect setting.  We were about 1 1/2 miles from downtown Sorrento, which made for a couple of nice runs right along the beautiful Amalfi coast.  We couldn't help thinking how much it reminded us of La Jolla.


On a day trip to Capri, we were 'adopted' by an awesome local lady named Nunzia.  We met on the ferry and she proceeded to take us all over her own little island.  The picture above is of Via Krupp, a winding walkway leading down to a little local beach.  
Here's Nunzia.  She spoke very, very little English.  We had no Italian unless you count frantic hand gestures and the back page vocabulary listing in our guide book.  This was a day we'll never forget.

View of Capri from the very top of Mount Solare (reached via single chair lift).



We woke up the next morning with two cruise ships and a vintage sailing ship docked outside of our hotel balcony.
Positano!

  Shopping the streets of Naples.  I really fell in love with this dirty, complicated little city.
"Best cannoli ever."
  The entire city gathered in the piazzas that night to watch the Napoli v. Juventis soccer match.  Restaurants put up big screens in the squares and glasses of beer flowed.  Totally awesome.
What a trip!

True Love

I can't enough of these two together.  Casey is Hannah's best friend.  She calls her "Dog Dog" and lights up when Casey walks into the room.  They share nearly every snack and meal seem to do more than just mutually tolerate each other.  I'm sure there's some real, true love there.

Snow Day!

First, and so far only, snow of the year.  We quickly bundled up and played in it.  Hannah loved it for thirty seconds.  Refusing mittens has it's price.

The Homestead

We were so fortunate to be able to return to our favorite family resort, The Homestead, for some pre-Christmas family time just a few weeks before Christmas.  It was as magical as ever...fully decorated, loads of activities for the kids, and just a great time to be together and watch the kids run and play and make memories.

Chess lessons in the garden room.

Afternoon tea in the lobby.

Back when the walking wasn't so steady.

Bit of nightime ice skating.