Italy by yacht

Our next three stops were in Italy. First was Portovenere near the Cinque Terre. I absolutely LOVE the CT! It is a beautiful part of Italy, one everyone should see. The food is local and amazing, the people are friendly and the scenery is gorgeous. Grant and I hiked between the 5 cities in September. This time we chose to spend the day in Portovenere. We had a guided tour including a wine and bruschetta tasting. After the tour we grabbed lunch and shopped in the quaint streets. We tasted olive oils and bought some pesto. It was the best pesto ever! We bought some to bring home…I wish we would have bought more. The weather wasn’t ideal, but it was still a great stop!

 Mmmm...Bruschetta!

 Grant tasting the pesto! :) Yum!! Definitely brought some of that home!

 Grant eating at a local restaurant...

 Fried mini octopus!

After Portovenere we traveled to Livorno. Livorno is the port closest to Florence and Tuscany. We opted to spend the day on our own in Florence. It was May 1, May Day in Italy. A lot of museums were closed, but we enjoyed walking around the city, eating at a local pizzeria and visiting some of our favorite spots from our last trip to Florence. It started raining shortly after lunch, which made sightseeing more difficult. We managed to catch the May Day parade before we left. That was pretty cool.

 A David replica and the Ponte Vecchio

 Hanging out in Florence

 The Medici Chapel and the Duomo 

May Day Parade...in the rain, but still very cool!

Our last stop in Italy was Sorrento. I fell in love with Southern Italy! On our first trip to Italy we didn’t venture south of Rome. After this trip we will definitely put another visit to Southern Italy on the top of our list! Our first day in Sorrento was spent on a guided tour which included free time for shopping and exploring Sorrento. We had dinner at a great local spot with amazing pizza! Some of the best pizza I’d ever had. Grant even brought leftovers onto the boat! Sorrento is known for lemons so I had to buy one of their HUGE lemons and give it a try. We also bought some pasta to bring home.

 The world's biggest lemon!

 Holy Scooters, Batman!

 Sunset from the boat

Our second day in Sorrento was spent tour Capri. We took a boat from Sorrento to the island of Capri. We enjoyed a bout tour of the coast of Capri, but weren’t able to make it to the blue grotto due to the rough seas. Just another reason to go back! After the boat ride we got off at the port and took the funicular up to the town. It was pristine and filled with high end stores, chic restaurants and expensive hotels. The water surround Capri was so pretty.

 The blue waters of Capri

 See the coral?

 Back in Sorrento

Cutting open my GIANT lemon! It looked better than it was... :(

That evening we took a group photo. I came back and got ready for the photo and had a few moments to spare. I went out on the pool deck alone. I laid down on a chair in the sun with Sorrento to my right, Mount Vesuvius to my left and Capri in front of us. I wanted to take in everything about that moment. The feel of the sun on my skin, the smell of the Mediterranean surrounding me, the sound of the sea…I wanted to soak it all in so that on those days where I am working long hours I could put myself back, back on that boat. That night was our last night on the boat. We had dinner with friends we’d made, packed and hung out in the casino for the last time.

Last sunset on the Sojourn

The next morning we docked just outside of Rome. We boarded busses and each headed in our own directions. Grant and I had an early flight from Rome to Brussels. We weren’t done traveling Europe quite yet.