I should start by saying that John planned pretty much the entirety of this trip (yeah!), since the bulk of planning needed to be done while I was studying for step 1. Have I ever mentioned that John lived in Rome for four years when he was a teenager? I love being married to an insider!
One evening we were sitting across from each other at the dining room table, me poring over endless lists of medications and their mechanisms, John studying intently his Lonely Planet, and he looked up, “So, would you be like way disappointed if we don’t visit Rome at all?” Nope, not even a little. The big cities of Europe–I get it, they’re awe-inspiring, and one can spend a lifetime in just one of them and not experience all its wonders. But I feel like trying to tackle the greatest hits in a few days is exhausting and kind of takes the fun out of the discovery.
We had such a good experience with airbnb on our honeymoon, that we used it almost exclusively for this trip. Our first stop was Sorrento, where we stayed in a gorgeous room in Gabriella’s home. The patio had a jaw-dropping view of Mount Vesuvius!
So much of the charm of the place was Gabriella herself. As we started to unload our bags, she promptly whisked Ari into her arms and carried her to the patio where a small carb treat was waiting for her. Ari’s face, peering over Gabriella’s shoulder at me, said, Uh, okay…I’m confused but I like it. This woman smells like the bread. In the evenings we had dinner all together with Gabriella and her son. In the mornings we ate fresh figs from her gardens.
We conquered Sorrento, Positano, Nocelle, and Ravello:
We walked the path of the gods (until little miss got a bit overheated):
I am still dumbfounded by how much we were able to pack in a day–though a far cry from what John would have planned during our pre-Ari days–and I feel a little guilty for how much we pushed her. But gelato makes up for a multitude of sins…
anna in med school 