Amalfi coast

 Ravello. It’s funny, we were kind of bored there, but it was so, so pretty. I sure wouldn’t complain about being there now.

 Swimming at a hotel in Sorrento.

 The beauty was ridiculous. This was on the side of the road near Sorrento.

 At a restaurant, Accento, that we enjoyed a lot in Sorrento.

 More swimming photos.

Cannes, France

I decided that Cannes, while we were there just one day, deserved it’s own post. You see, it was a perfect day. I think it’s obvious from the pictures why I say it was perfect. Cannes is the city you read about and see photos from the film festival. For us, though, it was a day of 75 degrees, the beautiful ocean, and not having to do anything at all. We went to the market and saw glorious fruits and veggies, along with cookies. Then, we laid by the sea, just enjoying it. We will be back, and for a much longer time.

 The afrorementioned cookies. They were really pretty. Below: Andy and Matthew enjoying the exact same coloring page he got at every single meal. :)

More Rome

 Right before taking off from NYC.

 The Trevi fountain.  I am not including the photo that shows the nine billion other tourists who were all there as well. 

 Above:  The outside of the Pantheon.  Despite there being many people, the line moved swiftly and was uncrowded inside. Below: another of Matthew's selfies in the Pantheon.

Rome, the start of our trip of a lifetime

 We got back a few weeks ago from an absolutely amazing trip.  We started in NYC for 2 days and got to see my cousins Andy and Ben.  Then, we headed to Rome.  It is a formidable task to try to explain this trip in blog entries or in photos, but these are just a few to start off.  The photo above is in the Jewish quarter of Rome.  We went there on the advice of friends, who are not Jewish but are foodies. The area is known now for its food. Ironically, we didn't love the choice we made for a restaurant, but we loved the walk over there. We did lots and lots of walking during our trip, and as a whole, the kids dealt well with it.  

 The Pantheon.  The enormous hole in the beautiful dome of this ancient temple and now church amazed even Matthew. He took photo after photo.  

 We rented a bike that was semi motorized in the Villa Borghese area. It was one of our favorite parts of Rome.  There were gorgeous views and it was fun as well.

 The Colesseum.  I am not sure what I can write about it. It is breathtaking to be standing in an area that has been used for thousands of years. The tour person looked a ton like my brother Brian, which we kept on laughing about.

 We went to Vatican City, but this time we did not go in.  We did do that many years ago when Andy and I went, but since we hadn't booked a tour, we didn't want to mess with the lines.

 This was from Giolitti, our favorite gelato place in Rome.  Meagan got sorbet this time, but we tried quite a few different options. Every day we made sure to have gelato at least once, sometimes even twice.  I always like ice cream, to an embarrassing extent, but gelato is in its own category.

My friend Jennifer from work was in Europe at the same time as us and we managed to overlap one day in Rome.  It was a treat for us to see familiar faces and the kids had fun seeing their kids.