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@Earlestenbusch MI Trisha and Matt (Parents) Jack- Abby- Grace-

European Adventure Summer 2023 (Paris, Venice, Almafi, and Rome)

I couldn’t let the year come to an end without documenting one of our favorite adventures of 2023-our family trip to Europe in June. Many of you may be wondering how this trip even came to be. LOL Before this trip, we had not ventured too far outside the normal vacation trip to Florida or Spring Break in Gulf Shores, Alabama. My husband works for a European Company and ends up traveling to Europe 2-3 times a year. He has always wanted me to tag along, but with young kids and all of their activities, it has just never worked out. We were planning to go in the summer of 2020, just the two of us, to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary, but obviously that did not happen. We started to toss around the idea of going again in 2023 and I mentioned taking the kids, from then on, that was the plan. First stop on our adventure was Paris!

Paris Day 1

First Stop, we dropped off our luggage at our first Airbnb.
Our AirBNB had the cutest couryard
After an overnight flight, we were all dragging. Everyone told us just to power through as long as you can, so that’s what we did. Checked out the Louvre Museum.
We also walked through the Chocolate Museum. We did grab the “city pass” for Paris, I believe this was one of the attractions included with the pass.

By this point in the afternoon, we were all losing steam quickly and had a full day #2. We popped in to a restaurant, grabbed a quick pizza and headed back to our AirBNB for bed.

Paris Day 2

We began our day at the Eiffel Tower, such a great way to start any day. We were supposed to have a tour, but unfortunately the city workers went on strike that day. Little did we know how interesting our day would become. LOL
You have to have crepes in front of the Eiffel Tower.
My husband scored major points when he booked a Macaron Pastry Class at Galeries Lafayette (included with the city pass) So much fun!
It’s a very delicate process…
They were delicious.
This was a great activity for the afternoon.
They didn’t last very long.
The roof top views from the Galeries Lafayette were beautiful. .
We ended the day on the carousel by the Eiffel Tower.

Not pictured LOL…As a result of the strike, most of the subway shut down. We had anticipated riding the hop on hop off tour bus to get to from here to there, but the traffic was literal gridlock. We did so much walking this day. We also took a river boat cruise down the seine river. Not really any food recommendations from Paris, we were really just trying to fit in some many activities, we were just grabbing things as we went.

Paris Day 3

My one request when we booked this trip was family pictures. It turned out that it worked best to get pictures done our last morning in Paris. Pictures were at 7:30 (to avoid the crowds) we were also leaving Paris that day and needed to go right from Paris to the airport. This meant we all needed to be picture ready, with luggage packed, by 6:30. They all crushed it, I should also mention, it was freezing-like in the 40’s. We had our pictures done by https://www.lamourdeparis.com. I can not recommend them enough. They did an amazing job and were so fun to work with.

Where we stayed in Paris: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/27916780?source_impression_id=p3_1681665621_p4g8LXw%2BaeXcKuV%2F

From Paris we flew and then too a bus to Venice. Once in Venice we took a water taxi to our home sweet home for the next few days. After a whirlwind of a few days in Paris it was nice to slow it down a bit in Venice. By the time we made it to our Airbnb in Venice it was late afternoon, we got settled, freshened up a bit and decided to go exploring.

Evening of Day 3 and Day 4 in Venice

Outside our Airbnb
The narrow walkways.
Our first gelato of many in Venice
Gondola Ride, it’s crazy how they navigate these boats.
Popular book steps in Liberia Acqua Alta Book Store in Venice.
St. Mark’s Square
View from the bell tower in St. Mark’s Square.

We did not plan very well and didn’t realize how early tours for St. Mark’s Basilica ended, we were unable to go inside the Basilica here. We spent most of our time in Venice just wandering the streets, so many cute shops and restaurants.

Where we stayed in Venice: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2778812?source_impression_id=p3_1681665480_FGqU7wDIvDgoV7oC

Day 5- Train and Ferry to Almafi

On the train to Sorrento. From Sorrento you take a ferry to Almafi.
The little village of Atrani has our heart. Right next to Almafi, this is were we stayed and loved it!

Almost everyone asked how we ended up here. LOL This has been a dream destination for me, I always saw pictures and wanted to go there. We got off the ferry in Almafi and had a short ten minute walk to our Airbnb in Atrani. I won’t like, it was terrifying. It is a very narrow road, with hair pin turns, no shoulder, no sidewalk and you are not only trying to stay alive but navigating a suitcase. My husband was in the lead, I was in the back single file and my husband said he could feel my anxiety. LOL I will admit after watching the traffic, etc. for a few hours you feel much better about everything. I’m not sure how it works but it just does.

Day 6/7/8/10- Lido di Ravello Beach Club/Boat Tour to Capri/Trail of the Gods

Right around the corner from our VRBO, was the Lido di Ravello Beach Club. There is a public free beach right in Atrani, but it was nice to have a chair, food and drinks, and a bathroom for a reasonable fee. LOL
Our second full day in Almafi, we had booked a Capril boat tour before we left. They picked you up on the docks in Almafi. It was great, we loved the boat ride over and swimming. We had about three hours on Capri, and that was plenty. We took a gondola up to the top, it was VERY crowded.
Top of Capri!
The boat stopped both on the way there and back for some swimming. The water is gorgeous.
One of my favorite things about this trip was the LONG dinner together, just hanging out and chatting about the day.
Our favorite restaurant in Atrani, as right down from our place, right on the water. Le Arcate
This girl and her fish.
The next day these four decided to brave the Trail of the Gods. They had to take a bus from Almafi to the start of the trail. I sat this one out, and suffered through a few hours of quiet on our patio. They loved it!
Trail of the Gods, it got very hot.
Our patio in Atrani. We all agree our time in Atrani, felt the most like a “vacation”. There is just so much to see in the other places we were visiting, Atrani was the perfect break in the middle of our trip.

Where we stayed in Almafi: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/12912728?source_impression_id=p3_1681666022_AwmHZlxfivZO78zi

Day 11 Train to Rome/Vatican

Our very favorite food was in Rome! We loved all of our meals here. We arrived in Rome, dropped out stuff at our AirBNB and a quick lunch at this restaurant before we headed to the Vatican.
We did get tickets ahead of time for the Vatican and I would recommend doing this. The line to get in for those people without tickets was hours long.

Day 12 – 3 Hour Walking Tour of Rome/Colosseum

We had a slight mix-up with our tour guide and ended up with some time to kill so of course we had to grab breakfast at the oldest cafe in Rome.

It was all delicious!

We were a little hesitant to book this 3 hour walking tour, it was a little on the pricey side, but we are SO glad we did, it really was worth every penny. At the point in our vacation, we were all feeling a wee bit tired. It was so nice to have someone take charge and explain things as we went. We saw more in our 3 hours with our guide then we would have in three days on our own. LOL

Last stop of our trip was the Colosseum. Unfortunately some rain cut our visit here a little short. Our son loved this and found it all very interesting. Rome was probably the most difficult to navigate as far as transportation. They do have subway system, but it just isn’t as developed as in Paris, so you do need to use the bus system as well. My husband was a rock star and we got everywhere we needed to be just fine.

Tour Guide in Rome: Mattia, at Private Tours of Rome

Where we stayed: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/53188946?source_impression_id=p3_1681666443_yZy8MYBiful4dpi9

This was an amazing experience for our family with wonderful memories made.

Thanks for letting me share our adventure here! Trisha//Sisters that Shop