Amalfi Coast, Italy

On July 13, 2018August 11, 2018 By treesatravels1 Comment

July 11, 2018

We arrived in Amalfi from Napoli this morning by private car. The other options to get to Amalfi seemed too complicated so we decided to spend the little extra money and take our Napoli AirBnB hostess’ suggestion of going by private car for 120 euro. Luckily we did because the place in Amalfi was a bit hard to find! Our new Amalfi AirBnB host met us by a small moped car park, easily missed. Then he walked us down to our apartment, which can’t be seen from the road! When we got to see the view from our place it just made the small inconvenience forgotten. The view was great! The water was so blue, you could see boats passing by, and to the left a really great view of the coast. Even though this place was small, the luxury of being next to the ocean was so awesome.

Starting from a few days before arriving, I started to feel a little sick. I think the constant walking, being outside and not having the best diet (Italian carbs all day) really started to take a toll on my body. So when we first got there, I took a power nap (repeat of Naples haha) hoping to gain some energy.

Afterwards, we walked about 8 minutes down the road to a nearby cafe that had an AMAZING view! Oh I just think anywhere we go there’s so much for the eyes to see! The food there was fine but the view was really spectacular.

Our host had told us about a beach that could be accessed by steps off the road. After lunch, we found the entrance and headed down. I believe the beach was called Lido Degli? I could be wrong but there is a restaurant on that beach with the name. Anyways, the steps down wasn’t so bad but up would be! That’s why instead, after some time on the beach, we took a water taxi to Amalfi’s main port. But the time on this little beach was nice. The beaches here don’t have sand. It is all pebbled. The water was so blue and clear it was tempting not to go in. But being that it was our first day, and starting the day off rather late, we wanted to focus on just seeing what is around first.

The water taxi put us at Amalfi’s city center about 5:30 pm. On the ride there, is was nice to see the coast from a different angle. While in the “city” (hardly a city more like a village), we saw many tourists and shops. It took only a few minutes to walk from the port to the top of the busy area. So small!

The village was charming though, but filled with tourists just like us. Once we finished looking at some shops, bought a magnet and some towels, we found a place to sit down for dinner.

So far what I’ve seen of Amalfi it looks rather nice. I’m excited to have a lazy beach day where all I do is sunbathe and swim in the ocean. Tomorrow we are going to Positano, a neighboring town by boat. I feel it is similar to here but I guess we will have to see then!

July 12, 2018

The ferry to Positano was at 10:30am. This morning, we caught a city bus to get to Amalfi’s center. Once we boarded the ferry, it was as short twenty minute boat ride to Positano.

Coming into Positano, you could see more houses, hotels, and places build along the coast than in Amalfi. I think when people imagine the Amalfi Coast, they imagine Positano. Like I had said before, I was really looking forward to being a beach bum. Yes there was a beach right near the port but I didn’t want to be where everyone else was. It was just too crowded and not peaceful.

In my night’s research, I saw that Positano, like Amalfi, also has smaller side beaches. On the map, it had showed Arienzo beach also had a ‘free beach’ section. To get there we would have to walk. I was feeling lazy and saw that the Arienzo Beach Club also had its own water taxi to get from the main port to the beach. Hey we’re on vacation. Why not! We then took a water taxi to Arienzo Beach Club.

Here, if you take their water taxis you must spend money at their establishment. So when we got there, two chairs and an umbrella was 15 euros a person. A little steep but we weren’t going to be moving elsewhere so let’s spend a little money. Next to Arienzo there was the free beach that could be reached by steps from the road above, like I had mentioned before. We saw people come down from there but had no idea how long it actually took to get there from the port.

After getting settled in some chairs, the waiter asked us if we wanted to make a reservation for lunch. Wow we even had to book a time slot!? We supposed 1 pm would work and enjoyed where we were till then.

For lunch, we had a bar seat that looked out onto the beach. Let me tell you, a person could get used to this view! The water was so blue and it was just so nice to look out into the sea when having a seafood lunch!

We pretty much spent the day sunbathing and swimming in the water. The water’s temperature was brisk. It took some courage to dip your body fully in, but once you did, it felt really great with the sun.

We headed back to Positano’s main port to check out the sights there at about 5 pm. After closing out and packing up, our total bill was about 77 euros (chairs, umbrella, and lunch). Arienzo was nice because they had an available free shower, bathroom for guest as well as food and drinks. It was a bit pricey but a nice time on the beach. Plus it wasn’t so crowded like it was on the main beach.

Positano had more little walkways and alleyways. It was definitely bigger than Amalfi. We had about two hours till our ferry so we tried to find the best view to take pictures of the coast line. There were many art galleries and small boutiques that filled the little streets. Maybe next time we go to the Amalfi coast we should stay in Positano!

Our ferry was at 7:45 pm so we quickly headed back. Trying to take pictures in the town at this time of day was difficult though. The sun was so strong and nearly every photo we had squinty eyes! I’m hoping we at least got something memorable!

The ride back was an easy twenty minutes. We then had dinner in Amalfi at Taverna Degli Apostoli. I’m super happy we found this place. It was very delicious! We had seafood with fumili noodles and the gnocci that was stuffed with cheese (the lighting was so dark it was hard to get food photos. Sorry!). The waitress and waiter were also very nice and the ambiance just perfect for dinner. We really wished we had more time this evening but we were trying to catch the 10 pm bus back to our place so had to rush a bit.

Having a relax day in Positano, amazing views of the coast and one of the best meals of the trip thus far were a great way to start off our time in Amalfi.

July 13, 2018

So being that we are vacation, and the beginning half was “go-go-go,” we were a little guilty of sleeping in. This morning we woke up pretty late and decided to have a day spent nearby. After getting ready, we took a bus to Amalfi port to catch the water taxi to Santa Croce. We had originally seen Santa Croce from the lunch spot on our first day in Amalfi. Just looking at it from above was gorgeous so we had to check it out.

So based on our previous experience in Positano, we knew that taking the Santa Croce water taxi we were essentially saying we would spend money at their establishment. At this beach, it was much smaller and there were only two restaurants there. When we first arrived, we sat down and had lunch straight away. For lunch, we chose a salad (trying to get more vegetables in the diet), a plate of mussels and seafood risotto. The food was not bad and the service nice enough.

After lunch, we purchased two sun-beds and one umbrella (20 euros) for some time on the beach. Once we digested, we took a dip in the water and checked out this little beach a bit. To the right of the restaurant there was this other beach section that seemed abandoned. There looked to be scraps from an old bar that used to be in that space. Now, all that was left was scrap wood and an empty beach lot.

It was sort of interesting because it felt like a small private beach. From here, we could see many people swimming in the neighboring beaches and some even jumping off rock bridges and cliffs. Since we weren’t that confident in our swimming skills, we stayed close to the shore.

Santa Croce beach was nice in that it was smaller and less people. Unfortunately, not too long after lunch, a swim and some photos, the sun disappeared from this beach. The restaurant owner told us the sun usually goes about 4:30 pm. Well, that’s what we get for starting the day so late! Already by 4, many people started leaving this beach in search of more sun. After closing our bill, a total of 44 euros, we too were some of those people.

We took the restaurant’s water taxi back to the port. It wasn’t too late in the day, so we figured we make a stop for gelato.

About this time, I had checked my phone and got some really sad news. My grandma had passed away. My mom had told me she went peacefully and to pray for her. My grandma was nearly 100 and everyone knew that she would go Home soon, but death always is accompanied by sadness. Suddenly a heavy feeling came over me and all I could do was try not to cry. But of course that was a failed attempt as I am the biggest baby ever. Writing this now weeks after it happened, I’m much better. I feel sad but also happy she can rest easy now and be with my grandfather and with God. My grandmother was a great woman who lived a long life. I will always have these happy memories of her in my childhood and even months before her passing. I’m glad she got to meet Caoliang and we were able to share the memories we do have. I love you Ba Noi and will see you again.

Not wanting to have the rest of our holiday spent in sadness, after having a good cry and calling my mother, I tried to put my head in a better space. That night we decided to check out one of the restaurants that we could walk to.

The place was called Al Pesce d’Oro and had surprisingly good food. We had a veggie pizza and a seafood pasta that was cooked in a bag. Sorry I can’t remember the proper name but it was apparently a local item. After finishing our meal, we walked back to the apartment, enjoying the sounds of the sea as we went.

July 14, 2018

On our last day we decided to stay near by. Caoliang was thinking about checking out Capri but being that it was our last day, we wanted to have an easier pace than an early wake up call and no time to really relax.

We decided to go to the beach that was walkable from the apartment. Once we got there, we picked a couple sun-beds that were in front of Lido Degli Artisti Restaurant. When we got there about noon, there were already so many sun-beds filled. Luckily we got a couple for 25 euros total.

The afternoon was basically spent in the sun. It was so nice to take a dip into the cool ocean, especially after sitting under the hot Italian sun for so long! At this beach there were also some large rocks that we just had to check out. Thank goodness we had water shoes! I have no idea how people walked barefoot on these rocks! The rocks didn’t offer much amazing scenery and after being out there for at least thirty minutes, I knew we had to go back for water and lunch!

Being that we were in front of this establishment, we decided to have a quick lunch here. For lunch we got a large beer, water, a caprese panini and octopus starter salad. The total was 21 euros for everything. The food was good and filling. Since we didn’t order from the regular menu, we sat by the bar to eat and had a nice view.

After lunch we continued to swim until the shade covered the beach. Like before, we took the water taxi back around 5:30. Since it was our last day, we walked around getting some last minute souvenirs. We didn’t want to go through the struggle of figuring out what to eat so decided to go to Taverna Degli Apostoli, again. It was so good so why not!!!

This time we got a lemon pesto spaghetti and the same seafood pasta. But today we chose a caprese salad which had baby tomatoes on it and this huge ball of mozzarella cheese. Best caprese salad ever! Since it was our last night, we had a glass of red wine each. We also ordered a side of local veggies, peppers. So, so good. Dinner turned out to be 92 euros. A bit much but hey it was our last night in Amalfi!

Once dinner was done, we still had some time before our bus at 10 pm so we just walked around the port. Great and simple day. Tomorrow we go back to Naples and then fly to Madrid in the evening.

Honeymoon, you were awesome.

xx
t.

Naples, Italy

On July 10, 2018August 12, 2018 By treesatravelsLeave a comment

July 9, 2018

The last few days in the north side of Italy had been so lovely. We were on the second half of our honeymoon trip and still had Naples and the Amalfi Coast to enjoy. Travelling within Italy, we decided it would be best to get to each city by train. So from Florence, we took the train down south to the city of Naples, or Napoli as the Italians call it.

When we arrived, it was about noon. The streets were full of people and honking cars. Immediately, we could feel the change in city! Florence was so charming and small but Naples was bustling, loud and dirty. The walk to our lodging was only 16 minutes but with the amount of people and cars everywhere, it seemed like so much longer.

We had been really lucky so far with AirBnBs this whole trip so far. Thankfully, Naples was no different. The hostess met us and introduced us to her apartment. She also had to add that the stone around the entrance door was real rock from the volcano Vesuvius. After we got the chance to put our stuff down, we had a slow start to getting into Naples. To be honest, I was so tired. For over a week we were going and going and going, so much that I was starting to feel sick and in need of so much sleep. I didn’t mind that we didn’t dive into Naples. It was kind of nice to just take it easy for a little bit.

After a nap and getting ready, we finally leave the apartment about 3 pm. The first place we went to was Ill Cuoppa on Via Vicaria Vecchia. I had read that cuoppas, a paper cone filled with different fried items, are a popular street snack in Naples, so with many places closed midday, we decided this quick snack would be a good option. We got two different cones, one with different vegetable items and a fried rice bowl and another one that had seafood, anchovies, little octopus too. They were pretty good in my opinion. The place fries it as you order so they were very hot and much larger than we expected! Luckily, my husband has a good appetite! The total for our snack was 12 euros.

Afterwards, we walked down Via Vicaria Vecchia which had many little shops and also a very narrow street way. The feel of Naples is so different from other Italian cities we have seen before. Here there is a lot of cars and mopeds, honking and pedestrians. The streets here are so busy but most of the cross walks don’t have lights to tell you when to walk, you just walk and hope cars stop! It is a little bit scary but I try to just follow someone else into the street. I’m not brave enough to go alone!

On our walk, we passed by a few churches and Naple landmarks like Obelisco – Guglia di San Domenico and Gesù Nuovo Square. From there, we took a left onto Via Toledo and found many shops. In my research before, I had seen that this street held much of Naples shopping. We spent some time just looking around and window shopping.

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Later we headed to the water’s edge and really enjoyed the sight. From the port, you could clearly see Mount Vesuvius. I didn’t expect to see it but it was nice to have it in the background and know it had such an important role in Italian history. Did you know that Mount Vesuvius is the most dangerous volcano? Yup! It is so because of the high population of people that live near it. Let’s hope it stays in a deep sleep.

We didn’t do much on this first day, partly because I was feeling tired and didn’t do much research as I usually would before coming to a place (shocking but looks like a new trend of mine). One thing I found out though was Naples is the birthplace of the Margherita pizza! So with that, we had to at least have it here right?!

We first attempted to go to Gino E Toto Sorbillo for dinner but the crowd waiting outside was huge! The thought of waiting for probably at least an hour didn’t sound so appealing so we walked ten minutes to L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele which had an equally huge wait outside!!! I’m thinking these places are just hyped up. Not wanting to wait and it being late, we decided to go to a nearby pizzeria instead, Pizzeria D’Angeli. The wait was nonexistent and the food was not bad. I know some foodies might be dying that we didn’t go to the famous pizza places, but hey we still have one more night!!

July 10, 2018

This day we started off a little later than expected (at 11:30am) but we had a pretty successful day anyways. The night before I spent some time researching some things to do before bed. One of those things was a tour of the underground waterways of Napoli. That sounds nerdy but it got so many good reviews and sounded really interesting to check out. So we went by the place about 11:40 am and was told to come back at noon when the tour started.

For the short time we had to wait, we walked Via dei Tribunali to look for a small snack before entering the tour (which would take an hour and a half). We came across Antica Pizza Fritta da Esterina Sorbillo dal 1935 which had some pretty appetizing pictures of fried pizza in the window. We ordered one, paid 3.50 euro for it and waited only a couple minutes before it was given to us.

This thing was huge! Good thing we only ordered one! The length across was at least 15 inches. The filling was a mix of cheese and some meat, but very different from a calzone. What I liked most about it was the fried crust. It was piping hot when we got it so we had to be really careful not to burn our mouths. I was pretty happy with our snack. It was about time to go back so we cleaned up our things and went back to Napoli Sotterranea for the underground tour.

Napoli Sotterranea is an underground tour that focuses on the waterways underneath the city. Of course they span much longer than the area we explored but in the tour, they would show us more than just the waterways. We would also be able to learn about how they were made, what they were originally used for, what they were used for during WWII, as well as some other parts of Napoli’s history like their Roman Theatre and its remains.

The tour group wasn’t so big, thankfully. Our tour guide Alex was from Napoli and very quirky, knowledgeable and funny. The first hour of the tour was spent all underground, 40 meters deep to be exact! To give you a more informational background on the tunnels, here is an excerpt from the tour’s website:

The first artifacts of underground excavations date back to about 5,000 years ago, almost at the end of the prehistoric era. Later, in the III century BC, the Greeks opened the first underground quarries to obtain the blocks of tuff needed to build the walls and temples of their Neapolis and dug in numerous rooms to create a series of funerary hypogea. The impressive development of the underground network began in Roman times: the Romans in fact in the Augustan period endowed the city with road tunnels and above all a complex aqueduct network, fed by underground ducts coming from the Serino springs, 70 km away from the center of Naples. Other branches of the Augustan age aqueduct arrived as far as Miseno, to feed the Piscina mirabilis, which was the water reserve of the Roman fleet. Wide that little that allowed the passage of a man, the aqueduct burrows branched out in all directions, with the aim of feeding fountains and houses located in different areas of the upper city. At times, on the walls, there are still traces of the hydraulic plaster, used by the engineers of antiquity to waterproof the tunnels. At the beginning of the 16th century the old aqueduct and the many pluvial cisterns could no longer satisfy the city’s need for water which had spread like wildfire and so the wealthy Neapolitan nobleman Cesare Carmignano built a new aqueduct. It was only at the beginning of the twentieth century that it stopped digging underground for water supply and abandoned a network of tunnels and cisterns of over 2,000,000 m², spread throughout the city.

The undergrounds were then used during the Second World War as air-raid shelters to protect themselves from the disastrous bombings that hit the city. The cavities were lit and arranged to accommodate dozens of people who hurried to the sound of the siren down the stairs that went down. Remains of furniture, graffiti and various objects in an excellent state of preservation still testify to the great fear of the bombing and the numerous periods of the day lived in the shelters, revealing a cross section of important life and at the same time tragic city history.

Some interesting facts I remember, the tunnels walls were this porous rock. When the waterways were stopped being used, it was because there was an outbreak of cholera and it infected the water since the water walls cavities were this porous rock. So they had to stop using them. Also, the aqueducts were kept cleaned by a cleaner. They would climb down these narrow holes, there were foot holes chiseled in the rocks side so they could use them to climb down and up from, and use like a net to clean the cisterns. Also during WWll, the space was used as an air raid shelter, an area with “stalls” were made for showers and bathroom areas. We also got to see toys that children had left behind during the time of the war.

When we were learning about WWII, Alex had told us Napoli was the first city in Italy to be liberated. The interesting part was that it was liberated by the citizens of Napoli! But because southern Italy was rather poor during that time, it took a very long time to rebuild the city so many people had to live on the streets to wait until their homes could be rebuilt.

One of the coolest parts of the tour was being able to walk in these super narrow waterways. The waterway was very tall but only as wide as my shoulders. We held onto an electric candle to light our way. You had to walk as if you were on a cat walk, one foot directly in front of the other just to get through the tunnel. Alex told us the waterway had to be designed this way so that water would always be moving. Really cool! Also Alex showed us some plants that were being grown as an experiment down there by a university. The humidity is always 100% so the plans didn’t even need to be watered! Also the temperature is always about 17 degrees celsius which is very perfect for the plants needs.

After exploring underground, Alex took us to a place nearby that had ruins from the Roman Theatre. The archaeological site actually had apartment buildings built all above it. Archaeologist didn’t discover it till hundreds of years later. Alex also told us that they couldn’t even continue any further digging and discover everything that could possibly exist because of the apartments above it. So there actually could be even more of the Roman Theatre that exists! We got to see the “backstage” area where the actors or musicians would prepare. The area discovered was actually found in a private home. Pretty interesting stuff if you ask me!

I was really happy with the tour and our guide, Alex. I think it was really interesting to see a different side of the city many people typically wouldn’t see.

After the tour, it was about 1:30pm. The night before we tried to go to the famous pizza place, Sorbillo but the wait was too long. We decided that today, our last day in Napoli, would have to be the day we try this pizza! So we took a short walk to the place and put our name on the list. It took a solid 50 minutes to be seated. When we did, we ordered the Margherita Extra and also their anchovy pizza.

The pizza definitely had to be eaten with a fork and nice. Super cheesy with a really wet filling. I think if you are expecting the traditional pizza you can hold and eat with your hands, you might be a little disappointed. The taste though was really good. I really liked that I had heaps of mozzarella on my pizza (my favorite cheese)! Caoliang said his anchovy pizza was really good too. Was it worth the 50 minute wait? Eh I would say if you only had a day or first time in Napoli, yes you should wait and yes, we weren’t disappointed when we got our food. Checked that off the list!

Afterwards, we headed to the San Carlo Theatre for our guided tour. The theatre opened in the 1700s and was still active now. It was a piece of Neapolitan history I felt like would be cool to see. Unfortunately, when we reached the theatre, the man at the ticket book said the tour was cancelled!! So we just shrugged that off and went to get some coffee.

So according to my research, coffee is a big thing in Napoli. We decided to check out Gran Caffe Gambrinus. This cafe has a lot of history and has been around since the 1800s. If you would like to know more, click the link HERE. We ordered the Caffe Nocciola, a coffee and nutcream, as well as the Caffe’ del Nonno, a cold creamy coffee. Both were so sweet but so delicious! It was perfect since we just had lunch. The look of the place was very fancy and so were the workers in their attire. I felt they were a little snobby but we had our experience and coffees so I was happy with that.

After our plans didn’t work out withe theatre tour, we had more free time in the day. We decided to walk around Via Toledo and look at some shops.

That evening for dinner we went to Tandem for pasta and ragu. I had read ragu was a big thing in Napoli too. The ragu here was good but honestly, it was not spectacular. I think Caoliang definitely could’ve had that delicious pizza for dinner too!

Oh before I forget! We also went to Sfogliatella Mary fora popular Napoli sweets, sfogliatella frolla and sfogliatella riccia. The pastries were very sweet and had a hint of orange. So anyways back to dinner. We had a pretty filling dinner of meatballs, ragu and ricotta pasta, grilled eggplant and a salad.

What a day in Napoli! I felt that we got to learn a lot this day and also had an easy paced day. Lately, everyday has been go, go go, so it was nice to have a late start to the day but still get to do everything we intended to do.

Tomorrow we are headed to the Amalfi coast for some down time by the water. Can’t wait!

xx
t.

Cinque Terre, Italy

On July 8, 2018July 26, 2018 By treesatravelsLeave a comment

July 8, 2018

On our first day in Florence, we were kindly greeted by our AirBnB host (as mentioned before). We had seen a small tour ad for Cinque Terre on one of the maps she was showing us of Florence. Hm, Cinque Terre? Caoliang had heard of the place and our hostess spoke really highly of it. Should we go there? With about three and a half days total in Florence, why not plan another day trip! Our hostess had said it is actually not that far and very manageable for a day trip.

So with the beautiful pictures we searched and our hostess’ advice, we looked into a day tour to go to Cinque Terre. Of course with tours you don’t really get a lot of your own time to fully enjoy the place, but with only a day to spare, we figured the most efficient way to see all of Cinque Terre was within a tour group.

After a little bit of research, we found Getyourguide.com that had a full day tour to Cinque Terre from Florence. Perfect! The tour would be about twelve hours and cost 90 euros a person. The tour was titled: Seaside Beauty and included seeing 4/5 of the villages that made up Cinque Terre. It also included some time to swim! We were sold!

This morning we woke up super early to make sure we were at the meeting point on time. When we arrived, we saw the tour group was rather large. In our group there had to of been at least 50 people! After all the guest were accounted for, we took a double decker bus two hours to Cinque Terre. Summer time is crazy for tourists and honestly I kind of hate being part of that big annoying group moving through a city but when time is short, it just made sense.

The first little village we arrived at was Manarola. It is a tiny little village with an amazing view. The houses lined the coast creating a very colorful backdrop with the ocean right next to it. The thirty minutes given here, we spent mostly taking photos. It was hard to venture off any further in fear we would get left behind from the tour group! We saw people were also swimming and sunbathing on the rocks. The water looked so enticing! But with little time there we had to keep moving.

Next was Vernazza, also a small village with similar coastal homes and view. Many swimmers and sunbathers here too. I really wanted to get in the water but we only had about 40 minutes here. You would think 40 minutes would be plenty, but once you get situated and in water, 40 minutes could already be nearly gone! But i knew swimming was coming soon so i just stayed patient. The villages were rather similar, very small with old colorful houses. Looking around made me wonder who lives here and for how long have they lived here.

After Vernazza, the whole group headed to Monterosso Al Mare by train. This is the largest village out of the Cinque Terre. We were allocated nearly three hours here to have lunch, shop, sight see or swim. Basically whatever you wanted as long as you were at the meeting point at said time. It was so crowded right where the station let out so we walked down the coast a bit to see if more space was available. We ate lunch at this small cafe with some outside tables. The food was fine but nothing special. They had a clean bathroom though with a toilet seat (in Italy, toilet seats are rare)! Then we walked to the beach and found a small spot to set up. We got to spend about twenty minutes in the water. The water was clear and cold but felt nice to be able to swim. Again, we didn’t have much time so soon had to grab our things and meet the group. Monterosso is beautiful though and it was nice to see such a different view then we’ve been seeing. After this we took a short boat ride to Riomaggiore.

In Riomaggiore, people were swimming too but it wasn’t like a beach set up. It was more like slabs of concrete and rocks that went straight into the ocean. There were a group of boys jumping off tall rocks here. They are brave. It made me nervous just watching them. We walked around the village just a bit to grab a coffee and use the bathroom then had to go meet the group again.

Lastly we ended up in La Spezia. This was just a meeting point to get to our bus to go back to Florence so we really didn’t see much here. Our tour guide said there wasn’t much to see anyways. I guess we will just have to believe him!

The tour was decently organized for the size group and wanting to fit so many things into one day. The tour guides really just helped us get to one place to another but didn’t offer too much information about the actual villages or history of the place. That was ok though. It was nice to see the different views. Originally we didn’t even plan to go see Cinque Terre. But with so many beautiful pictures and a day tour that was 90 euros a person to see 4 out of 5 of the villages, we felt like we had to. We think it was a good deal even if the day felt rushed.

It’s hard to manage such a large group and do so much in a few hours so I think we got our money’s worth and had a nice day of it too. No complaints here but I can’t say that for other people in the group!! We heard a few complaints from other people on the tour group. Honestly though, if you’re paying 90 euro a person to see as much as we saw today, AND knowing you’re in a group of nearly 50 people, you can’t expect everything to go perfect to your liking. I think for the things we saw and for the price we paid, this was a pretty good tour.

Cinque Terre is a really beautiful place of Italy. I definitely would recommend setting aside more time for these villages so you can really enjoy the scenery and have enough time to soak up the sun and swim in the sea. I’m pretty pleased we got to fit it into our honeymoon though when we didn’t expect to be able to see it.

xx
t.

Florence, Italy

On July 8, 2018July 21, 2018 By treesatravels1 Comment

July 5, 2018

We arrived in the afternoon from Rome by train. Unfortunately for us, we were short one euro for the bus so had to walk to our AirBnB, which was a 25 minutes walk with luggage. It was hot but luckily it wasn’t further. Our hostess was really nice and came to meet us. The apartment was small but had all the essentials and was located really centrally to all the shopping. After resting and letting our sweat dry, we wandered around the city.

This was the first time I DID NOT plan a very clear schedule for the day. Shocking, I know! My little sister had lived in Florence for six months before, and told us that Florence is pretty small so because she said that, I felt like it would be fine to roam around. This first day, we saw many shopping places, squares, statues, churches and a couple markets. The thing about not researching was I didn’t know what anything was!

The feeling of Florence was already very different to Rome. Even though there were tourists, it wasn’t crazy like in Rome. Florence also felt smaller, because it is. We still saw some iconic Florence sights like Brunelleschi’s Dome and the Piazza della Signoria.

After walking around the city center (and having a quick lunch), we headed to the hilltop for the evening hours. The walk wasn’t so bad because we followed our host’s advice of checking out the rose garden before going up all the steps.

Since we were in the garden, it kind of put us almost halfway up the steps to the top. Once we got to the top the view was really nice. You can clearly see the whole city including the famous Duomo (which actually means “house of God” not “dome” like people think).

We spent some time up there taking in the sights and taking photos. Up there was also some cycling event going on. It was like a massive group cycle session. It was pretty cool to see.

Afterwards we went to eat at Enoteca Fuori Porta. We got there a little before dinner rush so there weren’t many people, but most all the terrace was reserved. Thankfully, the host was pretty nice to let us sit at a table with a later reservation (as long as we left by (9:30pm). The weather is so nice when the sun goes down so having a patio seat was good. We had so much carbs in our trip in the few days we were in Italy, I wasn’t sure to have more pasta. But I guess it would be silly not to! We chose pate on toast, a ravioli dish and a stuffed rabbit dish to switch it up a bit.

Since I mentioned dinner, I have to stress how much carbs we have been eating! Too much! I can see how easy it is to gain weight visiting Italy. Every meal we eat consists of 99% carbs! Pizza, pasta, sandwiches…ugh too much! I need a stalk of broccoli or something!

July 6, 2018

This day we signed up for a cooking tour. Like I had mentioned, I didn’t plan much for Florence (surprisingly) so we kind of planned things a couple days ahead of doing them. Since we would have a good chunk of time in Florence, Caoliang thought it might be cool to do a cooking tour since we’ve never done such thing. So on this day, we met up with the tour group at 8:45 am. The group was pretty large consisting of at least twenty people (most American or Canadian). The tour was a really fun experience! It was hosted by this company called Walkabout Florence.

It might be too much to tell in detail but basically we started the tour with a walk through the Central Market. Here, our guide Isaac, an American chef who has lived and cooked in Italy for at least ten years, told us about the vendors, foods to buy or cook with, and bought the items we would use to cook our meal for the day.

Then we took a bus 15 minutes outside the city to a venue with a lovely view of the Tuscan hills. We then met Isaac’s cooking partner, this spunky older Italian woman, Carmela. Carmela and Isaac showed us how to make bruchetta, pesto sauce, ragu sauce, how to prepare an Italian pork roast and tiramisu.

We also had an endless amount of red wine and got to eat as we learned.

Isaac also had a little pasta making lesson. He showed us how to make pasta from scratch and also the different types of pasta you could make after you have the dough ready. Then after that we each got to make our own pasta!

A fun fact I learned was in Italian pasta, they typically use the thinner pastas for lighter sauces and thicker pastas for the darker sauces. Also they usually use red onion and red wines for things with red meat and white onion and white wine for lighter meats. When someone asked Isaac why, he said it was primarily for an appearance factor. Oh, another fun things I learned, it is pronounced “bru-sketta” not “bru-shetta” and to say thank you it is “grazi-eh” not “gratsi”!

After the cooking lessons and a few glasses of wine, the whole group sat down to enjoy our homemade lunch! It was really nice to sit with such an amazing view. First, we were served our pesto pasta as our “first course.” The pesto sauce was so good! Also the homemade pasta was just perfect! After the first dish, we had our ragu with the thicker cut pasta. Also very delicious. You think two pasta dishes would fill you up right? Well, we still had the pork with roasted potatoes! By this point I was so stuffed but we still had our tiramisu!! Lunch was one of the best meals we have had in Italy thus far. Not to mention the killer view!

After filling our bellies, we had time to take some photos with the beautiful background and chefs Isaac and Carmela. Once we wrapped up the tour, it was about 4 in the afternoon. The rest of the day we walked around the city more until we called it a day around 8pm. So pooped! But so far, so good.

July 7, 2018

-After returning from PISA-

Once we got back to Florence, we rushed over to the Duomo to go see inside the cathedral before closing time. Unfortunately, when we arrived at 4 pm, the line to get in wrapped all around the cathedral!! There was no way we would make it if we got in line. Also, we tried to buy tickets to the duomo earlier in our Florence stay and they had said tickets were sold out till Tuesday! Looks like we just have to come back to Florence to see this dome and cathedral!

The rest of the day we spent roaming around the city more. We finished off the day at Il Latini restaurant. Our AirBnB host had this place written on her list of food places as a good place for Italian steak. I had no idea Italy was known for their steak! The place didn’t open till 7:30 pm and we arrived at about 8 pm. The place was already pretty crowded! Luckily, we got seated and noticed there were many tourists around us. It’s possible this place was written about in a tour guide since it seemed so popular amongst foreigners.

Skimming through the menu, I saw the Florentine Steak was 50 euros per 100 grams. Since Caoliang and I aren’t too picky with our food, we decided to try other things instead. We ordered a plate of salami to start, a penne with meat sauce, sirloin steak with a side of grilled vegetables and tiramisu to finish it off. We noticed everyone around us (the foreigners) ordered the Florentine steak though. The Florentine steak is prepared rare and for many people, it was too much to eat. We constantly heard foreigners around us ask them to cook the meat longer. I felt it was a little silly to order a steak that was meant to be cooked rare and then just go mess it up and ask them to cook it more. –sigh– Our sirloin was rare and it was bloody but not so much that you felt disgusting eating it (I typically eat steak medium rare).

Anyways, dinner was satisfying, especially because we only had one real meal this day! (Oh yeah, our previous meal in the day was more like a brunch and it was a famous boiled beef stomach sandwich from Da Nerbone.) With full tummies and a bit more lifted spirits, we headed home and called it a day!

July 8, 2018

-after the Cinque Terre-

When we got back, we were pretty pooped from a full day tour in Cinque Terre. After resting and washing up, we went out to L’Osteria Di Giovanni for an unexpectedly fancy dinner. Since the night before we didn’t eat the “real” Florentine steak, Caoliang really wanted to have it on our last night.

At Giovanni, we had to wait a little bit for a table but it was easy to see why. The place was pretty packed and busy. The whole evening was really nice with lots of good food, but at a pretty slow pace. After the bread, caprese salad, truffle sauce pasta, and 100 gram Italian steak AND a few glasses of wine, we were stuffed!! Definitely a good way to end our time in Tuscany! Onto the next city! Napoli here we come!

Oh before I sign off.. I wanted to mention the awesome street art we’ve seen in Florence. I think it’s much more than your usual street grafitti. We especially like this little white character and his red hearts. When ever we walk around the city and find it, we try to snap a picture. Florence has a lot of charm and these random pieces of street art definitely add to it!

xx
t.

Pisa, Italy

On July 7, 2018July 25, 2018 By treesatravels1 Comment

July 7, 2018

By this point, we had been in Florence for two nights and had already seen most of the city. So on Saturday morning, we decided to take a day trip to Pisa. Originally, we had booking train tickets that would put us in Pisa for at least six hours. After hearing that there isn’t much there, we decided to change our train time to come back earlier in hopes to be able to see the basilica of Florence before it was scheduled to close at 4:30pm. So we boarded a train about 10:30 am to Pisa. The whole train ride was only an hour. It is probably possible to get there even earlier if you go by car since the train had a few stops.

When we arrived we had a clear point of being there, to see the tower! I had done some research prior but it wasn’t much. We exited the station and walked through the square with the statue of Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II (old king). It was a pretty small statue and easy to look past. After that, we took Corso Italia Street to get to the tower. This street was full of shopping and small food places. Also lots of tourists! After about twenty minutes or so, we reached the tower! It was pretty cool to see in person I’d have to say but man, the sun was just baking our faces. We quickly found some shade to try and cool off.

So I’m not sure if I have mentioned it earlier, but going on a trip where it is just two people is really hard in trying to get a photo together! And yes, we have asked other people to take it but they always come out so terrible! So while trying to get a photo of us in front of the tower was a little tricky. We had a small tripod and did our best anyways.

Afterwards we paid 5 euros each for a ticket to see the baptistry and inside the cathedral. The entrance to the cathedral is usually free but it is only free at certain time slots. Since we were on a time crunch, we figured just to pay the 5 euros and see it right then. (Also random, but, the toilets at the tower cost .80 to use!) The whole space that the tower and cathedral are on is called the Piazza dei Miracoli. This space consists of the Pisa Cathedral, the Pisa Baptistry, the Campanile, and the Camposanto Monumentale. Each place had a different entrance fee, or 18 euros to see everything. Again with our time crunch, we figured two out of four isn’t bad.

The Pisa Cathedral was very nice (inside and out) but after seeing THE church in Vatican City the other day, it’s hard to be amazed by any other church. Nonetheless, still great to see and walk around. The Baptistry was also interesting to see. I had never seen such a large structure dedicated to a baptismal fount. It was very large but didn’t have much in it. It made me wonder if they still use it for baptisms.

Soon 1:45 pm rolled around and with a train at 2:30 pm, we had to start walking back to the station. There are a few other things to see in Pisa but really, it is just the tower. So it was cool to see such an iconic figure of Italy, even if it was for a couple hours.

Back to Florence!

xx
t.

Rome, Italy

On July 3, 2018July 17, 2018 By treesatravels1 Comment

July 2, 2018

Honeymoon has begun!! So with wrapping up Malaga, we were lucky to have TWO weeks free till Caoliang had to start work again. Many of his colleagues took this long break to go home but we took this break to see a new country and spend some time together after getting married. Where you ask? Italy! Home of pizza and pasta and people speaking with their hands!

This day was primarily a travel day. So from Malaga, we took a train to Madrid and then a flight to Rome. We didn’t arrive at Rome till the evening so really couldn’t do much. In each place we stay, we tend to look up AirBnBs for lodging. In Rome, we chose a place that wasn’t too far from the Vatican City. We had not been to Rome before but when looking at a map and using Google to figure out walking distance from things, I figured this location would be ideal. Our host, Antonello met us right outside the nearest station and kindly showed us our place. The room was small but it had everything we needed.

After dropping off our stuff, we were hungry! Luckily, Antonello recommended some places nearby that we could walk to and that were still open.

We ended up going to Buona Forchetta. It was a short 10 minute walk away and being that it was a little later in the evening, there wasn’t much car traffic or sun to slow us down. The restaurant was situated next to a residential area, the tables were all outside in front of the restaurant, and a decent amount of people were there. We ordered a pizza, spinach risotto and two beers. The food was tasty, affordable and beers necessary to celebrate the beginning of our trip. I was surprised at how cheap the pizzas at this place were. They were all about 6 to 9 euros each.

Even though this day was primarily travel. We were happy to arrive in Rome safely and to have the next two weeks free to exploring!

July 3, 2018

First full day! So I’m not sure if I have told you guys this before, but I’m a very plan oriented person. Before each new place or big trip, I tend to spend some time researching and creating an itinerary for the day. This helps me to feel productive and use my time wisely when going to a new place. In my opinion, I think when you don’t have much time in a new city, you have to know where you want to go and what you want to see before, so you don’t waste time on the actual day fiddling around with your phone trying to think of what to see next. Luckily, my husband doesn’t have a problem with me being so plan oriented.

So as I said, I had the two full days in Rome pretty planned out. I usually make my plans based on other travel bloggers I find via Google, using Google Maps suggested itineraries, or simply just looking at a map of the city and pulling out key interest points that Google already has suggested. From there, I check the distance and see how much time it would take to walk from point A to point B, etc.

On this day we started with Campo de’ Fiori. We took the city bus into the city to save some time and to get a better feel of where our apartment was located in relations to all the stuff we wanted to see. Campo de’ Fiori is a small market area in like a plaza area. All the vendors here sold mostly the same stuff: dried fruit, nuts, dried pasta and some cooking seasoning. The place was interesting to see but unless you were planning to buy something, little time would be spent here. I honestly wanted to buy some of the cool looking pastas but didn’t because of the lack of space in my luggage.

From there, we took a short seven minute walk to Largo di Torre Argentina. According to my research, this was a place with ruins of Pompey’s Theatre but now was a place where a bunch of cats lived. I didn’t see any cats roaming around but I did see a sign that said not to feed the cats because they already had specific food. Strange. As you could guess, we didn’t spend much time there either. Next we walked under the very hot Italian sun to Campidoglio. I’m guessing because Rome is the capital of Italy and it is high travel season, the city was very crowded. Did I mention it was hot? Anyways, Piazza del Campidoglio was laid down at the summit of Campidoglio, the most important of Rome’s seven hills, and is the first modern square to be designed in Rome. Surrounded the plaza was the Campidoglio Museum and Fontana della Dea Roma. We took this opportunity to find some shade and sip some water, along with snapping pictures and video of course. Roaming around the backside of the fountain, we saw the Roman Forum. This was actually very impressive and peaked our interests.

We didn’t exactly go down into the Roman Forum just yet, but we spent some time walking around it. It was actually more interesting to see it from above. We also saw some archaeologists working underneath a tent. I wonder, with something so old, how often do they really find new stuff?

Rome has a few major sites that nearly every tourist who comes to Rome plans to see. One of those things, is the Colosseum. We had purchased our entry tickets online, with Tiqets, before to enter at 4:30 pm (36 euros for two people). Because it’s such a high traffic place, you must have a ticket to enter. We got to the Colosseum grounds a bit early just because everything was unfamiliar to us and we wanted to be sure we weren’t late for our time slot. Once it was our time to go in, we entered smoothly and bought two additional tickets for a guided tour (5 euros a person). When we were outside waiting in line, there are a lot of people trying to sell you tickets or tours for way more money than it should be. Before we entered, there was a man that was trying to sell us a personal guided tour for 15 euros a person. He also told me there was no guided tour inside! What a liar! I’m glad we didn’t listen to him because the reality was, there ARE guided tours inside for much cheaper! So if you plan to come to the Colosseum, beware of those salesmen!!

Our guided tour started at 5:15 pm. The group was pretty large with at least 15 people in the group. I had never really done guided tours before but in Rome they were everywhere. The tour guide would give you this listening device where you would put one ear bud in, tune into the right station, and hear the guide perfectly no matter how close or far you were from them. I thought this simple device was pretty clever for something such as guided tours (but a little wasteful because they don’t recycle the ear buds).

Our tour guide was a French woman who knew a lot about her history. She started telling us about the background of the Colosseum and how it got named. You’ll have to forgive me on not knowing everything she told us. It was a lot to remember! The interesting part, for me, was the information about the gladiators. Some fun facts I didn’t know before: the arena was originally covered in sand. The word “arena” comes from the latin word harenae which means sand. The sand helped absorb the blood from the fights and executions. At the Colosseum, they had many fights, even animal fights. The different animals they had ranged from lions, panthers, tigers, gorillas, giraffes, snakes, elephants, and bears. There was also an order to how the events would happen at the Colosseum. Usually executions or animal fights would come before the gladiator fights. Another fun fact: even if the rare chance a gladiator gets his freedom, he is seen as society scum. He would be equal to prostitutes and grave diggers. Why them? Grave diggers because they deal closely with death and prostitutes because just like them, they use their body for glory.

Being in the Colosseum was pretty interesting. It is such an old place with so much history, I could only imagine how crazy the stands would be during those times or what the spectators would actually see happening before them.

I have also read about a tour of the tunnels in the Colosseum. Unfortunately for us, we didn’t have a booking for that so had to keep all our sights above ground.

After the craziness of the Colosseum, we ventured back towards the city center and came across the Pantheon. The Pantheon is an old Roman temple but now used as a church. It is one of the best preserved of all Ancient Roman buildings because it has been continuously used throughout history. Sadly when we walked by it, the church was closed so we didn’t get to see inside. But the square in front of the Pantheon, Piazza della Rotondo, was very busy with street performers, tourists, and people just hanging out enjoying gelato. Before coming to Rome, I heard that is has a bad reputation for pick-pocketers. So anytime we are in a busy area, like we were in this plaza, I get a little nervous and hold my bag in the front of my body. Also because of this fact, we didn’t spend too much time in the area and quickly moved on.

Nearby, we found a whole street of restaurants. One tricky thing you hope to get right when traveling, is picking the right place to eat! We decided on Il Barroccio based on a blog I read. The restaurant was near the Pantheon and the prices reflected the location as well. We had ordered a pasta and Caprese salad. The food was mediocre and forgetful but I think because of where the place was, the prices were that high for just ok food. Also another detail, in Italy, anywhere you eat there will most likely be a “service fee” of about 2 euros a person. I guess you could think of it as a tip.

It was soon becoming nightfall but we still wanted to fit in at least one more thing. Our AirBnB host had told us that Janiculum Terrace was really nice and romantic at night. The walk from where we were was a bit far, thirty minutes, but we figured we could walk off our food and kind of be heading in the direction of the apartment. The walk here was a bit dark and out of the way so it made me feel a little uncertain with Google’s directions. Luckily, we made it to the top of the hill and it wasn’t all that great. The botanical garden right next to it had shrubbery that blocked a lot of the city. Also, Rome is a low city with not much to see from a high point. What was there though, were people having beers outside hanging out, a bar with live music, and a truck with snacks, beverages, and souvenirs. We went about 9:30pm and spent only a short time up there before decided to make the walk back down to call it a night.

xx
t.

With My Fiancé

On November 27, 2017 By treesatravelsLeave a comment

After our Summer together on the East Coast, Caoliang had to go back to work and back to Europe. Does being in a long distance relationship suck? Of course! But there are perks to having someone who works in cool places. You get to visit! Originally, we didn’t plan for me to come to Belgium but after being able to spend so much time together in the Summer, I missed him too much to stay away. So after two weeks, I packed a bag and was on my way to Brussels!

This was my first time in Europe so I was pretty excited. I had always wanted to go but with the fear of high costs in mind, I never got a chance to make it, until now! I spent a total of three weeks in Brussels, finding time to fit in Paris, Amsterdam, Bruges and Ghent as well. I won’t write you an essay on the three weeks but here are some high lights of each place.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM : Known for Belgian waffles and chocolate, I had to have both of these while visiting Brussels. The chocolate is so delicious! And the temptation is everywhere! The waffles on the other hand, look really yummy but are super sweet and is better shared…unless you really just have a huge sweet tooth! While in Brussels, I did a lot of walking around the city center (outside the city center there isn’t much), visited a couple museums (Royal Museums of Fine Arts and Musical Instruments Museum), and spent a fair bit of time at the Cirque tent (which happened to be next to Atomium). My most favorite thing about Brussels was The Grand Palace. It was just so monumental and awesome just to stand in and look up. There was such detail in all the structures and a marvel to be surrounded by.

PARIS, FRANCE : Ah, Paris, the city of lovers. How appropriate Caoliang would take me here! I never dreamed I would be able to go to Paris so soon, but when Caoliang asked me if I wanted to go, of course I said, “Why not!” We only had a day and a night in Paris so it was very difficult to see many things. We walked to as much as we could though. We started our day with a quick train ride into the city, the morning checking out Sacré-Cœur Basilica – the church grounds, insides, and top dome, then strolling around the city seeing such sights as the neighborhood Montmartre, the outside of the famous Moulin Rouge, the magnificent Louvre, and of course the symbol of Paris, The Eiffel Tower. Some of my favorite moments of Paris were watching the lights twinkle on The Eiffel Tower, strolling through Jardin du Luxembourg, and being able to see such a historical and iconic city with my love, Caoliang.

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS : This city actually surprised me. From it’s reputation of being a city just for stoners, I was reluctant to think anything more of it. Boy was I wrong. Amsterdam is one of the most beautiful cities I’ve seen! With canals everywhere, this city is truly something else. We decided to celebrate a year being together by taking a quick day trip to Amsterdam. Arriving by train, we saw heaps of people outside the train station. The weather was perfect and even though we only had a few hours, I was determined to see as much as we could. While in Amsterdam, we saw a couple museums (Sex Museum and Van Gogh Museum ), took a boat ride on a canal tour, walked by many coffee shops, and saw sights such as Bloemenmarkt (floating flower market) and Dam Square. Some of my favorite things in Amsterdam was the walking views and the relaxed vibe. Canals in every direction, beautiful parks, and heaps of people watching, Amsterdam really is a chill place.

BRUGES & GHENT, BELGIUM : These two cities I got to see on a day tour! With Caoliang at work so much of the time and me having the free time, I figured why not sign up for a day tour and get out into a different city or two while in Belgium! Luckily, my sweet friend Chloe was up to join me! We set out on a large tour bus that would be hitting up the two cities of Bruges and Ghent along the way. The two cities were much smaller than Brussels and had a different kind of charm. Bruges is also a canal city but much smaller than Amsterdam. There were cobble stone pathways and very medieval looking structures. Ghent was also very similar to Bruges with its canals and architectural structures. My favorite thing about these two cities is that I felt like I was transported back in time. It almost felt unreal how the buildings were. I said to Chloe at one point, “I feel like I’m in the medieval section of Disneyland or something. I just feel like Mickey and his friends will pop out around the corner at any minute!”

So this was my three weeks in Europe, part 1! I know it’s not my usual novel-long rant but I hope you guys could get a little feel for what this past September was like. Since then, it’s been back to Houston for me and off to Spain for Caoliang. Fortunately, we got to see each other for a few days this October as he came to Texas to visit me. We are super busy with wedding planning but looking forward to spending New Years together in a couple weeks. So look out for my adventure in Spain soon!

In the mean time, check out my EUROPE PT.1 compilation video of this trip!! Thanks for hanging out and catching up!!

Tran Clan’s Bahamian Adventure

On October 3, 2017 By treesatravels2 Comments

As previously promised, my first actual post about travel will date back to earlier this summer, July to be exact. For the first time in a few years, my whole family would be taking a holiday together. The last time this happened was actually on my 25th birthday, four years ago! Since I had been out of the country, my family had gone on a few trips without me. It was a bummer not to be there those years but this summer I would make up for it in an awesome trip to the Bahamas!

I won’t give you a play by play but more of the high lights of this trip. I have a total of seven people in my family including myself. For this trip, however, my little sister’s boyfriend, John joined us as well. After two flights, we landed in Nassau, Bahamas. It was our first time there so everyone was pretty excited. The great thing about my siblings and I (well one of the great things) is that we all had the same mind in choosing a beach destination for our summer holiday. I love the beach and will always choose warm weather over the cold so this was great!

Originally, my mother was planning to book Atlantis All-Inclusive Resort. Now this place looked crazy! With the world’s largest open-air marine habitat, 141-acre waterscape, 11 pools, a full casino, golf course AND four miles of beach, who wouldn’t be excited for this! But, to our disappointment, Atlantis’ all-inclusive packages were fully booked. Ouch.. But that didn’t deter us from our holiday. Instead, my mother found Breezes Resort and Spa, which did have all-inclusive packages available for our dates.

Now Breezes, well if you got a chance to click the links above, you could kind of already feel what we felt in having to settle for it over Atlantis. It didn’t have the massive waterpark or the full casino, but it looked promising. Once arriving to Breezes, you could tell one thing straight away, “Man this place is dated!” With decor and architecture that looked like it was built in the 80s with no updates, this place looked like we stepped back in time. And the rooms! My little brother described it as, “Looks like where nuns sleep!” Now what he meant by that was the rooms were so simple in furniture and amenities it looked like a nun’s room in a convent.

Even though the resort wasn’t what we were picturing, the point was we were with each other and intended to enjoy this all-inclusive package as much as we could! So let the sun bathing begin!!

For the four nights we stayed there, we got a lot of sun. I mean ALOT. The sun was so strong in Nassau that sunblock was a definite necessity. Along with lying out on the beach, we of course enjoyed the clear blue waters as well. I was very impressed with Nassau and their clarity of ocean water. It felt like you were in a swimming pool!! Breezes had a netted off swimming area but even in that, we were able to see some fish and even find some starfish!

Being that Breezes was an all inclusive resort, they also had many other activities that you could partake in. Some of the things we tried were stand up paddle boarding, kayaking, a trapeze class, and volleyball. I favorite out of those was the trapeze class. It was a bit terrifying at first, being that high up but after doing it a couple times I felt like I could master it easily. It was fun to scare myself and then get over the fear.

Even though my favorite was trapeze, I think my family’s favorite was volleyball! We played so much of it and with so many players; we never had to ask anyone else if they wanted to join. This trip I also learned that my dad is pretty good at volleyball, while my mom on the other hand…needs some practice.

An all-inclusive resort is fun, but for adventure seekers like myself and my siblings, this could become a bit dull. Luckily for us, we had booked an excursion with Stuart’s Cove before our trip online. After doing research on popular Nassau excursions, my siblings and John decided on the SUB Adventure. We all gravitated toward that choice because it would be a new experience for all of us being that none of us had ever seen a SUB or partook in it before. The SUB was like an underwater Vespa. In the SUB, your head goes into this helmet that stays dry and has constant air pumping into it. Now I had done something similar to this in Boracay so felt like it would be familiar. To my surprise, it was more different than I expected.

Our SUB experience was a little rocky at first. We had an early pick up time with a shuttle that never came. We had to call Stuart’s Cove and pick a few bones with them. In the end, we got picked up and received some free goodies for them forgetting to get us. Once situated, we got taken out to a bigger boat with more people from cruise ships. It was kind of a funny site. There were some big, tough guys on the boat but they appeared so weak because they were seasick. Just imagine, both sides of the boat was people getting sick. Yikes! Had to be sure to stay at the back of the boat! Finally it was our turn. All of us got seated in our SUB and dropped into the water. You constantly have to blow out your ears to adjust to the pressure. I found myself really being aware of my breathing. I did not want to get seasick!! When we all got in the water, it was a pretty cool experience to “drive” around the ocean trying to catch up with each other and touch the pretty fish that cam around. There was this one point I saw a bunch of fish swarming John’s SUB. I thought to myself, “Cool! What a nice photo!” The hilarious thing I found out later was he only had so many fish around him because he actually threw up a little in his helmet! Free fish food!

The experiences at Breezes and the Bahamas were some to remember. The resort may not of been perfect, or the excursions arranged so well – but the time we got to spend together was. Looking back on holidays like this, I feel even more grateful for the family I got to be born into. With loving parents and siblings that actually get along, I know I am one of the lucky ones.

Video Bonus! Check out my little brother, Johnny’s awesome video from our trip to the Bahamas by clicking HERE.

Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE for future posts and feel free to leave comments, ask questions, etc!

RESORT: breezes.com
EXCURSION: stuartcove.com

treesa travels

Tag: vacation

Amalfi Coast, Italy

Naples, Italy

Cinque Terre, Italy

Florence, Italy

Pisa, Italy

Rome, Italy

With My Fiancé

Tran Clan’s Bahamian Adventure