Amalfi Heaven

After a very early start for us (we left home at 8am) we finally arrived in Amalfi Heaven!

The journey wasn't without it's dramas starting with the stereotypical male / female difference of opinion. I was sure I could find the airport without a map and Clauds insisted we should get one. After missing the turn off by this much <--> and a quick detour back to the hotel to ask for directions, it turns out we were both right...We also accidentally sat in 1st class (oops) and got kicked out by a train conductor that you just wouldn't want to fuck with. Even pulling out the pregnancy card didn't work and we were relegated to a surprisingly comfortable 2nd class ride.

3 hours later we arrived in magnificent Sorrento on the Amalfi Coast. All the postcards and pictures we'd seen still didn't prepare us for how gorgeous this coastal town is! With magnificent Mediteranean buildings built into the ocean cliffs, cobblestone roads, stunning views and cute little restaurants everywhere this place is truly magical!! We bumped into a couple of Aussies (the 1st ones we've seen) and they gave us a secret tip about a great hotel that has an older section to it. So the room is very acceptible for our needs but the rest of the place is nothing short of majestic! A 200 year old palace built on a cliff with grand high-ceiling rooms and a spectacular balcony overlooking the sea (where the included breakfast is served) and with its own private jetty and pool where we spent this morning on chaise lounge, occasionally dipping in to the crystal clear water.

Europa Palace Grand Hotel - view from the water

We ended up having dinner with the 2 Aussies (Bell & Julian) last night at a very cute little ristorante in a little laneway. Great food, fun conversation and a great start to this leg of our travels. After a couple of beers with two newlywed Irish couples at the only bar Julian and I could find open, it was time for bed. Was sleeping in this morning when Claud put my hand on her little tummy. The Greenbean was extremely active, moving and kicking for ages! Such an amazing feeling to know there's a little one in there already who's already naughty!

Sardinian paradise!

Hey guys, well I have to be honest, we are having the most magnifico, stupendo, bellisimo, amazingo time!(i know, not an italian word, but I reckon they seem to chuck 'o' on the ends of words alot, so I thought Id try it outo :) We defo do that a bit when trying out different words here in Italy, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't!

Old city of Alghero

Anyways, after a wonderful day and night in Rome, we flew Ryanair to meet Lisa and Toby. Well, after being spoilt by Aussie beaches, we weren't quite prepared for the beauty of the beaches in Sardinia, the water a beautiful turquoise, the surrounding areas so rugged and remote. After initially spending a night in Alghero we drove to Costa Smerelda, windy road but amazing views! Being off peak season, we often had the beaches virtually to ourselves, and though off peak, the weather was abolutely peak! Beautiful sunny days, blue skies, heaven!

Gorgeous beach on the Costa Smerelda

We also visited 'Porto Cuervo', definitely a place for the rich and famous, crazy with expensive yachts and expensive women in peak season / the man at our hotel told us we could find 'Prada for the baby', so to be honest, that's why we went there. Amazing how he knew that's all I've ever wanted for our baby! Knew me so well!

I managed to get talking to an apparently 'very importante man' in the mafia one morning over breakfast, and through broken Italian, definitely managed to get him and his clan on our good side! Sopranos eat your heart out!

Was so awesome hanging with Lees and Tobes, wonderful beach days spent together and no short supply of bread, pizza and pasta eaten at night with mostly gorgeous, friendly waiters bending over backward for us. No place for atkins diets here in Italy / Oh my gosh, the gelati!!

Anyway, time in Sardinia was abolutely wonderful and after that we headed back to Rome where we caught many a bus n train to the amalfi coast. Guy's about to write about our time here now, but I have to tell you today we spent half the morning with his hand to my tummy feeling what can only be described as an Olympic butterfly swimmer in the making / the bubby is kicking well and hard and we are abolutely loving every minute of it!!

Till next post...lots of love to you all!
(oh, photos are on their way)

Guy here - I've attached a couple from the internet to give you an idea of what we're having to contend with - poor us! Promise we'll get our own happening at some stage.