There are no words to describe how lucky and amazing these past 14 days have been traveling through Europe.โค๏ธ๐ซ๐ท๐ญ๐บ๐ช๐ธ I am so thankful that I was able to provide my girls with these outstanding experiences that they could not get sitting behind a desk in school! Also so lucky that we had a great family of friends to do this experience with! ๐๐ซ Our kidsย learned about art๐จ, adventure๐บ, geography๐, volcanoes๐, famous sights๐๐ผ and festivals๐ฝ๐, foreign currency ๐ถ, history๐, sports โฝ๏ธ, religion๐, foreign cuisine ๐๐, courage ๐ช๐ฝand responsibility๐, culture ๐ญ๐บ๐ซ๐ท๐ช๐ธand language๐. They learned to use and weren’t afraid to try to speak Italian and French. They learned about famous artists๐จ, and art periods and enjoyed critiquing the pieces of art. ๐ผAs I sit here on the plane back to NY โฉ๏ธ๐ฝ and go through my pics๐ธ and reminisce of the adventures we had and the sights we saw I think the most fitting would be to have a top 10 list. ๐So here it is in the order of our trip. The TOP 10 MOST Memorable/Beautiful/Special/Amazing Moments of our Europe 2016 Vacation with the 4 Shaps!!!! ๐๐ญ
1. Visiting the Ancient Greek Theater ๐in Taormina with Mount Etna๐ป and the Meditteranean Sea as our a backdrop. Most notably when the random lady sung Josh Grobins “You lift me up” ๐ถand silenced 100s of people. Awe. Then dining that night at the most romantic and beautiful restaurant I’ve ever been to!๐๐#goosebumps
2. Day trip to the Aeolian Islands๐, when we set sailโต๏ธ during sunset and had the most magnificent rainbow pastel skies๐ . Most notably was the Volcano ๐on Stromboli and the juxtaposition of life and death on the mountain that was separated by lava landslides. #mothernatureinallherglory
3. Pisa has been on my bucket list ever since 2005 the first time I went to Italy. We could never fit it in until this time. Not only did we get to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Baptistry ๐but we basically had the whole piazza to ourselves. An anal photographers dream come true! ๐ธMost notable moment was tucked behind the leaning tower inside a quaint little church.๐ Housed behind the glass was one sacred thorn from Jesus Christ’s crucifixion crown๐ฝ. #breathtaking
4. Arriving at the playground for the rich and famous in the French Riviera was one big bucket list check after another:Cannes, Monte Carlo and Nice were the highlights and they were spectacular! These towns are known for the glamour and beauty and that’s exactly what we got on my 37th birthday.๐๐๐๐ It was fun imagining what it would be like to be part of the glitterati come May during the Cannes Film Festival ๐ฝand the Formula 1 Grand Prix Race๐. The highlight was driving a lap of the Grand Prix and crossing the finish line all the while watching the views from above down to the megayachtsโด! #goalsformy40thbirthday
5. The 1st time we came to Marseilles on our cruise ๐ขa few years ago we had to stay in the port because Shane was a baby and the cruise tours were too difficult. Not this time. We found a cab ๐and we were on our way to Aix en Provence! Little did we know that on Saturday’s they had a huge flea market. ๐๐ถHalf way through our trip we were already tiring ๐คand this is exactly the kind of down day we needed. We slowly winded our way through the stalls snagging great bargains and enjoying each other’s company. Shoutout to the stand that sold me my handy dandy black scarf that I used for the rest of my trip! #unpreparedforwinterweatherinfrance
6. I like soccer but I love watching my kids play soccer. โฝ๏ธPut that together and watching Dylan’s excitement as we toured Camp Nou, the FCBARCELONA stadium ๐was definitely a huge highlight of the trip. The colors of the grass and signage around the empty stadium were bold and bright and you can only imagine the pandemonium that ensues during a soccer game. ๐๐ฝ#feeltherush
7. Arriving in Naples for the 3rd time and attempting the Blue Grotto in Capri made me anxious.๐ต Was it finally going to happen this time? Once we arrived outside the grotto and saw how many boats were waiting packed with tourist and then counted the amount of rowboats ๐ฃ๐ฝcarrying 4 people in a time, I started to feel hopeless once more. Since I believe in signs I figured this was God’s way of telling me to let go and it just wasn’t meant to me. But it was hard to give up hope on seeing one of the worlds greatest wonders. But when the rowboat ๐ฃ๐ฝfinally arrived by outside 2 hours later I never jumped so fast. I imagine this excitement is what it felt like for Gilligan once their boat came and rescued them. After seeing the Blue Grotto ๐ตin all its glory we came to find out that the grotto was closed for the past 4 days because of inclement weather and would be closing once again in the next hour because the waves were starting to get too choppy. ๐Frozen to the bone but happy as can be is how we felt heading back to Capri! #whenthingsaremeanttobe
8. It’s easy to understand why Paris is called the most beautiful city.โค๏ธ It’s clean, it’s ornate, it’s romantic, the history is rich and the buildings and the sights are beautiful. Having dinner on the top of the Eiffel Tower took the cake. ๐ผThen the cherry on top was standing on the bottom and watching the dazzling and twinkling lights ๐๐๐of the tower, even if it was for just a minute, the memory will last forever in our minds, and on my iPhone…#welcometothecityoflights
9. Disney is the happiest place on earth, and this held true for Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney Studios as well. ๐ญ๐ฐThe kids were super excited but so were we because for once we didn’t know what to expect from a Disney park. Having been to Disneyworld and Disneyland several times, as fun as it is to experience, you already know the drill…you wait over and hour for a mediocre 1 minute ride. The highlight was Space Mountain and not knowing it was an upside roller coaster! ๐ข๐We were lucky enough to fit both parks and dinner in Disney Village in, in one day! #HongKongDisneyyourenext
10. Having only 1 full day in Paris to do all of our sightseeing seemed very daunting. ๐ฑBut we basically got it done in one full day and 1 hour the next morning. The highlight was the amount of culture, history and art history ๐ผ๐จthe girls learned in 24 hours. The pictures we took were priceless and thankfully the weather held out for us. The Mona Lisa, Starry Night, Picasso paintings, Notre Dame๐, famous Eiffel Tower pic…I’m not sure which was my favorite memory! #jetaimeparis
15 days of fun. ๐Making memories, spending quality time with half our brood. Late nights and early mornings, foreign food and aching feet. Pasta, pizza and more pasta and pizza. caprese salads, 9 euro cokes, frizzante waters. French and Italian, google translator and broken English. Sunsets, rocky boats, warm sun, bitter cold and even some hail! Major sights, spectacular views, hidden gems. Best friends๐ญ๐ซ, happy kids and parents๐ธ๐ฝ๐ธ๐ผ๐จ๐ป๐จ๐ป, memories being made, recorded and photographed๐ธ. Thank God for Facetime because we were able to keep up with our boys and we eagerly awaited 1pm everyday which is about when Shane would FaceTime us with his messy hair and pjs. Thankful for Facetime, dropcams and text messaged videos. And then just like that it was over. Back to real life. Time to daydream the next one…๐๐ฝ๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ