Europe & Cortona

Welp, today is the first time I have had time to sit and do a blog post. I do wish I could have blogged from day one of our trip, but would I give up all that we have seen so far? nope.

Wanna hear how we got to where we are now? 

[Outside Pisa, Italy that is, 12 days into our trip]

Great, cause I want to blog about it for journaling purposes so please endure the next  25 posts of our trip, haha. 

It all started innocently enough, planning a trip to Europe. A graduation present to ourselves for many years of hard work before moving on to real jobs in the Fall. However, originally we were going in October and not May, which ended up being 3 weeks away when we booked everything. So in a whirlwind, we booked hotels, bed & breakfasts & and rental cars. Luckily we had been saving for this trip and with the help of amazing family [thanks to all!] we were able to make this dream a reality

So we planned the big stuff-flights and where to sleep and figured we would figure out the rest along the way. 

So the day before we finished packing and getting ready and decided to be spontaneous...dying my hair blond anyone?

Yes, Jason and I thought it would be fun for me to go blond the night before our 5 week trip to Europe. So at 11 pm we started the process, as you can guess it didn't end up pretty. haha. My hair was a combination of pink and orange and rather unsightly. If it was cute orange/pink I would have left it, since I figured that would fit in around Europe. But it was more atrocious than cute. So at 1 in the morning Jason ran to get dark hair color, 2 applications worth just in case and we returned my hair to normal, finally retiring for bed at 3 am. Nice, right?

We got to the airport with oodles of time [note previous blog post] and hung around prepping for our trip. Our flight wasn't boarding but we figured it was running behind so we paid no attention. Suddenly, over the loud speaker we heard our names being called to board, as in EVERYONE was on the plane but us. So we ran and luckily the guy who checked us in was like, "do you want to go to Rome or what?!" So we made our flight, but barely. 

2 flights later,which were not too bad,  we arrived in Rome. From our bed and breakfast directions we figured out we needed to take a train to Rome. Unfortunately, we boarded the wrong one and ended up in a way far part of town. Needless to say, Jason and I were exhausted and frustrated with each other and we both wondered if we could survive 5 weeks of 24 hour a day togetherness [probably a first in 3 years?] 

But we managed to make it to our bed and breakfast and it was great. After a nap, we quickly learned the tram, bus and metros that could get us home and settled in for 5 days of Rome.

On to our trip!

We spent the first 5 days of our trip in Rome, and honestly took so many pictures and ran ourselves completely ragged that I can't even begin to sort through the pictures! So I will probably be going out of order for where we went.

Cortona

We only spent an afternoon in Cortona, Tuscany but we were completely enchanted by it. A town of only 10,000 set in the gorgeous hills of Tuscany on a high hilltop. The people were so friendly and the town so quiet it was such a nice change from bustling Rome. 

Unfortunately, my computer is dying, but needless to say, Jason and I found our traveling groove and our trip has been fantastic. We have been trying to find a balance between seeing as much as we can and relaxing. More pictures of adventures, food and scenery to come. Stay tuned! 

ps next time I will have commentary on photos!