Caitlin & Drew Visit London!

Caitlin & Drew landed in London mid-day Thursday. I met them at Victoria station when they arrived for a quick 'hello' and to hand-off the keys to our flat. Caitlin & Drew explored a bit around our neighborhood before Shane & I were able to meet up with them after work.

That evening, we headed to King's Cross for dinner. We went to Dishoom, our favorite Indian in London, and luckily didn't have to wait too long for a table.

The next morning, Caitlin & Drew set out to explore the city on their own before I met up with them at Borough Market for a late lunch. After lunch, we walked along the Thames to see Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. We grabbed a quick pint at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, took a stroll past St. Paul's and headed back to the flat to get ready for the Book of Mormon show that evening. We grabbed a quick bite near the theatre at Polpo before heading into the show. The show was great! After the show, it had started raining a bit so we took shelter in the tube and headed back towards our flat for a night cap at our local, the Sir Richard Steele.

On Saturday, we planned a day trip to Cambridge. Cambridge is a quick hour train ride from London which makes it easy to do in a day. We arrived in Cambridge, with what seemed like all of London, just before lunch. We knew that we wanted to go punting, so we quickly headed toward the river Cam to check-out the punting scene. As the river was extremely crowded, we elected not to rent our own boat but rather have a punter give us a tour. We saw way too many people, new to punting, getting stuck in the river. Our punting excursion took us past all the notable bridges and colleges. It was a fun way to see the college from the water. We got lucky with our punting excursion as it only rained for half the time. After our tour, we grabbed lunch at a pub and then walked around the town a bit. The town was packed with tourists, and the rain was not letting up, so we caught a train back to London. Once back home, we all needed a bit of a cat nap. When we woke up, we were all still exhausted from the day and decided to order in thai and rent a movie.

On Sunday, we set out in the morning to explore the Palaces. Our first stop was Buckingham Palace and we conveniently arrived to see a bit of the changing of the guards ceremony. We then proceeded to walk through Hyde Park and Kensington Palace Gardens to Kensington Palace. We continued on to Notting Hill to grab a bite for lunch. At lunch we decided we spend the remainder of the afternoon pub hopping and end at a pub where Shane & Drew could watch the end of the British Open. The first pub on our tour was Churchill Arms in South Keningston area. The pub is covered in flowers. We then headed North to pub hope in Hampstead. We started at our favorite, the Holly Bush, and then made our way to the Flask and ended at The George in Belsize Park.

It was so fun having Caitlin & Drew in London for the weekend. We were so sad to see them go on Monday!

Andy & Colleen Visit London!

Andy & Colleen came through London after stopping off in Iceland and before heading to Italy with us. Andy & Colleen then continued on in Italy for a bit after us and came back through London before heading back home to Chicago.

Andy & Colleen first arrived in London on Tuesday after an early morning flight from Iceland. Shane met them at the flat and they set out to see some of the sites. After work, I met up with the group at the Sky Garden to take in the views of the London from the walkie talkie building and grab a drink. After our time at the Sky Garden, we headed to Dishoom in Shoreditch for an Indian feast.

On Wednesday, Shane, Andy and Colleen explored Camden Town market and the Westminister sites - Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace. After work, I met up with them at our flat before heading up to Hampstead for a low-key pub dinner. The next morning, we were up early to catch our flight to Naples.

Andy & Colleen came back through London after spending some time in Rome. They arrived back in London on Thursday and spent the day exploring the City area on their own. Shane and I met up with them after work for an 'alternative dining experience.' This experience was an interactive dining experience where you have a different course in a different room. Each room has an actor/actress that puts on a mini performance based on the theme of the room.  It made for a very entertaining evening.

On Friday, Andy & Colleen spent the day in Greenwich. We met up that evening at Dinerama, a permanent street food market to the grab a bite before heading to Discount Suit Company, a speak-easy type cocktail bar. We each got to try a couple different cocktails before we headed home for the evening. 

It was so fun having Andy & Colleen in London!

Pompeii, Italy

On our way from Sorrento to Naples, we made a stop in Pompeii. We spent roughly three hours exploring the ruins of Pompeii with our guide. Our guide was extremely knowledgable about Pompeii - she's been studying it and giving private tours of the city for the past ten years! We were glad that we made the decision to book a private tour guide as we learned a lot of interesting history.

After Pompeii, Shane & I were off to the airport to catch our flight home and Andy & Colleen were off to their hotel in Naples. Andy & Colleen were heading to Rome before making their way back to London.

Positano, Italy

We left London bright and early Thursday morning to catch our flight to Naples with Andy & Colleen. As soon as we arrived in Naples, we quickly met our driver and were off to Positano. 

By the time we finally made it to Positano, we were exhausted and starving. We dropped our stuff, grabbed our swimsuits and were off to the beach. Positano has two main beaches - big beach and small beach. We headed towards the small beach, as recommended by our friends, and enjoyed a late lunch of buffalo mozzarella, tomato bruschetta, pasta salad and limoncello spritzers. After refueling, we grabbed some chairs on the beach and spent the remainder of the afternoon relaxing on the beach and swimming. 

After we had our fill of the beach, we hoped on a water taxi to the main dock of Positano and began our trek up multiple flights of stairs to our flat - 617 stairs to be exact. Shane wanted a flat with a view; with the view also came a workout. 

For dinner that evening, we headed to Da Vincenzo. Even though our meal was quick, we had to give up our table after an hour and half due to over bookings, it was phenomenal. After dinner, we headed back to the flat. Colleen & I were exhausted (we had a 3:45am wake-up call that morning) and opted to go to bed. Shane & Andy managed to find some additional energy and decided check-out the hotel bar down the street for some old-fashioneds.

The next morning, we grabbed breakfast at a bakery before catching a water taxi to a private beach. We spent all day relaxing on the beach and swimming in the cove. By late afternoon, we decided that we all had gotten enough sun and caught the water taxi back to Positano.

That evening we had leftover pizza for dinner and went out for dessert. Shane & Andy then took us to the bar that they had been to the previous night. By the way they entered and how they chatted with the bartender, you would of thought they were regular customers. 

The next morning, we were up early to catch our boat tour. Our boat tour may have been the favorite experience of the trip. Our captain took us along the coast, to a few of the grottos and Capri. He also stopped a handful of times for us to jump in and swim. We hopped off at Capri for lunch and a gelato. Our boat returned back to Positano around 5pm and we quickly had to climb the stairs back to our flat and get ready for dinner as we were due to be picked up at 7pm. 

Our dinner spot, La Tagilatta, is a family owned spot located at the top of mountain. The views were wonderful and provided the perfect atmosphere for our last night in Positano. There was no menu at the restaurant and the food, and wine, just kept on coming. With how much food we had been served, we expected our bill to be insane but it ended up being our cheapest meal in Positano. 

On our last day in Positano, we decided to hike the Path of the Gods. The hike, high in the mountains, was breath taking - it felt as if we were as high up as the clouds. Everyone was feeling good about the decision to the do the hike until we got to the end ... the stairs down to Positano. The stairs were brutal and never ending. The previous day we met a couple that told us we had to do the stairs as the views of Positano were amazing; our group disagreed. After a much needed gelato, we met our driver to go to Sorrento. 

We arrived in Sorrento just in time for some shopping before dinner. Andy picked up a pair of shoes and Shane grabbed some Limoncello. After dinner, we wandered our way into an Irish pub. The bartender was hilarious and provided us with endless entertainment throughout the evening.

The next morning, we strolled through the lemon garden and grabbed lunch before heading to Pompeii.