Finally! Photos from August trip to Europe - Part 1: Naples

My trip was up and down - the work part had a lot of challenges and I was super glad when it was over, but when I had free time I made the most of it. Here are a few of my favorite parts of the trip...

It was my first time on a cruise! Once I got over the mind-boggling notion of 155K+ tons of steel impossibly floating over a mile-deep body of water, I was able to enjoy it for the most part. All our cabins had balconies so I was able to get some good shots right from the boat...

But my favoritest one was this - the sun rising over Mount Vesuvius. Pretty awesome, huh?


On this same stop (Naples) I was able to stretch my legs a bit. Came across a beautiful shopping center.

Galleria Umberto
Inlaid mosaic tiles throughout the Galleria.
This was the Aquarius portion of the Zodiac wheel
which was in the center of the building.
But one of the absolute BEST parts of the entire trip was this...

Caprese and margherita - Trattoria Medina, Naples, Italy
Aren't you jealous? If not, you should be! Real margherita pizza - from the city where pizza was invented! Accompanied by a caprese salad and Italian red wine - what could possibly be better than that??? I think if I was on death row this would be my last meal. But it would have to be from Italy, not just some Podunk Americanized pizza shop. Even Trader Joe's Italian imported pizza does not match up.

Speaking of food, and Naples for that matter, take a look at the humongous lemons they grow in those parts! Limoncello was also invented here.

Lovely lemons! And HUGE too!
Limoncello in various flavors, shapes and sizes

To be continued...

In the mean time, if you want to view the entire set click here or for a slideshow click here.

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