Italy

Italy – Milan

August 15, 2025

Saturday morning we took a car to Milan and met a guide at The Last Supper. Everyone was really jazzed for another day of touring…

ha! But viewing The Last Supper was totally worth it and way neater than I was anticipating.

We then met with another guide and went to Sforza Castle which is an enormous medieval fotress in Milan. It was very big!

Our guide then who took us all through the The Duomo di Milano, also known as Milan Cathedral. It was very impressive – it is Gothic style and apparently one of the largest churches in the world. I believe it and it was really cool to go to the top and walk around.

Then we walked in the The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and got some lunch.

We then walked around and went into stores – spending most of our time in the Nike Jordan store.

We then headed out to our hotel by the airport for the night. This was probably the one misstep of the trip. We really should have just booked a nice hotel in Milan and gotten one more good Italian dinner…but instead we went to an airport hotel and walked over to this random mini-mall with an Italian version of Walmart and ended up eating mall pizza that had hot dogs on it. Yep, hot dogs. How’s that for an ending to the trip of a lifetime?! ha!

We made it to the airport with no issues the next morning and started the American re-entry process…

and then had an uneventful flight back to Atlanta!

We were all happy to finally get home that night…but I’d go back to Italy tomorrow if I could! It really was a dream trip. These pics didn’t make it into an earlier post but maybe that’s fitting because they might be my favorite representation of the experience…

What an unbelievable trip with my favorite people on earth! Simply PERFECTO!

Italy – more Lake Como

August 14, 2025

It was TGIF in Italy and we were all excited for a day of relaxation!

We spent most of the day just hanging by the pool and the lake!

We had lunch at the Grill by the pool…

and then GJ and I had to take our turn jumping into the lake!

It was a top notch day!

We were supposed to go into town for dinner but all decided we’d rather just stay at the resort and eat at Terzo Crotto.

So many photo ops!

We had another wonderful dinner – despite the giant mosquitos – and Spencer got his fill of focaccia bread!

The next morning we had one final Villa D’Este breakfast…

and said goodbye to Lake Como.

We had one final stop in Italy before heading home!

Italy – more Lake Como

August 13, 2025

Thursday was maybe my favorite day of the trip! We started with breakfast by the lake…

and then took a full day boat tour of Lake Como! Our tour guide was so nice and informative. He showed us all the sights of the lake – including Clooney’s house! – and it could not have been better.

We stopped and walked around the Villa Del Balbianello which is where they filmed some of the Star Wars films as well as some James Bond scenes! It was beyond beautiful!

It was a little windy up there though!

Loved these trees at one of the houses on the island – some accessible only by boat!

We stopped for a fantastic lunch and took this photo featuring Robert’s hat. ha!

This is the life!

We also stopped and walked around Bellagio which was neat and very steep!

It was a very full and long day on the boat!

We returned around 4:00 and the kids couldn’t wait to swim and jump in the lake!

Robert was game for it too!

That night we had dinner “in town”. GJ and Samantha dressed to match the hotel!

Dinner was good and all I got from it were pics like this from the kids…

It was nice to walk to and from the restaurant and then walk around the hotel a bit that night.

I think we could all get used to that Villa D’Este life!

Italy – Lake Como

August 12, 2025

On Wednesday we got up and said goodbye to Florence…

Just adding this because I want to remember how pretty it was!

We had a driver take us to our next destination! We did make a pit stop at Ristorante La Rochetta for a wonderful – and very HOT – lunch!

Please enjoy this panoramic photo Maxwell took. ha!

We then hopped back in the van and I thought I was going to die it was so hot but the payoff was worth it when we finally arrived at Villa d’Este in Lake Como!! This stop was really the impetus of the entire trip. GJ and I had been to Villa d’Este many years ago and always wanted to return. I am happy to report that it lived up to my memories and then some! Our room was so nice and big!

We explored the grounds…

and took 1k photos…well, I made GJ take 1k photos of us to try and get some that made me happy. I can be difficult to please with photos…grateful for family members that put up with me.

The entire hotel is just a dream!

We dressed for dinner that night at Terzo Crotto at the resort…

and took even more photos!

Dinner was fantastic with perfect views of the lake…and the biggest mosquitos you’ve ever seen.

That night there was even a fireworks show that we could see from our room!

Perfecto indeed!

Lots more Como to come!

Italy – More Florence

August 11, 2025

On Tuesday we were ready for some adventure!

We were all a little unsure of the adventure planned but we gave it a go!

Yep! We hopped on bicycles and biked our way through the very busy and small streets of Florence! Our guide, Philippo, showed us the sites along the way…

and then we made our way outside of town which was very cool to see!

We biked our way up to Piazza Michelangelo which was not an easy ride – not necessarily difficult but uphill and challenging. I was very proud of our crew!!

The ride down was much easier!

The tour included lunch so we had a full, heavy sit down lunch complete with a bottle of wine that no one wanted! It was still nice…and Robert got in some good conversation with Philippo! ha! Robert is the best.