Florence (round 1), Rome and Pompeii

Florence: The view from our campsite was beautiful... a panoramic view of the city from a hillside. We finished all of our paperwork and got to see the room (in Palazzo Vecchio) where we're getting married (it's beautiful). Stumbbled accross a wonderful museum. Found our wedding rings (in Ponte Vecchio's gold shops), which we'll pick up when we return to Florence.

Rome: Crumbling but colorful hostel. Traveled about the city. Walked to see the fountains through out the city at night. Caught the Vatican Museum (largest in the world) on the only Free day all month. Saving 28 Euros is key when the dollar is so weak. (28 euros = $47.60) Visited St. Peter's Cathedral, hiked to the top of the cupola on the cathedral (551 steps up, not counting the ramps) and learned about the pope's secret passage way in the city wall to escape in case of danger. Took a day trip to explore Pompeii's ruins, something Chris has wanted to do since he was 14. We also found a bakery in Pompeii... another must for Chris. Finally we made our way to the Roman ruins in the city of Rome. We saw what was left of the Coloseum, Palantine Hill (where rulers and senate lived), the Forum, where Caesar was thought to be killed, the Pantheon and visited our favorite fountain, the Trevi Fountain, again.

So far we've had so much fun traveling together and are looking forward to the big day.

(Sorry the last blog ended on a negative note. We were down to our last seconds of internet time and had intended it to sound as though we were entertained by the adventures we had from the start... of course as we were rushed it didn't quite come out that way.)

Lots of love,
Chris and Jessi

Be careful what you wish for.

We wished for a wedding adventure... little did we know it would start before we left RDU with a 3hr delay turning into a cancelled flight, a delayed second flight, missing our connecting flight to Europe at JFK, begging Delta to pay for the flight they made us miss so that we could make our appointment with the Consulate in Florence, and praying they would finish the paperwork before the plane finished boarding so we could make our 1 am flight to Paris. Thankfully we got our paperwork, hand delivered to the gate, 2 minutes before boarding and we arrived in Florence only 7 hours later than planned. Plus we got to fly over the Alps, which was a first for both of us. Lastly when we arrived in Florence we caught a taxi to our campground on the other side of town. We saw our first television screen in a dashboard on which our taxi driver watched the highlights of the lastest soccert match while adjusting it's color and brightness and dodging bicyclists and vespas all while driving.

and the blog begins...

We were asked about getting updates about our trip and figured a blog would be the easiest way since there are so many email addresses, yahoo won't allow us to send in just one email. We will do our best to post updates along the way as we're able to get to internet cafes. (Our website will still serve as the posting of our travel schedule: www.geocities.com/chrisandjessi888 , along with links to more information about the cities we'll be visiting.)

We're thoroughly excited about the things we will see, traveling together and GETTING MARRIED!! On Sunday our parents and siblings who were close by joined us for a wonderful brunch and send off for our trip. We now have 1 day left for last preparations before we leave to the land of pasta.

Family Send-off Brunch Shot

Our wedding adventure begins on July 22, 2008. (Tomorrow at 9 am!)