Honeymoon memories

Derrick and I never got the opportunity to share our honeymoon memories with others because our life got so hard so fast.  We were only home from our honeymoon two days when my mother went into the hospital.  I remember taking my camera with me and sharing pictures with people in the waiting room, but I never even downloaded the pictures until yesterday.  Yes, two years later.  It seems like twenty years.  Not in a bad way, it’s just that everything was so crazy that my wedding and honeymoon memories seem a little bit like dreams now.  Anyway, I would love the opportunity to share our wonderful trip with you now.  It was amazing, interesting, and anything but boring.  We went to Italy!  We could have chosen some relaxing beach resort somewhere in the Caribbean, but we wanted something different.  In hind sight, I was utterly exhausted from the wedding and would have gladly welcomed a sunny beach, but I would never trade our wonderful Italian memories.
We started out in Florence.  Beautiful, beautiful Florence!  We stayed at Hotel De La Ville, which was magnificent.  I absolutely loved everything about it, and the staff was beyond helpful.  To this day, they have the best coffee I have ever tasted.  I was definitely spoiled with warm cream and tasty Italian coffee!
This is Derrick and I on our first night there…

We were excited about getting out, but had no idea where we were going.  We ended up going to a restaurant recommended by our concierge, Buca Mario.  Best. Dinner. Ever.  We made two minor mistakes while we were there.  I ordered what I thought was a pasta appetizer and a main course.  What I ended up with was two pasta dishes.  I looked like a little porker.  I mean, that didn’t stop me from eating them, but still.  The second mistake was the tip.  We tipped pretty well.  I mean, our bill was on the high end.  The waiter chased us out the door to hug me and shake Derrick’s hand.  We thought that was a little strange.  After talking with the concierge, we understood that the gratuity is included in the bill.  So we just handed over a chunk of our money without knowing it.  No wonder the waiter chased us! 
Our first day out, we did a lot of sightseeing.  We went to the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, also known as the Duomo.  It was beyond beautiful!  I can’t tell you everything about it, because we would be here all night.  What I will tell you is this… Derrick and I decided to take our picture in every dome we saw.  You’ll see in the pictures to come.  We also climbed about 460 steps to get to the top of the Duomo.  We were able to see all of Florence.  It was amazing!



Hand painted, of course.




We walked all the way across town to see the piazza, the Ponte Vecchio, and the Arno River.  Ponte Vecchio means “old bridge” in Italian.  It was the only bridge in Florence not destroyed by the Germans in WW2.


Time to share a little bit of Italian cuisine…
We shared a meal at Il Latini.  It was a different, yet very good meal.  We started with an appetizer that we didn’t even order.  The waiter just told us we were eating it and then brought it.  It was ground liver cooked in gravy then served over bread.  It may sound terrible, but it definitely was not.  Even Derrick liked it!  Then we did get to choose our main courses.  Derrick had some kind of pork roast with a bone in it.  I had an Italian soup called Ribollita.  Oh it was good.  I loved every bite! 

We loved Buca Mario so much, that we ate there on our last night in Florence as well.  How could we not?  It was the best meal ever!  This time, I ordered one pasta, Derrick ordered one pasta, and we shared a filet mignon.  My pasta had asparagus sauce.  Delicious!

Next, we went to Rome.  I was sad to leave Florence.  I could have spent the entire trip there, but I knew Derrick was excited about Rome.  He is such a history buff and this was right up his alley!  The hotel in Rome is not worth mentioning.  It was not even comparable to the Florence hotel.
Here we are at the Trevi Fountain.  We dodged pick pocketers, polaroid pushers, and other tourists to get this picture.  We came back later in the trip just to watch the crowd and enjoy some gelato.

This restaurant (can’t remember the name for the life of me!) was impossible to find.  We had 8:00 reservations and stumbled upon it in an alley around 8:03.  It is the restaurant I told you about the other night.  It specializes in bacon dishes.  Both mine and Derrick’s pastas were made with bacon.  Yummy!  I made the mistake of asking the waiter what rocket was.  I had seen it on several menus.  He told me it was arugula.  I said okay.  Well, he brought me the rocket dish, beef tips in gravy with arugula.  I mean, it was great and all, but I am a terrible communicator!  Derrick had pasta and filet.

Here are the Spanish Steps.

Here we are at the top of the Spanish Steps.  Do I look winded?

Our second day in Rome, we had a private tour of the Coliseum and the Roman Ruins.  It was definitely the way to go.  We went to the front of all the lines, and Derrick got to listen to three hours of interesting history.


Caesar's grave.  People still place flowers there daily. 

Derrick is intently listening and I’m just snapping photos!  I did listen to some of it.  He was more than knowledgeable.  He also said he learned it all from just living there.

The Pantheon, which I loved because of all the mathematics history.

Dome picture!

On our last day in Rome, we went to the Vatican.  We visited St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel.

Derrick is touching the foot of the Statue of St. Peter.  His foot was completely rubbed down because it is considered good luck to touch it.

  Another dome picture.


These last few pictures are very interesting.  We had a driver pick us up to take us to the airport.  He was asking us about what all we did, then he asked us if we had seen the keyhole.  We hadn’t, so he took us there.  This is the Knights of Malta gate.  It leads to the gardens of the Knights of Malta.  There were even guards manning the door.  Can you see how worn the keyhole is?  If you look through it, you can see a perfect frame of the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica.  It is literally amazing, and it is a tri-nation view.  We were standing in Rome, looking through Malta, to see the Vatican.

Through the keyhole…



This was an amazing trip.  We couldn’t have asked for more!  When I got home, my mother had prepared my house for me.  She had gone to the store to stock my refrigerator and pantry with the things I like.  She had also filled my brand new vase with beautiful gladiolas…

So thoughtful.
I hope you enjoyed our honeymoon memories.  Derrick did assist me in writing this blog.  I couldn’t remember all the details on my own.  Thank you for reading!!