Our 2016 has been an incredibly busy, yet idyllic, Summer of friends, family and too many memories to recount. Astrid has been in love with the outdoors, delicious Greek food, showered with attention among our social circles, and most of all, Jen and I have found ourselves once more by balancing the work/life/family formula so that we had more time to ourselves, yet productive in our various pursuits.
Now, with the last of our guests gone for the season, we embark on one more adventure for just Jen, Astrid and I, Team Travel for Three. We left Páros airport a little before noon and had a long layover in Athens airport.
Pro tip for long Athens airport layovers: make your way over to the Sofitel hotel across the street for lunch and relaxation. Here you can beat the crowds, stretch out, get a little work done and have some lunch. The food is overpriced and crap compared to the islands, but still a step above the terminal fare.
After being squirreled away in Paros for so long, navigating the halls of Athens airport felt surreal. With its mix of crowds, heavily scented air from Duty Free, obnoxiously sexy banners with Victoria Secrets and Armani, loud ambient noise of speaker announcements, suits and ties galore left us with the stark reminder that we live in a truly peaceful, simple setting of Paros. As we made our way to the gate, the last flight to Paros was boarding and we paused for a moment to half-jokingly wish we were in line to get back to our piece of paradise.
We arrived in Naples after a 10-hour door to door travel time. Astrid was a perfect little traveler, never upset or scared of the noise and planes. Just going with the flow, napping in her stroller and eating plenty of veggie snacks. Adventure baby at her finest. We have yet to be the parents of the screaming baby that makes you hate flying, but our time will likely turn up soon.
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| Main Naples square |
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| Our apartment building had a really big door |
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| Morning cappuccino with our big eater |
Driving through Naples, some areas looked rough, but once we started walking, the town came alive and had a very New York City vibe with everyone out and filling the cafes.
We spent our first day exploring Pompeii, just 30 minutes south of Naples. Considered the world's largest excavation, it was truly a stunning walk through time. So many of the rooms and areas are very well preserved, however, most of the good stuff had already been relocated to the Naples Museum. Astrid squealed with delight as she rode most of the day on my shoulders and found a relaxing restaurant to rest our weary legs.
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| The staples of Italy; prosciutto and fresh buffalo mozzarella |
Next, we made our way to the town of Sorrento, only to hop on the ferry to Capri. We ditched our car in Sorrento, as the Capri does not allow cars, except for residents due to the extremely narrow roads and clustered pedestrian areas. Capri is super touristy, btu we had reserved our hotel in the sleepier sister town of Anacapri, where the locals seemed to largely live a more normal routine.
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| The view over Sorrento |
We spent the afternoon aboard a private boat that cruised around the island, stopping to admire the grottos of specific colors that cast a certain glow through the water. Taking the private boat allowed us to swim at our leisure and escape the crowds, which are never easy to push a stroller through.
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| The island of Capri |
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| A chilly swim, but not as cold as Paros. |
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| Having fun with all the sights and sounds |
After the boat, we stopped for a quick lunch of ravioli caprese and a pizza. We boarded the funicolare, the elevator lift, which took us up the mountain to the main town of Capri. In the town of Capri, the narrow streets, some barely larger than our stroller, led us through a labyrinth of alleyways and squares where the town inhabitants and tourists seemed to mingle. The town is overflowing with tourists at all times of the day, so you can rarely find a quiet corner amidst the hustle and bustle of high-end boutiques and packed cafes. Tourists seemed to hail from all over with guides and their little microphones clogging the throughways, and this was the low season, so one can only imagine what the summer must be like.
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| An ancient walkway down to the beach |
After touring Capri, it was time to celebrate Astrid's birthday! We had a lovely dinner at highly acclaimed restaurant Capaninna, as noted by the heavily advertised list of celebrities that have dined there. If Jerry Springer AND Rob Schneider endorsed this place, how could we go wrong?
The staff fell in love with Astrid and we treated ourselves to some of the best that Capri has to offer. It was by far the best meal of the entire trip. Later on, we headed back to the small town of Anacapri and stopped at a cafe for a little bit of cake, which Astrid gobbled up with squeals of delight. She had a little bit of a sugar rush afterward and was practically running around the little main square where locals mingled with their kids.
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| Birthday Cake Face |
After three days in Capri, we took the ferry back to Sorrento and drove through the mountains to Positano. At one point, we took a detour towards a random sign that caught our eye. We ended up in Castello Colona, an old moss-covered castle. It was closed for the season, but the tables and chairs were still out, so we had a picnic of burrata, prosciutto, tomato, parmesan and fruits, while Astrid crawled along the dilapidated stones and flowers.
In Positano, we found our little bed and breakfast perched atop the town. Positano is just one large cove that is interwoven with winding one-way streets all the way down to the beach. It's striking to see how people could live here, with little arable land and treacherous terrain, but somehow it adds to the charm.
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| Finding new friends on the streets of Positano |
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| The winding town of Positano from our balcony |
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| Napping at great views is the way to go |
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| Breakfast served in the room was perfect for our little munchkin |
The next day, we drove along the coast to an old town called Ravello. It's home to one of the many Roman rulers that vacationed in this part of Italy. A luxury old mansion was adorned with a glorious garden and besieged by stunning angles of the sea. We took it all in with a long stroll through the streets as it lightly drizzled on this ancient town.
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| The view from Ravello |
After we checked out of Positano, we headed to another recommendation from our friend Sigrid who touted this location as even better kept than Pompeii. The town of Ercolano seemed like a bombed out city with little to offer, but tucked away in the middle of it all was Herculaneum, a tribute palace and public sphere that had been equally destroyed and preserved from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Here we could see the original frescoes and rooms almost fully intact. There were grim reminders of skeletons locked in their final states as they clung to their loved ones, but it was less ghastly and more poetic for even in their last breath, they reached for their families.
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| Having a little fun in the Herculaneum gardens |
After all this, we returned to Naples for an extremely early flight. Rather than make one more trip into town, we opted for the lazy hotel dinner and just got a good nights rest before our 5 AM wake up call. Astrid snoozed on my chest through most of the airport check-in and woke up halfway through our flight. We had the shortest of layovers in Athens, but we didn't check our bags as we ran what felt like a mile, stroller, baby, bags and all to make it to our gate with a minute to spare. We made it back to Paros in less than 5 hours from Naples and we were very happy to be home with our now 1-year-old little Adventure Baby.
Returning to our former home from the peaceful Mediterranean wasn't a simple choice, but we wanted to find a way to build a home for our growing little family. While Astrid turning into a big kid before our eyes, we are growing in other ways too. Our little family plans to add one more in September 2017! Astrid will be entrusted with watching over her soon to arrive little sister!
