Hiya Friends!
I got back on Sunday from our AMAZING Euro trip! I am SO SO excited to share it with all of you 🙂 We traveled to Copenhagen, Rome, Positano, Capri, Pompeii, Naples and parts of Iceland. Each part of the trip was amazing in its own way and such an adventure.
In Copenhagen we have my husbands entire family, including his brother. So we were busy getting together with family and friends but we had a solid 14 days there so getting to spend quality time with everyone was totally doable. We did lots of family dinners, exploring areas that my husband would spend his summers at growing up (and making so many memories!) and yes, we did good old Tivoli. Each and every time we have visited we have gone to Tivoli Gardens (one of the oldest amusement parks in the world). It is such a fun family tradition. I think it has continued on mainly because Thomas’ cousin, Christian, has two girls (11 and 15 years old) who absolutely still love going. When Thomas and his brother were younger his older cousin, Christian, would be the one to bring them each year as well. I think its so nice that we have continued the tradition and go back each time we visit, and the hopes will be it never stops since we would like to do the same with our future kiddies. It is such a beautiful park, with lots of Scandinavian charm. Then we always eat dinner at a place called Grafton, again its the only place we usually grab dinner at. It was funny actually, since I am a vegan (and Danes LOVE their meat and fish) the menu had zero things on it for me to eat haha. SO we asked them if they have a vegetarian option that could be made vegan and I got a look like, “oh no, one of these weirdos!” It was so funny actually, but they did deliver and they gave me this lentils and veggies type dish which was actually not too bad.
Tom and I in Copenhagen, our first day. This is in Nyhavn
Tivoli at night
We ate dinner this night at the top of the Tivoli hotel )amazing views!) at a place called Sticks and Sushi. Poor hubby was taking the pic otherwise he would be in it too haha. This is my bro-in-law, Adam, and his gf, Signe.
Then after 12 days in Copenhagen we flew to Rome where we did one night, then drove (yes, we drove in Italy and yes it was one of the craziest things I have experienced lol) to Praiano, where we stayed for 3 nights. Then drove back to Rome and spent the night and took off early the following morning. It was actually great having a car and being able to stop off where ever we wanted to and to be on our own schedule. Rome was amazing. I know it is touristy but for all the right reasons. I have never with my own two eyes seen such amazing history all over the city. It is a giant metro city and as you walk down the street you pass structures that are 2,000+ years old! It was just so magical to see all of it. We did get a chance to do a guided tour of the Colossuem and Pantheon (which I highly recommend!) It was great having a guide show us around and point out things and explain them to us. Way better then if we walked around on our own, at least that was my personal opinion on it. Our tour guide was also an archaeologist so she was super knowledgeable and really painted a great picture for us about the history of Rome. Then from Rome, our most relaxing part of the trip, Praiano/Amalfi Coast. As I referenced above regarding the driving, I mainly am referring to the crazy roads you have to take to get to the Amalfi coast. I have never seen such narrow (2 way) roads that wind and turn like crazy all along the edge of a cliff….It was just unbelievable how they drive and how good they are at it! haha Then on our way back to Rome we stopped off in Pompeii (another crazy awesome piece of history to explore) and Naples. The Naples stop was literally just for pizza. We weren’t going to drive past the birth place of pizza and NOT get some to try. So we made a special pit stop in Naples at a place called, Del Presidente, to grab pies. OMG, it was everything I hoped and dreamed it would be haha.
When in Rome, get gelato (or sorbet if your vegan like me 🙂 )
the. best. gnocchi. ever. (In Praiano)
This is just a little sneak peak of some of the pictures. I literally took thousands! Haven’t even uploaded them all from my camera. These are all just my iPhone pictures.
Then after Italy we flew back to Copenhagen for 2 nights, which was great. We got to say goodbye to everyone one last time and the family introduced us to “Running Sushi” it was actually pretty amazing. Its a conveyor belt that has plated sushi and other items going around it. You take whatever you want as it goes by you. Such a cool idea! I guess its popular in Europe (really starting in Japan I guess?) it was a super fun experience and great night with the family. Each plate has one or two pieces of sushi on it so as you eat you make a stack of plates in the middle. Here was one of ours:
Running sushi-you can see the conveyor belt in the back!
We asked them if more veggie/vegan sushi would make its way to the belt and they were so sweet and made this up especially for me!
So after our 2 nights in Copenhagen we then flew out and did a 3 night layover in Iceland. We stayed in a hostel (with a private room and bath) in the heart of downtown Reyk. The beauty in that country is unreal. The nature it like no other place I have seen. The best way to describe how it looks is pretty much something from another planet. The rocks, glaciers, moss, waterfalls, all just so insanely beautiful. We also did the Blue Lagoon (you cannot visit Iceland and NOT go there-and yes, it lived up to its expectations). We rented a car here, which again was an awesome idea. No need to get on a big bus with strangers and go around, we were on our own time and it was perfect.
and yes, they had a Lebowski bar which was pretty awesome
Again, this is just a sneak peak of some of the wonders we saw. I have been brainstorming how I would like to present the trip here, on my blog, and I am going to post about it according to my journal. I kept a travel journal the entire time. I just hate forgetting each day, especially when you are traveling around for so long, so its a nice way to re-live each day when you read the entry. This way I can break down the trip in a better order.
I am looking forward to sharing everything with you guys and will hopefully get the first post up and edited this weekend! This is going to be a number of entries but I feel like its the only way to capture most of it AND show off some of my outfits and give all the details!
As mush as I loved Europe and going on such a great adventure, it is great to be back in the States 🙂
Any fun travels that you have coming up?!
xoLauren
***All these pictures are my own. Please do not use them without my permission.
The Lavender Skies 