The Spillmans are Finally Tan(ish)

After just over a week of enjoying the sun and beautiful views of Italy’s coastline, it is official that we are looking “somewhat” tan. Don’t worry though… we have already gone through one bottle of sunscreen and are getting ready to purchase another. If only we could find a store that sells SPF 50!

Last Friday we made our way from Naples down to Sorrento, Italy. It was so beautiful and we really enjoyed our time there! Saturday and Sunday were spent exploring the town, shopping, and laying out by the hotel pool. Saturday night, we found a really cool bar to watch the USA vs. England World Cup game. The only bad part about the bar was that it was filled with England fans and we were the only people cheering for the USA. Since we didn’t bring any USA t-shirts with us, we both wore the next best thing – University of Texas shirts (see picture below). As a side note, don’t worry – we don’t plan to make a habit out of dressing alike! All of the England fans were actually really good sports though, and congratulated us on ending the game in a draw.


After the incredible pizza in Naples, we were slightly disappointed with our meals in Sorrento. The pastas and pizzas were not very flavorful. Jonathan’s mom and grandmother definitely put the dishes to shame!

On Monday we spent most of the day on the beautiful island of Capri (see picture below), browsing the shops, roaming the beach, and enjoying a delicious lunch. Tourist season is definitely in full swing, though, and the place was packed! We wanted to take a boat tour of the famous Blue Grotto, similar to the caves we visited on our honeymoon in Portugal, but missed the chance due to high-tide. Maybe next time! We spent our last night in Sorrento watching the Italy soccer game and enjoying the liveliness of the town as they cheered on their team.


Most of Tuesday was spent traveling by train up the Italian coastline, eventually reaching Manarola (one of the five “Cinque Terre” towns) late in the evening. We both agree that Cinque Terre (Manarola specifically) is the most beautiful place we have ever been and is our favorite stop on the trip so far! Below is a picture of us in front of Manarola and the house we stayed in (yellow house on the hill)!


Besides the picturesque views and the charming quaintness of each of the towns, the food was beyond amazing. This area of Italy is known for their pesto sauce and after discovering this, we ordered pesto on everything. It was incredibly delicious, and we made sure to bring some jars home with us! We both ate so much pesto that we ended up with stomach aches, but it was totally worth it!

The house we stayed in had an amazing terrace overlooking the sea and we spent a lot of our time hanging out on it, working on our “tans,” and drinking local wine. We took a break from our relaxing for a short swim in the Mediterranean, which was pretty chilly! Unfortunately Jonathan cut his foot on a rock, so we weren’t able to swim very long. Luckily, we brought a first aid kit! If we could stay here for the rest of our lives, we definitely would! If anyone wants to go in on a vacation house here, let us know! Below is a picture of us on our terrace.


The only disappointing part of our stop in Cinque Terre was that we were not able to hike between each of the five towns (which is one of the most popular things to do here). Storm showers during our stay forced closure of a number of the trails between the towns, preventing us hiking the whole way. We did get to hike to the next town, though, and were able to take the train to visit each of the other towns. We know we will definitely be back, so we’ll just have to save the hike for our next visit!

Today we are headed to a town in northern Italy called Bolzano for a one night stay in route to Salzburg, Austria. We should be in Salzburg by late in the afternoon on Sunday. Hopefully the weather is beautiful there, so that we can enjoy some of the many beer gardens!

Beer List (we drank quite a bit of wine on this leg of our trip!!):
• Peroni / Nastro Azzuro (an Italian Euro Pale Lager)
• Becks (a German Pilsener)