We're Back!

Well, we got back home last night close to 10:30 p.m.... much later than scheduled, but this is a story in itself. We are exhausted and so glad to be back stateside... again, another story. But, most importantly, we made it back, period. We can comfortably stash away our will for a while. We will be on our way to pick up Carsten this morning from my mom's and I am ecstatic. I have missed him terribly and can't wait to wrap my arms around him. He, of course, I think has forgotten all about us. Each day while gone, I would call and talk to him on the phone. Most of the time, he would listen for about half a second and then adamantly throw the phone down and continue whatever he was doing. This broke my heart. Danyel kept reminding me that he is just a baby... and a very independent one at that. Anyways, when we found out we had missed our connection in Chicago yesterday back to Houston and I realized that it was going to be this morning before I would see Carsten, I just turned my back to the ticket agent and softly cried. The thought of going another day without Carsten was just too much to bear. So, I will make this entry brief so that we can head over to my mom's.

In a nutshell this trip was very memorable... that is the best word that I can use to describe it as a whole. The Amalfi Coast was the MOST beautiful place I have ever seen, our accommodations were the most unbelievable digs you could ever imagine, the food was the best food I have ever eaten, we saw some unbelievable places, and we met A LOT of really nice couples on the trip. Now, for the bad... The trip exhausted me more than anything in my life (even the sleepless nights with Carsten when he was a newborn do not compare), I suffered the worst case of insomina I have ever experienced, this place was the most difficult place to try and get to... for example, our journey home took us over 24 hours total of traveling time, and it was the most NON relaxing vacation I have ever been on... period. Yesterday, I counted the total amount of hours sleep that I got on this trip and it came to 26 hours for 6 nights... that is just a little over 4 hours a night. When I am this tired I start losing my sanity (again, this is a whole other story). Also, being this tired made it VERY difficult to enjoy myself and absorb my surroundings. It is hard to appreciate a vacation when you feel like you are walking around in a zombie like state.

Anyways, over the next few days I will tell you about some of our most memorable experiences while in Italy... the good, the bad, and the ugly. I will also create a slideshow of some of our pictures and post the link here. We got some great pictures... probably the best we have ever taken on a trip. The subject matter made it very easy! Ciao!