In 2002, Josh and I decided that it would be fun to go to Italy for President's Day in 2003. Josh had been to northern Italy but never to Rome and I had never been to Italy at all. So we made our plans and excitedly awaited our trip. Little did we know that two weeks before we left we would be surprised with the wonderful news that we were expecting! I had started feeling a little "off" about a month before the big trip and I finally decided it was time to see if my instincts were right. I was and we found out later that week that I was about 7 weeks along. Having just started a new job at the beginning of the year I had so much to think about and the trip to Italy was a great way to relax my mind and wrap my head around the fact that I was pregnant. Plus what better way to celebrate news like that than to go someplace as wonderful as Italy.
Italy was wonderful and it really got us on a path to traveling on our own without using tour groups or travel agents. The majority of our time was spent 80 miles north of Rome and we had an amazing experience doing nothing more than aimlessly driving around to different tiny towns that were far off the map of the normal American tourist spots. After managing all that driving on our own, we knew we could do it again no matter where we went.
One of the best things about our trip was the timeshare we stayed at. The great thing about being at a small timeshare like we stayed at was that it allowed us to meet several other couples and really get to know them. The resort, which at one time had actually been a large family villa, planned group dinners every night of the week and had a continental breakfast available every morning. It was actually kind of funny because we would all go our separate ways in the morning but several times we ran into couples in other towns as we were all out sight seeing. In fact, a couple times we met up with enough of the other couples that we all got together and had huge meals that lasted for hours. Unfortunately for me, I missed out on a lot of the wonderful food because my pregnancy stomach was now in full force and I couldn't handle all the strong cheese and meats that were staples for that area of Italy. Oh well, I'll just have to go back!
In the end we brought home many wonderful souvenirs and memories of our time in Italy, but the most important was a friendship we made with an English couple we met at the resort, Ollie and Lynn. They were one of the couples we had dined with several times and, as it turned out, we all had very similar personalities and really enjoyed each others company. We loved to talk about politics, travel and, Josh and Ollie's favorite subject, sports. Since Josh and I thought we wouldn't see them again as we were all on vacation and they were from England, they were actually the first people outside of family that we told about our pregnancy. It was so hard for Josh and I to keep such a secret from everyone we knew and we were so excited we just had to tell someone! We even took the train down to Rome and toured around with them on the day they left and then took the train back to Soriano! Luckily, for us, the friendship has remained strong throughout the years and they are more family than friends to us now.
