An Italian Holiday - Introduction

Waayyyyyyyyyyyy back in April of this year, Scott and I took a trip to Italy for 10 days. It was a celebratory and why the hell not sort of trip. It seems like ages ago. We left for Italy only a couple of days after Scott finished his fourth year rotations of medical school and since we got home, our life hasn't slowed down... until now.

We decided to go to Italy on March 1st and left on April 8th.  Let's just say I ate, drank, and slept trip planning. It was a whirlwind of preparation. Neither of us had traveled internationally (Canada and the Bahamas don't count) and therefore I had to do lots and lots of research. Research makes me feel better about life. What can I say, I'm a planner! Also, Rick Steves' books are awesome. I was basically in a relationship with him for the 5 weeks leading up to our trip.

Anyway, I'm going to break our trip up by day so that means a lot of posts but there will be pictures too!

Thankfully we had a travel journal with us and we wrote about the day's events before we went to bed each night. The details are still fresh four months later. I'll share our adventures over the next few weeks.

Here we go!

Italy here we come! 

The Other Charleston

The location of Scott's third month of rotations was in Charleston... West Virginia.  Like Detroit, this city gets a bad rap. Especially when compared to it's distant relation Charleston, South Carolina.

A typical conversation about possibly moving to Charleston, WV goes like this: 

Them: "So do you know where you are moving after graduation?" 

Me: "Not yet. It could be Charleston..."

Them: *eyes light up and envy washes over their face* 

Me: "...West Virginia."

Them: "Oh. That's too bad. How awesome would it be if it was South Carolina?!" 

Yes, it would be awesome if it was Charleston, SC. Scott would probably sweat to death but that's okay. However, there is something to be said about the mountains. They give off this peace and sense of solidarity. Charleston, WV is nestled among the mountains of West Virginia and sits on the Kanawha (pronounced Ken-aw) River. Here are a few things I loved about the "other Charleston".

1. There are delicious places to eat. I guess this is a universal truth in most cities because we are human and we like to eat. Charleston is no exception. The first weekend I went to visit Scott, we went to the cute place called Lola's. They serve gourmet pizzas and salads. I was digging their cajun shrimp pizza!

Another delicious place was Black Sheep. We had brunch there but they are known for their burritos. Hopefully we will get the chance to try them someday.

2. The City Market. It's a farmers market that is open year round. It also has a gourmet grocery store and a restaurant.

It's the perfect place to take a Saturday morning stroll for some fresh produce. We were there in the Fall so there were pumpkins galore.

3. An old fashioned bookstore. Nuff' said.

4. It's 2 1/2 hours from our families. I can't tell you how nice it would be to be able to hop in the car to visit our families for the weekend or even the day. No 10 hour drive or expensive plane ticket. Just a tank of gas and a few tolls.

To sum it all up, Charleston is the perfect size city for us. It's not too big but not too small. It's rural enough for my hillbilly hubby but enough shopping options to keep me happy. Like Detroit, this city has much more to offer than first meets the eye. You just have to give it a chance.