The Halttunens

We are back!!!! In case you didn't miss us; we were on holiday for ten days. We met John in Athens and all headed to Italy together. We love the Royal Navy AND we LOVE LOVE LOVE Italy. So here is my round-up of the week, it's not in-depth as John's but this is it.

Travel Update: Alone is not for the the faint of heart or the smart.

Abi was an angel of course. I was a mess. After spending three hours doing laps around Gatwick airport with all of our luggage I was basically a babbling idiot. After nearly losing my passport (it was in my pocket), covering both of us in baby paracetamol, and having a soda explode on me the airplane never seemed like such a haven. We arrived in Athens safely, if sticky and proceeded to our hotel (which is turns out was on the edge of the red light district,

but also close to the center of town -I pick the best hotels).

Greece: The home of philosophy, astronomy, democracy...and mystery meat.

We met up with John Friday and spent the rest of the weekend wandering the streets of Athens and trying to gather the courage to climb up to the Parthenon. After the weather in Scotland Athens seemed ungodly warm and we spent a lot of our time hopping from one shady s

pot to the next while eyeing the barren wasteland surrounding the hill the Parthenon is on top of. We also discovered that those strange giant spinning meat things that you see at Greek restaurants and kebab shops are just like the ones in Greece. The meat in Greece is mysterious but delicious, especially when covered with taziki and feta. We finally got up the courage attempt the Acropolis and headed out with our trusty backpack and

cranky child. It wasn't as bad as it looked but it was hot and dusty and there were lots of people, mostly Americans, so we left.

Ahhhhhhh, the Dolce Vita

Back to Italy, the happiest place on Earth (some people think Disneyland is, but they don't have Buffalo mozzarella at Disneyland). We flew into Pisa Monday. It was a shorter travel day and John came with us so all in all a good travel experience. Abi spent the whole day charming

everyone she met. Now that she can walk she is free to roam smiling and waving. The Italians love babies and our baby loves Italians so every one was happy. We took a taxi to our hotel (we took lots of taxis, it's part of our new traveling mantra). It was nice, but the selling point for me at least was the fact that Teddy Roosevelt stayed there. We got up the next day and headed for the leaning tower. I've very proud of John for resisting the "I'm holding the tower up pose". It started to rain so we decided to cut Pisa short and head for Cinque Terre. We decided this vacation to just take things easy and relax in the beautiful Cinque Terre. It is a UNESCO protected site and still not completely discovered by the hordes of travelers (or so we thought). We stayed in an apartment in

Riomaggiore with a beautiful view of the Mediterranean. We had the best lunch and did a little grocery shopping, then headed back to terrace. We spent our first full day having a leisurely breakfast on the terrace and walking to the next town, Manarola, for lunch (the big draw to this area is the walking between the five towns). Thursday we took the train to Vernazza and had gelato. I think I've finally decided that chocolate and strachitenella (vanilla with chocolate drizzle) is the perfect combination, although sometimes hazelnut calls me away from the other two. We found a little play park and Abi got some quality sliding time. Friday was the biggest day, swimming day. We took the train to Monterosso, the only town in Cinque Terre

with a sandy beach. It turns out Abi is a water baby. She hit the beach running (after a quick nap that is) and didn't stop till she hit the water actually she didn't even stop then, she just kept wading in deeper and deeper until we stopped her. This baby is indeed a danger mouse and scares us while delighting us. Saturday our friends Tim and Charlotte (Tim is on John's ship) came out to stay the night with us and we had a lovely time. After a leisurely lunch and gelato (hazelnut and chocolate for me) we went for a swim just down the stairs from our flat. We had a wonderful dinner of pesto (local speciality) and insalata caprese with local wine and generally enjoyed the beautiful weather. Sunday we headed back to Pisa and TR's hotel. Another trip to the tower, this time with out rain. We sat in the grass under the tower and watched Abi make laps. John had to head back to the ship and Abi and I mentally prepared for the trip back.

The Return Voyage

So much easier. We traveled on BA and were able to check our stuff all the way through. It makes a huge difference. I actually remembered

where I parked our car and we made it home.

That's it. I'll post some pictures in a separate post.

Abi officially celebrated the big ONE on Thursday, but we partied all weekend. We headed to Fort William to celebrate the big day and the beautiful weather with Auntie Emily and Uncle Mike. It was a beautiful weekend so we spent most of it enjoying the great outdoors and trying desperately to get our hands on that darn cat (Dakota).

The swing Emily and Mike gave Abi for her birthday.

The party continued on Saturday. We had a little family party with our extended family, and by extended I mean Mike's family. His five nieces had a great time entertaining Abi and she had a great time being entertained. A big thanks to the Smith family for a great time.