33. Roaming to Rome

From Switzerland we went to Venice, Mesola, Fano, Perugia, Rome, and Fiumicino. We planned it day by day and had the flexibility to stay as long we we wanted. Here are my favorite memories through the pictures:

~Skydive Fano! This was a dream day there. I love showing up to a brand new drop zone- especially in a new country, especially with Ivan. My altimeter was broken so they gave me one- but in meters- that made pulling and landing a new challenge ;) It is some of the happiest moments of my life, jumping, being under canopy and landing to Ivan smiling, kissing and hugging me. He has a tiny parachute so he always lands first: the safe instructor he is, always making sure I land safely, making me feel so protected.

~That dinner in the street in Rome. We were in Rome at least 4 days- it is now my favorite large city. One day we had a challenging day talking through the decision to go to Greece or not and it took the majority of the day. While looking at all the options, Ivan took 2 trips out of the hotel to buy me an adapter, phone charger, gluten free pasta and a Rome wine opener for a present. At night he treated me to a restaurant on a beautiful street in Rome I had spotted the day before. He told me he loved me so much more after hard days like that- I cried, laughed, cried and ate the best salmon <3

~Up until Italy, my traveling was solo- I was always with people but all decisions were mine. This was the first time I traveled with anyone on this year's adventure. While I loved all of that solo time, it was a whole new, amazing experience traveling with Ivan. We learned so much about each other trying to figure all of the trip details on a whim. I saw a whole new loving, caring, true man side of him through this.

~The day of jumping at Fano, followed by a bottle of wine on the Fano beach distracted us from our Airbnb's strict instructions to be there by 10 at the latest. While we stopped at a gas station for wifi, the host canceled the reservation on us and took the money. Extremely frustrated, we decided to just drive until we got to a hotel. We ended up in my favorite town, Perugia, a town on the hill with beautiful architecture. I woke up to Ivan bringing me breakfast in bed with a romantic note and flowers. That day we explored the town and had a long lunch with wine. At first what was anger towards a canceled airbnb, ended up being my favorite romantic place in Italy.

~Sunset beach wine after jumping Fano. The beach was all small, smooth rocks instead of sand, the colors were stunning and it was one of those nights where everything was at peace, the world was calm and we both felt pure happiness....and that amazing skydiving adrenaline was still buzzing.

~Leisurely lattes and breakfast in Venice on the canal, watching the boats and tourists go by. (Pictured above and below) The dinner the night before was also lovely- outside in a large town square with beautiful architecture- and Ivan's "favorite" tourist attraction- vendors selling blue flying lights- hahaha it drove him crazy all over Italy.

~The simplicity of beauty for Italians and their country. There are beautiful window boxes everywhere, cars and streets are small, food is delicious but in the right portion, women are stunning in their nature flowing style, gaudiness doesn't seem to exist, 'new' doesn't seem a priority- in houses, buildings, cars, purses etc. Even the energy around the country seemed simple, calm and not hyped up in money, big, and ego.

~All of our mornings runs. Ivan is athletic but doesn't like running- yet would always get up with me to run and push me to do that on the days I didn't feel like it. I don't love running either but it always centers me. Sharing that time together, in the new place where we were, was so special- to see the local people starting their day, to see the area where we were staying, to start the day with good energy together.

~After traveling out of the country February-June, then back in the country for 2 months for my best friend's wedding and the month skydiving at Chicagoland, it felt incredibly FREEING to again be out of the country, free from reality, free from expectations, the past- and just the two of us in the middle of Europe with an open book.

~I thought I knew Ivan so well before Europe since we lived together in Puerto Rico and the relationship had gone so quickly. I loved all of the moments falling in love with him so much more in Italy and Europe.

~Our Airbnb hosts- since this was months 6 & 7 of traveling, I had set away a certain amount of money for Europe, and wanted to make it last as long as possible. Ivan agreed to some nights at Airbnbs where we stayed in a room of the host- something we both had never done previously. This turned out as an amazing way to get to know the local people and areas of Italy. The best host was the woman for our first 2 nights in Italy - each morning she cooked a huge Italian breakfast with us and spoke to us in her broken Spanish.

~Definitely the beautiful Italian architecture. I am such a nature, outdoors, hippie child and always seek adventures outside. That's still true but I was shocked at how stunning architecture can be. Milan, Venice, Rome and the small towns in between had cathedrals, monuments, buildings that I could stare at for days.

~Driving Venice to Fano, it got late so we stopped at a tiny, cheap, local hotel on the side of the road for the night. We lucked out with a room that had a balcony. We sat our there for hours, under the bright stars talking about life. The next morning we went on our run- through a beautiful small town, Mesola, where we were able to see the locals start their day and the town wake up. I love randomly ending up in non-touristy places like this. The run was along a beautiful run and afterwards we stopped in the local market for fruit.

~Driving to Fano from that little small town, we stopped at a local grocery store that happened to be a discount store. We got $1 bottles of wine and super cheap food- even cooked quinoa! We then stopped on the side of the road in a corn field - where I made salad and sandwiches. This ended up being a favorite meal of ours. I truly love how the best moments in traveling are unexpected, have no cost and are so special because of the people in that moment. (Pictured above and below)