Tuesday Travels | Throwback to Italy

i had the most amazing opportunities in high school and i really just had no idea. i was able to travel so much and see so many amazing things overseas and now that i'm older and have read about all of them, i wish i could go back and stand in front of it again. its like i just had no idea the greatness of what i was looking at.

anyway, i was going back through old pictures and decided i would start sharing different countries i was able to travel to. first stop, Italy! i went on a trip with some good friends of mine when i was 17 and it was just the funnest. i have so many fond memories of the time we spent there and saw so many famous pieces i would later learn about. and of course i was able to eat amazing food! those Italians man, they know their way around the kitchen/wood fire oven. the people i got to go with have had such a great impact on my life and i'm pretty sure if all i did was get stuck in an airport for two weeks, if they were there i would have had a great time! even though these pictures are taken on a terrible little digital point and shoot, these are some of my favorite pictures from Italy! i hope you enjoy them.

^^in high school i had the longest hair! i miss it.

^^part of the joys of travel is being smashed on a bus when no one wears deodorant!

^^Florence!

^^one of my favorite people i will ever meet in this world.

^^such a good night!

^^can you imagine just playing a pick up game around the corner from the Colosseum?

^^our view in Sorrento! we had the funniest experience here!

^^hanna and i decided that we could spend days in Pompeii.

 ^^this picture is taken on the best day of my life. it was the most beautiful weather and we were riding bikes around the wall of Lucca. Hanna and i started singing LOVE by Frank Sinatra and we passed a bunch of old men bent over playing chess. just as they looked up at us birds flew up in the air and i promise you it was straight from a movie. that is probably my favorite memory i will ever have. all on a bike, and beautiful. 

^^i ripped my pants in front of this.

^^i think i just had no idea the beauty i was staring at!

^^this guy has a special place in my heart for little brothers.

^^what the children do when the adults are lost.

^^such a beautiful place!

^^one of the ceilings in the Vatican.

if i could go back and talk to 17 year old me, i would tell her to enjoy every moment of travel. including all the long train rides, all the insane bus trips up mountains, and yes the boat rides that smell like BO hit you in the face with a dirty sock. because all of that was priceless. and you can never get it back even a little.

i would also tell me to get a grip and do something with my hair. gosh girl.

what is your favorite place you have traveled? or what is somewhere you really want to travel to?