Nearly two years ago I headed to Italy with my family. We went to three cities while we were there: Rome, Sorrento and Bari. For those of you who don’t know the Shaffer’s travel like the Griswold family, except my dad is a mean Clark Griswold. First of all, my dad insists on getting a stick shift car since its about half the price in Europe. Every time we go to Europe we always come close to near death situations (stay tuned for our Germany Autobahn experience).

Anyways, Rome is one of my all time favorite cities. I love the history, fashion and food. Next time I go I will for sure spend more than a few days here. You need at least a week to explore everything.

Sites to see in Rome:

• The Coliseum
• Trevi Fountain-make sure you throw a penny from your right hand over your left shoulder for good luck!

Sites to see in Sorrento:

• Amalfi coast

Where we stayed:

• Hilton Sorrento

Our favorite restaurant:

• Ristorante Donna Sofia

Owners catching fresh tuna & a common shot to settle the stomach after meals-limoncello!

Sites to see in Bari:

Oh wait…nothing. Literally nothing. I would not suggest visiting this part of Italy. My dad forgot to mention its an industrial seaport. We were probably the only americans in the town. My dad booked a hotel with points that used to be previously owned by a Sheraton. Before our arrival, the hotel was sold to a hostel, but our stay was still guaranteed. My sister threw one of her biggest tantrums known to date. Here is a picture of my sister and Dad at dinner. The smile on Ashley’s face is from pure joy of winning a fight to go back to Rome early. I rarely say this, but good job Ashley. It is a running joke in the family “Remember that one time we went to Bari”….never gets old.

P.S. We still to this day don’t know why my dad chose to go here. We think it was some weird travel channel he watches, but I guess we’ll never know.