This last week, October 17th through October 24th, JT and I were given a wonderful opportunity to take a road trip to Italy so JT could play in the Armed Forces soccer Tournament at Aviano Air Force Base. Italy was a beautiful place and we loved every minute of being there but we sure did have some rough times and most defiantly interesting times along the way.
Our trip started out on the wrong foot. We were set to leave at 7:00AM on Sunday. As we went to leave JT went to plug the GPS in and the plug/lighter outlet wasn't working! REALLY?!? Now is the time it wants to stop working? So he spent an hour and a half trying to fix and learned that the fuse had blown. So we headed out without it working and prayed that the GPS would hold until we could stop somewhere and fix it. We were able to fix it in Dover, England right before we loaded onto the ferry to cross over to France. Thank you God!
Once we got across the water we drove through France to Lyon. As we drove I looked out the window to the small towns we passed and thought to myself, I am driving through FRANCE! The small cluster of homes that formed a town was so beautiful and looked just like the movies. But that was about all that was beautiful in France. JT and I both did not really care for France at all. In Lyon, the streets smell of pee and every building we saw looked run down and dirty. Honestly we felt as though everywhere we went we were in the ghetto. Lyon is known as the second largest city in France, next to Paris. So we drove around the city before we headed out on Monday morning. We drove to the football stadium that JT was so excited to see, got gas and headed out of town. Oh and I forgot to tell you, France really likes Toll roads! Before we even got to Italy all the Euro's we had for the trip there was gone because of the tolls. 150 Euros in JUST tolls. :( Not such a good thing. We didn't plan for this and this little set back put a big damper on our trip money wise and raised the stress level really high. We only ate the snacks I had bought before we left for two and half days. We had are arguments and some tears but really learned how to work together under such high stress and keep our faith that God would help us through (which he did).
Monday night we stayed in Venice, Italy. Oh my goodness, did this place take my breath away. It is BEAUTIFUL! It was so nice to relax in such a romantic city and let a little bit of the stress melt away and just enjoy each other’s company. On Tuesday we walked around Venice and take lots of pictures.
I had never seen anything like it and I had such a blast taking it all in with such an amazing man. It couldn't have been a better day then that day. The sun was shining bright with crystal blue skies and about low 70's as the temp. I was in heaven and I believe so was JT. After we walked around and took several pictures, we left Venice and headed on into Aviano AB. The view on the way in was breath taking. Especially for JT who had never really seen those kinds of mountains. As we got closer the mountains got bigger. There was snow just on the top with the blue skies behind it and you just saw in awe of what God created. 
The rest of our trip in Aviano went wonderful. We were able to relax a bit and just enjoy each other. We went to see a movie and had a picnic outside. The weather was beautiful the whole week, until the end. The Lakenheath Eagles did such a great job at the tournament too. There were 13 teams including Lakenheath and we got 2nd place. JT loves playing football and really has a blast out there with his teammates and friends. I also enjoy watching him play but find it funny how protective I am over him. It's going to be interesting when we have kids and THEY are out there playing. They better watch out for Mrs. Atarama!!! ;)
Our trip home went a lot smoother then our trip there. We only got lost on our way out of Aviano and landed somewhere in the mountains where an old scary Italian man tried to talk to us in Italian. Half his teeth were missing and the others were rotted out. He kept pointing to me and would go off in Italian. I was ready to get out of there and get somewhere safer. Which we did and we now laugh about it all.
I would tell anyone that Italy should be on their top list of countries to visit. I think it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen (so far) and the food is so delicious! JT and I really enjoyed our time in Italy and look forward to going to other places there in the future. There are more pictures of our trip on Facebook if you would like to check them all out. 
