Nine months ago, we all got to meet my baby niece Layla. A few months later, I was lamenting to a coworker about how fast the baby was growing, and how her living in Italy makes it hard for me to be a doting aunt. My coworker immediately chided me for not applying for my passport, booking flights and getting my butt over to Italy, because after all, Layla’s not exactly getting any younger.
So, two weeks ago, my mother and I flew to Naples, where my brother Matt and his family live, for a 10-day trip that would be my first-ever journey abroad. We explored Naples, had a four-day excursion to Rome and Florence, ate a lot and played with the baby. And I made a lot of pictures.
© 2013.
The pictures in this blog post (which is the first of at least three to come) show home life in Naples — or, Napoli. But first, the obligatory travel photo:
© 2013. First light over the Atlantic as we flew from Houston (IAH) to Frankfurt (FRA).
I never wanted to be that person who traveled abroad and returned home with all sorts of snooty attitudes about food, culture, etc., but let’s be real: You really cannot beat super-fresh mozzarella di bufala.
© 2013. A home-made charcuterie board at Matt and Emily’s apartment was our first meal in Italy. Clockwise from the top: Olives, fresh basil, freshly sliced prosciutto, cut tomatoes, olive oil and mozzarella di bufala.
Baby moped:
© 2013. Emily put Layla on a pint-sized moped in a Pozzuoli park.
Real moped:
© 2013. Matt on his Vespa. Behind him are his landlady, who lives downstairs from his apartment, and one of the many stray cats she feeds.
And now for some scenes at home:
© 2013. Emily takes Layla for a walk around the neighborhood above Pozzuoli.
© 2013. Layla pushes against the door screen to watch Matt as he sits on the terrace.
© 2013. Layla crawls around Matt as he reads Harry Potter on the terrace.
© 2013. “Lumos!” Matt aims a flashlight at Layla, who had been pulling plastics out of a kitchen cabinet.
© 2013.
© 2013. Butters the cat was Matt’s birthday present to Emily a few years back. Butters is now Layla’s reluctant “cat friend.”
© 2013.
© 2013. In the middle of her pre-bedtime diaper change, somebody got up and crawled away.
© 2013. “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.”
- Next: Ciao bambina (Roma e Firenze)
- Coming soon: Il Duomo di Firenze
- Coming eventually: Analog: Bambina
Words and Light 
oh my word. baby butt.
all of these are adorable.
Baby butt photo has my sister-in-law’s enthusiastic endorsement. After all, it’s cute/appropriate for only so long.
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