Tuscany

First, I'd like to apologize for my absence. I've got Arm Tendinitis and had to spend a few days on rest. Thanks for your patience! ♥

Second, I'd like to thank Gabriel Lorenzi, Guia Viajar Melhor, Apure Guria, Ansa Brasil for the articles and videos that helped me a lot to develop this chapter and create a decent tourist itinerary for the honeymoon of our dear Larmin XD

♦♦♦

Armin woke up in the middle of the night with Lara poking him.

Lying on his chest, she gazed at him from below, with a meaningful expression.

Drowsy, he propped himself up on his elbows to get a better look at her.

"What's wrong, baby?" he asked, blinking several times to clean his eyes.

Lara wet her lips and lowered her head.

"It's just... I can't sleep..." she gazed at him once more with that same expression.

"Why?" asked Armin, now worried and sitting up, "Are you okay? Did something happen?" He took her face with both hands.

Lara seemed embarrassed about something, for she averted his eyes and pressed her lips together as if she wanted to laugh. Now Armin was looking at her with a confused expression.

"It's alright, babe..." replied Lara, running her finger on his chest, making a little pout, "It's just... I... Well... I wanna make love with you again..." She gazed at him from below like a puppy.

Armin's mouth gaped open, perplexed. However, in the next second, a big smile formed on his face and he covered his mouth to giggle.

"Like, n-now?!" he asked. It was Armin's turn to be surprised by the unexpected invitation. He glanced at the clock on his bedside table, which read a little past two-thirty. Moonlight streamed in through the window and everything was in complete silence. It felt like they were the only people awake in the entire world.

Lara also covered her mouth to giggle, and shrugged.

"Well... If you don't want to, that's fine..." she pretended she was going to turn away, with a cheeky smile, but Armin soon pulled her back, immediately trapping her wrists and getting on top of her. Slowly, he ran his hands up her arms until they intertwined their fingers.

"Whoa, whoa! Where do you think you're going?!" asked Armin softly, and they both chuckled. He leaned over to her and they kissed, with Lara slowly wrapping her legs around his waist, stroking his blond hair. They felt their hearts begin to warm. For a moment, Armin pulled back and smiled at his wife.

"Please pinch me. I wanna know if I'm dreaming or not," he said softly. Just for fun, Lara pinched his nose and pulled him toward her, so they could kiss again, while Armin wrapped his arms around her, rolling around on the bed.

This time, they thought their performances had been more satisfying, although they pretty much enjoyed their first-time, for it really was a very unique, intimate, and special moment for both, that they would never forget the feeling. However, to celebrate the effectiveness of the second-time, Armin invited Lara to take their first bath together in the bathtub.

Perhaps due to having lived under the same roof for so long before getting married, they both now felt completely comfortable being naked in the presence of the other. They already knew their quirks and mannerisms, with the only difference being that they now would see the other naked and make love.

So, they practically ran out of bed toward the suite's bathroom, in their birthday suits, hand in hand, so excited they looked like two children, heading towards the playground.

Lara hopped in place and clapped her hands as she watched Armin turn on the faucet to fill the bathtub, and while it was filling, he pulled her and they kissed for so long that the water overflowed, giving them both a great fright and having to dry the floor with the help of a squeegee.

They took a very nice bath, with one gently passing the sponge on the other, along with many passionate kisses. They tried to make love in the bathtub, but the movement of the water seemed to make everything too complicated, so they gave up. They were so frustrated that they headed into the shower stall and tried to make love while feeling the strong water falling on their backs, but they also failed miserably, as they started choking and the wall was very cold and slippery, making them laugh and lose their strength. They ended up coming to the conclusion that they were still very amateurish in the subject and that they needed to practice more. So, in the end, they just stayed there embracing each other, feeling the pleasant temperature of the shower water on their bodies, while they gave many slow and intense kisses.

Still in the middle of the night, the couple put on warm pajamas and went to the kitchen. They prepared some mocha coffee and drank it sitting at the dining table, looking out the window at the starry night landscape outside, with the moon illuminating the valley. They gave thanks in their hearts for the wonderful night they were having and smiled at each other, squeezing their hands.

Again, Lara was left with a little mocha coffee mustache and Armin promptly did the favor of cleaning it with his own mouth, drawing a lot of laughter from her because he started poking her in the ribs as he did so.

By that time, Lara was feeling sleepy and demanded to be carried by Armin to bed since he had had too much fun at the expense of her breasts. And, as previously agreed, she was the little spoon. They woke up just a few hours later because they couldn't be late to catch the train, and started getting ready to leave.

Apparently, Lara had also taken after Hange on the matter of being shameless around the husband. The difference was that this attribute just hadn't been awakened in her before. Like her mother, Lara didn't seem to mind going into the bathroom while Armin relieved himself, leaving him extremely embarrassed, and he came to the conclusion it was best to, from today onwards, lock the bathroom door when using it.

They would need to stop by Levi and Hange's house to pick them up and, together, go to the train station. The newlyweds were a bit afraid to meet them again, for having literally run away from their own wedding party, and Lara still remembered the look on her father's face when he found out what the reason for their "escape" was.

However, much to their relief, Levi seemed to know nothing about it and treated them normally. Deep down, he understood them and found it funny.

Kuchel cried a lot at the station because she also wanted to travel by train since she had no memory of when she had first traveled when she was only three months old when they went to see her father's Orthopedic Doctor. However, Lara and Armin promised that they would bring some presents from Tuscany for her and Hannah, who was a little scared at how many people there were at the station, hiding into her mother's neck.

Before getting on board, Lara asked Levi to take a photo of her and Armin in front of the train (and that "for God's sake, don't shake, 'cause we only have a few films and they're expensive!"). Levi managed not to shake, but he thought it was way too embarrassing for someone to smile at a strange rectangular object, which emitted a blinding light.

They said goodbye to Hange, Levi, Kuchel, and Hannah, and got on board, heading to their cabin, as it would be a long journey until they arrived at night in Florence, the first city they would visit in the Tuscany region.

Now that they were married, Armin and Lara found it utterly absurd that the cabins only had single beds, and now they understood why at the time they were coming to Italy, Hange and Levi enjoyed being alone in the ship's cabin so they could have at least some decent moment of affection since they couldn't even sleep together during those days of travel.

While helping the couple to put their bags in the cabin, the train attendant found out that they were on their honeymoon and said he would bring a special afternoon snack when they were going to serve the passengers at around 5 pm.

Since Lara and Armin were exhausted from the lively night they had (as the few hours they slept were not enough to recharge their energies), they took the opportunity and went to sleep for a while, sleeping cuddling in the same bed because why not, which was actually great for a couple on honeymoon.

As promised, at 5 pm they were woken up by the attendant knocking on the cabin door, bringing in a cart a nice Italian afternoon snack, with stuffed breads, cookies, croissants, espresso, and some fruits. It even had a small vase with some red roses. Lara almost passed out of emotion when the attendant asked her:

"Would you like a chocolate croissant, Mrs. Arlert?"

The reason for the almost-passing-out was because Lara was touched by being called "Mrs. Arlert", as now she had another Family Name to add to her collection. And also for discovering that chocolate croissants exist, because she had never seen it for sale in the refugee community, but in fact, Lara had just never paid enough attention, because there were chocolate croissants there, oh yes! (Which is a little lack of sense on her part, since she loves chocolate so much). The result of that was a very tearful "Yes, please, sir!", which left the attendant a bit confused, while Armin chuckled softly, savoring his espresso.

When they were done snacking, the attendant came back to take out the dishes and the cart, and then Lara and Armin spent the rest of the train ride looking out the window at the landscape, pointing to the places they thought were good-looking. They considered taking a photo of the mountains ahead, but they thought it would end up blurry and shaky, and they would waste the film for nothing.

In the end, they took what we now call a "selfie", but for the time period they lived in, the name was just a "photo of themselves". Their eyes watered a lot because of the strong flash and they were afraid of having blinked, which would be a complete disaster because they didn't want photos of the two of them just with their eyes closed during the entire honeymoon. Just imagine, what a disappointment! It would look like they were sleeping in all the tourist spots!

They arrived in Florence at night and were taken by carriage to the hotel where they were to stay. Armin and Lara were in awe as they saw the Renaissance and Gothic buildings. Lara felt great joy in her heart to see how delighted Armin was, fulfilling one of his dreams, of traveling the world. She just didn't give him a nice kiss right there, because it would be impolite to the coachman.

Although it was night, some buildings were illuminated by spotlights and in the distance they could see the gigantic cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. The couple was totally perplexed, as they had never seen a building of that size (except for the literally colossal Walls of Paradis). They took that opportunity and asked the coachman for some sightseeing tips, which he readily offered.

They arrived at the hotel, which was simple but pretty cozy. It was in one of the neighborhoods farther from downtown and was entirely made of stone, with pink flowers falling over the dark wooden roof, surrounded by flowering bushes. They were received very politely by the receptionist, who presented them with a bottle of wine from one of the wineries in the region, surprising them both.

In the letter they had sent when making the reservation a few months ago, they had informed that they would be staying for their honeymoon, so they suspected that this was the reason for receiving that treat (here we gotta cut Lara and Armin some slack, for it was the first time they were traveling for pleasure other than Marley and were unaware of the hospitality manners of other places).

They were even more surprised when they arrived in their room and saw that the bed was clearly prepared to receive a couple in love, because, above the sheets, there was a box of chocolates in the shape of a heart, with two glass cups next to it. They tipped the porter who brought their suitcases and locked the door.

The couple began to have a fit of giggles when they saw everything prepared for them, for they could never expect to be so spoiled by the hotel staff (little did they know that this was a standard procedure of the place and only later, at dinner time, they would overhear another couple chatting about how tasty the chocolates in the candy box were, finally realizing they were not exclusive customers at all).

After having dinner, they went back to their room to finally eat the delicious (and not so exclusive) chocolates. Neither Armin nor Lara were used to drinking wine, because neither did Hange and Levi, basically just having tea in their house (or sometimes a bit of coffee) as it was something they were used to drinking during their lives in Paradis.

So it was a tremendous struggle for Armin to get the freaking cork out of the bottle, because Lara was laughing so much at his face at seeing how he was turning almost purple from pulling it, that Armin completely lost his strength because he couldn't stop laughing either. In the end, Lara took the bottle from his hands and in one quick movement, she popped the cork herself, leaving Armin gaping.

Since they were on their honeymoon, they agreed that they would do everything by the book. So, while hopping in place from excitement, they took off their clothes with certain violence and dashed under the sheets, so they could drink the wine and eat the chocolates. They allowed themselves to feel very fancy and cocky at that moment, even lifting their pinky to sip the wine from the glass because they didn't know when they would have another opportunity to do so again. They fed the chocolates into each other's mouths, remembering when Lara was in Paradis' Headquarters' infirmary when she hurt her foot, and they both shared that chocolate box that Armin had bought, a long time ago, not even imagining that, about three years later, they would be on their honeymoon in Florence, in a world where Titans no longer existed!

They even thought about taking a selfie of them in bed, with the wine glasses and the chocolates (because they really enjoyed taking that kind of photo, despite the temporary blindness), but, before pressing the camera button, they remembered that they would get the photos developed at some point, and that, probably, the person who would do this service would see them in that state, which would be an embarrassment of extreme level. So, they thought it was better to only take a photo of the chocolate box, with them holding the glasses of wine in front of them, toasting.

After delighting themselves with the chocolates and drinking a bit of the wine, Armin crawled onto the bed on top of Lara, starting to shower her with loud kisses, drawing a burst of laughter from her, who had to cover her mouth to not disturb the neighbors. They were extremely happy to be there, together, unable to stop smiling. The couple felt that with each passing minute they spent in each other's company, they loved each other more.

They had a very romantic and pleasant evening. They made love for a long time, the same way they had made just the day before, on their wedding night, with everything very slow and intense, enjoying every second, being lit only by the lamps. Afterward, they took a shower together under the warm water, while wrapping themselves in their arms, and giving slow, passionate kisses.

The night was a bit cold, so after the shower, they changed into their pajamas and slept cuddling together, just the way Lara had dreamed so long ago, with Armin hugging her tight, warming her from the cold.

The next day, after breakfast, they started touring Florence.

The first thing they did was visit the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, which now, lit by daylight, looked much larger than it already was. When they reached the square in front of the building, Armin and Lara were so stunned by the size of the cathedral that they almost tripped over some pigeons. At one point, Lara shooed away a pigeon, saying:

"Out of the way, Eren!"

"Come again, baby?" asked Armin, also trying to get rid of some of them.

"Oh, nothing!" she tried to hide a giggle.

As they approached the entrance to the cathedral and began to analyze the rich architectural details, Lara began to hop in exhilaration.

"LET'S TAKE A PHOTO!!!" she exclaimed, shaking her hands. She positioned the camera in front of their faces, trying to mentally frame them and hope the cathedral was appearing behind. But, Lara would only know the true result when she developed the photo, which made her quite anxious.

When they finally entered, following the line of visitors, Armin had to hold her back, because Lara literally nearly passed out at the sight of the cathedral's enormous dome, entirely covered with incredible Renaissance and Mannerist-style paintings (she didn't know about these styles' names).

"B-B-But, how did they get up there to paint?!?! I-It's impossible!" stuttered Lara, practically crying at the thought that she might never reach that level of realism. "I need to contact the teacher of the person who painted this! Would they teach me?!"

Before Armin could answer her, Lara dashed to one of the guides directing the visitors. Now in completely fluent Italian, she poked him.

"Excuse me, sir! Could you please tell me who painted those?" Lara pointed to the dome, almost hopping in place. Armin approached, panting from having rushed there too.

"Oh, sure..." replied the guide, "It was Giorgio Vasari and Federico Zuccari."

"Could you please give me their contact information?" asked Lara, rubbing her hands nervously. "I really need to know where they learned to paint like that! I'm also a painter."

The guide looked her up and down, his mouth slightly open and a certain expression of disbelief. Then, slowly, he replied:

"Madam... I'm sorry to tell you, but... They've been dead for centuries."

"WHAT?!" Lara's voice echoed through the cathedral, drawing many gazes.

Armin had to pull her out of the cathedral, as people were already starting to whisper and point because Lara had begun to cry in utter desolation. It took at least fifteen minutes for him to be able to comfort her for the failure of trying to get lessons from such professional painters. Lara only managed to feel better when Armin dashed out to buy ice cream.

The ice cream was fine, but Lara was still sobbing a little as she licked the cone and Armin patted her on the back with sympathy, doing his best not to laugh at his wife's misfortune.

After that, they went to a place called Piazza Della Repubblica, a big square with a gorgeous carousel in the middle.

Lara and Armin had never seen a carousel in their entire lives and were delighted to watch people riding the wooden horses as they spun around and around on that large object beautifully decorated with golden scrollwork and colorful paintings.

"Let's go there, baby!" said Armin in excitement. "That one looks like my horse from the Survey Corps!"

The couple happily bought the tickets and got on the wooden horses. However, they discovered that it was not that fun after all, as the carousel just kept going around itself and nothing more, giving them a mild labyrinthitis crisis, where they both staggered out of the ride and bumped into some people, waving a "scusi, mi dispiace!" (excuse me, I'm sorry!). They had to sit on a bench for a few minutes to recover from the dizziness.

They had lunch at a restaurant downtown. But it turned out to be quite expensive and they agreed that for the next meals, they would eat in restaurants located in other simpler neighborhoods because if not, they would spend all the savings they made during their engagement years only on food.

At least, there were delicious desserts on every corner, and it was easier to find a good and cheap place to buy them. Bakeries with windows full of Italian pastries popped up here and there. They stopped at one and bought stuffed Cannolis and a few packets of Nougat so they could eat at the hotel.

Afterward, they went to Ponte Vecchio, a pretty medieval-style bridge. They walked some distance to get a little further away and took a selfie, hoping it would appear behind them, surrounded by colorful buildings.

They spent the rest of the afternoon on what was their favorite tour so far (aside from the cathedral, although that was a kind of a disastrous tour), a place called the Galleria Dell'Accademia, a museum filled with works of art and sculptures.

Armin and Lara were stunned, for never in their lives had they seen so many pieces of art together in one place. Lara was about to collapse right there. Sculptures and paintings of all kinds were displayed throughout the rooms, walls, and hallways. In addition to having a section with different types of musical instruments.

Then, they noticed that people were heading towards a certain area of the museum, where they saw that it led to a large marble statue, at least five-meter high, of a completely naked man holding a sling, a type of ancient weapon.

As they approached and read the description, they saw that it was the famous David statue by Michelangelo. However, neither of them knew that it was a work of art that was already well known to people. When Lara finished reading, she nearly collapsed as she realized something.

"Armin!" she shook him, while he also read the description, "I-It's... King David! From the stories we read in the Bible back home!"

"Really?!" Armin widened his eyes. "But where's Goliath?!"

Lara looked around.

"In another room, perhaps?" she asked, hand on chin.

"Or maybe..." Armin consulted the description again, "This Michelangelo thought it was better not to sculpt him, since he's a giant."

Lara analyzed David's statue thoughtfully.

"Yeah..." she narrowed her eyes, "If David, who was short, was depicted in a five-meter tall statue, imagine Goliath!"

Armin then widened his eyes as if something had occurred to him, and began to giggle.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, "Now I get why Levi likes the story of King David so much. He was a warrior, a shorty, and fought a giant! Just like your father with the Titans."

"Babe!" retorted Lara, also not able to hold back a giggle. "I'll tell Dad you're making fun of him!" she gave him a playful nudge.

"No, no, no!" Armin shook his hands in despair, "Please, I don't wanna die!"

They laughed and gave a peck kiss, hugging each other from their sides. They watched the work of art for a while longer. Lara said that if she ever had the opportunity, she would also like to learn to sculpt, which Armin thought was a good idea, but it was better if she sculpt in clay, because marble was too expensive.

They returned to the hotel exhausted at dusk and bathed together in the bathtub, where Armin embraced Lara from behind and they both stood there, relaxing in the warm water. They even dozed off, so comfortable they were feeling. They only woke up because they felt the water turn cold and quickly dried off and headed to bed to nap properly (this time, Armin asked to be the little spoon, because he wanted to know what it felt like).

They were so tired they almost missed the hotel's dinnertime and had to rush to the cafeteria. On the way back, they were still a little sleepy and their feet hurt a lot from having walked all day long, so they went straight to bed, falling asleep in less than two minutes.

The couple had a great night's sleep and woke up refreshed, very early, before sunrise. They brushed their teeth and went to the small balcony. With their breaths being seen because of the cold weather, they hugged each other tightly as they watched the twilight. The sky had a pink and purple hue, crisscrossing all the buildings that filled the city. A few stars were still shining up high.

They gazed at each other with a little smile, then, slowly pressed their lips together, opening their mouths for a soft kiss. Lara wrapped her arms around Armin's neck, who began to place his hands inside her pajama top, causing her to shiver because his hands were cold, making them both chuckle softly, while she contracted her abdomen with the tickle.

Still kissing, they staggered into the room, with Armin closing the balcony door. They took off their clothes and got under the covers, where they kissed, caressed, and embraced each other, taking the opportunity to also make love a little bit, until breakfast time.

After breakfast, they took a train to visit Pisa, a nearby city, for they had heard there was a funny tower there.

Even though Armin and Lara were already able to speak fluent Italian, they would still get confused by some words. So, during the train trip, they heard so many people talk about "Tower of Pisa here, Tower of Pisa there", with their voices mingling in the hubbub, that they both ended up understanding that it was a Tower of Pizza.

They looked at each other for a least two minutes straight, frowning, trying to process in their minds how a gigantic tower made of pizza could ever exist, and came to the conclusion that maybe the place was a big Pizza Restaurant, after all.

They walked around the city quite excited to visit the Pizza Restaurant because the trip left them very hungry, but they were disappointed when they saw that it was a normal tower, made of marble.

Okay, it was not a normal tower, for it was inclined, which made the couple walk a little apprehensive around the square that surrounded it, afraid that it would fall on the tourists' heads at any moment. After making sure the tower wouldn't fall, they bought tickets to visit it.

However, it was so strange to walk on such a sloping tower, that at one point, when they were almost at the top, Armin simply froze there, unable to move and holding on to the walls, claiming he could have sworn he felt the tower move.

Armin wasn't the only one who was behaving like that, because while Lara tried to calm him down, she also saw some other tourists looking scared and pale, walking along the walls as if trying to hold on to something.

Lara only managed to make him move after promising that when they arrived at the hotel at the end of the day, they would try to make love in the bathtub again, which made him straighten up immediately as if nothing had happened, and with a little smile of conquest on his face.

As they left the Tower of Pisa, they noticed that some tourists were making strange poses on the square's lawn, while someone was taking a photo of the other person. They looked at each other, confused. Since Lara was more uninhibited about talking to strangers, she poked a certain little old man, who was taking a photo of his wife, asking why they were doing that.

Patiently, he explained that it was because when taking a photo doing the said strange pose, it gave the impression that the person was holding the Tower of Pisa from falling. A smile spread across Lara's mouth and she happily asked the little old man to take a photo of her and Armin. They were a little embarrassed for doing such a comical pose, like holding nothing, but the little old man assured them that the photo was good.

Afterward, they visited a museum nearby and had pizza for lunch at a small restaurant in one of the neighborhoods (since they were excited before getting tricked by the fake Tower of Pizza).

They took another train to visit another town called Lucca. It was a small, quiet place, all surrounded by a wall. After having a tasty Gelato, they started walking through the streets and found a very cozy small shop, which was a mixture of bookstore and stationery store, which drove both Lara and Armin crazy, for it meant heaven for both.

While Lara explored the paints, pencils, and brushes section, Armin explored the books. At one point, he popped up panting and gleefully behind her, holding two books in his hands.

"Take a look at this book!" Armin handed one of them to Lara, "It tells the story of a wooden puppet that comes to life! I got curious and I think I'll buy it, what do you think?"

She read the book title, which was "Pinocchio", by Carlo Collodi. The book had a pretty blue fabric cover, with several drawings depicting a fairy, a cricket, a cat, a fish, an old man, a donkey, and a whale, decorated with arabesques around it.

"That's cute!" she smiled at Armin, "Do buy it! Will you lend me later?"

"Of course, my pretty," he approached and gave her a peck kiss. "What about you, will you take anything?"

Lara studied the shelf beside her and picked up some paint tubes.

"I'll take these. Now I really wanna improve my painting skills!"

Then, Armin handed over the other book he had in his hands.

"I think Mom will enjoy this one, baby. It's about Italy's Botany."

Lara flipped through the pages, getting marveled at the plant drawings and descriptions.

"Wow, she'll love it! I'm so happy that now Mommy has time to stay in the lab and do what she really enjoys..." Lara gave Armin a peck kiss, thanking him for finding the book.

They explored the store a bit more and got to a small section where some wooden toys were sold.

"Babe, come see this!" She took a little wooden horse. "I think Hannah will like it, don't you?"

Agreeing, Armin also looked at the other toys and found a little wooden train.

"And this one is for Kuchel since she freaked out for not getting on board with us."

They finished shopping and left.

Before taking the train back to the hotel, they found a herbal tea shop, and only one name crossed their minds: Levi. They explored the store for a while and left it with a packet of camellia tea, produced on the plantations in the city of Lucca.

They happily returned from another trip day, leaning against each other on the upholstered seat of the train car, carrying their shopping bags. They were silent for most of the way back, watching the amazing sunset. They enjoyed the landscape while stroking their hands, and from time to time, smiling at each other and giving a peck kiss.

It was night when they arrived at the hotel. The couple would need to pack their bags because early tomorrow morning they would take a train to the city of Siena, where they would stay elsewhere, to visit the tourist spots in the region.

To make it easier, they called a porter and asked him to bring dinner to the room, while they organized the bags. They had lasagna with white sauce while sitting at a table on the balcony, chatting about the places they had visited so far.

It started to get cold and they went inside, closing the balcony door. Since Armin was a good boy and obeyed her in the Tower of Pisa, as promised, Lara filled the bathtub, making her husband pretty excited. The warm steam from the water made the entire room reach a pleasant temperature, compared to the cold outside.

The couple took a bath with plenty of soap foam and took that opportunity to eat some of the Nougat they had bought the day before. As agreed, they made one more attempt to make love in the bathtub. They still had a lot to improve, but this time, they performed a little better.

They arrived in Siena in the middle of the next morning, staying in a little cottage in a small inn, which even had a fireplace because it was quite cold there at night. It was a very similar region to the refugee community, with that rural aspect, surrounded by vineyards.

This time, they were a bit smarter about the treats they received at the cottage for being on their honeymoon. They got another box of chocolates, this time filled with grapes and strawberries planted in the region (to Lara's utter delight, who almost ate the whole box). They also got a tasty grape juice from one of the nearby vineyards.

They spent the rest of the day exploring the city's central square, which had a curious shell shape, and the city's beautiful stone streets, which looked more like labyrinths, having a moment when they got lost pretty bad and were grateful for knowing how to speak Italian to ask for information because otherwise, they would have spent the night sleeping in the open, as they did not know how to get to the inn from there.

At night, after dinner in the inn's cafeteria, they returned to their cottage. Because of the cold, they lit the fireplace and covered the floor with several blankets and pillows. With the room properly heated by the fire, the couple took off their clothes and stayed under the covers, kissing and caressing each other slowly as they vowed their love and of course, made love for a long, long time.

The next day's tour was good, but a bit tragic. They spent the day visiting the region's incredible vineyards, getting marvelous at the sight of the vines and the giant wooden vats where the wines were stored.

However, in all the vineyards the couple visited, they received free grape juice and cheese to try, produced by the local farmers. The problem was that they gorged themselves so much on cheese and juice, that it fermented in their stomachs in such a way that they arrived at the cottage feeling very sick, making them both spend a good part of the night taking turns to use the bathroom, totally ruining their romantic honeymoon mood. They didn't even make love that night, so sick they were, and they went to sleep moaning with a stomachache.

These things happen, and we cannot do anything about it. If you're on your honeymoon and don't go through some disastrous trouble at some point, you're doing it wrong.

They woke up the next day feeling much better, very early in the morning, with Armin all sprightly and recovered, poking Lara, asking if she wanted to make some love. She promptly accepted, as she too had recovered well. However, when Lara started kissing Armin, she pulled away instantly, claiming that his face felt like sandpaper, for his beard had grown out. In the end, Lara claimed she would only make love with him if he shaves right away, as she didn't want to get her mouth all burning and itchy, and Armin stomped to the bathroom to do the job in complete indignation.

While Armin, from the bathroom, complained about how this was a tremendous calumny against him, for it was not his fault that his beard was growing, Lara retorted saying that he was strictly forbidden to even consider having a mustache one day, claiming she would never kiss him again in case that happened, because in her opinion, she found the possibility of kissing someone with a mustache a little disgusting. Armin had to agree, and in the end, rushed into his wife's arms as he came out of the bathroom, because he was traumatized at being rejected because of his grown beard.

After breakfast, the couple took a train to visit the city of San Gimignano, which had great tall medieval towers, amazingly contrasting with the green landscape of the place. They took some photos and had lunch at a restaurant in the city. In the afternoon, to their surprise, in the square, there was a small opera performance, where a woman sang the song "O Mio Babbino Caro", accompanied by an orchestra, bringing many tears to Lara and Armin, for they had never heard someone sing so beautifully next to them.

The next day was very special. They woke up early at dawn to finally take the long-awaited balloon ride. Even before sunrise, they were already on the train to the city of Chianti. There, they had breakfast in the open field, with other tourists and couples who were also going to participate in the ride.

When they finally saw the wondrous colorful balloons, Lara and Armin got very emotional, squeezing their hands and giving a peck kiss in celebration, as they had never seen anything like that in their entire lives. They had been in an airship before, of course, but the atmosphere and purpose back then were totally different, in the middle of the war they were going through at the time.

It was indescribable the sensation they felt as the balloon slowly went up towards the skies, with the icy morning air breezing their faces, and waving their hair. There was another couple on honeymoon in the same balloon basket they were in, looking as happy as Armin and Lara.

Watching the sun slowly rise through the beautiful Italian mountains, with its rays cutting through the trees and clouds, they gazed at each other and slowly got closer for a very passionate kiss, their hearts burning with joy. They weren't ashamed to kiss in public, because the other couple was doing the same thing.

They returned from the ride feeling so full and in love that on the way back, they decided that they would spend the rest of the day at the inn, enjoying each other. Lara and Armin entered the cottage already kissing ardently, just making sure of locking the doors and windows while they took off their clothes. As agreed, they spent the rest of the day alternating between making love in the bed and in the bathtub (they finally did it!). To celebrate the success of the effectiveness in the bathtub, they ordered dinner to be delivered to their room, ending the night making some more love in front of the fireplace.

The next day, they left the inn to visit the last region of their trip, a place called Cinque Terre, a comprise of centuries-old villages located on the seafront on the rugged coast of the Italian Riviera. Since Armin loved the ocean, they thought it would be the perfect place to end their honeymoon on a high note.

Lara was filled with joy to see how excited Armin was when they arrived in Cinque Terre. It was just a fantastic place. All the buildings were very colorful, with flowers decorating the streets, in a beautiful contrast with the strong blue color of the sea. It looked like a place out of a fantasy book.

They spent two wonderful days at that location, walking through the streets, houses, and bridges. It was the place where most photos were taken. They ate delicious Italian meals in restaurants overlooking the sea.

Finally, they took an incredible boat trip for an entire afternoon, where they watched the sunset between the colorful houses and the green and rocky mountains of the region. The orange and purple hue of the sky contrasted with the color of the waters and the rocks.

There, as the boat slowly rocked, Lara and Armin gazed at each other and once more, shared a passionate kiss. They drew their lips apart and held their faces, gazing deeply at their eyes as they said how much they loved each other.

From their engagement day until now, those were definitely the best moments they have ever lived.

Everything was perfect and at peace.