I've been playing with the idea of whether or not to continue the blog, or whether I should just let it live as an homage to our life and times on the road. I was really leaning towards the later, to preserve the adventure as it was abroad, in new and interesting locals around the world, but then there was the tiny voice, that grew into a larger pull to write again. So, I'll keep thigs going, at least for now, because life is really an every day adventure isn't it? I think so! And I know our course certainly isn't complete. And to be honest, I truly enjoy it. I like it! So, I'm back and happy to keep a good thing alive, even if I'm the only one who will read it, which is totally fine by me!
It's been almost a week since we returned, and we've been settling back in to a life of relative ease, not having to live out of a backpack, grocery shopping, cooking food for Ryan's family(I made tacos tonight!), doing my own laundry (I wonder how soon the novelty of THAT will last?!?), and trying to wake up an hour later each day to combat the jet lag that is still nagging! I made it to 8 am today, but then again, I also took 2 naps, probably undoing all the good work I've done.
The week has been a little surreal, not gonna lie. It felt familiar and strange all at the same time. We have never really been at Ryan's parents house during a regular work/school week due to our own working schedules, so sleeping in the basement room here, and waking up to the footsteps and hushed morning conversations getting Bob and Grace (in high and middle school) off to the bus, Alex off to law school and papa Daniel leaving for work left us with plenty if time to unpack, organize and make breakfast and have lazy morning conversations at the kitchen table with Ryan's mom over tea.
One highlight, of course being to carry on the tradition of a Teacher and friends happy hour at our favorite Manhattan dive bar, Malachy's. can something be epic if it has happened loads of times and is still just that awesome? Well, it was epic. Much love from the NYC peeps, and it just goes to prove that going away always is difficult, but to miss, and be missed- that feels good to reunite.
Back in New Jersey we did grocery shopping, visited the apple orchard (yes- cider and doughnuts!), and I did a bit of stamping with mama Daniel. She and her friends are quite the artists. There is some sort of breast cancer fundraiser coming up this weekend, so I sat in the craft corner punching out Christmas ornaments from multi-colored and patterned paper, and arranging them in a Christmas tree shape as a scrap book page. Creativity- BAM! I like art projects, and I also like benefits, so it was a win,win, as far as I'm concerned.
Ryan picked me up from crafting and we began our search for the worlds perfect car. Yes, it exists out there somewhere! Over the past few days we've visited several dealerships, sat behind many a wheel, and oohhhed, ahhhhed, and clicked our tongues while on the car prowl. It all paid off in the end- car purchased. I'm now big!
I may be partial to our newest family member, but little Lira is a light green Honda CR-V that gets awesome gas millage, has a sun roof, and has more American made parts than the Ford we looked at. :( But, it seems like the right size, has a few bells, though not many whistles, and it drives. Yes, the sign of a great first new car!
Triumph! Now, maybe for another nap.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Saturday, October 20, 2012
In the Land of Glaciers and Geysers
It's the last full day of travel! I really can't believe we made it to the end! Not that I can't believe that we did it, just that its actually coming to the end.
Iceland is truly magical. Seriously. So cool. Looks a little like mars, but feels like a mix between Denmark and the countryside of Ireland. Reykjavik is a really charming city, small, northern, simple architecture that looks boxy from the outside, but pretty warm and cozy on the inside. As we were walking back from dinner in town tonight (our hotel is about a 20 minute (COLD) walk outside the Main Street of the town) I was partaking in a favorite pastime of looking in house or apartment windows and noticing their lights, family pictures and one person even had a little gong in their window. There were delicious cafes and restaurants lining the Main Street that gave the feeling of a little town, not so much a city. Cute boutiques and shops selling all kinds of warm clothes, fur mittens, wool socks and deer skin throws. Yeah, and they actually all wear printed sweaters straight out of any LL Bean. It always feels like Christmas!
We walked around quite a bit yesterday, because our travel day before, while not really long, was tiring, so all we really did our first night here was check out the high windowed lobby of our hotel and grab dinner at the restaurant downstairs. The creamy fish soup was really, really good.
So, yesterday we made the best of the time wandering around down town. We had hoped to join a walking tour, but the first time we tried, we couldn't find the right meeting place, and the second time, 2 hours later, I don't think anyone showed up, even the guide. Oh well! We made our own walking tour. Have I mentioned it is super cold(32*), so I already bought a new pair of wool socks, wool gloves (yup, they look like LL bean too!) and a wool hat that I bought from the lady who made it and then stood out on the street in the bitter cold to sell them. She deserved the sale, and I have needed that hat!
We saw their concert hall, down by the harbor, the city hall, on a little pond that was frozen, and covered in ducks and swans (so cute!), and the biggest church in Iceland that looks tall, imposing, gray, and a little too modern looking if you ask me. I saw it lit up tonight though, and liked it better.
We loved the city, and after a long day our feet were very tired, so last night we went to the geothermal pool complex down the street from our hotel. It's like a giant hot tub you can swim in all winter! We enjoyed the outdoor pool most of all. They had a full size, 50 m swimming pool (we did laps), a bigger, but shallower and warmer play area with a basketball hoop and some inflatable tubes that the kids really seemed to enjoy whacking each other with. They had a great big, water park sized water slide that Ryan mastered, and rode several times followed by laughing children. It was Kinda fun, but it was also dark, and I didn't get enough speed, so I watched from the warm splashdown pool after my 2nd try. The opposite side of the lap pool had several 'hot pots',as they call them here(hot tubs at home), that were all varying degrees of hot, a sauna, and a jacuzzi with Atlantic Ocean water (warm too). All were relaxing, except when Ryan made me race him 100 m in the pool, especially because he forgets we are still out of shape and now my whole body aches! It was really fun though, we spent almost the whole night there until about 9:30, then got some dinner and I was so tired I fell asleep with all my clothes on.
Ryan planned ahead by setting his alarm, and we were up early today for a Golden Circle bus tour. We were picked up at 8:30, then whisked away to the larger bus station, were everyone sort of milled around not knowing what bus to get on, but soon we were sorted, and on our way. The views were stunning, the landscape full of lava flows, old and new, Icelandic horses grazing here and there, and plateaus and mountains around every bend. One of the best bends in the road came when we were in site of the second largest glacier in Iceland. So cool, I was so excited to see a glacier, I made up a glacier cheer. Ryan claims he loves me best when I sing and cheer for things, so, it made for a happy day.
We first visited a greenhouse that worked from geothermal power. Actually, about 90% of the power in Iceland is geothermal, which is awesome and super environmentally friendly. I guess the price to pay is always living on the top of a huge volcanic hot spot, but it seems to work here. The greenhouse was most notable (at least to us) due to homemade tomato soup. Tasty, and of course, very fresh. Next we went to visit the Gullfoss Waterfall. It's a two tiered monstrosity of falls, cascading down from the glacier in the distance. Although everything was a bit frosty up there, the mist from the falls created a whole field of ice crystallized banks on either side. We took loads of pictures, squinting into the sun, and slid down a path to get a better view of the lower falls. Totally worth it, and my shoes officially double as ice skates. Can't say the same for Ryan, he may have pulled a groin muscle or two!
We stopped again down the road for lunching and geysering. The Strokkur geyser (we stole the word geyser from Icelandic, along with the word 'saga') is a sight to see, and I haven't been to Yellowstone, so I haven't seen old faithful, but to mine eyes, it was awesome. I even took a video, which I will try to post! People cheered every time, and that's a lot, considering that it spouts every 5 minutes or so!
I checked out a few of the other hot pools around, even touching one to see how hot it was (it wasn't THAT hot!), and we loved the steaming vents all over the area.
After lunch, we went down the road in search of the rift between continents. We stopped at a national park, with more amazing views down a river, leading to a lake with a little rustic church in the distance. We hiked up a hill to view the two sides of the world! At points, one person could stand on the North American plate, while the other could stand on the European side. Sweet. I stood over it and was in two places at once. I've always wished I could do that!
As we drove back to Reykjavik, I watched out the window at the scenery, so foreign, thinking of all the foreign places I've seen over these many weeks abroad, and it kind if hit me that this is it! My eyes have seen so much! They are aching for more, but they are also full up, so while I felt sad to conclude with traveling, the idea of resting and starting back anew, that seemed appealing too. It's like standing on those two continents was a way to split apart, to look down into the rift, knowing that it isn't empty, it is full. For me, it's full of awesome memories, they won't pass by my eyes again, but now they are stuck in my mind, which is even better.
I love to travel. I admit it- I love you, Travel! I guess I can say that it makes me feel so alive, but I feel alive everywhere I go, and I try to take advantage of life, as much as I can, No matter where I am. I guess I love that it sets me on fire, in a way. It makes me love new things, it makes me miss old things, it makes me realize how big and small the world is, all at the same time, and that I want to be a true citizen. I like normal, I like comfortable, but I LOVE feeling the spark of excitement that goes along with adventure.
I don't know when I'll travel again, but I really couldn't have asked for a better partner, and I'm so thankful, that for after all the years that I've wished for a travel partner, that I found Ryan to laugh around the world with. Yes, there were plenty of times we wanted to kill each other, several threats of wanting to just give up and go home, tantrums, fights, disagreements, silences and eye rolls, but for every one of those times, there were 65 sunsets, a thousand hugs and cuddles, shared smiles as we saw something that made us both gasp with excitement, over 100 tastes we shared, smooshed together in planes, trains, cars, boats, buses, and even a hot air balloon, we did it together, and we've grown a lot from all these experiences. I love him more than ever, and thank God for it! I'll speak for him and say he feels the same, because I know he does (he tells me a lot!) Thank you, Ryan, for being my buddy- travel, diving, and life buddy. :)
So, we had a delicious last night out in a foreign country for awhile, and it was a good one! Icelandic lobster is supposed to be one of the best, and now, I'd tend to agree. I will now begin to pack my bag up, one last time (gotta admit, I'm happy about that!), and get ready for one last hurrah tomorrow when we get up and grab another early bus to the Blue Lagoon, another amazing geothermal spot that they made into a spa. It's a lot bigger, and will be more of a natural setting than the pool, and its been on my list for a long time! We will spend the morning there, then take the last bus to the airport. Whooooo. Then home! Back to New Jersey we go. And beyond.
I'm trying to figure out a good way to conclude, but it sort of feels like stalling! I don't want to pack, and I don't want to finish my blog. But, like all great roller coasters, the ride has gotta come to an end at some point. If it was that good, you know you'll just have to ride another one someday soon. Every day is an adventure, and I suppose theses new memories that I share with Ryan from around the world are gonna keep the fire alive until the next time.
It's funny, I always sort of laughed to myself when I was leaving a place, and a front desk worker at a hotel, a shop keeper, a boat captain, a waiter, and many others we met would say something like "See you next time," or "you'll have to save that for next time!" I always wondered how they knew I'd be back some day. I can't say for sure where I will return, but, they were right, there's always a next time. It's in my blood! Hopefully, if you're reading this, its in your blood a little too. So, until next time! :)
Iceland is truly magical. Seriously. So cool. Looks a little like mars, but feels like a mix between Denmark and the countryside of Ireland. Reykjavik is a really charming city, small, northern, simple architecture that looks boxy from the outside, but pretty warm and cozy on the inside. As we were walking back from dinner in town tonight (our hotel is about a 20 minute (COLD) walk outside the Main Street of the town) I was partaking in a favorite pastime of looking in house or apartment windows and noticing their lights, family pictures and one person even had a little gong in their window. There were delicious cafes and restaurants lining the Main Street that gave the feeling of a little town, not so much a city. Cute boutiques and shops selling all kinds of warm clothes, fur mittens, wool socks and deer skin throws. Yeah, and they actually all wear printed sweaters straight out of any LL Bean. It always feels like Christmas!
We walked around quite a bit yesterday, because our travel day before, while not really long, was tiring, so all we really did our first night here was check out the high windowed lobby of our hotel and grab dinner at the restaurant downstairs. The creamy fish soup was really, really good.
So, yesterday we made the best of the time wandering around down town. We had hoped to join a walking tour, but the first time we tried, we couldn't find the right meeting place, and the second time, 2 hours later, I don't think anyone showed up, even the guide. Oh well! We made our own walking tour. Have I mentioned it is super cold(32*), so I already bought a new pair of wool socks, wool gloves (yup, they look like LL bean too!) and a wool hat that I bought from the lady who made it and then stood out on the street in the bitter cold to sell them. She deserved the sale, and I have needed that hat!
We saw their concert hall, down by the harbor, the city hall, on a little pond that was frozen, and covered in ducks and swans (so cute!), and the biggest church in Iceland that looks tall, imposing, gray, and a little too modern looking if you ask me. I saw it lit up tonight though, and liked it better.
We loved the city, and after a long day our feet were very tired, so last night we went to the geothermal pool complex down the street from our hotel. It's like a giant hot tub you can swim in all winter! We enjoyed the outdoor pool most of all. They had a full size, 50 m swimming pool (we did laps), a bigger, but shallower and warmer play area with a basketball hoop and some inflatable tubes that the kids really seemed to enjoy whacking each other with. They had a great big, water park sized water slide that Ryan mastered, and rode several times followed by laughing children. It was Kinda fun, but it was also dark, and I didn't get enough speed, so I watched from the warm splashdown pool after my 2nd try. The opposite side of the lap pool had several 'hot pots',as they call them here(hot tubs at home), that were all varying degrees of hot, a sauna, and a jacuzzi with Atlantic Ocean water (warm too). All were relaxing, except when Ryan made me race him 100 m in the pool, especially because he forgets we are still out of shape and now my whole body aches! It was really fun though, we spent almost the whole night there until about 9:30, then got some dinner and I was so tired I fell asleep with all my clothes on.
Ryan planned ahead by setting his alarm, and we were up early today for a Golden Circle bus tour. We were picked up at 8:30, then whisked away to the larger bus station, were everyone sort of milled around not knowing what bus to get on, but soon we were sorted, and on our way. The views were stunning, the landscape full of lava flows, old and new, Icelandic horses grazing here and there, and plateaus and mountains around every bend. One of the best bends in the road came when we were in site of the second largest glacier in Iceland. So cool, I was so excited to see a glacier, I made up a glacier cheer. Ryan claims he loves me best when I sing and cheer for things, so, it made for a happy day.
We first visited a greenhouse that worked from geothermal power. Actually, about 90% of the power in Iceland is geothermal, which is awesome and super environmentally friendly. I guess the price to pay is always living on the top of a huge volcanic hot spot, but it seems to work here. The greenhouse was most notable (at least to us) due to homemade tomato soup. Tasty, and of course, very fresh. Next we went to visit the Gullfoss Waterfall. It's a two tiered monstrosity of falls, cascading down from the glacier in the distance. Although everything was a bit frosty up there, the mist from the falls created a whole field of ice crystallized banks on either side. We took loads of pictures, squinting into the sun, and slid down a path to get a better view of the lower falls. Totally worth it, and my shoes officially double as ice skates. Can't say the same for Ryan, he may have pulled a groin muscle or two!
We stopped again down the road for lunching and geysering. The Strokkur geyser (we stole the word geyser from Icelandic, along with the word 'saga') is a sight to see, and I haven't been to Yellowstone, so I haven't seen old faithful, but to mine eyes, it was awesome. I even took a video, which I will try to post! People cheered every time, and that's a lot, considering that it spouts every 5 minutes or so!
I checked out a few of the other hot pools around, even touching one to see how hot it was (it wasn't THAT hot!), and we loved the steaming vents all over the area.
After lunch, we went down the road in search of the rift between continents. We stopped at a national park, with more amazing views down a river, leading to a lake with a little rustic church in the distance. We hiked up a hill to view the two sides of the world! At points, one person could stand on the North American plate, while the other could stand on the European side. Sweet. I stood over it and was in two places at once. I've always wished I could do that!
As we drove back to Reykjavik, I watched out the window at the scenery, so foreign, thinking of all the foreign places I've seen over these many weeks abroad, and it kind if hit me that this is it! My eyes have seen so much! They are aching for more, but they are also full up, so while I felt sad to conclude with traveling, the idea of resting and starting back anew, that seemed appealing too. It's like standing on those two continents was a way to split apart, to look down into the rift, knowing that it isn't empty, it is full. For me, it's full of awesome memories, they won't pass by my eyes again, but now they are stuck in my mind, which is even better.
I love to travel. I admit it- I love you, Travel! I guess I can say that it makes me feel so alive, but I feel alive everywhere I go, and I try to take advantage of life, as much as I can, No matter where I am. I guess I love that it sets me on fire, in a way. It makes me love new things, it makes me miss old things, it makes me realize how big and small the world is, all at the same time, and that I want to be a true citizen. I like normal, I like comfortable, but I LOVE feeling the spark of excitement that goes along with adventure.
I don't know when I'll travel again, but I really couldn't have asked for a better partner, and I'm so thankful, that for after all the years that I've wished for a travel partner, that I found Ryan to laugh around the world with. Yes, there were plenty of times we wanted to kill each other, several threats of wanting to just give up and go home, tantrums, fights, disagreements, silences and eye rolls, but for every one of those times, there were 65 sunsets, a thousand hugs and cuddles, shared smiles as we saw something that made us both gasp with excitement, over 100 tastes we shared, smooshed together in planes, trains, cars, boats, buses, and even a hot air balloon, we did it together, and we've grown a lot from all these experiences. I love him more than ever, and thank God for it! I'll speak for him and say he feels the same, because I know he does (he tells me a lot!) Thank you, Ryan, for being my buddy- travel, diving, and life buddy. :)
So, we had a delicious last night out in a foreign country for awhile, and it was a good one! Icelandic lobster is supposed to be one of the best, and now, I'd tend to agree. I will now begin to pack my bag up, one last time (gotta admit, I'm happy about that!), and get ready for one last hurrah tomorrow when we get up and grab another early bus to the Blue Lagoon, another amazing geothermal spot that they made into a spa. It's a lot bigger, and will be more of a natural setting than the pool, and its been on my list for a long time! We will spend the morning there, then take the last bus to the airport. Whooooo. Then home! Back to New Jersey we go. And beyond.
I'm trying to figure out a good way to conclude, but it sort of feels like stalling! I don't want to pack, and I don't want to finish my blog. But, like all great roller coasters, the ride has gotta come to an end at some point. If it was that good, you know you'll just have to ride another one someday soon. Every day is an adventure, and I suppose theses new memories that I share with Ryan from around the world are gonna keep the fire alive until the next time.
It's funny, I always sort of laughed to myself when I was leaving a place, and a front desk worker at a hotel, a shop keeper, a boat captain, a waiter, and many others we met would say something like "See you next time," or "you'll have to save that for next time!" I always wondered how they knew I'd be back some day. I can't say for sure where I will return, but, they were right, there's always a next time. It's in my blood! Hopefully, if you're reading this, its in your blood a little too. So, until next time! :)
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
The Jubilee Line
London has been short, and ever so sweet. It took forever to get here from Denmark, which it really shouldn't have. The Ryan air flight we took wasn't that long, but the travel from Lena's to my friend Andrea's flat, downtown London took around 8 hours. Too much! Plus, landing at Stanstead felt like a little kid had taken hold of the plane in the sky and jolted it all around before we bounced down the runway. Not cool, but, live and learn: Ryan Air is not worth it!
The touchdown might have been shaky, but London itself has been grand! My friend Andrea, another great girl I met working at Camp Nissokone, was gracious enough to put us up for 2 nights. It's been great to catch up! As far as the sites, I've been here 4 times now, and while I've seen quite a lot, we really liked staying in an apartment and being a bit normal. Yesterday we dropped our bags off at Andrea's posh little place she shares with her lawyer boyfriend, Tom. We strolled down the sidewalk that afternoon enjoying the leafy walk and sunny day. We walked ourselves right across the Tower Bridge, one of my favorites, and around the Tower of London.
We hadn't had lunch, so we found a pub with 3 kinds of cider on tap and scotch eggs. If you haven't ever heard of or tried a scotch egg, run, do not walk to the nearest place that sells them and bring your stretchy pants! We stopped at a grocery store so that Ryan could fulfill another long term dream ( they seem a little weird, I know!) of buying Bovril, which is a Vegemite type paste that's actually more like beef bouillon. I consider it rather gross, but when Ryan gets something in his head like a hankering for Bovril on toast (which you can't get in the States), he won't stop until he succeeds. Mission accomplished!
As soon as we got back to Andrea's apartment, we made ourselves right at home and did the most British thing we could think of, which was make tea and watch Harry Potter! So, a pretty good list of favorites checked off the list for London so far: walk across tower bridge, scotch egg and cider in pub, grocery store, tea and Potter! the night was made complete when Andrea got home with a bag of fish and chips- extra delicious! Once it was doused in vinegar, all dreams were fulfilled! We had a few drinks with Andrea, caught up, and chatted away about camp days gone by. Man, that summer was like the gift of friends that keeps on giving!
Yesterday Ryan I did the LAST load of laundry we'll have to do on the road (hooray!), then went out to see the Imperial War Museum, which was fascinating, super well designed and I really wanted to see and read everything in there. Really great, and I highly recommend it if you are ever in London. We spent three hours there, and I most definitely could have used a few more, as I feel like I didn't get to see enough of their extensive Holocast wing. Moving, and one of the best I've seen.
Unfortunately, Andrea's had to work both days we are in town, but we made the best if it by going out to a really nice Indian dinner last night, walked along the Thames and saw the tower bridge all lit up. Nice! I wish we could stay longer (how many times have I said that?!), but it's time to move on to Iceland before our last stop before heading back home to Ryan's parent's place in New Jersey, seeing friends in New York, and then driving to Michigan and on to Chicago to start the apartment and job hunt to start the next step and chapter of this crazy thing called life!!
This feels like the part of a flight that, right before landing, they hit the gas before making a smooth landing, and while I can feel the travel bug inside me digging in its heels, I am ready to head home, wherever that is, and start the new normal, whatever that is! I'll get right on that, right after I'm wowed by Iceland. :)
The touchdown might have been shaky, but London itself has been grand! My friend Andrea, another great girl I met working at Camp Nissokone, was gracious enough to put us up for 2 nights. It's been great to catch up! As far as the sites, I've been here 4 times now, and while I've seen quite a lot, we really liked staying in an apartment and being a bit normal. Yesterday we dropped our bags off at Andrea's posh little place she shares with her lawyer boyfriend, Tom. We strolled down the sidewalk that afternoon enjoying the leafy walk and sunny day. We walked ourselves right across the Tower Bridge, one of my favorites, and around the Tower of London.
We hadn't had lunch, so we found a pub with 3 kinds of cider on tap and scotch eggs. If you haven't ever heard of or tried a scotch egg, run, do not walk to the nearest place that sells them and bring your stretchy pants! We stopped at a grocery store so that Ryan could fulfill another long term dream ( they seem a little weird, I know!) of buying Bovril, which is a Vegemite type paste that's actually more like beef bouillon. I consider it rather gross, but when Ryan gets something in his head like a hankering for Bovril on toast (which you can't get in the States), he won't stop until he succeeds. Mission accomplished!
As soon as we got back to Andrea's apartment, we made ourselves right at home and did the most British thing we could think of, which was make tea and watch Harry Potter! So, a pretty good list of favorites checked off the list for London so far: walk across tower bridge, scotch egg and cider in pub, grocery store, tea and Potter! the night was made complete when Andrea got home with a bag of fish and chips- extra delicious! Once it was doused in vinegar, all dreams were fulfilled! We had a few drinks with Andrea, caught up, and chatted away about camp days gone by. Man, that summer was like the gift of friends that keeps on giving!
Yesterday Ryan I did the LAST load of laundry we'll have to do on the road (hooray!), then went out to see the Imperial War Museum, which was fascinating, super well designed and I really wanted to see and read everything in there. Really great, and I highly recommend it if you are ever in London. We spent three hours there, and I most definitely could have used a few more, as I feel like I didn't get to see enough of their extensive Holocast wing. Moving, and one of the best I've seen.
Unfortunately, Andrea's had to work both days we are in town, but we made the best if it by going out to a really nice Indian dinner last night, walked along the Thames and saw the tower bridge all lit up. Nice! I wish we could stay longer (how many times have I said that?!), but it's time to move on to Iceland before our last stop before heading back home to Ryan's parent's place in New Jersey, seeing friends in New York, and then driving to Michigan and on to Chicago to start the apartment and job hunt to start the next step and chapter of this crazy thing called life!!
This feels like the part of a flight that, right before landing, they hit the gas before making a smooth landing, and while I can feel the travel bug inside me digging in its heels, I am ready to head home, wherever that is, and start the new normal, whatever that is! I'll get right on that, right after I'm wowed by Iceland. :)
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Hygge in Denmark
Denmark has a word that I've heard attempts to translate, but no one word gets it spot on. I think that's because Danish people not only love the outdoors, they also embrace the seasons and all weather, and because it's so often chilly and rainy outside , it seems important here to make the inside, and the situations surrounding you, as cozy and warm-fuzzy feeling inducing as possible. Hygge, in Danish is this word, and I really feel like I've come to find out what Hygge is all about with the smiles and warmth and happy times I've had in the short time Ryan and I have been here.
Denmark has been on my 'must see' list for almost a decade now, since I just seem to keep collecting friends from this down to earth country. The real reason to visit, was not just because I love Vikings (they grow on you, you know? After living in Ireland, and now here?), but I met my friend Kirsten the summer of 2002, when we were both lifeguards at Camp Nissokone in North Western Michigan (Oscoda). We bonded over impromptu dance parties in our cabin at night, laying out under the stars, and making up ridiculous relays for kid wearing flippers in the sand. It was probably more fun for us, than it was for them!
After camp was over for the summer, I dragged Kirsten pretty much all over the state of Michigan with me, introducing her to most of my friends and giving her a quick glimpse into the crazy life of college Jane. She still liked me after that, and we've been using Email and Facebook to try to stay in touch and reconnect ever since! I'm so happy it could work out this time!
Ryan and I spent a fast day and a half in Copenhagen, before starting the journey to friends. We liked the city, it reminded me of sort of a mixture between Prauge, Vienna, and a little Dublin thrown in for good measure. We explored all on foot, and wore out a walking map from the tourist information center, which helped me see almost all the sights, my favorites being walking through the main area of the royal palace around sunset and hearing the guards click their heels every time they had to stop and turn. Also, a beautiful park, and the Nyhavn part of town, which I guess added a twist of Amsterdam, with the canals to the Copenhagen mix. Food was a huge sticker shock of price. It's incredibly expensive here, and the one thing that Ryan truly wanted to see in Copenhagen was the Tivoli Gardens, which is a beautifully manicured theme park and garden right in the middle of the city. My roller coaster junkie of a husband was nearly crushed when we went to the gate and realized the sign said "Closed until October 12th to prepare for our Halloween Fest". We left on the 10th. Big huge sad face from Ryan. I hadn't seen him that sad since Thailand! The rain didn't help either, but you know what perked him up!? A true Danish hotdog from the food cart by the train station. We had just enough time to grab one the afternoon we left for Kirsten's in Fredericia, about a 3 hour train ride north east of Copenhagen. Good times were ahead.
I know hotdogs make Ryan smile, but another thing that makes him happy is small children. We met Kirsten and her 2 year old son, Laurits at the train station in Fredericia, and we both fell instantly in love with that kid, and him with us (I think!). It was so wonderful to see Kirsten again, after all these years, we still hit it off and had as much fun as ever, even though we are "old and tired," as she put it. I don't think it's true either, we had a blast!
We made dinner for Kirsten, Martin, her boyfriend and Lauits that night. Since we've been craving certain things, and of course making lists of those cravings in Ryan's iPhone, we had a long list of appetizers, main dishes, sides and desserts for our Danish friends to choose from. We were able to stop at the grocery store, which is, even more than lists of foods, one of our foodie activities we love- checking out the supermarkets of all the countries we visit. Many an hour has been spent wandering around grocery stores in various countries on this trip, but instead of focusing on how nerdy this makes us, we chalk it up to creating a taste of culture in each pocket of the world. In any case, we were able to get all the fixins for a delicious meal of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and homemade chocolate chip cookies. In between catching up with Kirsten in her 70s Danish style kitchen, with the afternoon sun pouring through the wall of windows, and playing trains with Laurtis, we whipped up dinner and were able to finally sit down to a cozy little dinner together when Martin got home from work. Hygge!
We had a great sleep there, and every time I woke up a little I thought, I'm at Kirsten's in Denmark, and I'd feel all warm. It's been too long! Kirsten had to work, so we spent the next day wandering around the little town of Fredericia, enjoying the fall weather, hiking along the ramparts of the old town wall, and having a long lazy lunch in a little cafe under the apartment that Kirsten used to live in. Very nice, calm, Ryan and I had a great time laughing and talking over lunch. We have to start thinking about the next steps coming up when we get home- buying a car, spending a week in New Jersey and New York, driving to Michigan, then finding an apartment and moving to Chicago, and I'll be starting my job search. Hmmmm...lots it plan and think about. A little overwhelming!
That evening we were so grateful to be invited to Kirsten's parents home, about 15 minutes away. I knew it was going to be a good night when, as we were driving, saw the most complete and vibrant rainbow arched across the dark clouds plated by bright sunshine to our backs. It was spectacular! We thought maybe the fact that they were getting a new car that day made them very lucky!
As we drove up the cul de sac street, I'm pretty sure we were in some sort of car commercial, as the parents come out to hug and greet us, Kirsten ran to meet Martin and jumped in her new silver car, while little blonde Laurits squealed with glee as he was kissed by his grandparents and ran around the yard a bit. Sometimes you wonder what it might be like to be a fly on the wall, just to get a glimpse of the lives of others, but sometimes, your lucky enough to be invited to peek! The whole night felt a little like that, maybe a scene out of a magazine or something. We sat drinking pre-dinner beers in the family room by the computer, I had Laurits on my lap, looking through Thomas the tank engine train videos on you tube and Kirsten's dad jovially talking away with us all, translating when Laurits wanted new videos, and checking in on Kirsten's mom in the kitchen every so often to see how the bacon wrapped stuffed pork roast and roasted veggies were coming. It smelled good, it felt good, and it was another travel moment that really can't be duplicated. Really nice to be with a family again. The many months on the road make me truly appreciate those times. They have mastered Hygge in that house.
We ended on a good note, because sadly, that was about all the time we had with Kirsten, since we had to set off again the next morning to see my friend Lena in Aarhus. This is the second largest city in Denmark, and definitely had the Dublin vibe to it.!
Lena is another amazing friend that I met traveling up the East coast of Australia 7 years ago. We hit it off right away, swimming across a little pond, taking dumb pictures across Australia, and web though I was traveling faster than she was, we made it a point to meet up again along the road. What a fun girl! So fun, in fact that we've meeting up around the world ever since! In 2008, she met me in Paris, and last summer she came to Ryan and my wedding, and then a few weeks later after she traveled around the US a bit, she came to stay with us in New York the same weekend Rainstorm Irene hit. Needless to say , Lena and I have been through a lot, and I couldn't wait to see her in her home environment.
Again, another apartment that had true Danish style and a warm sense of Hygge. A darling little apartment that was actually the top rented portion of a house, with a backyard balcony, a cozy kitchen, and candles everywhere, creating a glow to the place. We live it here! She was even sweet enough to give us her room for the 4 nights! That Lena, what a gal!
More delicious food galore in Aarhus, with Lena. Friday night was spent out with her friend Nia at a French restraint that Lena had a free meal promise to her by the owner (she designed his website). Saturday found us examining the lives of the Danes in the olden days at the Old City, which was a town of transplanted homes from various centuries that showed a real life version of Denmark's history. Quite impressive, and very quaint. The Danish butter cookies from the little bakery were the best!
Sunday we took the bus from Ye city center(after we missed the first one, it was a debacle, don't ask). We took in rainy day views of the countryside as we made our way about an hour north to the little town of Ebletoft for the Apple Festival. Despite the somewhat drizzly weather, we enjoyed the crafts, meeting Lena's woodworker uncle, tasting the cheeses, breads, spreads, goat sausage,fish cakes, apple fritters, cider and glugg, a Danish mulled wine. All perfect for a rainy Sunday afternoon.
Once we returned home and dried off, I made Lena my mom's famous Hamburger soup and Ryan made deviled eggs. Two more off the random list, can you tell?! All was Hygge then too! Oh Denmark, you are so cozy!
We slept in a bit today, and Lena was able to make all things right with the world when she told us that the Tuvoli of Aarhus was OPEN! They also decorated for Halloween, therefore, all Ryan's hopes and dreams were fulfilled by riding roller coasters and visit fun houses at Tivoli after all! Yes! And, yo tip it off, Lena made us a traditional Danish meal tonight as well! If I were a cat, id be purring!
So, luck and Hygge have found us in Denmark! I hope to take it with me on to London and beyond. Thanks to everyone in Denmark who has made us feel so welcome and loved and cozy/warm!
Denmark has been on my 'must see' list for almost a decade now, since I just seem to keep collecting friends from this down to earth country. The real reason to visit, was not just because I love Vikings (they grow on you, you know? After living in Ireland, and now here?), but I met my friend Kirsten the summer of 2002, when we were both lifeguards at Camp Nissokone in North Western Michigan (Oscoda). We bonded over impromptu dance parties in our cabin at night, laying out under the stars, and making up ridiculous relays for kid wearing flippers in the sand. It was probably more fun for us, than it was for them!
After camp was over for the summer, I dragged Kirsten pretty much all over the state of Michigan with me, introducing her to most of my friends and giving her a quick glimpse into the crazy life of college Jane. She still liked me after that, and we've been using Email and Facebook to try to stay in touch and reconnect ever since! I'm so happy it could work out this time!
Ryan and I spent a fast day and a half in Copenhagen, before starting the journey to friends. We liked the city, it reminded me of sort of a mixture between Prauge, Vienna, and a little Dublin thrown in for good measure. We explored all on foot, and wore out a walking map from the tourist information center, which helped me see almost all the sights, my favorites being walking through the main area of the royal palace around sunset and hearing the guards click their heels every time they had to stop and turn. Also, a beautiful park, and the Nyhavn part of town, which I guess added a twist of Amsterdam, with the canals to the Copenhagen mix. Food was a huge sticker shock of price. It's incredibly expensive here, and the one thing that Ryan truly wanted to see in Copenhagen was the Tivoli Gardens, which is a beautifully manicured theme park and garden right in the middle of the city. My roller coaster junkie of a husband was nearly crushed when we went to the gate and realized the sign said "Closed until October 12th to prepare for our Halloween Fest". We left on the 10th. Big huge sad face from Ryan. I hadn't seen him that sad since Thailand! The rain didn't help either, but you know what perked him up!? A true Danish hotdog from the food cart by the train station. We had just enough time to grab one the afternoon we left for Kirsten's in Fredericia, about a 3 hour train ride north east of Copenhagen. Good times were ahead.
I know hotdogs make Ryan smile, but another thing that makes him happy is small children. We met Kirsten and her 2 year old son, Laurits at the train station in Fredericia, and we both fell instantly in love with that kid, and him with us (I think!). It was so wonderful to see Kirsten again, after all these years, we still hit it off and had as much fun as ever, even though we are "old and tired," as she put it. I don't think it's true either, we had a blast!
We made dinner for Kirsten, Martin, her boyfriend and Lauits that night. Since we've been craving certain things, and of course making lists of those cravings in Ryan's iPhone, we had a long list of appetizers, main dishes, sides and desserts for our Danish friends to choose from. We were able to stop at the grocery store, which is, even more than lists of foods, one of our foodie activities we love- checking out the supermarkets of all the countries we visit. Many an hour has been spent wandering around grocery stores in various countries on this trip, but instead of focusing on how nerdy this makes us, we chalk it up to creating a taste of culture in each pocket of the world. In any case, we were able to get all the fixins for a delicious meal of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and homemade chocolate chip cookies. In between catching up with Kirsten in her 70s Danish style kitchen, with the afternoon sun pouring through the wall of windows, and playing trains with Laurtis, we whipped up dinner and were able to finally sit down to a cozy little dinner together when Martin got home from work. Hygge!
We had a great sleep there, and every time I woke up a little I thought, I'm at Kirsten's in Denmark, and I'd feel all warm. It's been too long! Kirsten had to work, so we spent the next day wandering around the little town of Fredericia, enjoying the fall weather, hiking along the ramparts of the old town wall, and having a long lazy lunch in a little cafe under the apartment that Kirsten used to live in. Very nice, calm, Ryan and I had a great time laughing and talking over lunch. We have to start thinking about the next steps coming up when we get home- buying a car, spending a week in New Jersey and New York, driving to Michigan, then finding an apartment and moving to Chicago, and I'll be starting my job search. Hmmmm...lots it plan and think about. A little overwhelming!
That evening we were so grateful to be invited to Kirsten's parents home, about 15 minutes away. I knew it was going to be a good night when, as we were driving, saw the most complete and vibrant rainbow arched across the dark clouds plated by bright sunshine to our backs. It was spectacular! We thought maybe the fact that they were getting a new car that day made them very lucky!
As we drove up the cul de sac street, I'm pretty sure we were in some sort of car commercial, as the parents come out to hug and greet us, Kirsten ran to meet Martin and jumped in her new silver car, while little blonde Laurits squealed with glee as he was kissed by his grandparents and ran around the yard a bit. Sometimes you wonder what it might be like to be a fly on the wall, just to get a glimpse of the lives of others, but sometimes, your lucky enough to be invited to peek! The whole night felt a little like that, maybe a scene out of a magazine or something. We sat drinking pre-dinner beers in the family room by the computer, I had Laurits on my lap, looking through Thomas the tank engine train videos on you tube and Kirsten's dad jovially talking away with us all, translating when Laurits wanted new videos, and checking in on Kirsten's mom in the kitchen every so often to see how the bacon wrapped stuffed pork roast and roasted veggies were coming. It smelled good, it felt good, and it was another travel moment that really can't be duplicated. Really nice to be with a family again. The many months on the road make me truly appreciate those times. They have mastered Hygge in that house.
We ended on a good note, because sadly, that was about all the time we had with Kirsten, since we had to set off again the next morning to see my friend Lena in Aarhus. This is the second largest city in Denmark, and definitely had the Dublin vibe to it.!
Lena is another amazing friend that I met traveling up the East coast of Australia 7 years ago. We hit it off right away, swimming across a little pond, taking dumb pictures across Australia, and web though I was traveling faster than she was, we made it a point to meet up again along the road. What a fun girl! So fun, in fact that we've meeting up around the world ever since! In 2008, she met me in Paris, and last summer she came to Ryan and my wedding, and then a few weeks later after she traveled around the US a bit, she came to stay with us in New York the same weekend Rainstorm Irene hit. Needless to say , Lena and I have been through a lot, and I couldn't wait to see her in her home environment.
Again, another apartment that had true Danish style and a warm sense of Hygge. A darling little apartment that was actually the top rented portion of a house, with a backyard balcony, a cozy kitchen, and candles everywhere, creating a glow to the place. We live it here! She was even sweet enough to give us her room for the 4 nights! That Lena, what a gal!
More delicious food galore in Aarhus, with Lena. Friday night was spent out with her friend Nia at a French restraint that Lena had a free meal promise to her by the owner (she designed his website). Saturday found us examining the lives of the Danes in the olden days at the Old City, which was a town of transplanted homes from various centuries that showed a real life version of Denmark's history. Quite impressive, and very quaint. The Danish butter cookies from the little bakery were the best!
Sunday we took the bus from Ye city center(after we missed the first one, it was a debacle, don't ask). We took in rainy day views of the countryside as we made our way about an hour north to the little town of Ebletoft for the Apple Festival. Despite the somewhat drizzly weather, we enjoyed the crafts, meeting Lena's woodworker uncle, tasting the cheeses, breads, spreads, goat sausage,fish cakes, apple fritters, cider and glugg, a Danish mulled wine. All perfect for a rainy Sunday afternoon.
Once we returned home and dried off, I made Lena my mom's famous Hamburger soup and Ryan made deviled eggs. Two more off the random list, can you tell?! All was Hygge then too! Oh Denmark, you are so cozy!
We slept in a bit today, and Lena was able to make all things right with the world when she told us that the Tuvoli of Aarhus was OPEN! They also decorated for Halloween, therefore, all Ryan's hopes and dreams were fulfilled by riding roller coasters and visit fun houses at Tivoli after all! Yes! And, yo tip it off, Lena made us a traditional Danish meal tonight as well! If I were a cat, id be purring!
So, luck and Hygge have found us in Denmark! I hope to take it with me on to London and beyond. Thanks to everyone in Denmark who has made us feel so welcome and loved and cozy/warm!
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Angels in the Architecture
We've seen some super ancient stuff along the paths of our trip! It kinda blows your mind a little.
Our last day in Positano was bittersweet. We had such a debacle getting there that we decided to go for it and hire a car (Bill Risdon style) to pick us up from our hotel and take us to Pompeii for a few hours before dropping us off at the train station. So, after one last dip in the rooftop pool ( I will never get tired of that view!!), we packed up and met our driver, Mosimo downstairs. He had extremely quaffed hair, and wore an Italian suit that made him look like he might either be a member of the mafia, or he had a wedding to get to after our ride. Maybe both. He was a very good natured man who liked to tell us stories about how he had driven Tom Selleck around Italy and how his wife nagged him too much, but his daughter was his princess and how his boss would call him regularly to say "Mosimo, you hav-uh to peek up the nice-uh peeep-ul!" He was a character for sure!
We did quite a bit of walking around Pompeii, which is way bigger, and one of the more preserved places we've seen. My favorite was the bathhouse and just wandering down the streets. Seeing Mt. Vesuvius loom in the distance was pretty weird.
The rest of the day was spent in train stations and on various trains. It proved again that we love Eurostar, especially the sleeper train that we picked up in Bologna, which we had our own private room with a little sink and it proved much more comfy than the trains in Vietnam (although the rocking from side to side all night got a little old). We arrived in Vienna not so bright eyed, but relatively bushy tailed around 8:30 am.
We taxied it to our Holiday Inn (we used airline miles for that!) and found ourselves a map before venturing out to Belvedere Palace to see some Gustav Klimt and an amazing palace both inside and out. Next up, Ryan wanted to see the Austrian War Museum, which was reached through a cockamamie effort at following a misguiding sign, and a feeble attempt at reading the map. It was more interesting than I thought though, and the angels, demons, gods, lions, and super old famous people in the architecture was pretty sweet. I was getting very, very tired, so I sat down on a bench between the WWII uniforms and the bayonets and watched the school kids and their teachers walk through. Just goes to prove that kids are kids, and teachers are teachers the whole world round. "Shhhhh" translates to any language. Funny kids! Makes me miss my BECA babies!
When Ryan wandered up to the second floor, we saw the car and the uniform Franz Ferdinand was wearing when he was assassinated (complete with tiny bullet hole) at the event that got the ball rolling for WWI. Weird, but a little cool I guess. Takes me back to Mr. Finn's history class at Gull Lake , for sure. Actually, I've been referencing a lot of Mr. Finn's info since my journey began around Europe. I heart teachers!!
Anyway, I needed another break, so I sat down in some sort if guilded ball room with columns and gold plated moulding that was set up for some sort of event that night, and started to read some of the informational leaflets( you know, to supplement Mr. Finn), and was so tired that it made sense to my brain to just rest one eye and continue reading. That lead to closing two eyes, and then I'd jerk awake and see this crazy ornate room surrounding me and try to talk myself into staying awake. This happened several times, but the architecture was begging me not to take a nap! Ryan returned soon, and thankfully, we found a delish Austian pub lunch (yum- potato/mushroom soup and goulash...and beer...mmmmm, beer.) It wasn't long before we were comfortably back at the Holiday Inn and napping. The only other notable event of the day was finding a beer garden, full of locals for dinner, which proved to us that we love Austrian food (Ryan found Beer bread, it's awesome, he has plans to make it upon returning home), even though it does a number on our plans for fitness. We have been keeping food diaries, and it turns out that 4-6 hours of walking a day burns quite a few calories. I can continue to keep that up as long as my feet don't fall off. Damn you plantar fasciitis! I need new shoes!
The next morning we got another early start because our stop in Vienna was a quick one. We decided to walk down to the old town and just see what we could see. First of all, the primary miracle we encountered was a street fair to beat all street fairs. I guess the Naschmarkt in Vienna is a flee market on the weekends, but during the week it's a food stall extravaganza. Our eyes were bugging out of our heads as we walked past glass counter displays of cheeses, dried meats, stuffed peppers, fresh baked breads covered in poppy seeds, olives, olives, and more olives. Food heaven, basically. I settled on a stall that had a lady describing how to decorate using her embroidered doily flowers, but she also had delicious homemade apple strudel. Yes, please!!
The old city centre of Vienna was astoundingly beautiful, every corner I turned an "ohhhhh" or "wow" escaped my lips before I could even pick up my camera. Really, really beautiful, with statues everywhere the eye could see, all backed by a bright blue sky. The weather was PERFECT! Autumn and I have found each other at last! No more sweating, it's jacket weather- yay!
After we walked through incredible arches, felt the cobbles beneath our feet, smelled the leaves and the coffee in the air, all with our faces pointed up to spires, cathedrals, statued faces from almost any century of art, we headed back to our hotel, via the market again, to grab lunch at a little table outside for cheese schnitzel (think a tastier version of Mac and cheese, with paprika), and maybe another beer before we grabbed some of the aforementioned snacks for our dinner on the train.
We had 5 hours to kill on the ride from Vienna to Prague, so what better way than a glorious picnic?! We had bought a fresh baguette, a sweet/spicy apricot mustard, speck, buffalo salami, two kinds of cheeses and a mix of cheese stuffed and kalamata olives. To complete the feast, we'd saved two little bottles of wine they'd given us on the sleeper train, so we dined to our hearts content on the goodies, while the Austrian countryside rushed past us out the train window. So awesome, for all the amazing food I've had on this trip, that will be one of the most unforgettable meals. :)
Prague greeted us with open arms, and we took the metro a few stops before winding our way down the hills through a park towards the King Charles Boutique hotel. It's a renovated building from 1913 that you enter through a large, heavy oak door that feels like you might be entering a stable, but its beautiful and quaint inside, and our room has sloped ceilings, dark wooden beams, and a window overlooking the walls of Vysherad Castle. The peel of the church bells greets me in the morning and evening, and I can open the little window to the crisp fall air. Great place to stay in Prague! Feels a little more homey than a Holiday Inn!
We've had a lot of fun running around in Prague, it's another beautiful city, especially with the leaves changing colors over the river. The Prague castle, which is like its own city complex overlooks the whole city, so of course we ventured there first. Our ticket covered 4 of the 8 places to visit within the castle walls. We were overcome by St. Victus church, which its soaring ceilings and stained glass everywhere. Really one of the most notable churches I've seen in my traveling days, and I've seen a LOT! Ryan and I took our time in that one, taking a few minutes at each window to really study the designs and intricate scenes laid out in glass. So beautiful. We stopped and lit a candle for our grandmas and grandpas and tried to take in the whole place.
Behind St. Victus stood the much smaller St. George's basilica, but just as beautiful. Simpler, and containing just one row of about 20 pews and a few tombs, the acoustics were perfect. Just outside the entry, two women were selling tickets to a concert that night featuring the Prague Royal Orchestra strings, playing Pachelbel (Cannon in D, I was SOLD!), Mozart and Vivaldi. Of course we got tickets for that! How could we pass it up?! The music and setting were magical, and why I keep hearing my wedding songs, I don't know, but I guess it's a sign that I married the right man.
Yesterday we rested in the morning , while it rained out on the castle wall, and around 1 it stopped and we went out to find a quick lunch, stumbling upon the Czech Food Festival, featuring sausages on the grill, fried potatoes, fruit beer and a sweet chimney cake, then joined a free walking tour around Prague's Old City, Lesser Quarter and Jewish Quarter. My camera is now full of breathtaking scenery and architecture. It never ends! After the tour, we finished up our tickets at Prague castle, against our feet's wishes and caught some amazing sunset views over the city from the castle steps, and across the Charles Bridge. We thought we might pass out, but made it up one last cobbled hill for dinner at a really good restaurant (thanks again TripAdvisor, you never let me down!) for some Czech fusion type food, which ended in one of the greatest cakes on the planet (a Czech Misa traditional cake) that I hope will become a birthday cake tradition in the years to come, and the cute waitress made us fresh ginger tea with honey and lemon, probably because she thought we'd eaten too much and needed help digesting, which wasn't too far off! Good day!
Our room has no bathtub, so I had to drag the little stool in there and soak my tired, aching feet in the shower before bed. They feel a bit better now, but I think I'll only take a brisk walk around the neighborhood this morning. We have a flight to catch to Denmark this afternoon. I wonder how different the architecture of Copenhagen is compared to the crazy beautiful stuff we've seen so far? I shall just have to wait a few more hours to compare. :)
Our last day in Positano was bittersweet. We had such a debacle getting there that we decided to go for it and hire a car (Bill Risdon style) to pick us up from our hotel and take us to Pompeii for a few hours before dropping us off at the train station. So, after one last dip in the rooftop pool ( I will never get tired of that view!!), we packed up and met our driver, Mosimo downstairs. He had extremely quaffed hair, and wore an Italian suit that made him look like he might either be a member of the mafia, or he had a wedding to get to after our ride. Maybe both. He was a very good natured man who liked to tell us stories about how he had driven Tom Selleck around Italy and how his wife nagged him too much, but his daughter was his princess and how his boss would call him regularly to say "Mosimo, you hav-uh to peek up the nice-uh peeep-ul!" He was a character for sure!
We did quite a bit of walking around Pompeii, which is way bigger, and one of the more preserved places we've seen. My favorite was the bathhouse and just wandering down the streets. Seeing Mt. Vesuvius loom in the distance was pretty weird.
The rest of the day was spent in train stations and on various trains. It proved again that we love Eurostar, especially the sleeper train that we picked up in Bologna, which we had our own private room with a little sink and it proved much more comfy than the trains in Vietnam (although the rocking from side to side all night got a little old). We arrived in Vienna not so bright eyed, but relatively bushy tailed around 8:30 am.
We taxied it to our Holiday Inn (we used airline miles for that!) and found ourselves a map before venturing out to Belvedere Palace to see some Gustav Klimt and an amazing palace both inside and out. Next up, Ryan wanted to see the Austrian War Museum, which was reached through a cockamamie effort at following a misguiding sign, and a feeble attempt at reading the map. It was more interesting than I thought though, and the angels, demons, gods, lions, and super old famous people in the architecture was pretty sweet. I was getting very, very tired, so I sat down on a bench between the WWII uniforms and the bayonets and watched the school kids and their teachers walk through. Just goes to prove that kids are kids, and teachers are teachers the whole world round. "Shhhhh" translates to any language. Funny kids! Makes me miss my BECA babies!
When Ryan wandered up to the second floor, we saw the car and the uniform Franz Ferdinand was wearing when he was assassinated (complete with tiny bullet hole) at the event that got the ball rolling for WWI. Weird, but a little cool I guess. Takes me back to Mr. Finn's history class at Gull Lake , for sure. Actually, I've been referencing a lot of Mr. Finn's info since my journey began around Europe. I heart teachers!!
Anyway, I needed another break, so I sat down in some sort if guilded ball room with columns and gold plated moulding that was set up for some sort of event that night, and started to read some of the informational leaflets( you know, to supplement Mr. Finn), and was so tired that it made sense to my brain to just rest one eye and continue reading. That lead to closing two eyes, and then I'd jerk awake and see this crazy ornate room surrounding me and try to talk myself into staying awake. This happened several times, but the architecture was begging me not to take a nap! Ryan returned soon, and thankfully, we found a delish Austian pub lunch (yum- potato/mushroom soup and goulash...and beer...mmmmm, beer.) It wasn't long before we were comfortably back at the Holiday Inn and napping. The only other notable event of the day was finding a beer garden, full of locals for dinner, which proved to us that we love Austrian food (Ryan found Beer bread, it's awesome, he has plans to make it upon returning home), even though it does a number on our plans for fitness. We have been keeping food diaries, and it turns out that 4-6 hours of walking a day burns quite a few calories. I can continue to keep that up as long as my feet don't fall off. Damn you plantar fasciitis! I need new shoes!
The next morning we got another early start because our stop in Vienna was a quick one. We decided to walk down to the old town and just see what we could see. First of all, the primary miracle we encountered was a street fair to beat all street fairs. I guess the Naschmarkt in Vienna is a flee market on the weekends, but during the week it's a food stall extravaganza. Our eyes were bugging out of our heads as we walked past glass counter displays of cheeses, dried meats, stuffed peppers, fresh baked breads covered in poppy seeds, olives, olives, and more olives. Food heaven, basically. I settled on a stall that had a lady describing how to decorate using her embroidered doily flowers, but she also had delicious homemade apple strudel. Yes, please!!
The old city centre of Vienna was astoundingly beautiful, every corner I turned an "ohhhhh" or "wow" escaped my lips before I could even pick up my camera. Really, really beautiful, with statues everywhere the eye could see, all backed by a bright blue sky. The weather was PERFECT! Autumn and I have found each other at last! No more sweating, it's jacket weather- yay!
After we walked through incredible arches, felt the cobbles beneath our feet, smelled the leaves and the coffee in the air, all with our faces pointed up to spires, cathedrals, statued faces from almost any century of art, we headed back to our hotel, via the market again, to grab lunch at a little table outside for cheese schnitzel (think a tastier version of Mac and cheese, with paprika), and maybe another beer before we grabbed some of the aforementioned snacks for our dinner on the train.
We had 5 hours to kill on the ride from Vienna to Prague, so what better way than a glorious picnic?! We had bought a fresh baguette, a sweet/spicy apricot mustard, speck, buffalo salami, two kinds of cheeses and a mix of cheese stuffed and kalamata olives. To complete the feast, we'd saved two little bottles of wine they'd given us on the sleeper train, so we dined to our hearts content on the goodies, while the Austrian countryside rushed past us out the train window. So awesome, for all the amazing food I've had on this trip, that will be one of the most unforgettable meals. :)
Prague greeted us with open arms, and we took the metro a few stops before winding our way down the hills through a park towards the King Charles Boutique hotel. It's a renovated building from 1913 that you enter through a large, heavy oak door that feels like you might be entering a stable, but its beautiful and quaint inside, and our room has sloped ceilings, dark wooden beams, and a window overlooking the walls of Vysherad Castle. The peel of the church bells greets me in the morning and evening, and I can open the little window to the crisp fall air. Great place to stay in Prague! Feels a little more homey than a Holiday Inn!
We've had a lot of fun running around in Prague, it's another beautiful city, especially with the leaves changing colors over the river. The Prague castle, which is like its own city complex overlooks the whole city, so of course we ventured there first. Our ticket covered 4 of the 8 places to visit within the castle walls. We were overcome by St. Victus church, which its soaring ceilings and stained glass everywhere. Really one of the most notable churches I've seen in my traveling days, and I've seen a LOT! Ryan and I took our time in that one, taking a few minutes at each window to really study the designs and intricate scenes laid out in glass. So beautiful. We stopped and lit a candle for our grandmas and grandpas and tried to take in the whole place.
Behind St. Victus stood the much smaller St. George's basilica, but just as beautiful. Simpler, and containing just one row of about 20 pews and a few tombs, the acoustics were perfect. Just outside the entry, two women were selling tickets to a concert that night featuring the Prague Royal Orchestra strings, playing Pachelbel (Cannon in D, I was SOLD!), Mozart and Vivaldi. Of course we got tickets for that! How could we pass it up?! The music and setting were magical, and why I keep hearing my wedding songs, I don't know, but I guess it's a sign that I married the right man.
Yesterday we rested in the morning , while it rained out on the castle wall, and around 1 it stopped and we went out to find a quick lunch, stumbling upon the Czech Food Festival, featuring sausages on the grill, fried potatoes, fruit beer and a sweet chimney cake, then joined a free walking tour around Prague's Old City, Lesser Quarter and Jewish Quarter. My camera is now full of breathtaking scenery and architecture. It never ends! After the tour, we finished up our tickets at Prague castle, against our feet's wishes and caught some amazing sunset views over the city from the castle steps, and across the Charles Bridge. We thought we might pass out, but made it up one last cobbled hill for dinner at a really good restaurant (thanks again TripAdvisor, you never let me down!) for some Czech fusion type food, which ended in one of the greatest cakes on the planet (a Czech Misa traditional cake) that I hope will become a birthday cake tradition in the years to come, and the cute waitress made us fresh ginger tea with honey and lemon, probably because she thought we'd eaten too much and needed help digesting, which wasn't too far off! Good day!
Our room has no bathtub, so I had to drag the little stool in there and soak my tired, aching feet in the shower before bed. They feel a bit better now, but I think I'll only take a brisk walk around the neighborhood this morning. We have a flight to catch to Denmark this afternoon. I wonder how different the architecture of Copenhagen is compared to the crazy beautiful stuff we've seen so far? I shall just have to wait a few more hours to compare. :)
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
La Dolce Vita
Since the last blog post we've been on the road, train tracks, flight path and sea quite a bit! It's been all good!
Our last night in Turkey was a true gem, the kind of night that keeps the travel bug biting. As I was finishing my blog post on the rooftop porch of our cave hotel, I overheard a British girl talking to her Italian friend at one of the other little breakfast tables up there about her day visiting Cappadocia on horseback. When I went downstairs to find Ryan in the common area, really, it was a living room just off the main entrance area (which was an open air garden) because there was no wifi in the rooms, we ran in to Mahmet, the owner of the cave. He told us he'd named the hotel after his 9 year old daughter who lives in New Zealand with her mom, but some day, he would leave it all to her. It made staying at Emily's Cave Hotel kinda special. :) It was one of my favorites to date! I hope to return someday.
It was getting a little late, and we knew we had to get up early to catch our flight back to Istanbul and on to Rome the next day, but, we were hungry, so we decided to get ready to go our for a quick dinner. There were other plans in store for us though, because just then, Mahmet returned to tell us that he was invited to his friend's place down the road for some BBQ. The other guests, including the British girl(who was half Turkish as well), her boyfriend Magnus, a guy named Huan from Korea/Canada, the Italian lady, and Essen, the lady we'd woken up(who it turns out was Mahmet's girlfriend) were all going to go out and have dinner. I asked where they were going, not realizing it was at someone's house, but was immediately invited. Turkish culture dictates that you deny an invitation at least twice before accepting, which we did, but Mahmet insisted that we join them! Ryan was unsure at first, because he knew we still needed to pack, but I knew an unforgettable night was about to take place!
We walked only about 4 blocks down the streets of the small town of Goreme, when we arrived at a brightly lit storefront of a Turkish Rug shop. I thought, "oh, we've already done this," but we wound up walking through the shop to the back stairs and up to an open air living room area in some guys house! There were rugs and lights hung around, but the night air felt just right around us as we settled down on the cushioned seats around a low, long chest used for a makeshift table(also covered with a turkish rug!). It was a small group of us, so we learned names quickly and began chatting away, getting to know each other's back stories. Ryan and Magnus hit it off, discussing pharmaceuticals in the US and Britain, while I got to know Effis(the British girl) and Huan and I chatted about Korean food.
Wine, and Turkish Racki was served. Ryan elected the the Racki, and I went for the wine, however the Racki was MUCH stronger, and even the Turkish guys were surprised at how easy it went down for Ryan. We've heard many a rhyme about what happens wen people drink Turkish Racki! Maybe I'll share some later, but it made for easy conversations, and went well with delicious food. We were served lamb chops and chicken wings, salad and cacik (a sour cream type yogurt), and bulgur wheat, which I've only had here in Turkey, but it tasted like a heartier wheaty rice. And of course loads of freshly cut bread. Tasty and delightful!
After dinner, Magnus was actually thinking of buying a carpet, so we went downstairs with them for the "show" where they get out a bunch I rugs and throw them around in the light to see the colors change and feel them and hear the spiel about how they can cut you a good deal without bargaining because they are all handmade over a year, or 100 years, and that you know you are getting a good deal because you wouldn't be able to get the same rug for more than double what they want you to pay! I saw it as good fun, and I know Turkey has made me a much better bargainer than I have been, even with all the practice I had while living in Korea! Turkey employs the art of charm in their deals, so you have to have a strong will and a top price you are willing to pay, along with the ability to walk away, which we did several times in the bazaars, and it worked- always got at or near my asking price!
Anyway, I don't think Magnus bought in the end, but because the purpose of the night was dinner and friends, that as ok. Speaking to them made me feel like we may have actually gotten a good deal on our rugs in Istanbul. We headed back upstairs for one more libation, and then said our goodbyes to Ali, the owner, his super adorable golden retriever puppy, and walked back to the cave hotel together, chatting under the stars. Ryan and I shared one last apple tea with Mahmet and Essen, and packed our bags quickly before collapsing in our bed! What a long, awesome day!
It was another 5:00 wake up on Thursday, but we had a lot of traveling ahead of us. My stomach was still bothering me a bit, but the only other noteworthy thing from our day of travel besides waiting around in the Istanbul airport for several hours, was that our No Name Blue Panorama flight was an hour late, and then couldn't get permission from the airport to disembark after we all got on the plane, so we sat at the gate for another hour and a half before taking off. Man, the mix of Turkish and Italian people on that plane were NOT having that! So much noise and complaining went on, that had that happened in America, I'm pretty sure someone would have been kicked off the flight. Crazy! But, it eventually took off to our relief, because we had about 12 hours to enjoy Rome!
We took a shuttle bus downtown, on which I fell asleep, which was about par for the course that day- I fell asleep on every form of transportation I took! Turkey wiped me out! We checked into our decent Rome hotel and asked for a dinner suggestion. We dined just across the street at a place with sidewalk tables and had one of the BEST pizzas I've ever had in my life. Ryan had a delicious lasagna as well, and ended with gelato. How could i resist!? With that taken careof, we thanked the Lord in Heaven for Italian food in our prayers before bed.
We slept in a bit, but because we wanted to walk around Rome a little before catching a train and bus combination to Positano, we headed out to see the Colosseum, which is always breathtaking! Saturday mornings might not be the best time to go, so we decided not to elbow between throngs of people and opted for the walk around the outside, which is still impressive. We walked around a few of the other landmarks of the Roman empire, then headed back to pick up our bags from the hotel and trotted off to the train station.
Let's talk about how the EuroStar trains can't even begin to be compared with our previous travels through south east Asia. Insane. We ate baguettes and drank tea from the cart they brought around. I am glad we have more train adventures to Vienna and then Prague in the next few days so we can bask in the luxury that is Eurostar again (and secretly be glad in the fact that we don't have to ride 3rd class in the 3rd world anymore!)
I got more and more excited and then anxious as we approached Positano, passing through Naples and Sorrento, taking a bus along death defying coastal roads, then realizing we were on the wrong bus, getting off the bus, taking a cab the remaining 12 kilometers, for what we thought was 6 Euro, but ended up being 60(no bueno!) but we ended up at our magnificent hotel on the cliffs of Positano!
I have received one of those 1000 Places to See Before You Die photo a day calendars for at least the last 4 years at Christmas, and each year, I find that one photo of Positano and make sure I put it up at eye level at any desk that I will be working at that year. I've been in love since I visited here 12 years ago, on a whim, with several other classmates from my Dublin study abroad group, when we showed up at the train station in Rome, told the lady at the ticket counter that we wanted to go to a beach, and she told us how to get to Positano. We took the 4 hour journey, using 3 different trains/buses, and wound our way down 100s of steps to visit the tiny little pebble beach for only 3 hours before we had to turn around and head right back to Rome. That day I knew I wanted to return to Positano for my honeymoon. I didn't know who, I didn't know when, but I knew I wanted to be here, because it is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen!
Thankfully, I met Ryan, and it didn't take long for us to discuss my Positano honeymoon dream. I actually think it was one of the reasons we started thinking about, then planning this whole trip! I count myself a lucky woman!
Our first night here we enjoyed a blazingly magnificent sunset over the little bay, silhouetted by the mountain side homes sloping down to the sea. As the natural light dimmed, the lights of the town sprang up one by one. We had another round of amazing Italian food at a little garden restaurant down the hill.
The next day was a very lazy, relaxed start. We have been so tired from the lat few weeks that we needed to really have a day of rest and relaxation. We at some amazing pastries and hard boiled eggs for breakfast at the hotel- the pastry spread is really quite remarkable, I feel like I've been given a free ticket each morning inside a delightful bakery, but it does take some restraint! Ryan and I are attempting the 'get fit abroad' diet, and it's been working so far, so I've allowed myself samples of these treats! Ryan's allowed himself less, and is practically wasting away! :)
We had a swim at The rooftop pool, and then wandered down to the beach, I searched for sea glass, and without the correct consistency of sand, Ryan resorted to burying my arm in the beach pebbles. He is good for a laugh, isn't he?! We swam for a little while in some big wave activity, until a quick downpour came and sent everyone, including us running from the beach.
That night Ryan fell asleep before we headed out for dinner, so I did the most American thing I could think of, walked down to the closest little restaurant, sauntered in and ordered homemade pasta to go, tromped back up to the hotel, asked for utensils, and sat outside on the balcony ate said pasta, and caught up with Glee on my iPad. Ha!
Ryan was able to stay awake for dinner last night, but barely, since we'd decided to have another adventure day. I guess we had a bit of a lazy morning, but after talking to the concierge, we decided to make a day of it and take a ferry to the seaside town of Amalfi, where we had another amazing lunch (I'm certain I'm going to get yelled at for making those of you reading this hungry...sorry, but...not really!) right on a dock restaurant next to the clearest pebble beach in all the world! I observed some young Italian guy lounge around on the service dock for the little marina surrounding us, leaning his head on a boat bumper and texting his friends. He was shirtless, had an amazing tan, and since I was with my amazing husband, I simply envied his profession of...dock boy? I have no idea. The rest of it was picturesque as well, mountains, town, sea, yada, yada.
We worked off our lunch when we arrived at the mountaintop town of Rovello. So picturesque I needed to pinch myself. We took the bus up the switchback road through vineyards and lemon tree farms until we reached the top, where we walked through the streets clearly not made for cars, marveled even more at the cliff side vineyards, found the town square with the church, several gelaterias, and views that made me swoon. For the rest of the afternoon we toured through two villas of Ravello that were astoundingly beautiful. I'll just show pictures because I've come to realize that the English language doesn't supply me with enough adjectives and adverbs to appropriately describe most things on this trip! Either that, or I should have studied the SAT vocabulary section better. I suppose their is always time for that!
At Villa Cimbone, we encountered a wedding, and just as we passed beneath the overhanging arches of flowers, the bride passed over a tiny bridge in front of us, on her way to head up the aisle. Ryan and I sat just up the path, amidst the manicured gardens and listened to Cannon in D, being played to a string quartet. The bride was walking down the aisle to the same song I had for our wedding! Can you die of romance?! I think I did.
Views and flowers galore were the rest of the day, and we wandered back down to Amalfi and then bussed back to our hotel before we had dinner down by the beach. Perfect day! La dolce vita indeed!
Our last night in Turkey was a true gem, the kind of night that keeps the travel bug biting. As I was finishing my blog post on the rooftop porch of our cave hotel, I overheard a British girl talking to her Italian friend at one of the other little breakfast tables up there about her day visiting Cappadocia on horseback. When I went downstairs to find Ryan in the common area, really, it was a living room just off the main entrance area (which was an open air garden) because there was no wifi in the rooms, we ran in to Mahmet, the owner of the cave. He told us he'd named the hotel after his 9 year old daughter who lives in New Zealand with her mom, but some day, he would leave it all to her. It made staying at Emily's Cave Hotel kinda special. :) It was one of my favorites to date! I hope to return someday.
It was getting a little late, and we knew we had to get up early to catch our flight back to Istanbul and on to Rome the next day, but, we were hungry, so we decided to get ready to go our for a quick dinner. There were other plans in store for us though, because just then, Mahmet returned to tell us that he was invited to his friend's place down the road for some BBQ. The other guests, including the British girl(who was half Turkish as well), her boyfriend Magnus, a guy named Huan from Korea/Canada, the Italian lady, and Essen, the lady we'd woken up(who it turns out was Mahmet's girlfriend) were all going to go out and have dinner. I asked where they were going, not realizing it was at someone's house, but was immediately invited. Turkish culture dictates that you deny an invitation at least twice before accepting, which we did, but Mahmet insisted that we join them! Ryan was unsure at first, because he knew we still needed to pack, but I knew an unforgettable night was about to take place!
We walked only about 4 blocks down the streets of the small town of Goreme, when we arrived at a brightly lit storefront of a Turkish Rug shop. I thought, "oh, we've already done this," but we wound up walking through the shop to the back stairs and up to an open air living room area in some guys house! There were rugs and lights hung around, but the night air felt just right around us as we settled down on the cushioned seats around a low, long chest used for a makeshift table(also covered with a turkish rug!). It was a small group of us, so we learned names quickly and began chatting away, getting to know each other's back stories. Ryan and Magnus hit it off, discussing pharmaceuticals in the US and Britain, while I got to know Effis(the British girl) and Huan and I chatted about Korean food.
Wine, and Turkish Racki was served. Ryan elected the the Racki, and I went for the wine, however the Racki was MUCH stronger, and even the Turkish guys were surprised at how easy it went down for Ryan. We've heard many a rhyme about what happens wen people drink Turkish Racki! Maybe I'll share some later, but it made for easy conversations, and went well with delicious food. We were served lamb chops and chicken wings, salad and cacik (a sour cream type yogurt), and bulgur wheat, which I've only had here in Turkey, but it tasted like a heartier wheaty rice. And of course loads of freshly cut bread. Tasty and delightful!
After dinner, Magnus was actually thinking of buying a carpet, so we went downstairs with them for the "show" where they get out a bunch I rugs and throw them around in the light to see the colors change and feel them and hear the spiel about how they can cut you a good deal without bargaining because they are all handmade over a year, or 100 years, and that you know you are getting a good deal because you wouldn't be able to get the same rug for more than double what they want you to pay! I saw it as good fun, and I know Turkey has made me a much better bargainer than I have been, even with all the practice I had while living in Korea! Turkey employs the art of charm in their deals, so you have to have a strong will and a top price you are willing to pay, along with the ability to walk away, which we did several times in the bazaars, and it worked- always got at or near my asking price!
Anyway, I don't think Magnus bought in the end, but because the purpose of the night was dinner and friends, that as ok. Speaking to them made me feel like we may have actually gotten a good deal on our rugs in Istanbul. We headed back upstairs for one more libation, and then said our goodbyes to Ali, the owner, his super adorable golden retriever puppy, and walked back to the cave hotel together, chatting under the stars. Ryan and I shared one last apple tea with Mahmet and Essen, and packed our bags quickly before collapsing in our bed! What a long, awesome day!
It was another 5:00 wake up on Thursday, but we had a lot of traveling ahead of us. My stomach was still bothering me a bit, but the only other noteworthy thing from our day of travel besides waiting around in the Istanbul airport for several hours, was that our No Name Blue Panorama flight was an hour late, and then couldn't get permission from the airport to disembark after we all got on the plane, so we sat at the gate for another hour and a half before taking off. Man, the mix of Turkish and Italian people on that plane were NOT having that! So much noise and complaining went on, that had that happened in America, I'm pretty sure someone would have been kicked off the flight. Crazy! But, it eventually took off to our relief, because we had about 12 hours to enjoy Rome!
We took a shuttle bus downtown, on which I fell asleep, which was about par for the course that day- I fell asleep on every form of transportation I took! Turkey wiped me out! We checked into our decent Rome hotel and asked for a dinner suggestion. We dined just across the street at a place with sidewalk tables and had one of the BEST pizzas I've ever had in my life. Ryan had a delicious lasagna as well, and ended with gelato. How could i resist!? With that taken careof, we thanked the Lord in Heaven for Italian food in our prayers before bed.
We slept in a bit, but because we wanted to walk around Rome a little before catching a train and bus combination to Positano, we headed out to see the Colosseum, which is always breathtaking! Saturday mornings might not be the best time to go, so we decided not to elbow between throngs of people and opted for the walk around the outside, which is still impressive. We walked around a few of the other landmarks of the Roman empire, then headed back to pick up our bags from the hotel and trotted off to the train station.
Let's talk about how the EuroStar trains can't even begin to be compared with our previous travels through south east Asia. Insane. We ate baguettes and drank tea from the cart they brought around. I am glad we have more train adventures to Vienna and then Prague in the next few days so we can bask in the luxury that is Eurostar again (and secretly be glad in the fact that we don't have to ride 3rd class in the 3rd world anymore!)
I got more and more excited and then anxious as we approached Positano, passing through Naples and Sorrento, taking a bus along death defying coastal roads, then realizing we were on the wrong bus, getting off the bus, taking a cab the remaining 12 kilometers, for what we thought was 6 Euro, but ended up being 60(no bueno!) but we ended up at our magnificent hotel on the cliffs of Positano!
I have received one of those 1000 Places to See Before You Die photo a day calendars for at least the last 4 years at Christmas, and each year, I find that one photo of Positano and make sure I put it up at eye level at any desk that I will be working at that year. I've been in love since I visited here 12 years ago, on a whim, with several other classmates from my Dublin study abroad group, when we showed up at the train station in Rome, told the lady at the ticket counter that we wanted to go to a beach, and she told us how to get to Positano. We took the 4 hour journey, using 3 different trains/buses, and wound our way down 100s of steps to visit the tiny little pebble beach for only 3 hours before we had to turn around and head right back to Rome. That day I knew I wanted to return to Positano for my honeymoon. I didn't know who, I didn't know when, but I knew I wanted to be here, because it is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen!
Thankfully, I met Ryan, and it didn't take long for us to discuss my Positano honeymoon dream. I actually think it was one of the reasons we started thinking about, then planning this whole trip! I count myself a lucky woman!
Our first night here we enjoyed a blazingly magnificent sunset over the little bay, silhouetted by the mountain side homes sloping down to the sea. As the natural light dimmed, the lights of the town sprang up one by one. We had another round of amazing Italian food at a little garden restaurant down the hill.
The next day was a very lazy, relaxed start. We have been so tired from the lat few weeks that we needed to really have a day of rest and relaxation. We at some amazing pastries and hard boiled eggs for breakfast at the hotel- the pastry spread is really quite remarkable, I feel like I've been given a free ticket each morning inside a delightful bakery, but it does take some restraint! Ryan and I are attempting the 'get fit abroad' diet, and it's been working so far, so I've allowed myself samples of these treats! Ryan's allowed himself less, and is practically wasting away! :)
We had a swim at The rooftop pool, and then wandered down to the beach, I searched for sea glass, and without the correct consistency of sand, Ryan resorted to burying my arm in the beach pebbles. He is good for a laugh, isn't he?! We swam for a little while in some big wave activity, until a quick downpour came and sent everyone, including us running from the beach.
That night Ryan fell asleep before we headed out for dinner, so I did the most American thing I could think of, walked down to the closest little restaurant, sauntered in and ordered homemade pasta to go, tromped back up to the hotel, asked for utensils, and sat outside on the balcony ate said pasta, and caught up with Glee on my iPad. Ha!
Ryan was able to stay awake for dinner last night, but barely, since we'd decided to have another adventure day. I guess we had a bit of a lazy morning, but after talking to the concierge, we decided to make a day of it and take a ferry to the seaside town of Amalfi, where we had another amazing lunch (I'm certain I'm going to get yelled at for making those of you reading this hungry...sorry, but...not really!) right on a dock restaurant next to the clearest pebble beach in all the world! I observed some young Italian guy lounge around on the service dock for the little marina surrounding us, leaning his head on a boat bumper and texting his friends. He was shirtless, had an amazing tan, and since I was with my amazing husband, I simply envied his profession of...dock boy? I have no idea. The rest of it was picturesque as well, mountains, town, sea, yada, yada.
We worked off our lunch when we arrived at the mountaintop town of Rovello. So picturesque I needed to pinch myself. We took the bus up the switchback road through vineyards and lemon tree farms until we reached the top, where we walked through the streets clearly not made for cars, marveled even more at the cliff side vineyards, found the town square with the church, several gelaterias, and views that made me swoon. For the rest of the afternoon we toured through two villas of Ravello that were astoundingly beautiful. I'll just show pictures because I've come to realize that the English language doesn't supply me with enough adjectives and adverbs to appropriately describe most things on this trip! Either that, or I should have studied the SAT vocabulary section better. I suppose their is always time for that!
At Villa Cimbone, we encountered a wedding, and just as we passed beneath the overhanging arches of flowers, the bride passed over a tiny bridge in front of us, on her way to head up the aisle. Ryan and I sat just up the path, amidst the manicured gardens and listened to Cannon in D, being played to a string quartet. The bride was walking down the aisle to the same song I had for our wedding! Can you die of romance?! I think I did.
Views and flowers galore were the rest of the day, and we wandered back down to Amalfi and then bussed back to our hotel before we had dinner down by the beach. Perfect day! La dolce vita indeed!
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