The Amalfi Coast

Our last stop on the Tour de Italia was in Naples, much further south than all of our other cities. We unfortunately only had a little over 24 hours to spend in Naples, and had it all planned out with our tour down the Amalfi Coast.

After arriving late Friday night at our hostel, Giovanni’s Home, we had to listen to Giovanni’s hour long schpeal about how we should not go on our Amalfi Coast tour the next day because there is so much to do and see in Naples. When we finally were able to settle into our rooms, Giovanni kindly offered to make us some pasta with pesto (as his talking had gone so late that most places to grab food were most likely closed by now). We happily accepted the warm plates of pasta, and chatted with some of our hostel mates who were also from the U.S., and then headed to bed to try and get some shut eye before our long day ahead.

We rose bright and early on Saturday to get ready for our tour down the Amalfi Coast, grabbing a quick croissant and cappuccino before our departure. We met our two guides from Lovely Amalfi Coast Tours right down the street from our hostel, and separated into the two vans provided for the 9 of us and headed out. Gionvanni (different than the hostel owner) and Guitano were our two guides for the day, and they could not have been more fantastic. (Seriously, if you want to see the Amalfi Coast in a day, use Lovely Amalfi Coast Tours and ask for these two, and no I am not being paid for this recommendation.) I was in the van with Guitano along with Carla, Caitlin and Andrea, and he told us a lot about the history of Naples and surrounding cities, all while adding some jokes in. On our way to the first stop of the tour along the cliffs of Sorento, we passed the massive Mount Vesuvius, famous for causing all of the destruction at Pompeii. We stopped at two cliffside spots on our way to Sorrento, posing each time to get some great shots of the stunning coast.

Our first town stop a little while later was in Sorrento. G1 and G2 (Giovanni and Guitano, respectively) gave us an hour to explore the winding roads of the coastal town, and also the beach front at the very bottom. We twisted and curved down the narrow streets, popping in and out of the little shops that had everything lemon related you could imagine. The Amalfi region is famous for their citrus fruits and products (most notably, limoncello), so there were tea towels, plates, and tiles filled with beautiful painted images of lemons or lemon trees, as well as soaps, candies, and candles that were all, you guessed it, lemon flavored. We tried not to spend too much time in the shops as we really wanted to make it all the way down to our desired destination – the beach. Although it was not quite warm enough for bathing suits, we happily dipped our hands and toes into the soothing Mediterranean waves that were crashing in front of us, and I never wanted to leave. I just sat along with my friends for the next half an hour just listening to the calming sounds of the waves, looking around at all of the beautiful, colorful buildings on the cliffs above us and just being ever so grateful that I not only got to experience this incredible place, but also that I had some great people alongside me to experience it with.

After sadly realizing that it was time for our tour to continue, we left the sun and sand and headed back uphill into our vans. Next stop – Positano. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect of Italy as a whole before going there, but when we arrived in the town of Positano, I realized that it fulfilled all of my expectations. It was a little town right along the coast, and the G’s gave us another hour to walk around and explore all that this town had to offer. There were rows of orange and yellow clay buildings that created narrow alleys that were brimming with vendors selling all sorts of goods, from pasta, to leather bracelets, to beautiful hand painted ceramics. Not to forget of course, many lemon related things as well. After popping in an out of the various shops and getting some free limoncello samples as well as cannoli’s, we headed on back to our vans to head on to the next destination – lunch.

For lunch, the G’s brought us to a restaurant not far from Positano called ‘il Leone Rosso’ or ‘The Red Lion’. After a delicious meal of fresh bruschetta on bread and some pasta fagioli, I was refueled and ready to take on the rest of the tour. Our final destination our our Amalfi excursion was in Pompeii. We took the winding cliffside roads back towards Naples, and unfortunately came upon some rain on our way there. When we finally arrived to the ruins at Pompeii, the weather was less that ideal and almost gave it a more eerie feeling. We paid the admission to go and see the ruins of Pompeii, and what at first we were unamused by because we were cold and tired, suddenly became this incredibly sad sight when you imagined what had happened at this exact place hundreds of years ago. Go back and listen to the song ‘Pompeii’ by Bastille – now close your eyes while listening carefully to the lyrics, and imagine looking out across what used to be a thriving village and was now nothing but crumbled stone buildings and roads. I would say that it was definitely a very humbling experience, and one that I will never forget. After wandering around the ruins a bit more, we headed back to the vans and back to Naples for the night.

Once we had gotten back to our hostel, we asked Giovanni (back to the hostel owner now, not guide) of a good pizza place to go to for dinner, as Naples is one of the most famous cities in Italy specifically for it’s pizza.  He insisted that we go to Gio’s ( I believe that was the name, as I am writing this over a month late my memory is beginning to fade) to get their world famous pizza. He told us to get there as the doors opened right at 7 or else we would not be able to get a table. Figuring as a local he knew what he was talking about, we arrived at 7:05 and were the second to last party to be seated before people had to begin to wait. The line for take away pizza was already down the block, and after eating it I can see why. Is it wrong to call food magical? I hope not, because the simple, delicate marghertia pizza that I had for dinner during my last night in Italy was nothing short of magical. I will forever be grateful to Giovanni for telling us to go to Gio’s. Juicy rounds of the freshest mozzarella money can buy, combined with impeccable homemade red sauce, and of course sprinkled oh so carefully with just the right amount of basil and olive oil. I never wanted it to end. I’m not sure there were any real words spoken between my friends and I during that meal that did not involve describing our new found love for this pizza. After finishing off what may have been my favorite meal in Italy (just kidding, nothing will ever top Acqua al Due), we headed back to the hostel and sadly packed up our things to head out in the morning.

After spending 10 days and 9 nights wandering around Europe’s boot shaped country, I learned many things….

1. Do not give in to pick pocketers – call them out when they steal from you and you will get your stuff back (hopefully – no guarantees)

2. I can, in fact, navigate through a city where I do not speak the language with a good old fashioned paper map. Take that, iPhone.

3. Being in a place where the two main food groups are pizza and red wine can be exhausting.

4. You can never have enough gelato

5. Every once in a while, put down the phone, or the camera, or the selfie stick, and just take in whatever miraculous view you are lucky enough to be seeing. I was happy to be able to make more memories by spending my time soaking in everything around me, instead of trying to forever imbed it in a memory card.

6. You are only as good as the company you keep, and I think I kept some great company along those 10 days. Thank you, to my beautiful friends for braving Italy with me, and still deciding to follow my lead even when I walked four blocks ahead of you, and dragged you up hundreds of stairs. (You’ll thank me when you see how toned your legs are now.)

Roma

After a very early wake up for our 8 am train, we passed through central Italy and made our way to Rome. Upon our arrival at around noon, we headed to our hostel which at  first glance, could not have appeared to be more sketchy. The actual main office itself where we were supposed to check in was in a laundromat/Internet cafe. Right off the bat we were terrified about what our rooms were going to look like if the place was fronting as a laundromat. The Funny Palace ended up being my favorite hostel that we stayed in throughout Italy. The owner/manager/mobster named Mabri could not have been more helpful. After giving us our room keys, he asked how long we would be staying for, and then using a map and different colored markers (yes, the OCD freak inside of me loved this) he gave us a step by step itinerary of what we were going to do over the next 2 days, including all of the major sites, as well as transportation on how to get there. I may actually frame the map that he gave us to pass on to other friends if they ever travel to Rome just because of how helpful it was.

The first day of Mabri’s itinerary involved us exploring Rome on foot and seeing a couple of different fountains, statues, as well as some of the main tourist attractions. We were happy to be spending the rest of the day out in the sunny weather, and I even got so excited about the 60 degree sunshine that I threw on my dress with a cardigan to venture around in (yes, this many have been a bit premature but I didn’t care.) We of course stopped for some lunch first at a little Italian deli around the corner from our hostel, where I got the most delicious piece of pizza that was smothered in roasted peppers. The perfect start to our long day or walking ahead. Our first main stop was the Spanish Steps, which to be perfectly honest, were a bit underwhelming to me. Maybe it was because they were covered with tourists scattered around sitting here and there, but I wasn’t really ‘wowed’ by them. We took some pictures, and then climbed to the top of them where we were able to go to the Trinità dei Monti, a beautiful church.

After climbing down the steps, we headed towards our next stop, the Trevi Fountain. As our luck had already been so great on this trip, it took an even bigger hit when we arrived at the Trevi Fountain to see that it was under construction. No water. No throwing our coins and making our wish to find love like Lizzie McGuire. Instead, we were able to walk along a scaffolding type walkway that brought you essentially over where the water normally sits, and then looped back out. We did however still toss our coins into the fountain decoy that they had set up to try and lift the spirits of sad tourists like ourselves. Our last big stop on the walking tour was at the Pantheon. Walking up to this grand building was pretty amazing, so per usual we snapped some pictures and then just hung out in the square for a little while, until we realized that there were people inside of the Pantheon. Being our curious selves, my friend Carla and I (thank god she speaks Italian) went up to one of the guards near the fence in front of the Pantheon and asked if we could go inside because we realized that there was a mass going on, and it was Ash Wednesday. After a few minutes of miscommunication, we finally were able to relay to him that we didn’t want to just go in to look, we wanted to actually participate in the mass, so he finally slide the fence back and let us sneak in. We made it just in the nick of time as we walked in just as the last few people were receiving ashes, so we jumped in line behind them and were able to as well. The interesting thing about the way they give ashes in Italy is that they are not smeared across your forehead in the sign of the cross like the are in the U.S., but rather a small handful is sprinkled on the top of your head, and just left there. We had been wandering around all day wondering why in a city that is right next to the home of the Pope, we had not seen a single person with ashes on their foreheads. Although the mass was completely in Italian, I was able to pick up on some of the prayers/songs just because of the order in which they were said. Although I haven’t been to church in quite sometime (sorry, God), I was so grateful that I was able to attend a mass not just on Ash Wednesday, but in the Pantheon in Rome, so close to the Vatican. How many people can say that they did that?

After the mass, we headed back to the hostel to change and get ready for Kimye’s Birthday dinner. We headed to a place nearby to get some gourmet Italian food, and finished off the night with some free Limoncello shots from our waiter, and cannoli’s from the bakery down the street.

Happy 21st Kimye!

Thursday we spent almost all day in the incredible Vatican City (see appropriately titled separate post), and on our last day in Rome, Friday, we hit up arguably the cities most popular landmark, the Colosseum.

This giant, centuries old, architectural phenomenon was just as cool in person as you could imagine. Thanks to the advice of Mabri (again), we first went over to the Roman Forum, as it would be included in our ticket anyway, and the box office line for that way about 1/5 of the size of the one at the Colosseum entrance. The forum consisted of what looked to be an old town type of place, with worn down homes possibly, as well as community structures. From the forum, we were also able to get some great views of the Colosseum from higher up. It was a picture perfect day outside, so we really could not have gotten any luckier. After wandering through the crumblings of the forum, we made our way over to it’s giant neighbor.

The Colosseum

Roman Forum

Roman Forum

Upon walking in to the Colosseum, we walked over to the edge of the outer circle to look out on to the center of the arena, and it felt like I was emerging from the tunnel out onto the stadium myself, just looking up and around me and imagining what the atmosphere must have really been like here back in Ancient Rome. We went up to the second level to get a better look in to the arena, and of the general Colosseum. Although it obviously has been worn down over the last couple of years, I was in awe just thinking about how this was constructed, and how well it has stood up over the test of time (Even when idiotic Americans try and carve there names into it – and no, that was not me.) After admiring the stone structure, we set out towards the area of the city most know for its phenomenal food, Trastevere. Just a short walk away, we made it to this quaint little neighborhood where the streets were all lines with restaurants spouting handmade pasta and treats. We settled on a little place that had outdoor seating, and enjoyed some pasta and a cold Italian beer before heading back to our hostel to collect our things and depart.

On the bus ride home, my friend Carla started conversing with these two Italian nuns, who could not have been any kinder. They then asked the names of myself and Kim and introduced themselves, and one of the nuns, Maria I believe her name was, gave us Italian prayer cards and wished us good luck in life. Although it was just a small little interaction, seeing the kindness in their eyes and shaking their delicate hands made me feel at home, and that, along with some gelato from the train station,  was the perfect way to leave Italy’s capital.

Welcome to Carnival

After a quick train ride east from Florence, we ended up in out third destination: Venice. While booking our entire trip in early January, we were completely unaware that the days we booked to stay in Venice would be the last few days of Carnival, a giant celebration that seems to be easiest to describe as a week long version of Halloween. The street were filled with children with their faces painted, adults in elaborate costumes ranging from Victorian women to Superman, and people of all ages doting the very elaborate and colorful masks that are a Carnival staple.

Upon our late arrival, we wandered across various bridges and through windy streets to find our hostel, and looked up some good places to eat. We ended up settling on a place right along the Grand Canal, and I got my first order of authentic Italian spaghetti al bolognese. After a night filled with lots of laughs with our waiter Paolo, we stopped and got some cannoli’s on our way back to the hostel to wrap up our long day.

Tuesday was our one full day in Venice, so we wanted to make the most of it. We started off fairly early in the morning just exploring the streets along the canals, and looking in all of the different shops that lined them. There was store after store filled with hand blown Murano glass, each piece being completely unique from the rest. There was jewelry, vases, dishes, picture frames, and even little animal figurines, all designed with beautiful swirls of color and still looked so delicate. My friends and I all decided to get into the Carnival spirit and get masks to wear around for the rest of the day. After trying on dozens of different masks, I finally decided on a gold one, and wore it around for the rest of the day. We sat down for a nice little lunch at a restaurant along the canal, and finally were able to meet up with our friend Ceebs who had been wandering around Venice all morning looking for us without wifi. My friend Dani and I decided to split a calzone for lunch (shouts to Ben Wyatt), and thank god that we did because this giant pile of cheese filled dough was the size of a small child. I also had my first diet Coke of the trip or as the Italians like to call it, ‘Coke Light’, and it came nice and luke warm in a pink can. The only proper way to follow up a savory meal like our calzone is with something sweet. While wandering, we had walked by this little sweet shop that had some Italian cookies in the window that looked irresistible. My friend Carla and I each got one, and I have now vowed never to go back to eating grocery store Italian cookies again.

We continued to bask in the sun and walk over many little side street canals, and eventually ended up finding two men selling gondola rides. Since one of the most beautiful things about Venice are its canals, we figured there was no better way to see the city. We split up into two groups of four and set off with our drivers through the narrow canals of Venice. Our driver told us that the city of Venice is actually made up of over 100 small islands, with hundreds of bridges connecting them over the canals. We sailed along the water admiring the architecture of the buildings surrounding us, and then made our way to the last stretch of the ride on the Grand Canal. Our driver actually started to quietly sing as we made our way down the waterway, and with the sun just starting to set in the distance it felt like something out of a dream. I loved just being able to sit and soak up all of the beauty around me, until unfortunately we returned back to our destination.

After a bit more shopping and wandering, we made our way over to the last stop of the day, Piazza San Marco. This giant plaza which is surrounded by a beautiful cathedral and tons of shops, was filled to the brim with people, confetti, and live music. Being the last day of Carnival, there was a lot of celebrating going on and it was great to be able to be a part of. Although we did not have our own confetti, there were enough piles of it one the ground for us to pick up to toss in the air on our own, so that we did. We then walked over the to water edge of the plaza to watch the sun continue to set, and decided that it was time for dinner. We headed back to the hostel, warmed up a bit, and then put our masks back on and headed out the door.

Our last meal in Venice was at a nice little place near our hostel called al Bacco Felice. I decided to go with a light spaghetti dish tossed in a roasted pepper and garlic olive oil. The perfect way to end a perfect day. We stayed up until midnight to properly wish our friend and traveling companion Kim a happy 21st birthday, and then went to bed to prepare for our long day of traveling ahead.

Chianti in Chianti

One of our must-dos while in Italy was go to an authentic Tuscan winery, and that we did. We found a lovely half day tour from Florence out to Chianti online, booked it, and dreamt of grapevines. Our bus left around 2 pm on Sunday, after a morning of waiting to see the statue of David, and failing (line was about 300 people long, no one quite knows why it was so busy,) so we were eager to do something meaningful with our day to say the least.

Our little Mercedes van took us out of the city and through the rolling hills of Tuscany. Unlike my companions who decided to use the 45 minute ride as nap time, I couldn’t help but stay up and stare out the window as we drove across the countryside, looking at endless rows of olive trees and grapevines. Even though it was a bit overcast, it still looked like something out of a movie. After our windy journey, we parked at Castello di Querceto, our destination. Castello di Querceto is just what it sounds like, a castle. The castle was apparently given to the family that currently still owns it by a wealthy friend of theirs (the details the tour guide gave us are a little hazy now, probably should have written about this two weeks ago,) and all of the land with it. The family started growing small patches of grapes just to make their own wine, and as family joke one year they decided to enter their bottle of home brewed Chianti Classico into a wine tasting competition of some sort, and it took home first place. Since then, the family has expanded the vineyard across hundreds of acres, and creates various different types of wine that are shipped all around the world.

We were first given a tour of the outdoor facilities. We walked along the rooftop of the castle and were able to look out across the vineyard, with rows of grapes as far as the eye could see. We then escaped out of the drizzling rain and into the main wine cellar, where they stored barrels of the aging Chianti Classico and Chianti Classico Reserve in wooden barrels that I could have crawled inside. Our tour guide also led us into the family’s personal wine storage room, where they keep about 50 bottles of wine from each year they have been producing, dating as far back as 1904. Some of the labels had completely worn off of the bottles and they were covered in cob webs, but it was amazing to see how the family was able to track their history through these bottles.

Once we were done simply staring at wine in barrels and bottles, it was time to get down to business: the tasting. Upon walking into the room where we would have our tasting, we were handed a glass of sparkling chardonnay to start off the afternoon right. Once we got to our table, a plate of delicious looking crostini’s stared back at us just begging to be paired with a crisp glass of vino. Over the next hour or so, we munched on our Italian snacks while sipping on some still white wine, followed by the vineyards original Chianti Classico, then the Chianti Classico Reserve, and finished off with a dessert wine and some homemade biscotti. After our crazy first two days in Italy, and in preparation for the chaos to come in Rome and Naples, an afternoon in the Tuscan countryside away from noise and busyness was exactly what we all needed.

Firenze

PSA: After procrastinating for days and finally finishing this original post, I went to publish it and the entire thing was deleted, so bare with me as I rewrite it all.

Upon arrival into the beautiful city of Florence, my friends and I quickly checked into our hostel and then were eager to get our hands on some dinner, as well as do a little bit of exploring. We settled in, freshened up, and headed out the door. First stop: Il Duomo. Although it was dark out, the Duomo as lit up and as there were no crowds, we were able to get up close and personal with the delicately crafter pink, green and white marble that makes up this beautiful cathedral. Staring at the detailed work, just on the outside mind you, made me shudder realizing how long it must have taken the artisans to meticulously sculpt and put together every piece of the magnificent building. After taking a few snapshots and marveling at the architecture, we continued on our journey to the nights main event: dinner.

Before I dive in to this thrilling next part, I would like to give a special thank you shout out to Marykate, Morgan, Cara and Lia for all recommending what has now become in my mind one of the greatest places on this earth…Acqua al Due. Yes this is a restaurant and no, I am not exaggerating when I say I fell in love with food at Acqua al Due. It being Valentines Day and all, my traveling gal pal companions and I decided to take the advice of our friends and split a few different sample platters, date style. We decided to go with the pasta sampler, the meat sampler, and of course some of the house wine. I am aware that the name “meat sampler” sounds very barbaric, but it was honest to god the most delicately crafted thing I have ever come across in my entire life. Three different cuts of steak, one with a blueberry glaze, one with a balsamic glaze, and other piece of beef shaved on top of a piece of crostini with some plum tomatoes and arugula. If it were physically possible for meat to melt in your mouth, then these pieces could do it. So tender, so full of flavor, and not a speck left on the plate. The balsamic took the cake for me, but I honestly could eat any of them for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the rest of my life. I apologize that my stomach overpowered my hands when the pasta samplers came out so I didn’t have any time to snap pictures, but I hope my words will let you stomach do some imagining for you. The pasta sampler is decided upon completely by the chef, who makes up and serves five different pasta dishes, the first three being vegetable based, and the last two being centered around a red sauce. They were, in order of serving (not deliciousness,) rotini with a fresh spinach coating, bowties with a pumpkin twist, shells tossed with broccoli, rigatoni with eggplant chunks in a red sauce, and finally some fucilli bucati (I had to look up the name of the noodle on Wikipedia, it’s essentially a hybrid of spaghetti and rotini) with a sweet red pepper sauce. Surprisingly, although I do not discriminate against any kind of pasta, the bowties with the pumpkin were my absolute favorite. Although I am not normally a huge pumpkin fan, the suddle flavor of it, mixed with the al dente pasta and feeling of fall back in New England stole the show for me. Since we were 2-0 so far with the sample plates, we decided to go for the trifecta and get the dessert sampler as well, and it did not disappoint. Acqua al Due apparently also has two U.S. locations in Washington D.C. and San Diego I believe, which now gives me the perfect excuse to do some traveling once I am back stateside. After sitting and reminiscing on the perfect meal we had just consumed, my friends and I called it a night and headed back to our hostel to get some rest for our wine tour the following day (see the next post ‘Chianti in Chianti’ for details.)

Meat sampler

My Valentines at Acqua al Due

Dessert sampler

We woke up Monday morning feeling very sad about having to leave Florence so soon, but also excited about the adventures we had planned for the day. They all seemed to circle around a main theme: stairs. The first stop, climbing the cupola of Il Duomo. 10 euros, 30 minutes of waiting in line, a leg workout, and 493 steps later, we made it to the top of the symbol of Florence, and were able to look out across the entire city for miles and miles. Not to be cliche or unoriginal, but there is not other term to describe the view from up there than breathtaking. I stared out across the hundreds of red clay roofs with a blue sky and mountain range backdrop, thinking that I must be looking at a painting, because there is no way that this is my life, that I am lucky enough to be here right now. But alas, I was, so I tried to soak up every second and square inch of the view, snapped a few pics, and wandered back down the seemingly never ending stairs.

The best way to reward ones self for climbing up hundreds of stairs you ask? A cappuccino with some friends from home. I was lucky enough to be able to meet up with my two friends Rachael and Lauren (hi guys if you’re reading this!) who are both studying in Florence for the semester. I met them outside of the Duomo after my climb down with my friend Kim (who’s friend happens to be Lauren and Rachael’s roommate in Florence, small world right?) and they led us to this cute little coffee shop, where the barista painted pictures on the foam of your cappuccino. He called mine the “Picasso Cappuccino”, and from that I will assume that the face on it that he crafted out of espresso and melted chocolate is supposed to be that of Picasso himself. After sipping our drinks and having some great laughs, Kim and I sadly had to depart, but I’m so glad that I got to spend time with some good friends.

Post cappuccinos, our game plan was to go to another highly recommended eatery my friends of ours, Gusta Pizza, but it was closed. While wallowing in disappointment, we were able to find another pizza shop (because there are so few of them in Italy,) and ate our slices in front of the Pitti Palace to refuel. As we walked over to Ponte Vecchio to check out some of the shops, my friend Carla pulled us into this little paper store called Il Papiro that she had visited while in Florence with her family a few summers ago. Carla was hoping to find the man that she had met the last time she was there who showed her family how they hand make the paper, but he was not. Instead, another one of the owners named Paolo heard Carla talking about her experience, and invited us into the back to watch him craft a piece of marble paper. Each piece of marble paper that they make at Il Papiro is completely unique, and Paolo showed us the entire process from dripping the paint into the vat of wallpaper glue, to delicately mixing it around to create a design, to the heart stopping moment when the paper is laid in the vat, and the design is transferred to the paper. Paolo not only gave us a VIP look at how they make the paper, but he was also kind enough to let us take home the piece that we had watched him craft. (If you’re ever on Lexington in New York City, Il Papiro has a store there too so go and check it out.)

After our minor paper making detour, we scurried over to our last stop of the day, Piazzale Michelangelo, a.k.a. more stairs. Once we made our way across the river, and to the top of what we were told provides beautiful views of the entire city, we realized that it was well worth the hike. From the outlook, you can see the river, the Duomo and beyond, a view you cannot get from anywhere else in the city. Being able to marvel at the giant Duomo that we had just climbed earlier that morning, and now being able to see it from a similar view was incredible. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much time to spend gazing out across the city as we had to make our way back into town to catch our train to Venice.

Although we did not leave Florence with a selfie stick (much to the dismay of the thousand street vendors that shoved them in our face trying to make a sale), we did leave with full stomachs, happy hearts, and hopefully toned legs.

Piece of Pizza in Pisa

Welcome to the first chronicle of my spring break: Tour de Italia. Last Friday, February 13th (apparently Friday the 13th is good luck in Italy,) my six gal pals and I set off from London to Pisa, Italy for the first of five stops throughout our ten day break. We chose to wander through the land of pizza and wine for many reasons, but one of the main ones was that there were just so many things that we wanted to see in Italy, and we knew just a weekend trip would not suffice. So, we planned out our trip, from Pisa, to Florence, to Venice, to Rome, and then ending in Naples.
Our bus ride to the airport that normally takes 50 minutes, took two and a half hours thanks to London traffic, so we arrived at the airport 40 minutes before take off instead of our planned two hours, and were in a full on sprint as we made our way through security and towards our gate. Luckily, Ryan Air has a history of taking off a little late so we didn’t miss our flight at all, but we were sweating like pigs when we arrived at our gate only 20 minutes after arriving at the airport (impressive, I know.)
Once we touched town in continental Europe and got our passports stamped, we headed down some kind of sketchy roads to our hostel, A Casa Doina, and settled in for the night. We woke up the next morning, had our complementary breakfast, and set out on our one mission of the day: find the Leaning Tower.
Thankfully, we were only a 9 minute walk from our hostel to the airport, which had shuttles that brought airport goers to the center of Pisa near the Torre (tower) in just a short ride. We hopped aboard, and despite the rain, were determined to get our cliche pictures trying to knock over/kick down/hold up the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and that we did.
After our photo shoot, we sat down at a little pizzeria that was right next to the Leaning Tower, and had our first real Italian meal – pizza. The classic Margherita, it was the perfect combination of comfort and exploration, that it truly made me realize this was not a dream, and that I was in fact eating pizza, in Italy, underneath the Leaning Tower of Pisa. How lucky am I?
After our one stop in Pisa, we had an eventful bus ride back to the airport and then got our bus from there to Florence, our next destination.
Although we may have only gone to Pisa because it was the cheapest city in Italy to fly in to, I am grateful that I was able to start off my Italian journey in such a cultural, historical, and beautiful city.

Windsor

Getting up at 7:30 on a Sunday morning was the last thing I wanted to be doing, but my program had planned for us to go on a day trip out to Windsor, so I rolled out of bed and sluggishly got ready for our 8:15 am departure. I am so glad that I did in fact get out of bed because going to Windsor was nothing short of amazing. We took a short, maybe 30 minute train ride from London to Windsor where I experienced the thing every little girl dreams of – going inside of a real castle.

Yes, I was able to see the Edinburgh Castle while in Scotland, but you really can’t even put that on the same playing field as the Windsor Castle. We were given an entrance ticket, along with an audio guide to give us more information about the castle and all of the rooms inside (they really should just slap a giant sticker that says TOURIST on our heads by making us wear the ridiculous audio devices.) If I could describe the Windsor Castle in three words, they would probably be elegant, extravagant, and expensive. The castle grounds span across much more land than I initially anticipated, giving you a sense of going back in time to when it really was a fortress, and a place to protect the Royals that resided inside.

Although you were strictly not allowed to take pictures while inside the castle, I snuck a few anyway. I couldn’t help it and once you see my shotty spy pictures (quality is quite poor due to trying to be sneaky – I apologize), you hopefully will realize why I wanted to do so. Every inch of the castle is decorated to a tee. Whether it be firearms and swords mounted on the wall to show the strong military strength, or hand painted mural ceilings that were privately commissioned for the royal family, or the chandeliers that glistened in the Waterloo Room (that is still used by Her Royal Highness today) all of it was magnificent, and too good for me to forget about. Looking up at the various portraits on the walls and realizing how many great British historical figures, and current important figures have walked on the same ground as you are on now was a pretty awesome feeling. A majority of the important rooms in the castle were destroyed by a fire in 1992, but the restoration efforts that went into making the castle look like it was when it was originally built were really incredible.  Thanks to my handy dandy audio tour, I learned that some of the builders hired after the fire used Renaissance era tools and techniques to rebuild the damaged part of the castle, so that it truly was as close to the original as possible.

Chandeliers in the Waterloo Room – the large reception/dining room in Windsor Castle

One of many paintings that were hung throughout the castle

Hand painted ceiling mural in one of the dressing rooms, if my memory serves me correctly

After walking through the entire castle and imagining what it felt like to have lived there, my group and I ventured over to St. George’s, the chapel that is inside the castle walls. I was really eager to go inside and see the architecture and beautiful stained glass, only to be stopped at the door because it was a Sunday and there were actual church services being held. You were not allowed to go inside as a visitor, but if you wanted to worship, you could. (#CatholicGirlProbs) So, we instead settled for taking some nice pictures of the outside of the chapel – which was still immaculate – and then headed into the town for some lunch.

We settled on a little place called Clarence Brassiere & Team Room, one because it had free wifi, and two because it gave us the chance to have some English tea. I had my first official serving of English tea (Pomegranate-passion flavored though, so I feel like I kind of cheated), complete with a scone. My roommate and I split our English treat, and engaged in a conversation with one of our group leaders about the apparently large English debate about scones – cream then jam, or jam then cream? From my years of peanut butter & jelly making experience, I have found that it is always easier to have the jam be spread last, as it creates a tough surface to be spread upon itself. And so, I enjoyed my tea and scone (cream, then jam) and we took a little walk around the city of Windsor, and then headed for the train home. If you want to feel like Kate Middleton, I would absolutely recommend going to Windsor Castle for a day, even if it is all just in your head.

Chelsea vs. Everton

I almost feel foolish for writing about my first English football match after seeing Fulham vs. Birmingham City. No offense to either team, but after experiencing the Premier League last night and watching Chelsea face off against Everton, I can now say that I’ve been to a REAL English football match.

The electricity at Stamford Bridge was out of this world. Not a single seat was unfilled, and the stadium had such a larger presence than Craven Cottage (not to mention it was probably about 3x its size.)

Being poor American college students and all, my friends and I were able to score fairly cheap tickets for the lower section, by buying them from the Everton website. We didn’t know until after we bought them, however, that it meant we would be sitting in the Everton section. No big deal, right? Wrong. I really should have done my research about football culture before going to this game. A friend of mine warned me and said you cannot wear gear from the home team in the away team section and vice versa, they take it very seriously. I of course being my stubborn self figured “ehh it’s just a little beanie hat, I’m sure I can get away with it.” Before even entering the stadium, I was walking up to the entrance lines for our respective section, and one of the workers kind of looked at my hat funny, and then stopped me. He asked if I was here to see Everton, and I was very honest with him and said no, but it was cheaper to buy the tickets from Everton so we did, and he seemed unphased but told be I had to take my hat off before going in. Mind you, I was not having the best hair day so I was REALLY relying on that hat to help me out a bit. So I took it off to go through the turnstile at the entrance, and then slid it right back on.

We made our way down to our seats, a mere 12 rows back from the pitch. We were kind of stuck in the corner, but the view was incredible. I may have mentioned before how I should have done my research before going to the game, because I also had no idea that Everton’s goalie was Team USAs own Tim Howard (Catsy, if you are reading this, I am admitting that you were right.) Almost every time Howard made a save, the Everton fans would start chanting “USA USA USA”. I almost thought I was hearing things when they first did it. Then after a few saves, I was happy to be in the Everton fan section because I would chant along with them, and it made me feel a little more at home.

The first half went on with some great plays, but nothing going in the net. The second half seemed to be taking the same course, until there was one minute left in regular time and #22, Willian, put one past Tim Howard to give Chelsea the only goal it needed to win the game. The crowd went absolutely wild, and we jumped out of our seats, only to quickly remember what section we were sitting in, and then we sat back down (but still cheered internally.) I don’t think the game could have ended any better, and I walked out of the crowded stadium feeling like a true football fan.

My First “Football” Match

Getting used to having to refer to soccer as “football” over the last few weeks has been a bit difficult, especially when you have huge American football games like the BCS Championship and the Super Bowl going on in the meantime. However, I figured I better start adapting to the new lingo as this past Saturday I went to my very first English football match.

Craven Cottage is home to Fulham Football Club, and where we set off to on Saturday afternoon. Fulham was set to pair off against Birmingham City, and I had absolutely no knowledge of either team heading into the match. The seats we had were in the Birmingham City fan section, but we were far enough away from the jumping sea of die hard’s that we stayed out of trouble.

The game got off to a very hot start, with Birmingham City and Fulham each scoring a goal within the first 15 or so minutes. Each fan section went wild as their respective team scored, and my friends and I just cheered either way. The game went on for the remainder of the time fairly neutral, with both teams having some good shots on goal, but nothing going in the net. The game ended in a tie after 90 minutes of play, and I had watched my first English football match. I am hoping the next time I go to see a game (tonight), it will have a bit more action. If you are watching Chelsea vs. Everton back home or in the UK tonight (February 11th) – keep an eye out for me!

Boroughmygod Market

First off, I must say thank you to my good friends Jordan and Cheyenne for insisting that I go to the Borough Market once I got to London. It was, without being over dramatic, life changing.

The aromas of freshly baked bread, aged cheese, mulled wine and right off the vine herbs immediately hit you upon walking into Borough Market. The enclosed area has stands as far as the eye can see of anything you may have on your grocery list. Instead of listing them all, I’ll just let you look for yourself.

Rainbow of vegetables

Ello fishes

Cheese wheels for days

Scotch Eggs

As you can imagine, it was almost overwhelming to see all of the different types of foods displayed out in front of me. I settled on some handmade spinach and ricotta ravioli that was cooked to order, and per the recommendation of the stand owner, I got it topped with real tomato sauce and

Handmade pasta

fresh grated mozzarella – delish. I continued to work my way through the stands to digest, and then we headed over to the Green Market portion of Borough Market, which had more hot food vendors than the other side. I got a sample of salted caramel goat milk ice cream, watched a woman scrape an entire layer of freshly melted cheese on top of roasted potatoes, and even tried a bite of spicy chicken curry. There are an endless amount of food combinations at Borough Market, making it a definite regular stop for me while I am in London. My game plan was to finish off the day at the market with a doughnut from Bread Ahead, as I had seen it on a Buzzfeed article titled 21 Of The Most Delicious Cheap Eats in London. The stand was right at the front of the market, and once I saw those doughnuts glistening in the light, I knew ending my day with one would be oh so satisfying. Turns out, apparently everyone else at the market had my idea as well because after an hour of taking in all of the other stands, I returned to Bread Ahead ready to purchase my fluffy vanilla-creme filled piece of heaven only to discover that they were gone. Completely gone. I asked the man working there if I had gone crazy and had some hallucination of seeing doughnuts there just an hour earlier, and he said I in fact was not crazy, but everyone going to Borough Market is crazy about their doughnuts so they sell out quite quickly. While wallowing in my own self-pity because I missed out on my prized doughnut, I managed to find a chocolate chip cookie the size of my face (I am not exaggerating, see below) and it made the blow of the doughnuts being gone a little softer. And no, I did not consume the cookie all at once.

Being only a few tube stops away, Borough Market is sure to become a regular afternoon trip for me. In the future, I may even bring a shopping bag along with me and pretend that I am a true Londoner, getting all of my groceries fresh from the artisans who plant, bake or cook them right in the neighborhood.