Sorrento and Pompei!

Ciao!

This weekend Alex and I headed down the coast to Sorrento on Saturday and the Pompei on Sunday!   Sorrento is a gorgeous town in the Amalfi Coast.  Very charming!  We tanned, naturally, and drank some lemoncello--a perfect Sorrento day.

Then on Sunday we went to Pompei. Pompei is one of the places that I have dreamed of visiting since I was a 3rd grader and only increased when I was an anthropology major at Cal. I remember reading the story of how the city was covered with ash in a matter of hours and sadly, yet luckily for the future, stuck in that exact moment in time.  The ruins proved to be amazing as were the castes of the poor people who were frozen by the ash.  It was almost unreal to imagine that we were walking down streets that had been used by people in 79 AD!  Wrap your head around that!!

Such a great day--well until we attempted to leave Napoli headed back to Rome.  It is still a mystery to us, but all trains were immobilized--for hours nothing was going in or out of the station. Finally, a fast train came cruising in the station and everyone starting running around yelling, in Italian of course, with Alex and I barely (ok, completely) not understanding a thing.  We managed to gather that somehow the only train leaving was a fast train, we grabbed our stuff, booked it for the train and jammed into the aisles like the rest of the train goers.  It was a packed ride, but we made it back to Rome--something that did not seem like it would be possible for awhile.

At moments like those, I just imagine how easy it would be to understand what was going on and be able to ask questions in a language I know--but alas, we survived and I think our spirit of adventure/survival has been strengthened!!

GIANT lemons!

Beautiful Italy...oh ya, and Switzerland, too...

Ciao!

Sorry for my long absence!  I have been out gallivanting around Italy with my family, who finally made it over to Rome--well, all except for Ryan, who hopefully will be coming soon!  My Mom and Christine joined Alex and I in Rome where I showed them all of my favorite places. They then headed off to Tuscany, while I went back to work--yes, my job is not thaaaaat relaxed. I then joined them in Lake Como and spent the next week wandering around northern Italy and Switzerland with them.  We then ended up in Genova where we saw the amazing Cinque Terre and the Italian Riviera town of Noli.

Italy never ceases to amaze me.  In the course of a week, we saw such different landscapes and ate such unique and delicious food. The only blip in the glory was our quick jaunt into Switzerland--ok ok, its not that bad.  But our first day in Ticino, we quickly found out that the Swiss Franc does not exactly have the most favorable conversion rate.  Somehow we ended up paying 10 euros for a bottle of water, and Switzerland's name could no longer be uttered with out an accompanying fist shake.  That being said, it was beautiful, too.


And here it is, a sampling of our adventures in pictures--as usual, does not nearly do it justice.

I was so sad to see my Mom and sister head home, but fortunately Alex is still in Italy and will be returning to Rome this weekend! 


More adventures to come!

Beaches, Lakes and Sun...oh my!

Ciao!

Rome is getting nice and toasty these days...so what does that mean, head to the nearest body of water!  This weekend I did exactly that.  Although, my time here never ceases to surprise me. It seems like every week I meet someone new and interesting and end up doing something random and fun on the weekend.

During the summer, everything in Rome moves outdoors. Bars, clubs, restuarants. All along the river, bars are set up...it is amazing!  Everyone appreciates being outdoors and enjoying the weather so much, its really nice!

This weekend, went salsa dancing--yes, real salsa dancing in Rome. Random, I know. Then went to the beach (yes, so unusual). Although, we did check out a new beach this time...Ostia.  It is the closest beach, and has the reputation of being dirty and gross.  We went and checked it out anyway, and while we went a bit south of actual Ostia--so maybe didn't see the dirtiness as much--it was a beautiful beach, which was so pack it also felt like a party.

Finally, went to Bracciano on Sunday.  Bracciano (famous for being the little town with a castle where Tom Cruise got married) was really beautiful. We made out way down to the lake and yes, enjoyed the sun!

View from Aventino hill

Bracciano 

Weekend in Milano with...ALEX!

Ciao!

This last weekend I flew up to Milan where I met up with my little bro, Alex!  Alex is braving the Italian country-side, potato bugs and all, this summer to WOOF near Acqui Terme, an area in North Italy, about 3 hours west of Milan. We finally were able to meet this last weekend in Milan.  It was quite the magical train station reunion--we had set up a meeting spot...in front of Bin 12...and we both seemed to get there at exactly the same time. I tear up just thinking about it, I had missed him so much!

After we spent some time catching up over cappuccini (Alex's first taste of Italian coffee) and cornetti, we headed out to explore Milan.  I had been warned that the city was rather lackluster in comparison to Rome (aren't most cities, though??!!), and while it did prove to be "just another city", Alex and I had such a great time wandering, eating gelato and taking pictures.

On Sunday, we decided to head out and see what the Milan country-side had to offer.  We met up with a friend of mine who lives near Lake Como and she took us to have some northern Italy style pizza and then to a small village called Lecco.  It was incredible and picturesque--huge cliffs diving straight into a calm lake.

Enjoying the Garden Bar at work...

Just to ensure that I didn't get enough sleep this weekend, I threw a going away party for Ariane on Friday!  So fun!

Alex near the Duomo...in MILAN!

View from Inverigo

Such a beautiful weekend!  I was so sad to say goodbye to Alex and send him back to the backbreaking work at the farm, but I will see him again soon! He is coming to Rome in just a few short weeks!   

Island hopping in the Tyrrhenian Sea!

Ciao!

I have seen so many amazing things since I have been in Rome that I am surprised when a place takes my breath away...but it happened this weekend when I took a trip to Ponza, a small island in the Tyrrhenian Sea.  We had a bit of a holiday week, getting Thursday off for Labor Day, and molti italiani hanno fatto il ponte (took an extra day off on Friday to make it a 4 day weekend, called "fare il ponte" in Italian).  Unfortunately, the entire legal office got in their "il ponte" requests in before me, so I was stuck holding down the fort in the office.

So, on Friday a few friends on mine headed to Ponza, and me and a friend (the hard workers) joined them on Saturday.  It was a quick jump to this little tiny island, that is unknown to the foreign tourist.  We immediately jumped in our rented boat and set off.  We anchored our boat in this little cove which was quite literally one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.  We spent the afternoon diving off the boat, swimming in the crystal clear sea and paddling our way to the deserted beach.  It was kind of like a dream. The rest of the weekend was filled with delicious sea food, wine and good company.  

Also, this week a friend and I went to this little Tuscan town called Orvieto which was built on top of a hill.  The town was quaint and beautiful!

Oriveto

Ponza!

View from our hotel...pretty nice!