Scandinavia At Last

Well, I finally made it to Scandinavia.  I grew up hearing my mom talk about Swedish traditions in our family.  It always seemed so remote and far away, but living here I thought I should check it out since it's a bit closer.  Turns out it is still expensive so I settled for Denmark.  I have a Danish student this year and his family gave me some suggestions.  

Here are some things I learned about Denmark while I was there:  

1.  You need heat and an umbrella.  

Carrie and I arrived in Copenhagen Wednesday night.  Our first adventure was trying out airbnb.  It is an online apartment rental service. The location of our apartment was fantastic.  It was located between the city center and the airport, just a couple of metro stops from both.  Here is a picture of the street:

It felt like a giant college campus.  Everything was clean and accessible and looked startling similar in the way nice dorms on nice campuses look similar.  Once we arrived, our first hurdle was figuring out the heat.  As you may already know it gets cold in Denmark.  Unfortunately, the property manager didn't know how to turn on the heat so we put a portable radiator heater together and turned the one already together on.  By the time Kira arrived later that night, the place was a bit toastier.  Kira, being sensible, tried turning the radiators on and that worked.  Problem solved.    


2.  There is a good reason so many fairy tales are from Denmark.

Hans Christian Anderson is the best-known Danish author.  He wrote The Little Mermaid, The Tin Soldier, The Ugly Duckling, The Princess and The Pea, among others.  We saw all of those things or at least their inspirations.  There is a statue dedicated to the Little Mermaid in a park on the outskirts of town.  

The Little Mermaid

The Tin Soldier must have been inspired by the guards at Amalienborg.  They look just like the one in the story.  See for yourself:

Looks just like the story, right?

We saw ducks in the park outside of a castle in the city.  But, besides seeing ducks, there was a kind of sfumato-esque quality to the city.  Weeping willows beside water, painted clouds low in the sky and dull pastels made everything feel kind of dreamy.

Castle, ducks, watercolor clouds.  A real fairy tale.

And as for a princess or pea....  We didn't actually see any royalty or peas but we did see the royal jewels and crown.  They are guarded by a less picturesque  type of solider.  These are ones in camo with automatic weapons.  We also saw the castle that supposedly inspired Hamlet.  It was pretty cool.  Now it is a museum surrounded by little art galleries.  

Kronborg Castle has a connection to Hamlet, but none to HC Anderson.

3.  They have really good food.  

We ate cinnamon rolls/bread for breakfast everyday we were there.  It was amazing!  There is a reason Danishes have been brought to America.  Yum!  I also had kebabs, unfortunately without a fork.  Hamburgers and Thai food were consumed.  Most importantly, I found excellent hummus.  I was a very happy diner in general.  Refreshing not to have pasta for every meal.  

Kira, sans fork.  It's ok, we used our fingers, even for  salad!!!

4.  There are interesting events around every corner.  

On our way to the Carlsberg brewery, we stumbled upon a street festival with incredible hip-hop/crunk dancers.  It was like walking into a movie.  The awesome punk dancers battling it out in the final scene.  Jaw-dropping fun.  

Carrie and I also enjoyed a sunny Sunday exploring a market.  It was so pretty and they sold hummus and had places to sit inside.  

5.  Finally, double check that there are no holidays on the day that you travel to a foreign country.  

I'm filing this under "learned the hard way."  We showed up in Sweden Saturday morning.  (It is cheaper and easier to get to Sweden from Denmark than from Italy.)  It was surprisingly closed.  Turns out that it was a half holiday.  Halloween of sorts.  Chain stores open and tons of home decor stores too, but not much else.  After spending one morning in Sweden it is completely apparent why IKEA  was started there.  There are an incredible number of similar, smaller shops.  I loved them all.  There are also many adorable art galleries.  I particularly enjoyed the beaded jars and life-size illustrations at the Form Design Center.    

Armed with my new knowledge, I hope I can return someday.  It was completely enchanting!  


  

  



  

Two Weeks in Milan: Do Not Read This Unless You Plan on Visiting

Two Weeks in Milan

Part of my summer plan was to purposely stay in Milan for two weeks to both experience the city that I live so close to and to take Italian classes. 

The Italian classes were overall a success.  I spent three hours every morning at Scuola Leonardo Da Vinci.  The first week’s teacher, Simona was great:  enthusiastic, energetic, and exciting.  We worked on reading, writing, speaking, and vocabulary.  Plus, we were conversing with each other so our class got to know each other a bit.  The second week Irene taught our class.  It was vocabulary driven and there was less emphasis on speaking and conversation.  The class was smaller yet we did not know each other as well.  I did meet one really cool other student who has been working in Milan but needs more Italian to really secure a job here.  It was interesting to see what was taught without words:

My afternoons were spent exploring the city.  School was on a canal and I would walk up to the center of the city to have lunch and sightsee.  Here is a summary of what I did.  I’m not sure it will make you want to rush off to visit Milan, but in case you do end up here, you know what you are getting. 

Museums:

(They are free and mostly air-conditioned during the summer months.  Great reason to go even if the subject is not your thing.)

1.    Museo del Novecento:  This is an art museum.  It has modern and contemporary Italian art. 

View from Museo del Novecento

Work by Carla Accardi 

Pros:  The location and architecture gives this museum spectacular views of the city center.  It is as if the walls/windows are their own constantly changing art.    The contemporary art here is actually pretty interesting.  There are of course some pieces that make no sense to me.  I did luckily discover Lucio Fontana and Carla Accardi. 

Cons:  There is a good reason most of us have not heard of the Novecento Movement.  Have you heard of Matisse, Cezanne, and Picasso?  Well, this is not a museum of their work.  It is work that was influenced by these painters, but done by Italian artists.  They took the interesting techniques and subjects of their contemporaries and made them as boring as they could.  There was a whole room of Cezanne-like landscapes but in even more boring colors and uninteresting subjects.  Futurism is a less exciting type of cubism/pointilism from what I could tell.  It should be interesting too since it is less static.  I think the Novecento Movement gave way to current graffiti artists.  P.S.  The audioguide is terribly boring; way too much music and not enough information!

2.    Pincacoteca di Brera:  This is also an art museum.  It has a wide assortment of art.

Pros:  There is a wide variety of art here so there will be probably be something that interests you.  There are painters you have heard of here.  Hayez’s “The Kiss” is here.  It is very, very Robin Hood.  The workers here are generally friendly.   

Cons:  There were no labels on much of the work and certainly no written English (or other language) explanations of anything.  Parts of the 20^th century room were being closed but with no explanation.  Perhaps it wasn’t a long-term thing. 

3.    Museum of the Sforza Castle:  A history museum. 

Awesome ceilings

Pros:  Uh, you’re inside a castle, duh!  Leonardo Da Vinci ceiling and other cool painted ceilings.  The room of ancient armor and weapons.  Michelangelo’s final work (a pieta).  The Egyptian collection.  The nice courtyard with a little pond. 

Cons:  Crowded with tour groups.  Skimpy bookstore. 

4.    Milan Archeological Museum:  A history museum. 

Pros: A very cool replica of what the walled city of Milan used to look like.  Parts of the ancient wall in the museum and courtyard.  The Polygonal Tower that was used as a monastery chapel.  Beautiful old paintings.  Wide span of ancient history.  Attached to the beautiful church St. Maurizio.  

Cons:  Got very hot as you moved upstairs.

Churches:  Generally free to go in, but to see the crypts or other parts there is generally a small fee.

St. Ambrose

1.    St. Ambrose:  Church named for the patron saint of Milan.  It is large and OLD.  300s. There is a beautiful chapel with a golden mosaic ceiling featuring St. Ambrose.  Don’t miss the dead bodies under the altar! 

2.    St.  Lorenzo:  Near the popular Colonne.  St. Lorenzo has chapel and mosaics from the 5^th century.  The crypt has a very low ceiling and is not good for claustrophobics. 

3.    St.Eustorgio:  I couldn’t get in the church itself, but the crypt was very simple.  The museum of the relics held there was interesting especially the crowned skulls.  The Portinari Chapel was very beautiful.  There was a monotone, accented, English-speaking guide who yelled his information at you as he explained why the Chapel is so special.  There are many, many examples of St. Peter the Martyr being chopped in the head by a heretic and also of Peter’s miracle of the cloud.  Uh, making it cloudy hardly seems to warrant the term “miracle,” but what do I know?!

4.    St. Simpliciano:  This is a very quiet church and very tall!  Simple yet spacious it felt very holy to me.  The old, old chapel hidden away was beautiful but I found the statue of Jesus very disturbing.  When you looked at him from a certain angle he looked like he was a psychotic clown and it really ruined the holy feeling I originally got. 

5.    St. Maurizio  This is a church that has 16^th century painting on the walls.  It is very small and intimate, but behind the entrance chapel there is long hall called the Convent hall.  It is splendid. 

6.    St. Narzaro:  This is a church built just outside the walls of Milan in the 300s.  There are a lot of ruins there and during work hours The Touring Club of Italy is there to give you a tour of the grounds. 

Trompe d'oeil at St. Satiro

7.    St. Maria Presso San Satiro:  This church is probably one of the coolest because it has a fake wall.  The wall appears 3D but is really only a flat wall.  Wow!!!  Genius artist.   

8.    Cimitero Monumentale:  Ok, this isn’t really a church, but it houses a collection of dead from various religions.  The cemetery is called Monumentale because it is huge!!!  It goes on and on.  There is some form of art attached to every grave.  Amazing and slightly overwhelming! 

Growing Up: Vacationing Solo

I have always loved being on my own and even living by myself.  I've gone to movies alone, taken day trips alone, moved to new countries alone, but I have never taken a vacation alone.  Since I turn 30 in under a month and will probably be married in a year, I thought it would be a good time to push myself to try vacationing alone.  

Taking my own picture

Cinque Terre from Monterosso

I chose Cinque Terre as the spot.  It's a place I've heard many people talk about and recommend.  Since it's a beach spot, I really wanted to go in nice weather.  So here I am and here’s what I’ve done all by myself.

 My room in Albergo Carugio

I found a hotel in Rick Steves’ Italy guide.  It is called Albergo Carugio.  It is in the town of Monterosso al Mare.  The hotel is very simple and charming; clean and comfortable, but not fancy.  I love that it is in a very quiet area and that the owner is so amazingly friendly and helpful.  His English is great but wanted to help me learn Italian though so spoke that most of the time with me. 

Monterosso

The town of Monterosso was one that was hit hard last fall in the floods that ravaged this area.  Most things have just recently reopened this spring/summer.  It is a charming little town with many restaurants and touristy stores.  I did however find one store that has local delicacies such as pesto, lemoncello, candies, and various other sauces.  The owner claims that they are all made in 5 Terre and after many samples of the sauces, alcohol, and candies, I was enticed to buy some for wedding gifts. They are very tasty.  The special white pesto was my favorite but the tapenade was also very delicious.  I also discovered a mixed berry alcohol that I really enjoyed and have never seen anywhere else. 

Beach in Monterosso

The main attraction in Monterosso is the beach.  There are sandy beaches here.  I spent a wonderful day lounging in the sun, reading, people watching, and playing in the water.  Here however is one of the difficulties of going to the beach alone.  No one is there to watch your stuff.  Since most beaches in Europe seem to be private and charge a fee to be used, the small slices of free beach are always crowed—kind of like sardines (or rather anchovies here—possibly the official fish of 5 Terre) in a can.  The water was warm and a bit rough.  Good waves for jumping.  Hesitant to leave my things alone for too long, I did not stay in the water very long.  Getting lunch was also a bit tricky but I managed to bring a piece of pizza back to my towel. 


This brings me to eating alone.  I was a little worried about eating every meal alone.  It was much easier than I expected however.  My favorite was eating breakfast by myself.  I’m not a morning person so it was nice to wake up gradually at some little café.  One place called Laura’s was fantastic.  They made some delicious doughnut-y thing and had great cappuccinos.  I never thought I would be a coffee drinker but it seems like the thing to do here and somehow cappuccino with chocolate looses that bitter coffee bite.  Eating breakfast outside in the shade with beautiful scenery makes me suddenly understand why Americans fall in love with Italy.  Here, what’s not to love? 


Also I discovered reading while eating.  It is nice because it slows me down.  Eating as a teacher has trained me to eat everything at once and as quickly as possible.  Here I have taken my time.  The meals have not been outstanding (pizza with veggies soaked in vinager-ick!; pancakey type noodles that made me think of something eaten when there are wartime rations, and crème brulee cold in the middle and with way too much lemon flavor!) but I did have one good meal at Cantina di Miky:  Yummy frizzy house wine, tasty bread, excellent spaghetti di mare, but curiously served at the same time as my salad which I could not finish and was disappointed by the abundance of fennel and cabbage.

Via dell'Amour

View on the walk to Manorola

I did not come here to eat only though.  I came for the beach of course but also because I heard that the hiking was beautiful and fun.  My first afternoon here I took a boat to the farthest town away—Riomaggiore.  It was a beautiful ride.  I met some nice recent college grads who were backpacking through Europe as their last hurrah.  It was fun to speak to other Americans.  Walking briefly though Riomaggiore I decided to walk over to Manarola a 1km stroll called Via dell’Amore.  It was a beautiful walk.  Manarola was a cute little village where I bought blackberry gelato.  It was really good and I’m glad I tried it. 

The hard to reach Corniglia

Flood damaged trails made me try another trail

On the advice of some friends, I decided to hike to the next village over, Corniglia.  It is too elevated to be reached by boat so it is accessible only by train and foot.  The hike along the waterfront is closed because of the fall’s flooding.  However there is another trail available—trail 6.  Starting up it, I hiked for a good 20 minutes until I realized that I was not on trail 6.  My friends had said you hike through vineyards.  Indeed I did but it turns out it was only vineyards and a dead end.  Scenic, but not exactly the cute town I saw from the boat.  So I tried again.  This time I found trail 6 but it was a bit overgrown and since I wasn’t exactly sure where I was going and had not seen any other hikers for a while, I decided not to continue on my own.  I went back to Manarola and took the train to Corniglia.  Rick Steves has about 3 pages on this little town and since it was at least a 15 minute hike from the station to the town and the next trains were either in 10 minutes or 1hour 45 minutes, I decided to hop back on the train and get off in Vernazza. 

Vernazza

Vernazza

Steves calls Vernazza, “the jewel of Cinque Terre.”  And indeed it is.  It was a charming town with more like 10 pages in Steves’ guide.  I strolled around and enjoyed the stunning evening light views.  There is a beautiful piazza on the water with a church and breakwater.  There are simply stunning views from different places around town.  The castle was closed as was a higher area due to storm damage.  Having 30 minutes to kill I had a glass of wine at a little restaurant close to the piazza.  Luckily for me a funky jazz trio started playing.  I always love Cole Porter covers and this one did a lot of them.  Adorable families spontaneously started dancing and locals sat in their doorways to listen.  It was quite charming.  Finally I headed home, back to Monterosso. 

Colorful life in Vernazza

Door in Vernazza

Overall, this has been a wonderful trip.  While going solo slightly impeded my water time and hiking, it was totally worth it.  I would have enjoyed company, but the freedom and the heightened attention to details around me made it an unforgettable trip.  Here’s to 30 and lifetime partnership, but here’s to independence too!  

Summer in the Cities

This is my first summer off as a teacher.  I've heard some teachers complain about boredom over the summers, but I have never been among them.  Even this year without working I have found plenty of ways to spend my time:  day trips and Italian lessons.

Here are the highlights of the cities I have visited: 

at Scialapopolo

1)  Capri 

Wow!  I want to try to go back next summer.  Carrie and I spent 5 days there right after school got out.  It was a fabulous time.  We spent our mornings exploring different parts of the island (and Sorrento and Napoli).  Then our afternoons were spent sunning at the splendid pool or rocky beach.  Evenings we went into the town to eat.  The best meal we had was at a restaurant called Scialapopolo.  I had absolutely amazing gnocchi and Carrie had tender, delicious beef and a baked veggie-noodle dish.  Yum!  We also ate pizza in Naples.  It was quite tasty, but my taste has not yet developed enough to tell real differences between pizze (that's pizzas for all you English-speakers).  I get the big picture but not the subtleties.  

Blue Grotto

2)  Verona

props outside the arena

Verona was my first summer day trip.  I showed up at the train station not 100% sure where I actually was going.  I'd heard about Verona and what a cool city it is.  Someone said they liked it because it was like Rome, but on a smaller scale.  I found that to be true.  For example, there is an ancient Roman arena.  Now concerts and operas are performed there.  Seeing the props for the summer Opera festival just sitting outside the arena was pretty cool.  I went on a Rick Steves guided walk to hit some of the highlights.  I was disappointed that I ran out of time to see the interior of the Duomo.  Instead I went into St. Anastasia and was given a toasty black cloak to cover my shoulders.  I was too hot to enjoy the experience of the church.  I was sorry I couldn't eat dinner there because there is a piazza of cool looking restaurants.  I hope to go back and see an art exhibit there and eat on the piazza.  

Juliet's Balcony (hard to imagine Romeo serenading there with all the tourists)

3)  Turin/Torino

Rooftops of Turin

For some reason I can never remember which is the English name.  In any case, Turin/Torino was a bit of a messy trip.  I went to the wrong departure station (thanks to the Trenitalia website) and ended up missing a train by 2 minutes.  I had to wait an entire hour for the next train so my trip was a bit shorter than planned.  The tourist bureau must be on strike because there were NO MAPS for sale, the tourist information was closed, and none of my trusty guidebooks suggests Torino so I had no map.  With my new phone (more on that later) I found the movie museum.  It is also called the Mole Antonelliana, a museum and lookout point that used to be the tallest brick building in the world.  Now it has a cool lookout tower.  Turin has beautiful rooftops!  The movie museum was pretty cool, but not being big on Italian cinema, I missed out on some of the enjoyment that a true Italian film fanatic would get.  Cool interior and exhibits.  It was charmingly not overwhelming.

Mole Antonelliana

4)  Como

I have been to the lake before but not the city.  Another 1st grade teacher and I went for the day.  We laid out on a grassy park next to the lake.  The thing is though that you can't get in the water.  We saw tourists getting yelled at by the police for swimming in the water.  

5)  Bologna

Typical Bolognese architecture

I have now been to Bologna twice.  When my dad visited in the spring we went.  That was the weekend before the earthquake hit. With dad the highlights were a market with awesome jewelry, the archeology museum, and St. Stephen's Church.  St. Stephen's courtyard reminded me of the Cloisters in NYC.  The church interior was deceptively large.  It kept going and going and going.  Plus, going to places like history museums and old churches with my dad is super nerdy fun because he knows so much and helps me appreciate what is inside.  Thanks Dad.  

Sights with dad

I went back to Bologna last weekend with Sarah, a teacher from our school.  I wanted to get back to the markets.  We did a walking tour of the city.  It was our own made up tour.  In the middle we spent a good 2 hours eating lunch.  Bologna is in an area of the country that is known for its tasty food.  I had no such luck.  I tried both pasta Bolognese (with dad) and a fresh veggie pasta (with Sarah) but neither were outstanding.  They were just average good.  Not the knock-my-socks-off experience I was hoping for.    






6) Milan

With language classes and 5 days of being a tourist, Milan needs its own post so stay tuned...

Life-Changing Greek Trip

Wow!  The school year is over and it flew by.  It was quite an eventful (and good!) year.  Between broken limbs, penis kissing, and coke floats this class kept me on my toes but was an incredibly wonderful group of kids.  I already miss them.  


Finishing the year was a feat; visitors, school events, weddings, illness, and travel consumed all of my time.  I've really slacked writing, but one of my summer goals is to write about some of the cool things that I was doing instead of writing.  I'm gonna work backwards since my Greece trip is the freshest in my mind.

Church in Limenaria on Thassos

I flew into Thessaloniki and ran into JL at the baggage claim.  We both landed around noon.  Our journey was just starting.  We needed to get to the island of Thassos.  We took a taxi to a bus station, a bus to the port, a ferry to the island, and then a rental car to the village.  We had to wait 30 minutes for the bus and 2 hours for the ferry.  After a stop for lunch and dinner, we ended up at the house around 10:30 that night.  It was a long day.  

The next day we were delighted to wake up and see the view.  

View from the terrace

We stayed at a house that my parents' friends own.  It is in a little town called Theologos.  Theologos is seriously small.  It has about 5 restaurants, 2 tourist shops, a bakery, and a few small grocery stores.  It is a real Greek village.  On an evening walk, I was definitely the stranger in town.  Men sitting outside at tavernas and women taking care of children all watched as the foreigner walked down their streets.  I did help stimulate their economy by purchasing a new pair of sandals from the cobbler and tub of olives from the tourist shop.  There are many sheep, goats, and charmingly abandoned buildings.  

Abandoned Building

Theologos is a village in the center of the island which meant that we drove the 10 km to various beaches everyday.  We spent most of our days at the beach.  Typical day went like this:  sleep in, eat breakfast, go to the beach, head home, shower, read, eat dinner, go to bed.  It was rough but we survived.  The beaches were beautiful.  We tried several different ones and preferred quieter ones like Notos South Beach, but found them all agreeable.  

Thassos's South Beach

We watched the world cup at an Australian bar.  If possible, my drink was more interesting than the game. It included fruit decor, colored sugar, a sparkler, and an umbrella of course.  We ate at home a lot.  My olives, feta, and tomatoes were hard to beat.  The baklava varieties were amazing and I could happily eat one every day for the rest of the year.  Greeks are geniuses with honey!  Speaking of genius, the inventor of Fanta lemonade is one.  It is the most refreshing drink I could ever imagine.  If you ever see it, don't pass up the chance to try it!!!  

The most memorable meal we had was however, the one were JL proposed.  After a dinner of roast chicken, fresh beans, potatoes, and ice cream (try the caramel Magnum bar if you ever get the chance!) JL and I were standing on the terrace admiring the full moon and the sound of the sheep bells.  The next thing I knew I had a beautiful ring on my finger.  It was all very quick and spontaneous and kind of a blur.  The ring ended up being too big so at the moment I am ring free.  The rest of our time in Thassos was very restful and relaxing.  

We headed back to Thessaloniki Friday so that we could spend a day there exploring a Greek city and make it to the airport on time Sunday morning.  Thessaloniki turned out to be a huge hit.  It is on the water and full of history.  While I haven't been to Athens I hear it is quite dirty.  Thessaloniki is not.  It is also extremely cheap, especially when compared to Milan.  The best part of Thessaloniki though is the Byzantine history everywhere you go.  We went to The White Tower, the Museum of Byzantine Culture, and the church of St. Demetrius.  

White Tower

Briefly, the White Tower was built during the Ottoman rule so it is not Byzantine and is relatively newer than the rest of the city landmarks.  It is right on the water and not white.  I thought it would have been a lighthouse but it was actually a prison and eventually whitewashed by a prisoner in exchange for his freedom.  Today it is a museum explaining the general history of the city.  It is well done and when you get to the top, there is a 360 degree view of the city and shore.  

Clay pots- so thin I can't believe that they were hand built

The Byzantine Museum was my favorite sight.  The outside is ugly, but inside wow!  Plus, the cafe is great!  The artifacts in the museum are generally from the 4th-7th centuries.  They trace the various elements of life such as churches, burials and cemeteries, home life, art, and coins.  What struck me about much of the everyday artifacts was that the jewelry and dishes are still appealing.  Human taste in art doesn't really change.  I like the same things that people in the 4th century did.  That is amazing to me.  

St. Demetrius at the Museum

St. Demetrius's Church was very cool because it was rebuilt in the 20th century after a fire in 1917.  Some of the foundations are still there.  The crypt was unfortunately closed, but the mosaics that have been installed are beautiful!

Overall, a hugely romantic, exciting, and relaxing trip.  Greece was hospitable, easy to get around, and inexpensive for the Eurozone.  Worth a trip if you ever have the chance!

How (NOT) To Run a Marathon

I expected to write about my training and running my first marathon this week.  However this is not that story.  This is exactly the opposite:  How Not to Run a Marathon.

Danielle, Kyle, Me

1)  First and foremost, get injured!  I did this in week 12.  I had a sore IT band after a long run.  I heard a pop during a run but didn't feel too much pain so ran home since I was a good 6 or 7 miles away.  I figured I would still have time to heal in any case.  WRONG!  I couldn't run for over a month.  The longest runs I could do without pain were 3-4 miles.  Some weeks I would get 3 miles in every day, but most weeks that wasn't possible.  Finally, the week before the marathon I did get up to 12.7 without pain, but that isn't enough realistically, having only gone 17 miles as my farthest run over 2 months ago.  Mentally and physically I just wasn't there.  Worrying about injuries, worrying about suffcient distances...  None of that mattered in the end.  There were bigger plans in store.

2) Close your eyes and picture the worst possible running weather.  Heavy rains?  Yep.  40 mph wind gusts?  Got it.  Sleet?  Right in the face!  Freezing cold?  Check.  Those kinds of conditions certainly help you not run.  You might spend the day before psyching yourself up mentally for a "Run at your own risk" warning and then passing an entire afternoon stocking up on gloves, hats, scarves, and rain jackets.  You might be thinking this is a sign from God to not run the full and you'd be right.  In the end, the marathon was cancelled.  Everyone ended up running the half.  

New purchases for "run at your own risk" warning...

Buying a rain jacket, scarf, and gloves were the best things I did!  I didn't take a single thing off the entire time.  I was completely soaked through to the bone and muddy up to my knees.  The puddles, gigantic mud pits, and strong winds that made you run in place for several seconds, as well as the sharp pin pricks hitting me in the ears and face made me feel like I was running a Warrior Dash:  Extreme Version  .  I've never run one before, but I really don't feel the need to after my Shakespeare Warrior Half.  

Freezing cold after the race!

muddy shoes!

3)  Don't go to the race on your own.  I wasn't technically on my own, but I was with 2 other couples.  The two other women, Kyle and Danielle, ran too.  We trained together and that was great experience!  I certainly ran my PB distancewise.  I also got to see new areas of surrounding Milan that I would never have seen otherwise.  And, I got to know these two awesome women I wouldn't have really known as well otherwise.  I could never have even thought about doing this without them.  However, even with very inclusive couples, you can't help but feel more on your own than you probably really are.  I think if you are planning to run a marathon (especially your first) it is important to have someone there for you and only you. 

You may be wondering if the experience was a total bust...  Definitely not!!!  I learned a ton of stuff about running and myself.  I also realized that living in Milan is great when traveling because whenever you go north, you always fly over the Alps and the view is amazingly stunning anytime of the year.  It makes traveling feel magical and enjoyable.  I also very much appreciated Milan and it's warmth.  Even rainy Milan is at least warm at the end of April.  

I could not warm up in Stratford.  We stayed in a cottage.  It was great but very drafty and had hot water issues that are difficult for Americans used to one faucet.  I tried to take a bath at one point but that was a huge failure!  And I think every time I brushed my teeth I spit on my hand trying to reach the cold water faucet, then proceeded to burn my hand in the hot water rinsing it off.  Ahh the joys of country life.  

Cottage, the morning after the race

How do you use this thing?!!

But back to the good parts.  We saw Shakespeare's birthplace.  It was awesome and made me wish I had my high school English teachers along with me.  The museum is really well done.  A relatively short experience, but very engaging.  There was cider on tap everywhere.  Hooray!  (It suddenly clicked for me why the English drink so much beer and tea.  Nasty weather!)  We also went to a grocery store where I bought bagels, cheddar cheese, and hummus and even got them home with me where I will enjoy all of them this week.   

View outside the Shakespeare House

The best part was that I officially took 8 minutes off my time from the one I ran 2 years ago.  I also ran the entire thing, never stopped or walked once (well, I did stop to tie my shoe, but I don't think anyone wanted to stop or walk in that weather).  I think I did much better pacing this one.  I'm still planning on running a marathon eventually.  When I do, I'll let you know how it goes.