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!