On the hills in Umbria is this beautiful city. I’m getting better at traversing buses and trains and my reward is finding beautiful places in Italy to visit.
Changing trains is always a push as your first train has to be on time! And sometimes it is. Then one has to find a local bus that goes to the city of Assisi! Yes I did!! A group of American kids were on the bus. From NC. Nice chat with one of the chaperones.
Continue reading “Assisi – so many stories and so extraordinary!”A religious celebration is generally extraordinary and comes with decorations, singing, walking and music. Orte seems to have its fair share of celebrations and this one was a bit different from last year.
Continue reading “A Festa, a Church, a Store and a bit of Soriano!”Yes I’ve been there a couple times…but who’s counting? It’s one of those places that is old and yet new. So off I went with Carole and Andy to Sorrento for a few days. Some Boston friends who are just too much fun. Of course I’ll go. Sorrento is south of Naples, weather is good. Near Capri, Amalfi, Positano and one of my favorites, Ravello. Off we go.
Sundays in Italy are generally so quiet. Fewer buses, fewer trains but still, stores and restaurants closed…but in the tourist areas…not so much. Always something new in Rome and Sundays are hopping! Meeting one of my gal pals for lunch and spend the afternoon is a lovely way to a Sunday!! And we did have some fun!! But with an hour or so to wait for Diana Barone, I finally made it into the very majestic and simply stunning Basilica of Saint Mary Major, or church of Santa Maria Maggiore. A major papal basilica as well as one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and the largest Catholic Marian church in Rome, Italy. It is breathtaking. Near Roma Termini, and well worth the half hour or longer you will be in there. Fascinating also is the Confessionals there. Many on the inside of the church. With lights telling you when one is empty and also which languages the Priest speaks. No fees to enter, but you do have to go through metal detectors. Go early. Majestic, extraordinary…and more. I find the churches stunning. And always the same thought, who designed, built, engineered…these amazing houses of worship? I never tire of seeing them.
Continue reading “Just a rainy day in Roma…okay, not so much!!!”My friend invited me as her family (sister and brother in law) host guests in an old gorgeous villa on Como Lago. Lake Como is always wonderful and with a few days, well it could only mean a fabulous adventure!
Read more: Como Lago…an invitation to an amazing villa with even more amazing new friends!!! I’m in!!My friend Carol is a bit more organized in her packing schedule. Me? I grab the first 3 pairs of black pants and 4 black shirts/sweaters! A raincoat, maybe some socks and ‘stuff’ and off I go! An early morning taxi to the Orte Scalo train station. A fast train to Florence then onto Milan. A train change at Milano Aeroporto to our Lake Como train. A quick taxi to the Villa Gallitea and we are now a group of 10 people. Most are Carol‘s family. Boston people. Oh the Boston accent, dialogue…so hilarious!! They are wicked fun!!!
The Villa is lovely with quite an interesting history. Right on the water. Beautiful views. Basically all we have to do is decide on the day’s activities and meals! There are cooks and maids so feeling pampered. We have so many cool activities and it is amazing. Yes I have been there before…but not for more than a day or two, so this will be a wonderful extended trip and I am so appreciative of how lovely and fun these people are to include me.
Fascinating to make new friends and just having interesting conversations (okay a few times I didn’t know for sure what they were saying but they were very gracious and glad to repeat)! And we laugh. ?
Lake Como is the largest and deepest lake in Italy. Mussolini was shot here along with his mistress. Their bodies transported to Milan and hung there. It was not a pretty site and there are photos of it…but I digress. The history of Como during WWII is that the area was never bombed, too close to Switzerland. Beautiful architecture on the lake. Homes and huge villas are on the sides of mountains and amazingly beautiful.
Como Lago is loaded with tourists, and many are Italian. May is a rainy month for Italy but even so, we umbrella ?? our way through it in great awe. The boats ?? and sea planes are plentiful. Ferry boats, fast boats and slow boats. Just over a large mountain is Switzerland. Of course, during a Walking Tour, someone wondered if George Clooney is here and apparently he is. If we have a chance meeting…my lips are sealed!! Carol has decided to finally tell him they are through…although if we see him by some slim chance, she might have another kind of conversation….
Como is a lovely Citta! (city). Lots of shopping, plenty of cafés and restaurants…and beautiful buildings. But back to these very fun Bostonians!! They are related so interesting stories going way back!! Reminded me of my monster.com days and business travels to my colleagues in Boston. Seems all Boston folks have a great sense of humor!! And that accent..I tried not to mimic them, but a few glasses of wine and no one cared, we laughed every day.
Como is in the Lombardy region and it’s specialties are risotto and polenta. My friends took the funicular to the top of the mountain across the lake. Charming small village up there and incredible views. I did it a few years ago so I’m content to sit at the cafe, (adjacent to the funicular) have a ‘decaffeinato’ cappuccino and people watch!
A Walking Tour of the city and surrounding areas was amazing. With thousands of years of history, every place in Italy has stories. Como did not disappoint. We did a Wine Tasting w Lunch which was lovely. A Boat Tour up the lake for hours was astounding. Yes there is a photo of George’s villa should you ever need to surprise him…although no boats are allowed within 300 meters of his home.
I had such a wonderful time with the Bostonians…funny, hysterically funny, and fun loving. Most of them were related so even more fun to hear their stories of old…and now I have added to the hysterically funny stories…I think. This they don’t know…Carole with an E…kindly agreed to help me make a Roman dinner for the group. We went to the local grocery store and began to shop…(like I can really create an actual Roman dinner is debatable). They had never had Cacio e Pepe. Ahhhhh, one of my favorites and I made in the US…so of course I can recreate it!! We needed wine..Carole was relentless in finding some absolutely fabulous ones, I was on a Caesar Salad hunt, then a cheese hunt (Pecorino Reggiano) and dressing for the salad, Gelato for dessert…pasta…we had the cart full. No worries, we weren’t that far from the store. We can get a taxi back to the Villa. You’d think, but no. Nada. What??? The store called. They were quite sorry so what were we to do? Clearly the bags were too many and too heavy. Shhhhhhh – we hijacked a grocery cart…yes we did. And no feelings of guilt but we did move pretty fast!!! It got back to the store somehow. There was another incident but I have promised not to share having to do with a tree and a big green bush!
A very huge thank you to Joe and Cindy for their kind and generous offer to have me, it was a great time! And to my buddy Carol (without an E), thank you for inviting me. xoxoxooxox
So many photos, just could not add them all…yes the dinner of Cacio e Pepe went well. Whew!!! Couldn’t have done it without Carole and Carol, and Richie!! Big grazie…
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The trip was to help Carol get birth certificates from Avellino of her great grandparents as she qualifies for Italian Dual Citizenship. But first we have to head to Rome to a meetup of Expats of Rome at a restaurant where a scene was done for the ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ movie. Very nice one, adjacent to Piazza Navone. Piazza Navone has some of the most amazing statues. Huge Piazza and if you have not visited, definitely worth it. We find the restaurant…have an Apertivo and a few munchies. Meet some nice folks, a bit of pasta and back to our hotel room. Heading to Naples in the morning.
Continue reading “Napoli…you are like a crazy old boyfriend who just charms…sort of.”The carciofo (artichoke) is in season and appearing all over town from deep fried, steamed in olive oil, to pizza and the list goes on!! Who would think the village would not only have them at 10+ restaurants in all different types of cooking! So exciting…well exciting is a cautious word here on artichokes but I had to find out. The other night was the ‘Festa’ for the artichokes. I made the reservations and off Carol (my friend) and I went. Exactly where we were to go we did not know, but somewhere around the train station so we shall ask and scope it out. On the other side of the train station is some kind of area set up for small venues. Our reservation for the event said be there at 6pm. Not wanting to insult the Italians, we arrived punctually (shhhh I know I’m usually a bit late..) and to our fascinating surprise the Italians did not show. Well they did…around 8pm they started trickling in!! Asking one of the volunteers about 6:30 when we noticed a severe shortage of people, he said “we put 6pm on the event and hope they show by 7. It’s the Italian way.’ So you try not to laugh, but so true. They don’t eat dinner til after 8pm generally. And of course, that is my bedtime!! But I soldiered through to watch this event happen.
Continue reading “Carciofi Ortano Festa or ‘let’s party for a fun vegetable’ !!”You work for so many years, and if you haven’t worked that many years…you will. But work for what? To look at all the things you’ve accumulated? To visit with grandchildren and family? To do all those things that sounded so cool when you were working – and now? How many books can you read? Netflix til you are exhausted…and then what? I can only speak for my wonderment when I first went to London, then Paris, then Basil, Switzerland…and soon the list got longer. I found the education of history in these place daunting and fascinating. Wondering why wasn’t I born in some of those places? In those ancient times? Maybe I was…but life has thrown a huge curve ball. And what’s next? Well…..
Continue reading “And then sometimes…life happens.”Packing and closing up my apartment…very bittersweet. I’ve been walking a lot this week, just to ensure I see this village and take photos to remember. I’ll be back early May but til then, home to family and friends and probably some new adventures!!
Continue reading “Blog 22 Off to America”A long train ride, over 2 1/2 hours, from Orte to Florence. My two constant friends, Rome and Florence. They always have something new to show me. And they always remind me how much I love them.
Continue reading “Blog 21 Ciao Firenze”
