amore per l'italia

A few weeks back, while we were with some friends on the metro, we spotted an ad for Cinque Terre, five small villages along the Italian Riviera. We'd talked about going but thought since we lived on the coast last year, was it really worth a visit? Our friends talked about their visit until we exited the metro... so of course it was on our minds. Fast forward three days - we had a flight booked. With a Thursday holiday at the end of May, we couldn't pass it up.

Welcome to Vernazza! Cinque Terre consists of Monterossa al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. It's not the easiest to get to and lodging is a bit tricky but it was so worth it! After doing a little research (and I mean very little), it looked like Vernazza was the spot for us. The village has a population of 1,500 and doesn't really have any hotels. We found a few residents who rent apartments and started emailing. Since we booked a little last minute... only 3 weeks in advance... a lot of things were already taken. We really wanted a place on the water, but that didn't seem like it was going to happen either. We couldn't really be picky! We arrived very late on Wednesday night, after a flight to Pisa and a two hour train ride, to find a guy standing in front of the Farmacia named Christian waiting to show us to the apartment. His mother was the owner but we were told he spoke a little English so we decided to call him while we were in the train station instead. He didn't think he would be in town when we arrived so he gave Mark directions to the apartment and said he'd leave it unlocked. Most of what Mark understood was that we should look for a green door. Thank goodness he decided to wait for us because ALL the doors were green! 

The next morning, we had to change apartments. We were supposed to find Christian or his mother, Tilde, at their shop on the corner. And then we had to ask for Caterina at a restaurant to check-in. Well, we found Tilde and of course she had heard we were renting from Caterina for the rest of the weekend and of course Caterina was nearby chatting with some friends. Gotta love small towns! Tilde called Caterina over and we exchanged some smiles... because we don't speak Italian... and followed Caterina to her apartment, just as her other guests were leaving.

Coastal paths connect all five villages. Unfortunately, only two of the paths were open the first day; a twenty minute, very simple, hike between Riomaggiore and Manarola and the two hour, most difficult, path between Vernazza and Monterosso. We paid our fee and were on our way to Montorosso. It was difficult, but nothing tennis shoes and a bottle of water couldn't get you through.

We made our way to Monterosso for lunch, rested on the beach, and dipped our toes in the cold ocean water before deciding to hike back to Vernazza instead of taking the train. A lot of the path was steps and most of town was steps... but when we returned to Vernazza we drug ourselves, with shaky legs, to the top of the city to make a reservation at one of the restaurants in town.

Not a bad first day to a last minute vacation!

it's all fun and games

until your resident appointments and then your dining table looks like this...

And you're making lists of things that need copied. Pictures that need to be taken. Requested documents that need to be located.

 

You're making sure that your birth certificates and marriage certificate are dated within the past 90 days. Because my original birth certificate dated the day I was born doesn't count anymore. But obviously I'm older than 90 days? Something doesn't add up. So you pay for the new record and then your appointment gets set for 5 months after you return with the documents. Now you need a new one. And then US Vital Records doesn't mail records to a foreign address so someone in Iowa has to give them to someone who is on their way to Vegas and then someone on a bachelor party has to bring it from Vegas to France.

 

You're figuring out whose appointment is first; who gets the originals; will there be time to switch before the other's appointment? They've got to understand right? We've got a lot of the same documents. Why are there new requests on the newest list we've been given? What even are these documents? Do we really need to take a language assessment? We don't have time to get this stuff!

 

And then you have to pay with these weird stamp things. Cash first; then the stamps.

 

In the end you hand over your complete identity in one folder, hope for the best and pray that you'll see the folder again.

 

We are pretty easy going around here - but sometimes you just want to yell "WHY ISN'T THIS EASIER? THERE HAS TO BE A BETTER WAY!" and bang your head against a wall. But Mark has to deal with the frustrations way more than me. And most importantly, it's the rule and there's nothing we can do to change it. So tomorrow morning we will be visiting some beautifully architectured building hoping to get a piece of paper that says we can stay a little longer. And sigh with relief knowing we probably won't have to do this again this time around... hopefully!

 

But most of it's fun and games... well more like champagne and croissants!



bruges in a day

We decided to cruise over to Belgium on Saturday with a few friends to see what it had to offer. We drove to Bruges, a small, quaint city. After making a pit-stop in Lille, France for lunch, we arrived around 3:00. We walked through the narrow, cobblestone streets, stopped at canal side restaurants for a  local brew, played darts... nothing fancy, but a great time!

We found a store that served and sold all Belgian brewed beers. We enjoyed a few on the terrace in the early evening and then returned on Sunday morning before we left to buy some. There were 1,130 different kinds to buy. Those Belgians don't joke around when it comes to beer!

In the afternoon, in front of the church in the main square, we saw a sign for an Airbag Festival (better known as an accordion band festival) that began on Friday night and lasted the rest of the month. After dinner and darts, we stumbled upon the site and listened for a while. It was great! Unfortunately, we were only able to listen for 15-20 minutes before it was over. We all wished we would have found it sooner.

On Sunday, we planned to drive to the north coast but instead we stayed in Bruges a little longer.

murano, burano

On Saturday, I woke up to a lot of buon compleanno (happy birthday) wishes from all the hotel staff because someone asked for help making dinner reservations and informed them I was turning a year older. It was fun. Staying in the small hotel was really nice, everyone called you by name; I assume it was much like staying in a bed and breakfast.

After taking the water bus down the Grand Canal, we hopped another bus (of course water bus... there are no cars, bikes or really any mode of transport other than your feet in Venice) to visit the islands of Murano and Burano.

Murano is known for its glass making. There were endless shops filled with glass... and some not so cheap! Numerous buildings had FORNACE painted on them because they housed the kiln for the making. We didn't watch any glass be blown but it was still interesting to visit. Side note: On the way to Murano, we passed the cemetery. It's only reachable by boat from Venice. We actually saw a small boat carrying a casket from Venice to the cemetery entrance... which I found more interesting than most I'm sure. I just kept thinking, what a different lifestyle? But it's how they've done things for years! I have really enjoyed being able to experience how many "everyday" what I'd call "normal" activities are done in other places. Like taking a casket on a boat for a funeral service.

After a couple hours on Murano, we decided to hop the bus over to Burano, the fisherman's village island known for its lace making. We didn't do much lace shopping but just roamed the streets for an hour looking at all the brightly colored houses. The whole village was like this! It sort of felt like you were on a movie set.

When we returned to the hotel, we planned to have one last spritz on the terrace before our early morning departure, but I was surprised to find a bottle of Prosecco, basically Italian champagne (but remember you can't use the word champagne when it's outside of Champagne France), compliments of the hotel. So we sipped on that instead before making our dinner reservation and eating our weight in seafood!

When can we go back?

love it? hate it? venezia

We'd hoped to tack on a visit to Venice when we visited Rome last summer, but it just didn't seem to work. Plus anyone we'd ask who had previously visited either loved it or hated it. Despite mixed reviews, we decided faire du pont ("to do the bridge" - it's what the French say when there is a holiday on a Thursday and you decide to take off Friday from work to "bridge" the holiday and weekend) and check it out for ourselves.

We immediately fell into the love it category. Maybe because we love anything water. Maybe because we visited before it got warm and the canal had the chance to smell. Maybe it was because we stayed in a fantastic place with only nine rooms and they called you by name. I don't know, but it's going in the books as one of the best trips so far!

We arrived on Thursday afternoon; after taking a water bus from the airport to the city, we spent the rest of the day just roaming the streets and getting lost. On Friday, we'd planned to visit St. Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace, but the hotel suggested a walking route and we were easily convinced. We visited the well known fish market, - but since we'd lived on the coast of France, it wasn't much of anything we hadn't seen before - dodged in between small alleyways and hopped across narrow canal bridges before finding a pizza place along the boardwalk.

We stumbled upon the gondola yard. Basically a shipyard for the popular romantic mode of transport.

We assumed the lines at St. Mark's Basilica and Doge's Palace would be long by the time we reached them; mostly because of cruise ships docking for the afternoon and all the travelers trying to see all they could before having to leave. We were wrong about Doge's, so we took a quick look.

The palace once housed the Doge of Venice, the supreme authority. A visit to the prison came after crossing the Bridge of Sighs. This bridge got its name because those who were sentenced would sigh as they passed through the bridge and took one last glance at the city before being locked up.

We enjoyed a spritz, a Venetian aperitif (which turned into an everyday habit) on the terrace of our hotel and watched the boats on the Grand Canal before finding a place to indulge in some pasta and wine.

Another habit we adopted was visiting St. Mark's Square each night. Cafes along the square hosted five person orchestras. As they took turns playing, you could move a few feet to listen better or sit down and enjoy an expensive drink! I can't figure out what's not to love in this place!

tour louvre

Sometimes I feel like I'm not taking advantage of all this city has to offer. All the weekdays I have available to visit museums are normally spent doing other things. I've just never been too intrigued by museums or history, honestly. After moving to a country where a sign of history can be seen at every corner, I was kind of embarrassed by my lack of knowledge. But I think we are all entitled to be uninterested or unknowledgeable in things.

While we've been here, we've made some really great friends. One of my friends gives tours of the Louvre, one of the world's largest museums, to English speaking families (usually with small children). She has scavenger hunts and activities for children to participate in while she's teaching them around the museum. The company she works for just created a new tour for older children, ages 12-15, and she was assigned to give the tour for the first time so she asked for some guinea pigs. Thinking about being in the museum for three (or more) hours gave me the shakes, but I didn't have a good excuse to decline. Two of us followed Mallory through the museum intently listening to all she shared, while completing a "quest." Being a history lover and previously a teacher, she had so much knowledge about SO MUCH! It was fun! I'm not sure you could ever see every inch of that museum, but we covered a lot of ground and I learned a lot. I'll mark a free tour down as taking advantage!

april showers

...bring May flowers.

I blinked... and then it was May!
This year is passing by très vite!