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Adventure Cats in Rebersburg
(Written with help from Catherine Nelson, cat sitter extraordinaire)
The scariest thing about Ellie, Equinox and Kaylee’s temporary home in Rebersburg, PA, was the ferocious toddler, Audrey, age 1 ¾. Her attitude about pets was: Wow, new toys!
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| The Welcome Committee |
When she first met the cats, Audrey flailed her arms, jumped up and down and screeched in excitement, inciting terror in three feline hearts. Equinox wouldn’t even come out of his cat crate for the first hour, and then he ran into a closet and didn’t come out for two days.
Cats in Hiding
At first, Audrey was always grabbing at cat ears. She pulled Ellie’s tail on the first day (Lexie was very protective). But over the course of six weeks of cohabitation, she learned to gently pet a rump and not treat a cat like a doll.
Audrey Helping
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| Observing cat eating rituals on Day 1. |
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| Hand feeding one treat at a time to each cat, between her own taste testing. Very helpful. |
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| Taking one bowl of dry food and pouring it into another cat’s bowl. Very helpful. |
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| Pouring her own water into the water dish, before spilling all the water. Very helpful. |
Catherine put a baby gate between the living room and the stairs to keep the baby out (and to keep Audrey from playing with the kitty litter, “which was a trial the entire time,” she said).
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| Clearly Noxy is not that into her |
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| The baby gate is very helpful |
Then Catherine set up a kitty oasis at the top of the steps the first day at the top of the steps.
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| Kitty oasis |
Kaylee and Ellie hung out there, while Equinox took a corner over the closet under the stairs. Catherine spread the quilt down there for him. Then a week later she created a cat spot inside of their dog Cory’s crate under a table.
Kaylee spent the first day and a half under a couch in the living room, so Catherine would push food under the couch for her to make sure she ate. After a couple days, she discovered the spot at the top of the stairs. There was water, and a litter box, and a corner to hide in. Catherine would bring her food bowl up there as well, and just slide the food into that little nook.
But despite having a well-deserved reputation as the original scaredy cat, Kaylee was the first cat to venture out into the rest of the house. Eventually, the others came out as well, and each claimed their spot on (or under) certain favorite chairs. Equinox hung out with Mark on the back of his work chair.
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| Venturing out |
Catherine encouraged Audrey to feed the cats treats or put down a food bowl, making her slightly less terrifying and in fact of some value to the cats. (But then she tried to eat their food.) She also enjoyed stacking cat food cans, but otherwise cohabitated with the cats for the last few weeks in relative peace (and separation by a baby gate, when necessary).
Ellie, the Adventure Cat, will finish the story.
After a long time putting up with the evil toddler – who I eventually deigned to allow to touch my butt on occasion – our Mommy and family finally arrived one day. We thought they were gone forever!
We had a joyous reunion. My mommy cried.
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| Reunion |
They put us back in the crates in the car (I cried the whole ride, of course) and took us back to Grandma Greenawalt’s, and then up to their house in Vermont a few days later.
I really hate car rides, but I really love the house in Vermont. There’s lots of room to chase Kaylee, and there’s pretty snow outside the window, and my favorite thing: a box on top of the washing machine to sleep on.
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| My favorite spot |
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| (We like it, too!) |
Keep calm and carry on, I say.
Extraordinary Weather
We were extraordinarily lucky with regards to weather on our trip. We knew that traveling in October and early November would be iffy, but other than just a few days, the weather was absolutely beautiful.
Iceland
We had one good weather day in Iceland, the rest not so great. This stop was the beginning of our trip, the first few days of October, and I’m glad it wasn’t at the end. To begin with, we were literally assaulted by the wind as soon as they opened the cabin doors of the plane so we could walk down the steps, onto the tarmac and into waiting buses. We should have expected that, as I could see the sideways rain and the water just being pushed across the runway as we taxied.
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| Lexie holding onto her hat in Iceland |
However, it was still a surprise when it was difficult to walk down the steps with what must have been 50 mph cold wind and driving rain.
(Note from Lisa: Airports generally protect you from the elements when you get off a plane and enter the terminal. But in Iceland, where weather can be brutal and winters are cold and windy, you walk down the airplane steps and across the tarmac to a bus completely exposed to whatever Mother Nature throws at you. And it didn’t help that we had flown out of sunny, 81-degree Northern Virginia!)
It was even difficult driving the rental car, which kept getting pushed sideways by the ferocious wind. I’ve experienced that driving my high-profile truck, but a little car, on somewhat narrow roads, was a completely different story. We needed gloves and winter coats during our entire stay in Iceland.
The first thing Lisa and I did after we arrived at our goat farm lodging on the south coast was to hightail it to the nearest town with our swimsuits to sink into a hot spring and warm up!
The next day was our prime sightseeing day, and the weather cooperated beautifully: not too windy and no rain. And, it allowed us to see the Northern Lights!
The following day, we experienced wind, rain and even snow. Our visit to the waterfall was so brutal that Lexie stayed in the lodge. We still saw what we wanted to see, including geysers, waterfalls and a spectacular national park, but at times it wasn’t pleasant. The same could be said for our days in Reykjavik. We did and saw what we wanted, but the nasty weather was a significant obstacle to our enjoyment.
In the end, I went running in every place we visited except Iceland. I’m still torn on whether I should have run while we were there, but the wind was just too brutal.
Hamburg, Germany
Just absolutely perfect weather. Sunny every day, temperatures in the 60s, no wind.
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| Glorious weather in Hamburg |
Barcelona/Reus, Spain
Again, just absolutely perfect weather. Even warmer, low 70s! (Note from Lisa: I wished I had time to lie on the beach there, it was so nice!)
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| Great beach weather in Barcelona |
England
We were certainly expecting the worst here, especially over the course of eight days, but again, absolutely perfect weather. Mostly sunny, high-40s at night, the mid-50s to mid-60s by day. Never a drop of rain, either in Newcastle-Under-Lyme visiting Aryk, or in London, sightseeing.
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| Strolling on a sunny London afternoon |
Italy
Rome – The weather we had for our stay in Rome was again perfect, until the last day. Then the rain started, the morning Lexie and Lisa left for the train station for Naples. Since I was staying another day, I waited out the heavy morning rain and then headed out for my explorations. I did get drenched heading home that evening, but all in all, we had really nice weather while in Rome.
During our stay in Italy, the entire country was seeing really bad weather. Venice was 75% flooded, schools throughout Italy were closed, and Italian television was continually showing mudslides, flooding and washed-out roads and bridges.
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| Rainy Rome the last day |
Naples – It rained nonstop in Naples. One day there was such a violent windstorm/thunderstorm that the road to our lodging was closed down because of flying debris. We were going to go to the Archeological Museum that afternoon and decided to stay in and ride out the storm.
Pompeii – Our day in Pompeii was again just absolutely beautiful, sunny and high-60s. I remember walking around in a short-sleeved T-shirt.
Sorrento – The forecast was for one good day of weather while I was in Sorrento, so I took a boat tour to and around Capri. The weather started changing in the afternoon, and it was colder and windier on the boat trip back. The next day was, for the most part, rainy, which gave me the opportunity to have a relaxing, easy day. It rained the next day as I traveled back to Naples to meet up with Lexie and Lisa.
Athens
Again, Athens gave us just absolutely perfect weather. Warm and sunny.
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| Perfect weather for Greek island hopping |
All in all, we couldn’t have asked for better weather. (Note from Lisa: Except maybe in Naples.) We know we were lucky and we took full advantage of that!
Flying Home
It was eventually time to fly home.
The cheapest flight from Athens to Dulles happened to be on Turkish Airlines. I’ve never flown Turkish Air before, so I didn’t know what to expect. The flight included a 3-hour layover in Istanbul. When I first looked at that I even considered extending our trip a few more days so we could spend that time in Istanbul, but reconsidered when I thought about how tired we would be after 5 weeks on the road. I’m sorry we didn’t take the opportunity now, though.
The flight east to Istanbul would mean that we had an 11½ hour flight to Dulles. That’s a long time on a plane. But with our lounge pass, we looked forward to some good food and a few drinks in a relaxing atmosphere before we boarded.
Extra Security for Americans
Since we flew from Athens on Turkish Air, we expected to merely stay in the International terminal and get to our gate 40 minutes early. However, upon arrival, we saw signs that US and Canadian nationals needed to follow a special path. We did and were ushered through security again. I wondered if there is some special travel warning regarding Canadians and Americans.
We made our way to the lounge, passing through one of the nicest airports we’ve ever seen. It felt more like an upscale shopping mall than like an airport. There were a staggering number of stores, restaurants, elite designers, and of course women in headscarves. We settled into the lounge, one of severakl to choose from, helped ourselves to the buffet, plugged in our devices, and waited for our gate assignment.
“Go to Gate”
When the gate was announced, it was accompanied by a flashing note of “Go to Gate.” I ignored this for a while since it was way early. I let it go for about 15 minutes before I decided I needed to go to the gate to take a look. I went to the gate and sure enough, there was a line of people waiting to go in. I asked what was happening and was told this was passport control and that we needed to get in line. I went back and got Lexie and Lisa (who was annoyed at having to leave the lovely lounge and its open bar) and we made our way to the gate.
We got in line, passed through the passport check, and then Lisa and Lexie were ushered into the other, female only, line. We went through yet another security check, where we were all thoroughly patted down by security people of our own gender. After that, it was directly onto a bus, which took us to the plane, which was on the tarmac and boarding. We never would have made it if we had gotten to the gate 40 minutes prior, as was printed on our boarding pass.
New Istanbul Airport
On takeoff, the pilot mentioned that a new Istanbul International Airport had opened only a week before, becoming the largest airport in the world. The airport we passed through was stunning, but I don’t think we were in the new one, which appears to have been handling only domestic flights on the day of our departure. Nonetheless, I was surprised to learn that Istanbul is the 11th busiest airport in the world and 5th busiest in Europe.
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| Bye bye, Europe! |
I’m still somewhat confused about exactly what was happening, security-wise, at the airport. (Lisa did some research and found that there had been a terror attack in 2016 that killed 41 people, necessitating higher security. And of course, the fact that it’s a Muslim country explained the separate sex pat-down lines.) But we did make it home, and we definitely plan to return to Istanbul for a visit.
It was a great flight. There was a great selection of entertainment options and free movies, and we were each provided with a little kit with eye mask, slippers and toothbrush. We had a blanket, pillow and higher-quality headphones, not just earbuds. We were also served to meals with a limited selection of free alcoholic beverages.
Altogether, it was a nice way to end our trip.
Italy, Part 7: Bob Visits Capri and Sorrento
I arrived in Sorrento by train late in the afternoon and checked into my apartment, which was perfectly located directly on the charming, vibrant town square. Sorrento is located atop a steep cliff face overlooking the southern tip of the Bay of Naples.
Checking the weather forecast, I realized that I would only have one good weather day, my first day there. So even though it was fairly late, I quickly found a tour company still open and booked a boat tour of the island of Capri that left at 8 AM the next day.
I got up early the next morning — Oct. 31 — and headed to the pickup point. A small bus came that subsequently took us to a small street in town, where we were met by a guide. We were taken to an elevator in a nondescript building that could hold at least 25 people, and in what seemed like a moment, we wooshed down 80 meters (260 feet) down to water level. For some reason, the boat was delayed about an hour, but then I boarded the small boat with 10 other people.
Here are some pictures, since Lisa says I didn’t describe it enough. (Pictures are worth a thousand words. Each.)
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| This is how far the elevator went, through sold rock 260 feet from Sorrento town to the marina below |
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| The Sorrento Marina |
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| The cliff |
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| A look back at Sorrento from the boat |
Capri
We spent the next hour traveling along the coast and out to the island of Capri, where we began a clockwise tour of the island.
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| First view of Capri |
We briefly stopped at the Green Grotto and made our way to the famous Faraglioni of Capri. The sea was fairly choppy and I was already pretty surprised that the boat captain got us as close as he did to the Green Grotto, as we bounced around literally feet from the rocks.
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| The Green Grotto – I thought he was going to crash the boat |
Now, we were heading directly toward the Faraglione di Mezzo, and as I saw the arch approaching, I was wondering how close he would get us to it. He didn’t even hesitate and as we bounced from side to side, he skillfully maneuvered the rocking boat through the arch, at times no more than six feet from the rocks. Granted, this wouldn’t have been a problem in calm seas, but the sea wasn’t calm this day and I was quite surprised he did it. There’s no way this would have been allowed in the US. The boat captain did make a joke (after he was successfully through) that the arch we just went through had been smaller in the spring before several boats bounced off the sides and made it wider. Ha!
We continued our tour around the island and got to the famous Blue Grotto. Normally, the boat would stop and allow the tourists an opportunity to take one of the local guided rowboats through the grotto. But that wasn’t happening today as it was far too rough.
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| The Blue Grotto |
It was then on to dock at the marina in Capri, where we had 4 hours of free time. I hadn’t done any research on what there was on Capri itself, and honestly, I was a bit tired of walking and doing tourist things after 3 days in Rome and another in Pompeii. Nonetheless, I took the funicular up to the main tourist town. The view from the top was breathtaking.
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| Funicolare |
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| View from the top |
Capri itself, though picturesque, was a typical tourist town, built on a hillside. It had the usual tourist shops, but many were closed for the season, some with people inside boxing up the merchandise (Oct. 31 marks the last day of high season). I walked around for two hours, had some street food for lunch and got half a gallon of red Italian orange juice to take back with me. I decided to walk down the hill to the dock area, which turned out to be longer than I wanted to do, so I relaxed with a beer at a local restaurant. During the return boat ride, some of the other tourists talked about going to the top of the peak on the island, which I regretted not doing.
By pickup time, the weather had started to turn. The wind was up, the temperature was down, the water was quite choppy, and I became wet from wind spray during the chilly trip back. I was wishing for a hot tub by the time I got back to my apartment.
Back in Sorrento … Halloween
Soon though, I was back on the street when I saw that local kids were out in full force in costume on trick-or-treating at the local merchants. I hadn’t expected them to celebrate Halloween in Italy!
Lock of Love
The next morning, I woke up to rain. My original plan was to take a tour of the Amalfi coast, but the low clouds and heavy rain justified my decision to stay in. There was enough of a lull in the rain to allow me to go for a run, and I found a fence overlooking the bay that had a few Locks of Love locks attached. I had a padlock with me, but didn’t have a Sharpie to write Lisa and my initials. I made it my mission for the day to find one, not an easy task in a tourist town. I was eventually successful, but by then it was dark, so I had to wait until the next day to put it in place.
I woke up the next morning to find it raining too hard to run. I had to check out of my lodging, so all I was hoping for was for the rain to let up enough to allow me to walk the half mile to the fence and back without getting completely soaked. Finally, as I was at breakfast around 9 AM, I got that opportunity. I rushed to the fence, put the lock (inscribed RG + LH) in place, took some pictures to share with Lisa, and made it back to pick up my suitcase before it started raining hard again.
I got on the train, standing room only, for the 75-minute trip back to Naples to meet up with Lisa and Lexie for our flight to Athens the next day.
Italy, Part 6: Bob’s Extra Day in Rome
I wasn’t interested in all of Lisa’s family’s Naples and Solofra excursions, so from the beginning, I had planned on spending a day with her family and then exploring on my own.
Because we were so busy before the European trip, I hadn’t had time to even think about where I would go. I considered going to Venice, Florence or even taking an overnight ferry from Naples to Sicily. However, once we were in London, I realized that I needed to make some decisions so that I could make lodging and transportation arrangements.
I knew we were eventually going to fly out of Naples to Athens, and that Naples looked interesting enough to spend a day there. Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius also interested me. Since going to Florence or Venice would necessitate more time devoted to travel than I wanted, I decided to spend an extra day in Rome after Lisa and Lexie left for Naples, spend a day and night with her family doing ancestry activities in Naples, then travel to Sorrento and use it as a base for visiting Pompeii, Mt. Vesuvius, Capri and the Amalfi coast.
I couldn’t stay in our Rome apartment an extra night because it was booked, but I was fortunate to find another one in the same complex, which would let me get in an hour after we left the first one. So on the day that Lisa and Lexie left for Naples, I left the apartment with them and found a coffee shop to spend an hour. That hour turned into two when I discovered that it was Daylight Savings Time fallback in Italy, and we could have slept another hour! During my coffee shop wait, the rain started, remaining relatively light until I got into the apartment, when it became torrential and I had to wait it out for a couple of hours.
A rainy Sunday in Rome, and cats
I really didn’t have a plan for the day, so once the rain stopped I decided to just get on the metro, get off at a stop we hadn’t used before, and just wander. I ended up getting off at Flaminio, at the Piazza del Popolo, and spent the day wandering down Via del Corso to the Piazza Venezia, taking in the shopping and sights along the way, including the recently excavated Forum ruins near the Palazzo Venezia.
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| Bob ran into the Pope! |
A selfie binge
Cats of Rome
I ended the day at the cat sanctuary at Largo di Torre Argentina, the place where Caesar was murdered. Today it contains Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary, a cat shelter overseen by a group of volunteers. About 130 cats call these ruins their home. The day ended with another rainstorm, through which I walked back to the apartment, crossing the Tiber and following our previous running route to the Vatican.
Naples, not impressive
The next day I caught an early train to Naples, where I joined Lisa, Lexie and Lisa’s cousins and sister on a walking tour of her grandfather’s former home. While most likely the neighborhood where we stayed and where her grandfather lived was typical old Naples, it was nonetheless dirty and cramped. With numerous people hanging out on the streets, I didn’t feel comfortable there, and was happy to leave the next day.
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| Looking at Lisa’s grandfather’s door |
Pompeii
My original plan was to leave for Sorrento the next morning. However, I joined Lisa, Lexie, her cousin Loraine and Loraine’s husband Dave on a trip to Pompeii. When we got to Pompeii, I saw that the train station had baggage storage, and realized I should have brought my luggage along — I could have stored it and saved the trip back to Naples to get my bags!
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| The family in Pompeii |
My plan for my 2+ days in Sorrento was to take a boat tour of Capri one day, take a tour down the Amalfi coast another day, and spend my last morning exploring Sorrento before returning to Naples to meet up with Lisa and Lexie before heading to Athens the next day.
Greece, Part 3: Thoughts About Greece
Some thoughts about Greece:
- It is clean! After dirty Naples, it was a refreshing change to see people out sweeping the sidewalks.
- It is orderly! After chaotic Naples, it was a relief to see street lights and traffic lights and people who waited or the light to turn before crossing the street.
- It is affordable! With a hotel in a prime location costing only $90 a night for a triple and meals costing as little as $6 for an entrée, we would recommend it to anyone seeking to visit a European capital on a budget. Entrance to the Acropolis was only 5 euros ($6), the National Archeological Museum was 10 euros, the Temple of Zeus was free on Sundays, the Olympic Stadium was only 5 euros – and everything was free for age 18 and under (with ID), or for EU students up to age 25. We could have taken a really nice bus from the airport for only 6 euros each, but we chose to take a taxi, which was also quite reasonable. The HoHo bus was by far the cheapest we’ve taken.
- The food in Athens offered a different twist on the Mediterranean food we’ve had in the States, and quite wonderful. The desserts were amazing and the ice cream was excellent. The restaurants were stylish and innovative, and really made an effort to provide a comfortable atmosphere and entice people to come in and eat. Every one had a different selection, though many had the standards: moussaka, baklava, kebabs, yogurt, etc. Surprisingly, I never saw falafel on a menu.
- There are cats everywhere. A black cat with no name resided at the café in front of the Arethusa, claiming a booth for herself out front and sleeping there all day, curled into a furry ball and occasionally opening one green eye, which delighted Lexie (who was missing her cat Ellie). A calico cat guarded the entrance to the National Garden. We ran into scores of cats on the Greek islands.
- The weather is lovely. It was sunny and in the high 60s-mid 70s while we were there. When we ran, around 7:30 in the morning, the temperature was in the high 50s. I’m sure it gets hot in summer; the long pull-out awnings the restaurants on the islands have is proof of that. But they were tucked in for our visit and we enjoyed the warm sun.
I think early November was a great time to visit because it was officially “winter,” which meant fewer crowds for popular sites, but the weather was quite pleasant.
Two words: Visit Greece!
Italy, Part 4: Solofra, and Radical Discoveries
After we left Naples, we traveled into the mountains to dig deeper into the family history.
Solofra
My grandfather Domenic Troisi was actually born in a small mountain town called Solofra, about half an hour east of the city of Salerno. His father, Beniamino Troisi, met his mother, Maria Michele Buongiorno, in Solofra when she was working for his brother, the local priest. Here’s an excerpt from my grandfather’s Memory Book for his 50th anniversary:
BENIAMINO TROISI FU BIAGIO met Maria Michele Buongiorno at the home of Father Carmine Troisi who was later elevated to the Canonico and Primicerio Curato to the Parochial and Collegiate Church St. Michele Arcangelo of Solofra Province of Avellino, Italy, December 21, 1941. Miss Buongiorno at the time she met Beniamino, brother of the priest, was keeping house for Father Troisi. Both the Troisis and the Buongiornos were respected families of Solofra.
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| Entrance to Terranova Agriturismo |
So our little group of family seekers – which consisted of my cousins Janice and Loraine Carapellucci, Loraine’s husband Dave Handley, sister Julie Holm, daughter Lexie and me – converged on Solofra on Oct. 31, settling into a charming farm BnB, Terranova Agriturismo, just outside of the village. Our plan was to experience Domenic’s Solofra by attending Mass at St. Michael the Archangel’s on All Saint’s Day.
Discovering family
But as we were eating an Italian breakfast of bread, pastry, cheese and cappuccino that morning, who should arrive in the BnB’s dining room but a man I’d never seen before who looked slightly familiar, named Alfonso Buongiorno. It turned out that Janice had made contact with Alfonso through a friend back in New York, and he was our third cousin! His great grandfather had been Maria Michele’s brother, so we shared great-great-grandparents.
Alfonso shared my cousin Janice’s passion for genealogy, and a generous Italian sense of hospitality. Over breakfast, he shared many things he had learned about our family over a decade of digging, while I took notes like crazy.
Here are the highlights:
Revelations
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| Buongiornos from both sides of the ocean |
The first revelation was that the Buongiornos actually lived in Tuscany before coming to Solofra. But before that, they came from the Netherlands and Spain. In Spain, they were likely Sephardic Jews who had been forced to convert to Catholicism. Many families who did this changed their surnames to names like Buongiorno (which means Good Day) or Bonanno (which means good year) so that they could continue practicing Judaism undercover yet still be able to recognize each other.
Alfonso had done a little research on Troisis as well, and said the name was Norman in origin – which Janice, who had also learned this, had taken to mean Normandy, France. No, Alfonso said, it’s actually Norman as in Vikings, most likely from Norway and Sweden! He said many Troisis were blond and blue-eyed because of this heritage.
So we came to Italy to learn we were actually Spanish Jews, Dutch, and Vikings! This helped explain some of the oddities of the DNA test I took last year.
Leather and gold
For the last 500 years, Buongiornos have been tanners, producing fine-quality leather for overseas clients. A member of the family would live in Naples and act as a liaison to sell the product. They also used to be in the gold business until a king stopped buying their product. Today many of their leather clients are being lost to Chinese mass production and cost undercutting, so the family business is grappling with how to respond to a bit of a crisis. But the family also owns rental properties in Calabria, the southern coast of Italy across from Sicily.
Meeting family
The best part of Solofra was discovering family there! We were invited to Alfonso’s home and met his wife Maria and children Raffaela, 18, and Francisco, 15. We talked genealogy and he showed us a framed family tree he had commissioned. He presented Janice with a binder containing scanned copies of paperwork he had acquired through his own genealogy research, which almost made her drool with anticipation.
The church
The church has a plaque on the outside dedicated to Monsignor Carmine Buongiorno, also called Il Canonico, my great great uncle. Inside there is a chapel set up by the family through an endowment. His gravestone is in the floor of a back room, behind the sacristy.
All Saints Day
We joined the All Saints Day procession of Solofra residents walking in the rain under dark umbrellas down to the town cemetery, preceded by the town band playing mournful tunes. Once there, where you could buy colorful flowers from a roadside peddler, we entered the heavy gates and split up, looking for old Troisi and Buongiorno graves. As we wandered among the raised monuments, we watched people clean their family members’ graves and decorate them with flowers and pictures. A memorial mass was held in the chapel in the middle, and the choir voices drifted through the alleys between the small houses that held multiple family members’ graves. It was fascinating.
Here is Alfonso’s family tree:
Next up — Italy, Part 5: Lexie learns about her heritage
Greece, Part 2: The Islands, and Observations
On the third day in Greece, we marked the last day of our vacation by giving Lexie a day off to sleep late and do her own thing, while Bob and I embarked on a 12-hour cruise to visit three islands: Hydra, Poros and Aegina. It was a romantic and magical way to close the circle on our five weeks exploring Europe.
The cruise ship headed south through the Aegean Sea for three hours to the farthest island in the morning, and the views were spectacular. We sat on the deck drinking coffee and taking hundreds of pictures, each more beautiful than the next. The cruise ship also featured live Greek music and folkloric dancing, which was surprisingly good.
Hydra
Hydra was a picturesque walking island (they had donkeys you can rent to get around), and we just bopped around the alleys and up the hillside, where we found trails down to the sea for swimming and a cluster of old cannons. We loved it!
Poros
We were at Poros for such a short time we barely got a taste; we need to go back. We had time for a glass of ouzo, which made Bob a little woozy, in one of countless sidewalk cafes facing the sea. Then, still ravenous, we split a delicious waffle sundae with Nutella.
Aegina
Aegina, which has a surprisingly large port, is the Pistachio Island, so we bought pistachio liqueur and pistachio-chocolate bark, explored the shops (unfortunately closed because of the late hour), sat on a couch in a tavern facing the sea while we enjoyed some ouzo, and spent sunset on a pier watching the scarlet sun sink behind the distant mountains through the bobbing masts of wooden sailboats.
Our Cruise Ship
Couldn’t finish without some images of our cruise ship and the entertainment and food on board!
Italy, Part 3: Rome
Rome was literally eye-popping. We stepped out of a subway for the first time and were immediately accosted by the enormous, imposing Coliseum. All three of us stopped and gasped simultaneously. The scale of it was, as Lexie put it, “incredible. I don’t even know how to describe it.”
That pretty much describes Rome: Larger than life.
The Colosseum
Since we only had a couple days in Italy’s capital, we decided we had no time to waste waiting in line unnecessarily. So we took a skip-the-line tour of the Colosseum, the largest amphitheater ever built, circa AD 70. (We picked the first person who approached us, but you might want to do more research than that.) Though it was partially destroyed by a major earthquake, it is surprisingly intact, and truly spectacular. We were able to climb fairly high and peered down at the space where gladiators fight and public executions were the spectacle of the day.
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| The Colosseum |
It is flanked by the Roman Forum, which for centuries was the center of day-to-day life in Rome, and Palatine Hill, one of the most ancient parts of the city.
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| The Forum and Palatine Hill |
Our Morning Walking Tour
The second morning, Lexie slept late while Bob and I took the subway to the Trevi Fountain, the largest Baroque fountain in the city and one of the most famous fountains in the world Again, we got so much more than we expected. It was huge, built into the side of a big stone building, and glorious. Description, legend. It turned out we were there at the least crowded time of the day, so we were able to each throw a coin in the fountain over our left shoulders. (According to legend, one coin means you will return to Rome, two means you will find new romance and three means you will get married. We already have two and three covered.) Suddenly the 1950s song Three Coins in the Fountain makes more sense.
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| Trevi Fountain |
We then had an overpriced breakfast of croissants and cappuccinos across the way from the fountain, basking in the location and the glorious leisure It is in a charming old section of Rome with narrow streets and no cars. We walked along, taking pictures of a large diversity of creative, small shop windows, and came along a Pinocchio shop – ah, yes, that childhood tale about Gepetto, the lonely shoemaker and his wooden doll who turned into a real boy, is Italian in origin!
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| Gepetto’s workshop |
Our wanderings also took us through the Fifth Avenue of Rome – Gucci, Armani, Ermenegildo Zegna, etc. — to the famous Spanish Steps, which we had never heard of, but they are glorious and worth a visit. It’s127 steps up, and nearby is the apartment where Keats died at the age of 29 – just a little literary trivia.
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| Spanish Steps |
We found the Pantheon, an ancient temple to the Roman gods converted to a Catholic Church that was simply amazing. It is circular, 142 feet wide and 142 feet tall, with a hole in the roof that lets light in as well as rain, and a drain in the floor. It is one of the best preserved of all Roman buildings because it has been in continuous use and is still used as a church and to host concerts today. It was also not crowded, and had pews we could sit in to rest our tired feet.
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| Pantheon |
The Vatican
We went back to our apartment (Homeaway did us right; our two-bedroom was gorgeous, comfortable and close to the subway, and since we booked an off-season rental only two weeks before, we were able to get the price lowered) to get Lexie, who had been sleeping late (she is 18, after all), and headed out for the obligatory tour of the Vatican. We chose a 3 PM tour to avoid the morning crowds, which Bob and I had witnessed firsthand the previous morning when we ran past the Vatican and had to dodge the lines. Again, we paid extra to skip the line, and were led through the Vatican Museums by a stylish Liberian woman whose English accent was too thick for Bob to decipher. (Thanks to time spent with a Liberian friend when I lived in New York, I understood her just fine.)
The Vatican Museum (actually, museums) is one of the largest museums in the world, featuring an immense collection amassed by popes throughout the centuries. The tour was a little too quick, but interesting nonetheless, especially the Map Room. I would like to go back in my own and take the time to linger. I also discovered the secret to seeing the Vatican without the crowds is to wait till the afternoon, a time when no Skip the Line premium would have been necessary. Here are some highlights:
The Sistine Chapel was a feast to behold, although Michelangelo’s famous creation image was surprisingly small in the center of the ceiling, and the elbow-to-elbow crowd made it challenging to view. (Sorry, no photos are allowed in the Sistine Chapel.)
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| St. Peter’s Square |
St. Peter’s Basilica was glorious, but I was disappointed to be denied seeing the Pieta sculpture, which was behind a curtain and required a premium to view. I made sure to buy a couple of packable souvenirs and posted postcards to my brother John, who is a Catholic priest, and my stepmother, Katy. Because it was a Saturday evening, I could have gotten a free ticket to see the Pope say Mass the next morning from the nuns in the gift shop. Unfortunately, we planned to travel at the same time, so I didn’t. If you ever travel to Rome, you should know admission is free on the last Sunday of every month, so plan accordingly!
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| St. Peter’s Basilica |
Cats of Rome
Bob stayed an extra day and visited Torre Argentina, the spot where Julius Caesar was killed, a ruin that is now a Cat Sanctuary.
Thoughts on Rome
A few thoughts on Rome:
- It is OLD.
- It is Catholic! I realized this, but still, it’s a surprise to see so many nuns and priests and monks in the streets of a city.
- There are no footpaths or grassy places to run, though there is a path along the Tiber River, which was just a bit too far from our apartment.
- Because of the density of the center or the city, public transit is limited to the edges and you have to walk a lot, on cobblestones. We skipped the Hop On Hop Off Bus because the reviews made clear the buses couldn’t actually get near the most popular sites, and stops were few and far between.
- The menu is extremely limited: pizza and pasta. And more pizza. And more pasta. And gelato, gelato, gelato. It’s wonderful! But after a while, no matter how good it is, you get tired of the same menu.
- There are a lot of beggars, who seemed like a throwback to another time. We saw women in scarves lying on the sidewalk with heads bowed in prayer and cup extended, and young men with gnarled legs and feet propelling themselves on skateboards, distorted hands inside of heavy boots and cups extended.
- It is larger than life. From the Vatican to the Coliseum to the Fountain of Trevi, everything is so big, it takes your breath away.
Two and a half days was not enough time. We will be back!
Next up —
