On Blogging and Italy

It's been almost a year since I've written anything on this blog, and to be honest, I'm a little nervous. My blogging frequency severely dwindled in 2013 and came to a complete stop in 2014.  With my work and personal life only seeming to get busier by the minute, I couldn't bring myself to write down really any thoughts that I felt should be put out here. My view of blogging has also changed as the shift to marketing your personal life has grown, and between the societal pressures to have the wittiest tweets and the prettiest instagrams, adding my voice to the blogging world just seemed exhausting and futile.

This is another rant for another day, but all I'm here to say is that Chin and I recently took a holiday to Italy, just the two of us. We really didn't have much of a summer-- between Chin studying for the boards, taking the boards and then quickly starting 12 weeks of grueling surgical rotations and electives ("What did we get ourselves into?!" is a common phrase in our household), and then me, planning and executing a 30,000 person wine and beer festival in August and having an event every weekend in September, we did not have a summer. Last spring we knew that our summer wasn't going to be fun (to be frank), so we decided to plan a trip for the fall to get away and spend time together other than when we were sleeping (we had a few of those on some of our 80-hour work weeks).

Don't get me wrong, more than a year later, I still really love my job and Chin loves med school. But we needed some time and to us, time together and traveling with each other are our top priorities right now.

Okay three paragraphs later I'm finally telling you why I'm blogging. While we were there I wrote detailed notes in my travel journal, and after getting my phone stolen and losing all my pictures and essentially everything since 2012, I decided I wanted to wipe off the spiderwebs on my blog and record my writing from our trip via the Internet. It's really a selfish preservation thing.

So, without further adieu, below are the journal entries I wrote for each day of our trip. Some are short, some are long, and some of them might not make sense because they're unedited and probably a little choppy. Blame posterity that these are on the Internet.

Friday, October 3, 2014: Getting There

We are lucky in the fact that getting from Rochester to Toronto, we were the least stressed we've ever been. It took us under three hours to get to the hotel to park our car, with a five minute wait at the border. Five minutes! Compared to our five hour debacle on the way to Paris where I couldn't stop hyperventilating last summer, we were calm, cool and on time.

After checking in with Mussolini's daughter who could not have been more unhelpful, Alitalia finally gave us the exit row for free. With Chin being a million feet tall, we always try to finagle an exit row on a transcontinental overnight flight.

Upon taking our sleeping pills, we both slept for eight hours, waking up at 6 a.m. for breakfast. That sensation of going to sleep in one country and waking up in another is still amazing to me. Being in Italy hasn't quite hit me yet, because we still have such a long travel day ahead of us and will have to be "on" for a majority of our trip to Nocelle. I'm hoping the thrill of our trip will come when we wake up tomorrow on the Amalfi Coast.

Saturday, October 4, 2014: Trains, Planes and Automobiles

Let me just say that after all the planning and fretting, we could not have gotten luckier in our travels so far. Nothing's been stolen (fingers crossed!) and we made it off the plane in time to catch the Leonardo Express train which then got us to Rome Termini in time to catch the 3:45 train to Napoli.

With only one small panic attack, we had a hard time finding the platform to Napoli. When we found it we rushed on the train and sat in two random seats. Little did we know the seats we randomly picked happened to be our assigned seats! Fate is a very real thing. Hoping the last legs of our journey are as smooth as the first.

Saturday, October 4, 2014: Nocelle and Long Trains

We seem to have jinxed ourselves. With what was the smoothest ride imaginable to Naples came a wave of frustration for the last leg of our trip. Upon arriving in Naples early, we went downstairs to buy tickets to Sorrento. We crammed ourselves onto a platform filled with locals and tourists alike and boarded the wrong train. It took us three stops to figure it out but it was three stops too late. We got off in a random town near Naples and had to backtrack, then take the 30-stop train to Sorrento. We lost our time we had earned and then some, but Pasquale, our amazing driver from our last trip to the coast in 2012, was waiting for us in bustling Sorrento.

We then made the winding, tedious, dark drive through the mountains to Nocelle, where we are staying for the next 3 days. I forgot how beautiful the Amalfi Coast is even in the dark. The roads wind around and around and every turn gives you a splash of the dramatic cliffs and lights of Positano and Praiano below.

Nocelle is in a league of its own. You drive to the village and suddenly the road just stops. No cars are allowed in the 115 person town. We got out of Pasquale's car and walked through twinkle-lit paths to our B&B, Casa Cuccaro. Someone was playing the accordion in a house below with the moon above. I thought it was a dream. The town is filled with B&B's, a few restaurants and a small square with a church overlooking the coast. Our B&B is wonderful, and has small but amazing amenities like U.S. plugs (!), a hairdryer and a private terrace with a killer view. We are lucky.

 

 

  

 

For dinner we went to Trattoria Santa Croce and were ridiculously spoiled with bread, prosciutto with melon, pasta bolognese, pasta with tomatoes and shellfish and grilled steak with parmesan, arugula and cherry tomatoes. The tomatoes were just... Stunning and delightful are the only two words I know to describe them. Everything was truly divine. We took a walk around the village after dinner and can I just say what a sport Chin is? He genuinely seemed to enjoy today and didn't complain at all about being tired or spending too much money. This vacation has been wonderful to us already.

 

Sunday, October 5, 2014: Mountain Goat Symphony

Is it possible to be in a more beautiful location than this? We woke up this morning and headed to the terrace for a breakfast of sweet rolls, yogurt, and plums overlooking the coast. I've consumed enough carbs in the past two days to last a lifetime. We then headed out of our B&B and up a few stairs and there we were on the Path of the Gods. We hiked to Bomerano, a small mountain town above Amalfi. Around every corner was stunning scenery: sheer cliffs, forested grottoes, abandoned brick homes, vineyards and unbelievable views of the coastline, from Praiano to Capri. As we hiked we encountered a herd of darling black mountain goats, their bells ringing above us in a joyous symphony as they pranced on the mountainside. We also ran into several mules and geckos. 

 

We got to Bomerano with the intention of taking a bus to Amalfi, grabbing lunch and then taking a boat to Positano. We soon found out the bus was 2.5 hours away because it's Sunday. So... We decided to hike to Praiano and see if we could take a boat from there. Back on the path we went until we found out we couldn't take a boat and our only viable option was to hike back to Nocelle. At that point we'd been hiking for four hours and I wasn't mentally prepared for two more hours of hiking and had a meltdown. BUT, we made it down the path, after much coaxing from Chin, and back to our B&B, dusty shoes and all.

We then got our bathing suits on and made our way to Positano, thinking we could quickly walk there as well. What is wrong with us? It's an hour walk. We finally got too tired at Montepertuso and took the bus down the mountain. In Positano our main priority was no longer lunch but just gelato. Pistachio and nutella for me, kinder and chocolate for Chin. It tasted like gold as we made our way to Spiagga Grande to take a dip in the sea and rest on the rocky shore.

For dinner, we got ready and were picked up at the Nocelle bus stop and taken to La Tagliata for an unforgettable meal. High up in the mountains, our table was perched overlooking Positano as it shined under the full moon. At La Tagliata (tie-ya-ta), you dine on what Mama and Papi are cooking that night. So, we gorged ourselves on bruschetta, ricotta, mozzarella, bread, marinated pumpkin, spinach with a chicken croquette and broccoli, peas with chickpeas, frittata and beans and eggplant parmesan with pork meatballs. That was the appetizer.

 

For primi we dined on pumpkin ravioli, "mama's" pasta, another pasta I can't remember the name of but was so good, and gnocchi. All freshly made. Mama wakes up every morning at 5 a.m. and they close the restaurant at 2 a.m., every day! For the meat portion we had: lamb, chicken, pork, rabbit, steak, beef, beef kebab and sausage. By then I thought I might die but we still ended up having dessert, chocolate cake and a fruit pudding cake with fresh fruit salad.

Walking back to our B&B I just couldn't believe how beautiful our world is and that we get to experience things like we did today. 

Monday, October 6, 2014: Sea Day

We ended up sleeping in this morning, which to be honest had me feeling anxious, but our day turned out to be lovely. We woke up for a quick breakfast and made the bus trek down the mountain to Marina Grande. We rented a small 8 horsepower boat and after some adjustment, made our way down the coast towards Praiano. We eventually found a small cove that looked as though it was a private beach-- with not a soul in sight. There was a ladder in the water leading up to several blue beach loungers, but nobody was there, so we made our way up to the carved out rock. We laid in the sun, ate lunch on the boat and cliff jumped (after much coaxing from Chin). The weather was perfect with beautiful sunshine all day. 

In the late afternoon we decided to make our way back to Positano until we realized our anchor was stuck on a rock. But, after some momentary panic and help from a nearby boat, we got the anchor out and headed back to the Marina. I laid on the front of the boat in awe of the jutting coastline and the sparkling sea. We got back to Positano and after a snack, spent another evening laying on the rocky sand resting in the sun. For dinner we went to Risto Degli Dei, a pizza shop in a cave in Nocelle, once again overlooking lit-up Positano . We had carrot soup and caprese salad and delicious pizza with the restaurant's cat and accordion player. Is this real life? 

Up next: Capri, Pompei, and arriving in Roma

The Pingrees Take Paris

I've been putting off talking about our trip to Paris for weeks. I can't seem to find any words to describe our time there. It was such a special time and it hurts my heart to think about not being there. All I'll say is that exploring the city of love and lights with Chin, without knowing the language and only relying on each other without phones or internet and language barriers, was the best time of my life. 

Instead of doing multiple posts about our trip, I might save our stories for just Chin and me and my little travel journal. However, here are just a couple photos from our trip and a little video I made with footage from our trip. Enjoy!

Vive La France!

We are off! I haven't talked about our trip to Paris much on the blog, but tomorrow we set out for another summer journey to the City of Love.
I've been dreaming about Paris for years. There's such a stigma that comes with the city. The romance, the excitement, the lights, the food (ooh la la, the cuisine!), the sights, the history. All of it appeals to all of me, and I can't wait to turn my dream into a reality. 

We've gone a bit mad (read: I've gone crazy) about traveling recently. I think it's the thought of our someday future of children and careers and other responsibilities that has us wanting to wander all around the world while we're young and full of life (I start my dream job the day after we get back, details to come!).

Our apartment is right in the heart of the 7th arrondissement (neighborhood), with an incredible view of the Eiffel Tower from our windows.

So, Paris, be prepared for me. I'm coming to take advantage of everything you have to offer. I am giddy with excitement and cannot wait to spend a week taking french macaron baking courses and strolling the Musee d'Orsay, picnicing on the Champ de Mars and viewing Paris at night from the Sacre Coeur. And most of all, I can't wait to spend a week in the most romantic city in the world with Christian.

 

"There are only two places in the world where we can live happy: at home and in Paris."

 -Ernest Hemingway

Our Stay at Ashford Castle

I'm a little embarrassed that it's taken me almost two months to finish my posts about our trip to Ireland... But I'm happy (for you... a little sad for me) to say that this is the last post I'll do about our trip.

After our insane day trip to the Aran Islands, we spent the night at a cozy B&B in Galway, eating coconut cheesecake in bed while it poured rain outside. Galway is right on the coast so with the wind that night we were basically hiding inside from a monsoon. We slept in the next morning and after a long (and incredible) breakfast we headed into downtown Galway to shop around. They have a TopShop as well as amazing department stores in Galway and it was really hard for me not to buy all the things.

After picking up some sandwiches at a local deli we headed up to Cong, where we would be staying for the night. When we booked our trip, the tour we picked let us pick what B&B's we would be staying in, and then they automatically booked us for a night at the Ashford Castle. We didn't realize, however, that Ashford Castle is an actual CASTLE (that makes me sound idiotic but seriously) and five star resort, with grounds that encompass the entire town of Cong. When we drove over the moat and up to the valet parking, our mouths literally dropped when we realized that we were staying here for the night. The castle has hosted celebrities like Mel Gibson and Ronald Reagan, and we felt extremely out of place. Traveling through Ireland on a tight budget doesn't typically entail a night in a castle.

But we went with it. We spent the afternoon in the drizzly (but refreshing) rain, roaming the miles of walking trails the castle has. We couldn't afford to do any of the fancy things they have at the castle like falconry, horseback riding, fishing tours, or archery, but we were content with touring the grounds and resting in the drawing room. 

I was proud of myself in the fact that I did a little bit of research of dining options at the castle before we left for Ireland. The George V dining room runs about 75 euro a person, and Chin and I both knew that wasn't going to fly. Also, we tried to pack light for our trip and the dining room requires women to wear a formal dress and the men a suit coat and tie. We opted for the more casual (and much less expensive) dining option and ate at Cullen's. In the summer months, Cullen's is located in a cottage right next to the castle, but in the winter, Cullen's is literally located in the Dungeon of the castle. They send the cheap, young, married students to the dungeon for dinner, and we were totally fine with it. It turned out that the less expensive restaurant was still the nicest and most gourmet of our trip. Perhaps not the most traditional Irish meal, but incredibly delicious. 

After our rugged day in Inis Mor, Ashford Castle was a little taste of luxury that we felt pretty undeserving of. We felt like a king and a queen and pretty much decided that someday when we have some real money we'll come back in the summer and do falconry and eat in the fancy dining room. But until then, we're totallllyyyy fine with our one night stay at Ashford. 

The grounds were unbelievable, and the castle dates back to the 12th century!

Fresh artisan breads, and incredible appetizers were just the start of our meal at Cullen's

While out exploring the ground we found a bridge in the middle of the woods crossing over the river that goes past the castle. Everywhere we turned we found so many hidden gems!

SO MUCH GREEN

A little shot of downtown Galway. I want to live in Ireland.

 

Thanks for following along on our journey through Ireland! It's been fun to look back on our trip and remember all the amazing adventures we had there. For me, it was a trip of a lifetime and I'm glad I got to share it with my husband and partner in crime.

We Booked a Ticket...

Christian and I did something crazy this weekend. 

We booked a trip to IRELAND.

Of all places, and of all things, we booked a trip to go to the UK and spend a week traveling the coast of southern Ireland. 

Here's what happened:

I give Christian a hard time for not being spontaneous. Which is awful, since he is actually really fun to be with and we do a lot of great things together. It's not even that he's not spontaneous, it's that he's logical, and rational. He is very conscious of our finances and likes to be certain and sure about big decisions that we make.

So naturally, I'm the exact opposite. I'm about as impractical as it gets when it comes to wanting to travel EVERYWHERE and all I can think about is going on adventures and spending money on something because it's pretty instead of practical. Don't get me wrong, I'm all about frugality and clearance sections and final sales are my best friends.

But I also feel like while we're young (and don't have any kids yet) that we should go on all sorts of adventures.

Christian keeps me sane and level-headed, and we balance each other out really well. I'm grateful for his rationality.

 So sometimes when I'm tossing and turning and can't sleep at night, I'll go on travel sites and see what deals are happening and how much it costs to travel to certain places. I've never been very serious about it, or even really thought about booking a trip, but it's just fun to see all the places we COULD go (I'm insane, really). 

One night, I was up skimming the web when I found an incredible deal for a 7 day trip to Ireland. For some reason my brain went into travel mode, and I REALLY wanted to go. A trip to Ireland (over Chin's spring break), driving along the countryside coast, seeing a place that I have always wanted to.

I talked to Christian about it, expecting him to say that we wouldn't be able to for multiple reasons, when instead he said that we should do it.

UM WHAT?

So we've been talking about it for a few days, finding out as much as we could about the deal, and praying about it just to make sure it was a good decision.

And yesterday, we booked the deal!

I've always wanted to go to the UK. My whole ancestry is there (I'm very much British and Welsh) and all I can think about is driving through the Irish country side, getting out of our car to herd sheep across the road and wearing rainboots and fisherman sweaters. 

We decided the trip was our gift to each other, for getting through 4 months without each other. A trip, just the two of us, where we get to spend every second together in a romantic place having all sorts of adventures. I am thrilled.

We have never booked a vacation for just the two of us before. We've booked a trip with friends when we went to California two summers ago, but never just us two. Our trip to Europe last summer was a graduation gift from my parents, and we went with my family, and everywhere else we've been has been with other people since our honeymoon. 

Not that we wouldn't love for others to join us, but there's a joy in booking your own trip with your own money, and planning a vacation on all on our own. 

We are so excited! :) 

p.s. We have NO idea what to expect when it comes to this vacation (I just think about the movie Leap Year when it comes to Ireland and that's about it), does anyone have any recommendations or suggestions?

Final Words About Our Cruise

I've been putting off writing this post for who knows how long.

I'm not really sure why... I think mostly time restraints due to the fact that in the past week and half we packed and cleaned our whole apartment, started our cross country trek to Denver, then to Des Moines, then to Michigan (where we are right now, before we head to Rochester in a week). So now here we are, on a short vacation in a beach house on Lake Michigan with Chin's fam, and we just figured out the wireless password. 

I sat down to do my daily social media rounds, and figured that now, while I have a rare second alone, I might as well finish this blog post that's been sitting as a draft for two weeks.

I also think I've been putting it off simply because facing the fact that we've been home from Europe for almost a month is killing me, and every part of me doesn't want to admit that we won't be going back there for a long time. 

But here we go... A few last words about our trip and our cruise itself.

I'm all for adventure. I mean honestly, I've never been a huge daredevil, but I don't mind getting my hands dirty and I'd like to think that I have a fun bucket list (mostly filled with food and traveling). 

I want to take one small suitcase to Europe someday and take the train to all sorts of places. 

But let me also say another thing: Traveling through the Mediterranean via a cruise ship is the way to go. No offense, but screw looking like a tourist. I felt like we got to see so many things, and never really felt rushed for time. Spending three days in Rome before the cruise was perfect, because we got to see all the major things that we wanted to.

Then, we got to get on the nicest cruise ship I had EVER been on (and I've been on 9 cruises now so I feel like that is a big feat), and sailed around the most beautiful place on earth. We got to sleep in our same bed every night, with all our things unpacked for 10 days. We got to eat amazing food every night with our same waiters, and we spent every evening before dinner at the pool or spa, relaxing on heated tile beds or taking naps in the relaxation room.

I mean if that's not the way to travel through Europe then I don't know what is.

So a few details from our cruise:

This was my first time cruising on the Celebrity cruise line, a luxury line owned by Royal Caribbean. If you're planning on cruising any time soon, and aren't cruising with children, I highly recommend Celebrity. It's a much more adult-centered line that caters to people who honestly want to be pampered and feel like they're cruising in style (because who doesn't want that?). 

I think the best part about the cruise itself was our free upgrade that Celebrity gave us for booking so early.

We were upgraded to the AquaClass, a type of package designed for people who wanted to spend time in the spa and lead a healthier cruise "lifestyle."

What this really means is that we were upgraded to a room with a king size bed, balcony, bigger TV, couch, fresh fruit in our room everyday, fluffy robes, and an upgraded complimentary room service menu.

What this also meant was that we had exclusive access to the relaxation room (a room filled with cushy beds overlooking the ocean), and the Persian Garden (a tile room filled with heated, ergonomic tile beds facing the ocean, with a sauna and steam room on both sides... plus a shower engineered to feel like a tropical rain forest shower!)

We also got upgraded to eat at the restaurant Blu, a "clean eating" specialty restaurant with an upgraded, more gourmet and healthy menu than the main dining room on the ship.

So besides the quality of the ship -- which was the best I had ever experienced -- our free upgrade made the experience incredible, and I felt like I was being incredibly spoiled the whole time (because let's face it, I was).

I don't mean to brag, although I'm sure that's not what it seems like. The point I'm trying to get across is that our trip was the vacation of a lifetime, and we highly recommend cruising with Celebrity next time you cruise.

A few highlights from onboard:

 

Chin and me at the first formal night on the ship

 

The Relaxation Room, where we read books and drank a lot of orange-infused water

Our harbor in Rome that our ship left out of

One of the coolest features of our ship was that it had a real-life lawn at the top (not sod or synthetic turf, but actual grass!). We played a lot of boccie!

 

A couple shots of Blu, the specialty restaurant where we ate every night. I'm not sure if I've ever had such great food! 

Butts up boccie.

Some formal night shots of the fam

Thanks for letting me share so many pictures and memories on this blog of our trip. I still can't believe how fast it came and went, and I'm so grateful we had the opportunity to go!