Sagra della Varola-Melfi, Italy

October 20th was the Sagra della Varola (Festival of Chestnuts) in Melfi, a town about 1.5 hours from Matera. Irsina, Matera and Melfi all sit in the same region of Basilicata.  Basilicata is well-known for their chestnut trees. Chesnut in Italian is "castagna," however, the particular chestnuts from Melfi are called "varola" which is also the name of the pan in which they're roasted.

Rosting the chestnuts

The festival has been going on in Melfi since 1960. The entire city is taken over with stands of locally produced products, many made with chestnuts as well as vendors selling various trinkets. There are bands that play in different parts of the city. For 5euros, you can get a bag of roasted chestnuts and a glass of wine; very economical!

There were people...everywhere

We wanted to visit the castle, but it was just closing as we arrived. It is one of the most significant castles in southern Italy and dates back to the 11th century. We did get to try on the hats of the people who work at the castle as you can see in this picture:

Gianluca, me and Alberto (a cousin)

Grotte di Castellana

One Sunday, I went to Grotte di Castellana in Puglia, Italy with the family minus Salvatore, the second son.  There are only five spaces in the car so one person is always forced to stay back in Matera. Fortunately, unfortunately, that person is never me. This particular day was a fortunate one.  I've seen a few caves in my day especially considering that I took a caving class in college and went on a few excursions, but I can say that this one was the most impressive and beautiful i've ever seen! I'm not sure i'll ever see another cave as beautiful.

The Main Cave 

They say that the Grotte di Castellana are the most impressive caves in Italy; I have to agree. One part that I particularly enjoyed was what they call the "white cave."

White Cave

Me and Gianluca, the youngest son

Matera

Wow, I just realized  that I haven't even posted about Matera yet and i've been here for 1.5 months!

Well, I was originally told that I would have the first floor apartment to live in, but the family changed their mind and decided that they wanted me to stay upstairs with them. It's definitely a full-immersion Italian experience and often chaotic with the three sons. The house is large by Italian standards, but definitely much smaller than 90% of american homes. The mother is OCD about being clean/germs while the father works long hours as an Orthodontic Technician. The two older sons, 18 and 13 share a room together while the five-year old still sleeps in the same bed as his parents. I have my own bedroom, but it's also the office/study/homework room for the 13-year old.

Me, Vittoria (Mother) and Pino (Father)

I teach English every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday night and on Saturday mornings. I go to a free italian lesson offered by the city of Matera every Monday and Wednesday evening. I also take a hour italian lesson twice per week from the lady who lives downstairs and in return, I teach her husband english twice per week. Every Sunday is a day spent with the family either touring a town nearby or going to their hometown of Irsina to visit with the extended family. I worked for two weeks in October for a dentist who had me read a real-estate book in english, form a summary and translate it into Italian; talk about a hard job! Translating from Italian to english is one thing, but translating from english to Italian is a different category. When I don't work in the morning, i'm busy running around town with the mother shopping for groceries or this and that.  The father and oldest son come home for lunch and we eat at 2pm everyday. Mind you, there must be pasta at every single lunch. It's a crazy life, but it's my life until mid-December when I finally return to the states for good....there is NO changing my mind this time!!

Me and Vittoria

I'm grateful for my experience here, but I will be even more grateful when I am back in the US and have my independence back. I realize how wonderful my family is and I wouldn't trade them for the world!!

Me and Pino

Capri Part 2

The weekend after my mom and sister returned to the US, I decided to visit Capri for the second time. My friend, Annalisa, worked there for the summer season at the Palace hotel, a 5-star hotel in Anacapri. The hotel paid for her apartment and fed her all meals there. It was a great gig!

The beautiful blue waters of Capri

I took the train from Rome to Naples, then took the boat from Naples to Capri. That day, we went to Faro beach and had an aperitivo there. We saw the most beautiful sunset over the water.

That night, we went to Jerry's-a friend of Annalisa-house for dinner. He lives in Capri as opposed to Anacapri in a house overlooking the entire island. To say that it was beautiful, spectacular, amazing is an understatement. Jerry is from Capri, but lived in Scotland for 10 years up until a year ago. He's a musician/DJ.  We went with another friend of Annalisa's, Deanna, who is from Australia. She was living in London when she met a manager from the Palace hotel who suggested her to come to Capri and work for the summer.

The picture doesn't do it justice, but the view from Jerry's house

Later that evening, we went to an upscale club in Capri where I had one of the funnest nights of the summer.

Annalisa, Diletta, me, Jerry, Rob and Deanna

Saturday morning, Annalisa and I went to the blue grotto and went for a swim. She had to work in the afternoon so we didn't stay too long.  I took the bus back to Faro, where I had gone the previous day, and hung out at the beach until Annalisa finished work.

Saturday evening, we met up with a few of Annalisa's co-workers for an aperitivo, then went to a disco in Anacapri and once again, danced the night away.

Annalisa and I at Faro Beach for an aperitivo

I stayed at a very reasonably-priced Bed&Breakfast next-door to Annalisa's apartment on Friday night, but they were completely booked for Saturday. I couldn't stay at Annalisa's because she lived in a house with 6 other girls, so I stayed at her friend, Ludovica's house on Saturday.  Ludovica lives with her parents at the top of Anacapri in a villa, not a house, a villa! The walls were made of stone with tile floors and every doorway was an arch. They have a gorgeous swimming pool and a very large terrace with beautiful views of Anacapri/Capri.

terrace at Ludovica's house

This second trip to Capri was a completely different experience than the first when I went with my mom.  I truly got to live the island life with Annalisa and her friends. They were all so friendly and made me feel extremely welcome. I definitely felt a little envious of Annalisa and her amazing summer adventure!

Me and Rob, Annalisa's friend

Annalisa, me, Deanna and Jerry

Siena and Beyond

This post is far too late, but I can't miss blogging about any travel i've done thus far, especially when this particular trip involves so many different cities!

Night sky in Siena

After Tom, Andy and Alise flew back to America, Mom and Abby stayed for another week. We rented a car-MUCH smaller than our "living room on wheels"-and mom braved another day of driving in crazy Rome to get us out of the city.

Abby and I in San Gimignano

Our first stop was Siena where we spent a few hours in the cathedral then had an aperitivo in Piazza del Campo, where the Palio horse race is held each year. The city is small enough to see everything in an afternoon or a full day. We stayed at the cutest hotel that night before setting off for San Gimignano the next day.

Abby in Piazza del Campo

San Gimignano was/is my favorite non-sea city in Italy! It's a short 45-minute drive from Siena. San Gimignano is known for their towers, of which they have 14 still standing, whereas in most other italian cities, the towers have been taken down in wars.  Abby and I climbed 300 stairs to the top of one of the towers.

view from the top of the tower in Sam Gimignano

We also enjoyed some of the famous wine from this region, made from the vernaccia grape.

After some hours in San Gimignano, we drove a couple hours to the seaside town of Forte dei Marmi where there is the first ever Sundek store.

Abby at the Sundek store

Our final destination that day was La Spezia in Liguria.  After a bit of difficulty finding our hotel, we finally made it. La Spezia is not a particularly nice city, but we decided to stay there because there is a train that goes to all of the towns in Cinque Terre. Our hotel was located directly next to the train station. It couldn't have been a better location.

The three of us in Corniglia, Cinque Terre

The following day, we took the train to the first of the five Cinque Terre towns, Riomaggiore.

Riomaggiore

It was a hot day so we decided to take a swim before going on to the next town.

Another view of Riomaggiore

We walked the Via dell'amore, which is the path that connects Riomaggiore to the next town, Manarola.

Abby on the Via dell'Amore"

Manarola is the oldest of the five towns dating back to the early 1300's. Manarola is also know for the wine they produce, Sciacchetra. 

 Manarola

We took another swim in this town as well.

water in Manarola

To reach the next town of Corgniglia, you must take the train. The path is closed due to heavy rains last year that caused a mudslide. The town sits atop a promontory. You have the choice to take the bus to the top or do as Abby and I did and walk the 382 steps up. It wasn't as bad as it seems.

Corniglia

There is a beautiful view of the sea and the other cinque terre towns at the top of Corniglia.

view from the top of Corniglia

This day wasn't full enough so we decided to continue on and visit the fourth town, Vernazza.

Vernazza

We arrived in time to eat dinner down by the water and watch the sunset.

sunset in Vernazza

The following day, we got up and took the train to the fifth town, Monterosso al Mare. This town has the least character of the five, but has the largest beach area. We wanted our final day of vacation to be completely relaxed, so we stayed in this town the entire day.

Beach in Monterosso al Mare

That night, we walked into town and had another dinner on the water followed by watching "The festival of the dragon." Everyone dressed up as pirates and marched around town.

Festival of the Dragon

All of Cinque Terre was spectacularly gorgeous.  It was the one place in Italy that I wanted to visit more than anything. I loved all the bright colors of the buildings, the blueness of the sea, and the views of these cities built directly into the mountain.

We got up early the next morning and drove 3 hours to Orvieto, a town in the Umbria region of Italy. Orvieto is known for their underground city where there lies numerous caves. We took a tour of some of the caves and it was neat to see old quarries or where people once kept pigeons to eat, etc.

Inside the caves

We stayed in Orvieto that night and it just so happened to be the "la notte bianca." All the shops stay open through the night and there were various concerts in some of the piazzas.

Abby in Orvieto 

It's suffice to say that we had a fantastic tour of Italy this second week of my mom and sister's stay. I'm so thankful that I got to see all of the cities i've always wanted to. I was so happy to spend more time with my mom and sister and enjoy their company.

Ciao from America!

Well, I'm writing this blog post from America.  I arrived on August 27th.  I had said back in my post on Dublin that I was 95% sure that I was moving back to the states at the end of September because my lease was up in Rome and that I was done teaching at my school. It is true that my lease is up and it's also true that i'm done teaching for my school in Rome, however, I am headed back to Italy this Tuesday, September 11th.

A couple days before Anna and Giuseppe's wedding, I met one of Giuseppe's cousins who happens to have the same name. He lives in a town called Matera that's 30 minutes from Irsina with his wife and 3 sons who are 18, 15 and 5. I was talking to him about how I didn't like Rome and I was going to move back to the US when he offered for me to come live with he and his family in Matera for the fall. Matera has always been one of my favorite cities and I love the close proximity to Irsina and my friends there! The family owns a small apartment on the first floor of their building complete with a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom that I get to live in. They live on the 3rd floor in a much larger and more beautiful apartment.  They have offered for me to stay at their house for free and would like me to speak english to their children.  As of now, I will be tutoring 15 15-year olds in the afternoons and am hoping to find a part-time position for a company in the mornings to keep me busy.

Matera is a town of 60,000 people compared to Rome which has 2.8 residents. Matera is one of the first human establishments in Italy and dates back to 9,000 years ago. It is roughly 5 hours by car from Rome and the closest major city is Bari, only about 1 hour 15 minutes by car.

I'm very excited for this next chapter in my Italian adventure! The family has not asked me to stay for a set-period of time and have said, if I like it, i'm welcome to stay and if not, i'm free to go.  I love this flexibility, but am also fairly confident that I will love living in this city.

All of this means that I will continue to be blogging! I've had the best travel year of my life and I can't promise that my fall will be as exciting as the spring, but i'll definitely keep you posted on my adventures.

back in Rome...and an engagement!

After the Tremiti, we came back to Rome for 2 days because Alise, Tom's girlfriend had never been before. We spent Friday afternoon doing a quick tour of Rome's main sites...St. Peter's, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona and the Spanish Steps.

Spanish Steps

It was at the top of the Spanish steps that Tom proposed to Alise!!!

the newly engaged couple!

We had plans to go to dinner with Anna and Giuseppe that night in Trastevere.  What better way to celebrate than with the newlyweds and the newly engaged couple. After dinner, we went for a drink down along the river where there are heaps of outside bars set up only for the summer.

such a beautiful night/view from the top of the steps

Saturday, Tom, Alise and Abby toured the Colosseum and the Roman Forum while Andy, mom and I went "bar hopping" around the area to drink many coffees.

Abby and Andy at the Colosseum

We then went to Piazza Venezia and saw the tomb of the unknown soldier, followed by some shopping down Via del Corso.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

That night, we had dinner at the restaurant that Giuseppe and Francesco work at.

Smith Family and Frankino at the boys' restaurant

Tom, Andy and Alise flew back to Ohio that Sunday. We were sad to see them go, but had a great time touring central/north Italy for the second week that Mom and Abby stayed for.  More on that in the next post!

Alise's beautiful ring!!

Tremiti Islands

The day after the wedding, we had our last lunch at the Caggiano's then set off for Termoli, Italy.  Termoli is a city that lies on the eastern coast of Italy right on the sea. We stayed at a B&B in this town because the next morning, we hopped on a boat to the Tremiti Islands.

Termoli

I had once asked Giuseppe for a suggestion of where to take my family after the wedding that he thought would be beautiful.  His suggestion was the Tremiti Islands.  He had never been before, but had always heard how gorgeous they were...and gorgeous they were!!

The Tremiti Islands are an archipelago in the Adriatic sea made up of 5 different islands that are also a natural maritime reserve, although some parts are only partially reserved.  The most touristic island of the five and the one we stayed on was San Domino. A short distance away is San Nicola, which is the most populated island and where all of the locals live.

view of San Nicola from San Domino

The other 3 islands are uninhabited. In fact, one of these, Pianosa, is 22km from the others and still has undetonated bombs from WWII therefore not allowing anyone to even step foot on the island.

Abs and I on the boat tour around the islands

Our hotel was in a great location near the center of San Domino. We had a path that led to one of the few sandy beaches on the island...it was a far way to the bottom!

view of our beach from where we had lunch

We took a boat tour around the islands and got to jump off at onen point and have a swim. The hotel gave us scuba masks so we could explore the different fishes and reefs in the clear, clear waters.

looking at the fish off our boat

Next, we stopped off at San Nicola and saw the Badia Castle and toured around that island for a bit.

the 6 of us on San Nicola

That night, we took a night boat tour around San Domino that was offered by our hotel.  The manager, Gaetano, who spoke great english, luckily for us, gave a tour in both italian and english.  He leads this tour every 2-3 weeks because the Diomedee, a species of birds, comes out only when the moon is not out.  They fly around the island and their sound is like a baby crying.

view from the castle on San Nicola

We had the beset time here and I would highly recommend these islands to anyone! It was not overcrowded with tourists and it was neat to see an island that is still highly preserved.

Going into one of the many coves of the island on the boat

I have too many beautiful pictures from this trip that it's hard to choose the best to post on here!

My favorite picture of the 6 of us