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

Anna and Giuseppe's Wedding

Well, I'm back from being out of Rome for almost the entire month of July.  I went down to Irsina with Anna, her mom and her friend, Megan a week before the wedding to help with all the last minute things. My family arrived the Saturday before and we had a great time that night at the Caggiano's for a BBQ in the garden with many family and friends.

All of us in Matera the Sunday before the wedding

It is tradition in Italy for the groom to serenade the bride the night before the city.  Sunday afternoon, a large group of us went to Matera to tour the ancient caves.  On our way back, Giuseppe dropped Anna and her mom off at the apartment in Irsina they were staying at, while the rest of us drove to Giuseppe's parents house.  Almost everyone who attended the wedding the next day was at his house the night before.  After we all hid in the garage, (Giuseppe's dad is a mechanic, so it's a very large garage) they had Anna and her mom come back over to Giuseppe's thinking that she had one last trial of her wedding dress (Giuseppe's mom made it!). While Anna was upstairs, we all came out of the garage and upstairs, Anna was forced out onto the balcony where she was completely shocked to see roughly 100 people below her.  Giuseppe sang her the song, "Ti Amo" while one of his friends played the guitar.  He then sang her, "Stand By Me" while all of the english speaking people chimed in. Nicola, Giuseppe's dad, popped some bottles of champagne and toasted to the couple-to-be.

Anna and Giuseppe on the balcony after Giuseppe serenaded her

The day of the wedding, the bridesmaids and Anna were up bright and early at 6am. We all had to be to the hair salon by 6:30. I had my hair done first and I absolutely loved it.  Giuseppe's uncle did all of our up-do's for us and every girl loved their hair.

Anna, her mom and brothers pre-wedding

I took the girls, at different times, to get a cappuccino and cornetto for breakfast at a bar in town and each time, someone paid for our breakfast...it happened 3 times! I was running around like a mad woman that morning trying to get everyone and everything where it had to be.  By the time of the wedding, I was completely exhausted, not to mention hot!! It had to have been more than 100 degrees the day of the wedding. The church stays fairly cool, but not that cool.

Anna and Giuseppe outside the church

The invitation said that the service was to start at 10:30, but in typical Italian fashion, it didn't start until just before 11:30. The ceremony in the cathedral was beautiful and they even had Adriano, one of Giuseppe's best friends, translate the homily into english.

Anna and Giuseppe in the church

After the ceremony and taking pictures in the church, we took a charter bus to Villa Schiuma in Matera.  It is a beautiful villa with a large entertaining space and a great patio outside. It's hard to even put into words the reception.  First, there were cocktails and appetizers on the patio.  Then, each person/family got to take a picture with the bride and groom on the lawn.  After a few hours, the pictures were ready and handed out to each person as a gift. There was then a 10-course meal, which felt like 20.  There were 3 starters, 2 pasta dishes, 2 fish courses (one being lobster), 1 meat course, fruit, cotton candy/gelato, and finally, dessert. I was full after the 3 starters! For each course, there was a presentation done by the waitstaff at the villa...they would come out and dance or do some tricks with the plates...it was really a show. In between each course, everyone danced and mingled.

Abby, Mom and Tom with their bibs on for one of the seafood starters

The wedding cake was served in a gazebo on the lawn in the dark with lights only on the bride and groom. After the cake came a surprise for everyone, fireworks!! The reception was supposed to last until 9 or 10, but people didn't leave until midnight. I know that I will never attend a wedding like this one. Even though it was such a long day, the day flew by.  There was so much planning and anticipation that went into this wedding that at the end, I wanted to go back and re-do it because I felt like the day went too fast.

Me and my Rome friends

It was a beautiful day and Anna and Giuseppe couldn't be happier together.  After all of Anna's family went back to the US, they left for their honeymoon at a villa in Sicily. I wish for them a lifetime of happiness and joy together :)

Bridesmaids and Groomsmen running on the lawn of the villa

Dublin, Ireland

I have a good friend, Debora, who is from Irsina that studied in Dublin, Ireland.  She attends the Polytechnical University in Turin and studies engineering.  With her program, she studied 2 years in Turin and 2 years in Ireland. Her brother, Domenico, is best friends with Francesco and also a very good friend of mine. Shelly became friends with Debora after meeting her in January and again in April when we went to Irsina. Debora invited us to come to Ireland at the end of May to celebrate her birthday, Shelly's birthday and also the end of her school year. I could not get a ton of time off work, so I went from Thursday-Monday morning, whereas Shelly went from Monday-Monday.

Debora, Shelly and I in Galway

After I got into Dublin, I took a 3-hour bus trip to Galway.  I met Debora, Shelly and Domenico there because they had gone to the Cliffs of Moher for the day.  I was really bummed that I missed out on doing that, but because Domenico was leaving Saturday morning, that was the only day they could go. I waited in Galway for a few hours until they returned.  I enjoyed my first beer(s) in Ireland at a great little pub in the park.  They had rented a car to go to the cliffs for the day, so after having dinner and a beer in Galway that evening, we drove to Athlone, where Debora lived.

River in Dublin

Friday morning, we drove back to Galway to return the rental car, then took the bus to Dublin.  I had booked a night at a hostel in Dublin for the four of us.  It was in a great location, just a short walk from the popular area of Temple Bar.  We went out for sushi that evening, then went out on the town to a few different pubs. It doesn't get dark until about 10:30-11pm in Dublin, so it always feels much earlier than it really is.

Shelly and I at Temple Bar, Dublin

Domenico had to leave for the airport at 10am the next morning.  I don't think we went to bed until about 5am and we had to check-out at the same time that he left, so we were all pretty tired that day! Shelly and I loved Dublin so much that we decided to book a night at a hotel for Saturday and stay an extra night.  We hadn't packed much at all since we thought we were only staying in Dublin one night, so the rest of our things were back in Athlone.  Obviously, that called for a chance to go shopping and buy some new clothes :)

Me, Domenico, Debora, and Shelly at Trinity College

We visited the Guinness factory that afternoon and it's true what they say in Dublin, that Guinness really DOES taste better there! I've never liked stout beer before, but I really enjoyed the taste.  It was very interesting to learn about the history of Guinness beer and to take a tour of the factory and see how it's made...and the free pint at the end was great as well.

Shelly and I at the Guinness Factory

We continued to have such a great time that we decided to stay ANOTHER night.  We had to get our things from Debora's house in Athlone so we decided to rent a car, drive to Athlone, drive back to Dublin, leave our suitcases in the car, go out, and go to the airport around 4am since our flight was at 6:30.

Me and Domenico 

All of that worked out almost perfect, other than the fact that Shelly's passport fell out in the rental car and we didn't realize it until we were at the check-in desk at the airport.  I had to fly back to Rome since I was scheduled to work that day, but Shelly loved Dublin SO much that she stayed ONE MORE night and made it back to Rome on Tuesday.

Dublin is definitely my favorite city i've visited so far.  We had such a fun time.  The weather that weekend was warm and sunny, very unusual for them.  All of the people were in a great mood and we found the people to be the nicest of any city we've visited thus far. One night, some new friends texted us the name of the bar they were at, but we didn't know where it was, so we asked a taxi driver and he said he was sorry, but he had never heard of it.  He offered for us to use his cellphone to call our friends.  They didn't answer, so we thanked the taxi driver and kept walking and asked about 20 other people before we found some locals who knew where it was.  The taxi driver drove up to us and asked us if we had found out where it was.  He then offered to take us there for free!! He told us that he was on his way home and that he'd be happy to drop us off on his way. I must say that that would never happen in Rome! This was just one example of many that we encountered that weekend of just how nice the people were. I will definitely be going back to Ireland someday and hopefully exploring some other parts of the country as well.

This was the last trip for Shelly and I as she moved back to Ohio about a week after Dublin.  She decided that she was ready to start a career in dietetics and was ready to be back in America.  I'm now back to living on my own in Rome, but will continue to be very busy for the next few months with my family coming to visit, Anna and Giuseppe's wedding and another August spent in Irsina. I am 95% sure that i'll be moving back to the states at the end of September.  My lease will be up at my apartment and i'll be done teaching English at my school right before the wedding.

London and Cambridge, England

One blog post in May wasn't enough, I know.  I now have to re-count my trip to London and Cambridge from the end of April-early May and it's already June...where does time go?!

London Eye at night

I flew into London on Saturday, April 28th.  My flight was delayed 3 hours due to "technical problems" on the airplane.  I flew British Airways for two reasons 1. it was cheaper and 2. I thought it would be a nice change from the low-cost airlines I've been flying. There was some problem with the PA system, but no one ever told us how long it was going to be, whether we would still be able to take off, etc.  The plane was full of Italians and none of the flight attendants spoke English! I was lucky because my co-worker, Catarina, was on the same flight as me.  She was visiting London with a friend the same weekend I was there, which also happened to be a holiday weekend in Europe. What's important is that I made it there safely though.

Piccadilly Circus

I took the subway to the other side of town, Canary Wharf, where we stayed.  Abby's friend, Andrea, was visiting from the states this week too.  It was a popular time to visit London! We went to dinner in Piccadilly Circus that night, then saw the play, Dreamboats and Petticoats.  It was a musical and the music was fantastic!! After the play, we went to a pub nearby to enjoy an English brew.

Andrea, Abby and me before the play

Sunday, we left our bags at the front desk and set out for the day.  We had a "true English breakfast" with baked beans, sausage, blood pudding, bacon, eggs and toast. I could do without the baked beans and blood pudding, but the rest was delicious.

Abby and Andrea outside the theater

We went into the center of town and saw Big Ben, the Parliament building, Westminster Abbey, and the London Eye.  It had to have been the rainiest day of the year and was incredibly windy.  I had a very difficult time taking a good picture because the rain kept blowing onto the lens of the camera. We hopped on a boat tour that took us to the Tower of London, however, they gave us no information about London or its history...strange. We couldn't even see outside of the windows because it was so foggy due to the rain. We were happy just to be dry for a few minutes! We didn't go inside the Tower of London because I had already been 7 years ago, when I last visited London.

Big Ben

We saw Tower Bridge and walked across it, searching for the subway to take us to Greenwich park.  After getting a bit lost and asking a few people for directions, we found our way. We visited the Greenwich market where people sold various things from food to art to clothes, etc. It turned out to be a nice day once the rain stopped.

Tower Bridge

Late Sunday night, we took the train to Cambridge.  What a wonderful city! I'm absolutely in love with Cambridge.  It is quaint and full of young adults who study at the University.

Punting Boats in Cambridge

We went for tea:

Visited some of the colleges of Cambridge (there are 32 different colleges; people say that they attend King's College at Cambridge, for example):

St. John's College

Visited the American Cemetery:

Drank at a few pubs:

The Eagle-oldest pub/restaurant in Cambridge

Shopped and went to the markets:

And did a hop-on-hop-off tour:

Abby and Andrea on the top of the bus

It was a full 2 days in Cambridge and I wished that I had more time to spend there. I told my mom that I would love to apply to a master's program there and live. Cambridge is definitely in my top 5 favorite cities. It was so nice to see Abby and to celebrate her 21st birthday (even if I wasn't there for the actual day because I had to get back for work). I'm so happy that I got to see her in Brussels, Prague and London this year!

Everyone has to get a picture with the famous British telephone booths! 

Sicily (Giardini Naxos, Taormina, Castelmola, Aeolian Islands)

First of all, Happy Mother's Day to all mother's!

Second of all, I must update you on my trip to Sicily back in April.  Shelly's mom, Patty, came to visit for almost 3 weeks with her friend, Anna.  They arrived on Friday the 13th of April.

Beach in Giardini Naxos, Sicily (Taormina on the right, Castelmola on the left)

The following weekend, the four of us flew to Catania, Sicily.  Our hotel was located in Giardini Naxos which sits on the mediterranean sea. April is non-tourist season so we got to see the city in a completely different way than it is in summer and possibly even now. Our first day we were scheduled to have an evening, jeep excursion tour of Mt. Etna, however, due to the snow at the top of the mountain during this season, it was not possible. We were bummed about this, but it all worked out in the end.  We ended up going to Taormina (a very popular town that sits on a mountain above Giardini Naxos). We walked around the town and visited the Greek Theater, one of the most celebrated ruins in Sicily.

Teatro Greco (Greek Theater)-Taormina

That night, we took the bus up to Castelmola, which sits at the very top of the mountain. The views from the top were beautiful.  A friend of Patty's had suggested her to go to what locals refer to as the "dirty bar" in this town.  I'll leave the rest up to your imagination.

Isola Bella (Beautiful Island) near Giardini Naxos

Friday, we had to be on a bus at 6:30am to drive to Messina, where we caught a boat to the Aeolian Islands, Lipari and Vulcanoe. The only positive about waking up that early in the morning was watching the sun rise over the sea.

sunset over the sea

Lipari is the biggest of the 8 islands that make of the Aeolian Islands. There are large deposits of pumice from when the volcanoe last erupted in the 5th century, therefore making pumic mining one of the largest industries on this island.

on the boat, departing Lipari, headed to Vulcano (i.e. before storm)

Vulcano smells of sulfur and there are opportunities to take a sulfur mud bath or go in the hot springs. A huge storm was coming when we were there, so we did not get a chance to do either of these. Speaking of the storm...it was the most heroing boat ride i've ever taken in my life.  There were nothing but white caps and we were in the middle of the sea with no land in sight while the boat was rocking back and forth through the waves.  I'm happy to say that I made it out of there alive, but I can't say that I was too confident at the time. 

Sulfur mud bath on Vulcano Island

We met a taxi driver, Vincenzo, on our cab ride back from Castelmola on Thursday night.  He told us that for a fixed=price per person, he or his cousin would drive us around for 5 hours, take us up 2,000 meters of Mt. Etna, etc.  Saturday morning came and Angelo, Vince's cousin picked us up in his mercedes van. We had the best tour of my life that day.  Angelo was so much fun and full of information about Sicily/Mt. Etna.  He first took us to a honey store called, Oro d'Etna (gold of Etna). We had a honey tasting of roughly 10 different kinds, then we got to taste flavored olive oils, olives, and porcini mushrooms. Next, we drove up Mt. Etna and took pictures at many different places on the mountain.

Our drive to Mt. Etna

He showed us this house that lava covered in an eruption from 1992, where the nearby town of Zafferana was threatened:

Angelo met Coldplay a few years back when they were shooting their music video for Violet Hill...on a crater of Mt. Etna.  He took our camera and had us mimick what they did in the music video.  Here is one of the pictures:

We ended our day with a wine tasting at Gambino winery.  Etna is very famous for their production of wine, as well as lemons, pistachios, as well as other things.  As the snow melts in the warmer months, Etna acts as a huge source of water for agriculture. It is the tallest active volcano in Europe and still has small eruptions that occur roughly once or twice per month; none too dangerous.

Me, Shelly, Angelo and Patty

For the rest of our time in Sicily, we ate, walked around Giardini Naxos, shopped, had many coffees, sat on the beach, read, and relaxed.

Everything: Mt. Etna, Giardini Naxos, and the sea