Archive | Italy

Napoli

I hardly know where to start with this trip.  It was so last minute and sooo unplanned.  Elliott had work in Naples last week and thought that Jess, Lena, and I could come along.  Of course I said yes… I always say “yes!” to traveling.  We could see Naples and then spend a long weekend on the Amalfi Coast.

However, we got into our car last Tuesday morning with no maps or planned routes (just my iPhone) and the vague idea that we would drive an hour north, take the ferry from the island of Sicily to the mainland, drive approximately 6 hours north to Naples, and hopefully find lodging waiting for us.  We had tried to be a little more organized, but it just didn’t happen.  Two friends were staying with us almost since the moment I got back from the States and there was just no time to plan.

Unbelievably, over the course of the day everything eventually worked out.  The roads were straightforward highways, the ferry was a total breeze, and our baby Lena stayed happy all 8 hours of the trip.  It might have been because her mama sat next to her the entire trip (and pregnancy + back seat = carsickness for me :-/), but I give the credit to God’s grace.

Around 1pm on the road our potential reservation for that night fell through.  We were hoping to stay in a gorgeous apartment in downtown Naples that we found on AirBnB.com, but the owner never responded.  Thankfully, I’d made an additional reservation at the hotel on the U.S. Navy base outside of Naples where Elliott would be working that week.  Although Jess and I would have preferred to be steps from Neapolitan pizzerias and gelato shops, it ended up being our only option, and I’m so glad we had that as a backup.  Elliott walked 5 minutes to and from work that week while Jess, Lena, and I enjoyed the luxuries of base (grocery store, pool, and a place to buy a travel crib because we forgot ours).

On Thursday morning Jess, Lena, and I packed up early and hit the road for Naples.  We took a short bus ride and a loooong train ride (maybe we should see which city the train is going to next time?) and finally got out in crazy Naples.  We spent the day on our feet in the city and I fell in love.  I must go back… next time hopefully to a studio within steps of a pizzeria!

Applying her sunscreen on the train.

Stop #1: Shopping for sunglasses.  Ray Ban knockoffs for 5 euro?  We bought ’em.

 The city of Naples invented pizza and I had been dreaming of pizza in Naples for days now.  On a little side street in the Quartieri Spagnoli (Spanish Quarter) we found a teeny tiny little pizzeria.  For 3 euro each, we got the pizza of our dreams.

 

Putting together our pizzas.

Sliding the pizzas into the wood-burning oven.

Sliding them onto plates a couple of minutes later.
 And viola!  The original pizza, one with fresh tomatoes and one with sauce, and both made with buffalo mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, and olive oil.  Truly heavenly.

 Someone fell asleep!

 Our gelato melted faster than we could keep up with it!  Mine was dark chocolate with oranges.

5 :: in eat this, family, Italy, Naples, travel

Napoli

I hardly know where to start with this trip.  It was so last minute and sooo unplanned.  Elliott had work in Naples last week and thought that Jess, Lena, and I could come along.  Of course I said yes… I always say “yes!” to traveling.  We could see Naples and then spend a long weekend on the Amalfi Coast.

However, we got into our car last Tuesday morning with no maps or planned routes (just my iPhone) and the vague idea that we would drive an hour north, take the ferry from the island of Sicily to the mainland, drive approximately 6 hours north to Naples, and hopefully find lodging waiting for us.  We had tried to be a little more organized, but it just didn’t happen.  Two friends were staying with us almost since the moment I got back from the States and there was just no time to plan.

Unbelievably, over the course of the day everything eventually worked out.  The roads were straightforward highways, the ferry was a total breeze, and our baby Lena stayed happy all 8 hours of the trip.  It might have been because her mama sat next to her the entire trip (and pregnancy + back seat = carsickness for me :-/), but I give the credit to God’s grace.

Around 1pm on the road our potential reservation for that night fell through.  We were hoping to stay in a gorgeous apartment in downtown Naples that we found on AirBnB.com, but the owner never responded.  Thankfully, I’d made an additional reservation at the hotel on the U.S. Navy base outside of Naples where Elliott would be working that week.  Although Jess and I would have preferred to be steps from Neapolitan pizzerias and gelato shops, it ended up being our only option, and I’m so glad we had that as a backup.  Elliott walked 5 minutes to and from work that week while Jess, Lena, and I enjoyed the luxuries of base (grocery store, pool, and a place to buy a travel crib because we forgot ours).

On Thursday morning Jess, Lena, and I packed up early and hit the road for Naples.  We took a short bus ride and a loooong train ride (maybe we should see which city the train is going to next time?) and finally got out in crazy Naples.  We spent the day on our feet in the city and I fell in love.  I must go back… next time hopefully to a studio within steps of a pizzeria!

Applying her sunscreen on the train.

Stop #1: Shopping for sunglasses.  Ray Ban knockoffs for 5 euro?  We bought ’em.

 The city of Naples invented pizza and I had been dreaming of pizza in Naples for days now.  On a little side street in the Quartieri Spagnoli (Spanish Quarter) we found a teeny tiny little pizzeria.  For 3 euro each, we got the pizza of our dreams.

 

Putting together our pizzas.

Sliding the pizzas into the wood-burning oven.

Sliding them onto plates a couple of minutes later.
 And viola!  The original pizza, one with fresh tomatoes and one with sauce, and both made with buffalo mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, and olive oil.  Truly heavenly.

 Someone fell asleep!

 Our gelato melted faster than we could keep up with it!  Mine was dark chocolate with oranges.

5 :: in eat this, family, Italy, Naples, travel

one month

Today I finished the slim, powerful little volume “Lament for a Son.” Somehow it took me a long time to read, but I was also savoring it, re-reading most sentences, writing notes on almost every vignette. Nicholas Wolsterstorff included this quote towards the end of the book:

“Mortification–literally, ‘making death’–is what life is all about, a slow discovery of the mortality of all that is created so that we can appreciate its beauty without clinging to it as of it were a lasting possession. Our lives can indeed be seen as a process of becoming familiar with death, as a school in the art of dying. I do not mean this in a morbid way. On the contrary, when we see life constantly revitalized by death, we can enjoy it for what it is: a free gift. The pictures, letters, and books of the past reveal life to us as a constant saying of farewell to beautiful places, good people, and wonderful experience…. All these times have passed by like friendly visitors, leaving [us] with dear memories but also with sad recognition of the shortness of life. In every arrival there is a leavetaking; in each one’s growing up there is a growing old; in every smile there is a tear; and in every success there is a loss. All living is dying and all celebration is mortification too.”

-Henri Nouwen,
“A Letter of Consolation”

We’re on our way back from a lovely week near Naples, where Elliott tended to a couple of military working dogs. The trip away and just with family–Elliott, Lena, and Elliott’s sister Jess, who is visiting this month–was refreshing and filled with laughter. Of course there was some tension because, as always with our travels, we didn’t plan anything until the eleventh hour. Every day. Hmm.

I’ll be back tomorrow with some pretty photos!

1 :: in grief, Italy, Julia, travel

one month

Today I finished the slim, powerful little volume “Lament for a Son.” Somehow it took me a long time to read, but I was also savoring it, re-reading most sentences, writing notes on almost every vignette. Nicholas Wolsterstorff included this quote towards the end of the book:

“Mortification–literally, ‘making death’–is what life is all about, a slow discovery of the mortality of all that is created so that we can appreciate its beauty without clinging to it as of it were a lasting possession. Our lives can indeed be seen as a process of becoming familiar with death, as a school in the art of dying. I do not mean this in a morbid way. On the contrary, when we see life constantly revitalized by death, we can enjoy it for what it is: a free gift. The pictures, letters, and books of the past reveal life to us as a constant saying of farewell to beautiful places, good people, and wonderful experience…. All these times have passed by like friendly visitors, leaving [us] with dear memories but also with sad recognition of the shortness of life. In every arrival there is a leavetaking; in each one’s growing up there is a growing old; in every smile there is a tear; and in every success there is a loss. All living is dying and all celebration is mortification too.”

-Henri Nouwen,
“A Letter of Consolation”

We’re on our way back from a lovely week near Naples, where Elliott tended to a couple of military working dogs. The trip away and just with family–Elliott, Lena, and Elliott’s sister Jess, who is visiting this month–was refreshing and filled with laughter. Of course there was some tension because, as always with our travels, we didn’t plan anything until the eleventh hour. Every day. Hmm.

I’ll be back tomorrow with some pretty photos!

2 :: in grief, Italy, Julia, travel

the journey home

Elliott’s conference finished in Germany and it was time to head home to Sicily.  We took the long way back: drove west through Austria, paused in Litchenstein for the night, and then swept through Switzerland and into northern Italy to catch our 6pm flight out of Milan.  

By this point we were more confident with the GPS and also rested and relaxed after a week in the mountains.  Hence this leg of the journey was a lot better Day 1 of our road trip last week, where this whole thing sounded like one big bad idea.  Although we don’t know if we’ll ever do this again, at least the photos will help us remember it fondly!
Here are a few snapshots from along the way…

A U S T R I A
where we stopped briefly for playgrounds and cappuccinos

a video of happy moments on the road
(Isn’t Lena so cute with her little book?!) 
L I T C H E N S T E I N
where we found a street fair, shopped for cheese, watched a bachelorette party in full swing, and ate hot bratwurst for dinner 

S W I T Z E R L A N D
where McCafe was the only place open in Lugano and where we walked along the lake in the rain

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4 :: in family, Germany, Italy, travel

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