ROMA

Upon saying farewell to Woof-Ware and arriving in Rome the next morning, we were taken aback by the fact that 1) my phone somehow did not make it to Rome, and 2) our hostel somehow was not in Rome. Ugh. A one-hour train ride later, we found ourselves in the beach town of Ostia Lido – in a hostel right on the beach. Unfortunately, we had just spent three days on the beach and were ready for Rome – three days worth of plans in Rome. Luckily, the woman at the hostel allowed us to cancel the second two nights we were planning on staying there and we easily found somewhere great to stay in the center of Rome. The thing about Ostia Lido is… there’s nothing in Ostia Lido. We made a dinner of “dirty sandwiches” (for further explanation please refer to Florence post), grabbed a bottle of wine for 3 euro, and headed back to the hostel. The rest of the night was relatively negative… two of our dorm mates came in around 3:00 am wasted, couldn’t get the door open, banged and called for about 20 minutes before we were willing to wake up and oblige them. About one hour later, one of them was snoring so loudly he made the older Romanian gentleman’s snoring from earlier in the trip sound like sweet music in my memories. I bailed on Tommy to an all girls dorm around 5:00 am… Although presented with the option to move he did not, a decision for which he suffered throughout the next day.

tommy looking handsome in ostia lido

enjoying the beach

The next day however was fabulous! We moved to our great hostel five minutes from the train station and headed for the Roman Forum. Although our plan was to spend a few hours there and a few hours at the Coliseum, we ended up spending almost the entire day at the Roman Forum. So spread out and historic, we loved walking around imagining what may have gone on there. The ruins were so vast and intriguing, it’s hard to pick out one specific highlight, however seeing the exact place where Caesar was cremated was pretty fantastic J

Roman Forum

 The next day we walked the entire city it seems like. Coliseum, Pantheon, some churches (I’m sorry, there have just been so many at this point), some huge, beautiful, impressive building whose significance we were not certain of… Is it clear by this description we nearing the end of the trip? Ha ha. My favorite part of the Coliseum was the “graffiti” done by spectators of the gladiators they admired most. Literally etched into the walls with chisels, the graffiti depicted warriors, beasts, and weapons. Very cool.

graffiti

il coloseo

sitting on something really old in the coloseum

karate kick! coloseum style

view from doors of pantheon

Rome was not beautiful like Paris, nor was it vivid and colorful like Barcelona. For the most part it felt cold and sparse to me, a white marble patina defining each building, whether old or new. And… I LOVED IT. The air of Rome is heavy with history. The Coliseum, Roman Forum, and Pantheon breathe life into the city; a monument from antiquity nestled amongst the gelaterias and bars on every corner.

pantheon!

Before we knew it, our two days in Rome were up, and it was time to head back to Madrid for our last night in Europe. WHAT? NO? IT CAN’T BE? Sigh.

Amalfi At Last

The morning of our departure from Tavarnelle de Pisa, the bus decided not to come. So… we waited, and waited in the chill of 7:00 am eating one crossiant (me), one doughnut (Tommy), and one chocolate tart (me again, hmm). Finally in Florence, we took a train to Naples and another to Sorrento… the coast at last! Upon Aly, Tracy, and Justin’s recommendation, we stayed in a great hostel in Sorrento called Seven. We had a great group in our dorm and after all having dinner together headed to a local wine bar for some live music. Not really knowing what to expect, we were pleasantly surprised when the lead singer broke into “Burning Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash. A little Dick Dale, a little Beatles, one round of lemoncello, and four bottles of wine later, we were all up and dancing. It was all together a fantastic night.

(Unfortunately there are no pictures... Although we did bring the camera - the camera battery was unfortunately back at the hostel... GRR)

The next morning, Tommy and I headed to the island of Capri with one of the new friends we had met the night before, Kiersten. She is from Canada and just finished a study abroad program in Holland. The ferry over was incredible (as it should have been for 30 euro round trip) and we LOVED Capri. Tommy and I agree it is the hands down most beautiful place we have ever been. The three of us hopped on a bus to the Ana Capri side of the island and got on chairlifts to take us to the very top. The sight from the very top of the island was so incredibly beautiful; I hope the pictures do it justice! I love seeing all of these beautiful places with my sweet Tommy – that my memories of Capri are kissed with his impossible grin and arms wrapped around me.

on the way up!

view from the top

kiersten!

roo and roo

Back in Sorrento, we parted ways with Kiersten and headed to the tiny town of Agerola up in the mountains, about thirty minutes away from Sorrento. Our destination was a beautiful bed and breakfast called O Beata Solitudo. We were greeted by a wonderful host and two tiny puppies J After a quick dinner at one of the local restaurants, we found the best gelato of Italy so far. I don’t even know the name of the flavor – chocolaty-carmelicious-nutty-perfection, perhaps? Whatever it was, it was beyond delicious. One of the flavors at the small gelateria had actually won some big time gelato award – and that wasn’t even our favorite one!

In the morning we had a plan to bus to the coastal town of Amalfi, famous for gorgeous panoramas and lemoncello. With a couple hours to kill before the bus, we headed out to explore Agerola a little bit. This is when we met the real star of our coastal stay, Woof-Ware – one of the dogs belonging to the host of our B&B. Woof-Ware was small, sassy, and incredibly smart (and if you’re wondering, no that is not his real name – it is the name of our choosing). After getting some information from our host about the best look out point of the coast in Agerola, we were off. Woof-ware took the lead, and lead us all the way there – how did he know where we were going? We weren’t sure but we were very impressed. When we had had our fill of the first beautiful destination, Woof-ware took off up a hill. We didn’t follow at first, but after he made it very clear we were supposed to come, we gave in and up the hill we went. Woof-Ware led us into the most beautiful park with an incredible view of the mountains and town below. After that, Woof-Ware led us to some beautiful ruins tucked away the top of the mountains – ruins on one side, ocean on the other. It was so beautiful – and obviously Tommy and I were tickled pink that this tiny dog was literally acting as our tour guide. On the way back to catch the bus, Woof-Ware tried to take us somewhere else, and when we didn’t follow – he sulked in the back all the way back to the bus stop.

Roo! 

Woof-Ware!! 

Amalfi was beautiful, touristy, and perfect. We shopped, laid on the beach, collected sea glass, and ate the best cannoli EVER. After about five hours there, we were on a bus back to Agerola and then on our way to dinner. Our host suggested Leonardo’s, a local place overlooking the water. Perfect J Not two steps out the door and who takes the lead? Woof-Ware. We loved this so much. At Leonardo’s, we left him at the steps and took a seat in our fancy, romantic restaurant. Whelp, Woof-Ware had other plans because ten minutes into dinner we spied him sneaking around the tables heading right for us! Luckily the white table clothes were able to conceal that he slept at our feet for the entirety of the meal J He joined us for gelato afterwards and Tommy let him lick his bowl clean. We figured he deserved some kind of payment for leading us around and cracking us up all night.

dinner for three! 

The Amalfi Coast was everything we expected and more. It felt great to take a break from the cities and enjoy the laid back attitude definitive of a beach town.

Love:)

Rome is next!

Love and miss you all,

Alyson 

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Mooooom! Happy Mother's Day! I'm missing you so much. I can't believe this is your first one without any of us at home :) The older woman in our hostel says you may be celebrating this, but I know you better than that :) I cannot wait to tell you about my Europe adventures! Thank you so much for helping me make it possible, it's been absolutely perfect. I hope you are having the best of days! I love you so much and can't wait to see, talk, and hang out with you, dad, and Alyson :)

Love, 
Tommy


p.s. Dad, the money belt has been an absolute lifesaver! It may become my permanent wallet. Miss you, love you.

MOM! Happy Mother’s Day! You have been in my thoughts with every sip of wine and every beautiful sight across Europe. Thank you so much for being the most understanding and amazing mother there ever was. Thank you for letting me be myself and believing in me always (even when I decide not to get a “real” job and hang out in Tucson for an extra year J). I am proud of myself today, and I owe much credit to you for constantly letting me know that you will always be proud of me.

Can’t wait to be home in Texas with you for a few wonderful days of wine, chats, and family.

Alyson

Ciao from Tuscany!

Roo Roo Roo Rooooo 

Leaving Florence was hard to do, but after an hour long bus ride we ended up in a little town called Tavarnelle De Pisa (by now, you realize we love us a small town). After a little hunting around we found our hostel and we were greeted by a tiny Italian women as we stepped in. Interesting fact about the woman mentioned… She had a piercing smack dab in the middle of her front tooth! Anyone ever seen one of these? Me either. She showed us to our room, we unpacked and headed out for lunch.

Pesto

I was craving more pizza, (if you had any idea how much was consumed in Florence you would be wondering how this was possible) so the search was on. We found out that there was three pizzerias to pick from, we also found out they were all closed until dinnertime. What was open? The lone café in the little town of Tavarnelle De Pisa, that turned out to be quite good. Pesto ended up being our choice for lunch and it was definitely the best I’ve had.

Similar to Vers, there was a vineyard within walking distance, so obviously that was next. After about a half hour of walking (and contemplating turning around) through some SERIOUS hills, we made it to a Chianti specialty vineyard called Poggio al Bosco. We walked up the dirt driveway and rang the doorbell labeled “wine tasting”. A very short, stocky, woman answered the door and started barking a thousand things in Italian that we couldn’t understand. We gathered from her gestures that she wanted us to wait outside and did. Soon after, out comes a large man in camo pants. Not just camo pants, but I had to mention them… He led us to his wine lair and promptly started pouring VERY heavy “tasting glasses”. He was also barking all kinds of things in Italian that we couldn’t understand. We tried eight or nine different kinds before we tapped out and proceeded to buy a few bottles, which we are bringing home! Get excited Jeanne and Keith… and possibly Oliver? Don’t worry Mom and Dad you have gifts on the way too :) 

Wine "Lair"

Our dinner that evening was one to remember. Alyson had “the best pasta of her entire life”, but I’ve heard that about a thousand things, a thousand times. Still, this time it may actually be legit. We ate an amazing pizza, followed by two servings of gnocci and homemade noodles with seven piccate sauce, and yes we also went through a liter of wine… plus dessert :/. I also used the word “y’all” for the first time while not imitating somebody… crap.

We capped off the night with a movie at the hostel, as there was no nightlife to speak of in the town of Tavarnelle De Pisa. I could barely sleep because in the AM we were off to THE AMALFI COAST! Get excited for the pictures, they’re beyond gorgeous. We’re a few days behind on our blog chores… sorry:)

"When you come to a fork in the road... Take it." - Yogi Berra

TO

Lucky in Firenze

piazza michael angelo

One overnight train later we were in Florence! It turns out that on the Italian owned overnight trains, 1^st class is actually three to a room and 2^nd class is SIX to a room – definitely not as nice as the French overnight train. Our room ended up just being just the two of us (thank god), but walking by 2^nd class was absolutely nuts. There were no beds, just two-foot wide benches that folded down from the walls. No sheets, no pillow, nothing. THANK YOU MAN IN PARIS WHO GOT US INTO 1^ST CLASS!

Our luck continued when we got to our hostel and it was not only wonderful, but the woman decided she especially liked us and let us know she would not be putting anyone else in our four person dorm. YAY J We spent three nights in a huge room with all of our stuff spread out everywhere… ahh.

As for the city of Florence, it was incredible. There was no metro so we walked everywhere. On the first day we were wandering around trying to find something, turned a corner, and ended up face to face with the HUGE Duomo smack dab in the middle of gelato shops, restaurants, and tabacchi. It was so crazy to us that there are no gates and no grounds, we had lunch at the base of the Duomo and later enjoyed gelato sitting on the stairs J

I came with a plan to eat everything in Europe, to be gluttonous, eat, drink, and be merry… Unfortunately I think gluttony has taken on a new meaning for Tommy and I since landing in Italy - a meaning only to be unlocked by pizza, pasta, bruschetta, gelato, and a liter of wine at every meal. Just to put things in perspective, a bottle of wine is .75 of a liter. And we are constantly finding ourselves in bar on the way home from dinner for a glass (or two) more. Tommy, once a self-proclaimed hater of “rotten grapes”, truly is drinking his way through Italy… and I LOVE IT.

"no pictures" whelp, sorry but im DEFINITELY taking one

gelato stop number 85. stracitella and banana chocolate. pleaseeee.

Aside from the wine and stumbling into whichever restaurant is the most packed to have the most delicious meal of our lives (so far), we really did see a lot of beautiful things in Firenze. The Duomo and the Ponte Vecchio were fantastic. At Piti Palace we made our way through the Boboli Gardens where we found an incredible sight of the city, a great place to take a nap, and a great place to make a crown out of flowers J Another beautiful sight, a little higher up, was the Piazza Michael Angelo. We took a bus up and up through huge houses flanked with jungle to find a beautiful piazza with the most breathtaking panorama of all of Florence. It was fantastic to see every part of the city at sunset.

relaxing at the boboli gardens

crown :)

Friday night we started drinking with some people in our hostel and all went out together. We were surprised to find that it was a holiday, white night, where everyone in the city goes out, fills the streets, and parties until the sun comes up. COOL! LUCK NUMBER THREE! The night was full of parades, live music, and drink specials. Although we didn’t stay out quite long enough to catch the sunrise, we had a great time running through the packed streets of Florence; drinks in our hands, smiles on our faces, and new friends in tow. (Sticking with the theme of food, white night we also wound up eating “dirty sandwiches” at about 4:00 am. Kabob meat shaved off like a gyro with all sorts of garlicy delights piled on. Good to know that even in Italy, I can search out the unhealthiest of the drunk munchies. The next morning it looked that birds had shit all over my shoes – when in reality they were covered in garlic yogurt sauce. Oops.)

beer in the streets... yea yeaaa

We went to sleep our last night Florence feeling like we really had soaked up the city.

Tavarnelle de Pisa’s next!

Love and miss you all,

Alyson

France Comes To A Close

Our second breakfast at Martin’s was just as delicious as the first… only this one had a chocolate éclair J I was sad to leave Vers so soon. Even though Vers was as tiny as it gets, I almost feel like there was more to see there than Paris. I want to eat in each of the three special restaurants, I want to meet the baker who made my beloved chocolate éclair, I want to walk every street. Living in such a small community, if only for a couple days, felt so organic, carefree, and right. When we go back (someday) we will definitely stay for longer than two nights. We bade Martin and Monique farewell, caught our bus, and were on yet another train to Marseille.

The port town of Marseille was a wonderful little one day and night adventure.  Our hostel was a five-minute walk from the train station, and a 10-minute walk to the Veiux Port. We dropped off the backpacks at the hostel, threw on our bathing suits, and went to grab lunch before making our way to the beach. We found a small patisserie near the port and bought a really peppery piece of quiche, a fougasse (bread, cheese, chicken, all baked, yum), and two Heinekens – all for eight Euro! Definitely the cheapest meal we’ve had in Europe so far. We sat on the edge of the port with our feet dangling and ate and drank and talked. We were worried about drinking the Heinekens sitting outside on the port, but no one said anything so we went with it J

lunch at the port

Done with lunch, we took a bus to the beach. The beach in rocky Marseille was covered in tiny smooth pebbles instead of sand; at first we were disappointed, but they felt so good on our feet! Although the water was too cold to swim in, I got my feet wet – I’ve now officially been in the Mediterranean Sea! Tommy spent the afternoon playing volleyball with some new friends while I napped (typical).

view from my spot on the beach

Our four-person dorm back at the hostel had two girls, Tommy, and me. Yay! I was so happy the only male I had to deal with was Tommy J We got dressed and headed to a fantastic dinner at Vieux Port on the waters edge. Every restaurant on the Port served some specialty mussels, all the came with French fries. For dinner we chose mussels with fries and pasta carbonara. Both were incredible! The pasta came with ham and mushrooms and was served with a raw egg yolk in the center that we were to stir in. YUM. The mussels came steaming in a delicious creamy, winey, buttery sauce with lots of onions. When we got to the bottom of the pot it became pretty clear what the fries were for. Lots of dipping.

One bottle of wine at dinner + one bottle of wine back at the hostel ended the night for us around 1:00 am.  In the morning our hostel was full of talk about the train strike. Excuse me? We’re going to Florence today! Please please please. We hurried to the train station to learn thankfully that the strike was only affecting regional trains. Whew.

Now I am sitting on a train to Lyon across from the most amazing French couple Luna and Gwen. They live together and attend the university in some small French town that I do not know how to spell… and am too embarrassed to ask! As soon as we sat down they asked us if we wanted to play Uno with them J She is studying social work and he loves photography and plays the bass guitar. They are headed home from a two-week holiday in the South of France. They are so beautiful and so in love, we talked about music, traveling, and school (all with the help of the phrase book we bought in Avignon). They have offered for us to come and stay in their apartment for a holiday around September J

Today is a day full of travels. From Lyon we go to Dijon and from Dijon it’s the overnight train to Florence! I am so sad to be leaving beautiful France, but so excited to spend four glorious nights in Firenze! The most amazing man in all of France helped us book all of the trains for the rest of the trip a couple of days ago… and somehow got us in a first class car for our overnight to Florence for the same price we paid for a second class car for our overnight to Paris. How? We didn’t ask. This means that Tommy and I get to be together in our own car with only two beds Instead of in a four-person car with four tiny beds.

ALL

OF

THE

GOOD

THINGS

Love and miss you all,

Alyson

Just A Perfect Day

We woke up at Maison de Martin to the most delicious breakfast of the trip so far. Stepping into the kitchen really was a little piece of heaven. I'm talking OJ, yogurt, fruit salad (chopped ten minutes before we woke up), and the best part… an assortment of baguette and pastries still warm from the oven, picked up from the patisserie about 500 ft from our wonderful bed and breakfast. Even the kitchen itself is worth talking about. It’s exactly what comes to mind when you imagine a Provencal kitchen in the countryside. Curtains under the sink, shuttered windows, multiple bright colored paints, farm style pictures of roosters and cats, and the furniture had more character than anything you will see in America. Just, perfect.

delicious breakfast

Following breakfast was our day full of activities, arranged by our amazing hosts, Martin and Monique. First up was the world famous farmers market in Uzes, a small town (population of less than 8000) about 30 minutes by bus from our place. There we found live seafood, an abundance of fresh produce, freshly slaughtered meat, every kind of homemade cheese there is, flowers ready to bloom, LOTS of lavender, and so much more. The best part? Everything was local and organic! Truly something to see.

delicious olives we bought

Alyson on the streets of Uzes

After the market, we jumped back on the bus and met up with Martin back at his place. What was next? How about a five-minute walk to two different vineyards for some wine tasting! Being that our village was SO small (population under 2000), the first tasting was literally in the basement of the owner’s home. It was beyond cool to see his little wine workshop. It was quite cluttered with empty mixing jugs, measuring cups, oak barrels and whatever the other things were that are used to make wine. The second tasting was at a co-op that was a little more established, but still with a serious small town feel. We bought the most expensive, palatable bottles after both tastings, paying only four euro apiece. If we had room in our bags, we definitely would have been purchasing the five-liter bags for 12 euro. Yes, 12 euro for five liters of DELICIOUS wine!

delicious 

Our busy day didn't end here. Next we took a 30-minute bike ride to the Pont De Gard! After a near meltdown of having to ride on the highway briefly (maybe 100 yards), and an "uncomfortable bike seat", we made it. The Pont De Gard was astonishing; to see such a feat of engineering that was constructed over 2000 years ago was so crazy. Google it, it's insane what they were able to do. After some serious convincing and bargaining with Alyson over the safety of the matter, I was able to jump off some rocks, swim, and have the best of times doing what people have been doing there for thousands of years! The history over here blows me away. Coming to Europe has really opened my eyes to how young (and f-ed up) America is. Some of the homes in our little town of Vers are older than our country... crazy.

Pont Du Gard

To finish up our "Day of Dreams" (shout out to Mal, Rubel, and Shlee), we had a pot-luck dinner with our hosts in the courtyard. Dinner was everything we had purchased at the Uzes market earlier that day, fresh asparagus and tomatoes form Monique’s garden, great wine, cheeses, bread, spreads, leftover pizza, and some of the most memorable and encouraging conversation of my young life.

Before Martin ran Maison de Martin, he was an organic produce farmer in California. He built an incredibly successful business there, and upon coming to France, he left his three sons in charge of the family business. We talked for a good hour about my aquaponics ideas and organic agriculture. The final consensus from Martin was… GO FOR IT! In fact he said, “It’s up to your generation to change the world, and this would be a huge step towards doing that”. It was crazy to hear him spit out some of the same ideas that I have been discussing with others for the past few months. I found it incredibly reassuring and encouraging. Just, perfect.

The title of this blog really does say it all; Alyson and I had a perfect day together in beautiful Vers, France. Although I am sad to leave, I am so excited to be off to Marseille! More to come soon!

“The Earth is changing, why aren’t we?”

TO

Out of the city at last

After two days in Paris, we headed to our first destination in the South of France, Avignon. The morning of our train, taking a couple wrong turns on the way to the station, we found ourselves for the first time running through the streets of Paris, the metro, and cursing loudly whose fault it all was (Tommy's). Sweaty and out of breath, we made the train, and were on our way to the South of France! Famous for holding a yearly music and arts festival, Lonely Planet calls the small city “the belle of Provence’s ball.” The three-hour train through the French countryside was absolutely beautiful, and exiting the train station we were greeted by ancient stonewalls that enclosed the entire town. So cool.

Tommy "cooling off" before the train took off

First stop in Avignon: a bookstore for a French phrase/vocabulary book. Paris was a huge struggle for us as we not only know no French, but also have no clue how to pronounce anything written. Asking for a restroom, reading a map, ordering breakfast; these difficulties are made further stressful because everyone we come in contact with HATES speaking English. With the phrasebook purchased and out at all times, we spent a lovely few hours wandering around the small town of Avignon. Following the crowds, we found our way up and up and up a windy path to what used to be a castle – the view: spectacular. The Rhone river below, the hillsides littered with tiny white houses, huge flowering trees… sigh.

paintings I loved

castle in Avignon centre

the view from the top

 After a few hours of wandering around enjoying the sun and the sights, it was time to head to the bus station and prepare for the journey to our hostel, Maison de Martin. With the catastrophe in Barcelona fresh on my mind (vending machine dinner vending machine dinner vending machine dinner) I was a less than excited to head to a location described as “just outside of Avignon.” Two missed busses and a little yelling later, we are on our way into the unknown – a tiny village called Vers, 45 minutes away from everything. Yikes.

I cannot explain to you how amazing the next 48 hours were. Getting off the bus at the only stop in Vers, there was farmland to the north, farmland to the south, one house to the east, and one road to the west. Our directions to our place were as follows: 

• Pass the village square and turn left
• Pass the store and go right
• You are near my door! I am the second door on the right, a green wooden double door under a stone arch

 Hmm, no town square. Definitely no store. What to do? Luckily, before this frustration had much time to build, the people in the house came outside. Giving them the address they drew us a map with a stick in the dirt and we were on our way! Up the one road, we found ourselves amongst windy cobblestone streets in the most picturesque place I have ever been. It could have been 100 years ago. One left at the village square (an intersection – the only one in the village) and one right past the store (the only store) we found ourselves at a green gate. Success!

Letting ourselves in, we stood in an absolutely beautiful courtyard. Roses climbing the walls and vegetables growing in abundance, two other guests told us that Martin was at dinner around the corner and that he would take us to him. Sounds good! We dropped our stuff in our PERFECT little room at the top of an uneven staircase and walked five minutes around the corner to the pizza restaurant (one of three restaurants in town).

courtyard

my favorite flowers

We were greeted by Martin and Monique, the owners of Maison de Martin. A little background on Martin: finding himself in the midst of a divorce and consequently a midlife crisis in 1992, he came to Fance, somehow ended up in Vers, and taking a huge leap of faith spent his entire divorce settlement on a ruin in the middle of the small village. Speaking no French and having no money to fix the place up, he moved back to America and entrusted a man in the village to oversee the repair of the house. For years he sent a little money at a time, coming when he could to make sure everything was going smoothly. In 2004 he moved to Vers into his completed home, met Monique (an eccentric and wonderful French woman) and together they opened Maison de Martin. This is the most incredible place – a perfect bed and breakfast in every way. Small, romantic, beautiful, tucked away in the French countryside.

Tommy and I chatted with them for a long time, drinking A LOT of the local rouge, and eating A LOT of the best pizza and pasta we have ever had. We are worried we may have found the best pizza in the world and that Italy may be a disappointment – we’ll see.

Martin told us about all the things to do in and around Vers, and helped us to plan for the next day. Exhausted, full, and a little drunk, we passed out in our beautiful Provencal room, in our beautiful Provencal house, in our beautiful Provencal village.


Alyson