We left Naples early Thursday morning and boarded a crowded, graffiti-covered train that we thought would drop us off outside the ruins of Pompeii — but luckily we figured out that was not the case just as the doors started to close and jumped back onto the platform. Twenty minutes later, we were on the correct crowded, graffiti-covered train, and about 40 minutes after that we were standing in the ticket line outside Pompeii’s entrance. The site has free luggage storage so the plan was to spend the day exploring the ruins and then reclaim our bags and take the train to the port of Sorrento with enough time to catch the last ferry to Capri. We had a couple of further hiccups — like waiting for the ferry at the wrong dock — but we made it to Capri in the end. And Pompeii itself? Absolutely worth the logistical headache.
travel
Naples: Pizza with a Side of History
We got home late last night from our six-day adventure through Naples, Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast, and I’m still glowing (literally, in fact: I have a bit of a tan!) We had an absolutely wonderful time. I’ll spend the next week blogging and sharing photos of the highlights, so stay tuned. First up: Naples! But before I get started, here’s a view out the plane window during our flight to Italy. Bongiorno, Alps!
My friends who had already spent time in Naples warned me that it is a “gritty” city, but I was still unprepared for what that entailed: Continue reading
Paris: Third Time’s The Charm
Paris seems to be a love it or hate it kind of city. I have a few friends who have visited and feel no need to return, unimpressed by the graffiti-covered walls and the “cold” Parisian persona. But then I know others who have visited, felt the “magic” and absolutely fell in love with the city of love. One friend, in a text before we left Geneva, called the French capital “the closest thing to paradise.”
CERN: No Goggles Required
I had the pleasure of hosting one of my favorite people in Geneva last week, and, being a bit of a science nerd, a visit to CERN was at the top of her “To Do” list. For those of you who are not super into physics, CERN is where scientists build fancy machines to accelerate particles and crash them into each other. The goal is to learn more about the components of matter and, ultimately, the universe. Apparently, getting a tour of the expansive facility near the French border is one of the hottest tickets in town: You can reserve a spot 15 days ahead of your desired tour date, with a 24-person cap per group. At the 15-day mark, I signed online during my lunch break only to find the tickets sold out! Luckily, we had a second day that could work for our schedule, so I took things to the next level the following day. I signed on at 8:29am, having read that fresh batches of tickets are released at 8:30am, and, when the clock turned to 8:30am, raced to fill out the online form like I was trying to get into a Beyoncé concert or something. Happily, I was successful, and informed my friend who was in India at the time that I was officially the best friend ever. And then I was late to French class. Such sacrifice!
London: 48 Hours of English (!)
I had forgotten how much I like London. The history, the culture, the pubs, the red double-decker buses… It’s such a fun city. It was also the first English-speaking city I’ve visited in nearly six months, and thus the first place in nearly six months that I could understand everything going on around me. In fact, a funny thing happened when we landed at Gatwick airport on Friday night. After waiting an hour and a half to go through the security line for non-EU or UK passport holders (blah), we made it to the food court and, ravenous, stopped at Costa to grab sandwiches. The cashier asked if I would like mine toasted, and Gui turned to me and asked if I would like it toasted. Then the cashier asked if we’d like to eat the food there or take it with us, and Gui turned to me and repeated the same question. That’s when I realized what was going on. “Gui,” I said, “he’s speaking English…” My adorable husband was translating for me (or so he thought). We had a good laugh, and the guy looked at us like we were a little crazy. Continue reading
Évian-les-Bains: Free Evian For All
If you ever find yourself in the charming French town of Évian-les-Bains, bring a water bottle: Anyone can walk up to the beautiful Cachet Spring and get their fill of Evian straight from the source (even if your fill is 36 giant bottles, as was the case with one guy we saw, but then everyone waiting for their turn will hate you). The water is cool and refreshing, and I was totally tickled by the novelty of filling and refilling my Klean Kanteen with special spring water (apparently it cures kidney stones, or at least that’s how it became famous). Of course, some people may not be quite as impressed with a water spigot and prefer to skip the trip and grab a bottle of Evian from the supermarket, but for us it was a cool part of a really enjoyable afternoon.
Prague: Czech It Out
I had no idea that Prague has such a big party scene before we arrived late Friday night. I mean, I knew that the city was supposed to have really excellent, cheap beer, but I pictured a laid-back pub atmosphere – not the myriad of bachelor and bachelorette festivities that we stumbled upon, the beer bike making its way around town, the t-shirt branded pub crawls, the absinthe and absinthe-flavored food shops, or the guys stationed on street corners with giant snakes for tourist photo-ops (not sure if the latter is exclusively linked to partying, but it was a new one for me either way). To be sure, the more relaxed pub scene is also alive and well, and that’s what we stuck with. But if you’re looking for something a little wilder, you may want to check (czech!) out the Czech Republic (though Gui says I might be the only one who didn’t know this already).
Of course, Prague is also overflowing with tourists for a reason unrelated to its beer supply (though I’m now a fan of the light Pilsner Urquell): It’s absolutely gorgeous. Continue reading
Provence: Lavender Fields Forever
Last week was our return to “real life.” I started my all-day summer French language intensive, Guillaume was busy at work and in my downtime I was trying to catch up on more than two weeks of neglected housework (laundry, cleaning, restocking the fridge and attempting to revive my sickly plants). So when Friday night rolled around, Gui and I weren’t feeling enthused about our original plan to wake up early the next morning and drive three and a half hours to Provence. Instead, we decided we would take it easy and let ourselves sleep in. Then, if we woke up refreshed, we could head to Provence later that afternoon for an abbreviated visit.
Florence: Melissa Meets David
Florence was hot. I mean high 90s and humid every day kind of hot (that’s high 30s for my non-American readers). Even so, my parents, sister, Guillaume and I had an incredible few days learning, eating, drinking and shopping our way through the city (maybe I should say eating again because, oh my gosh, we ate well).
For starters, we stayed in a great Airbnb right across from the duomo, so this was our view every morning:
Pisa: That’s One Crooked Tower
Plenty of people told me that there is nothing to do in Pisa but see the leaning tower, and, after my own visit, I can see why. The former port city has other beautiful landmarks — the duomo for one, the baptistery and the charming town itself — but the main tourist draw is definitely the tower and, more specifically, pushing to the front of the crowds to take a photo in front of it (see below). For reasons we never figured out, many of the stores and restaurants were closed the Saturday we visited, which added to the sense of the tower being the only game in town. All that being said, I found the trip to be totally worth it. I mean, that tower is actually leaning! A lot! I’m sure you’ve read about it and seen photos, but when you’re standing there in front of it, taking in the crazy tilt in person, that’s something else.
The Plaid Shirt Diaries 