It’s marathon day in Porto San Giorgio!! I had no idea!

By the time I arrived at the finish line (unlike the NYC Marathon, there was easy access to pretty much wherever you wanted!) the time clock read 2:32 and the first 3 male runners had already come in. I hung around the sidelines, which were only about 1 or 2 people deep and eventually was up at the railing since people came and went.

For the first 10 minutes, all I heard was “Glory Days” on a loop. It was as if Bruce was the only thing they had to play! Not that I minded, but I would imagine the runners needed a bit more diversity to make those last few hundred feet really count! Eventually the songs changed but all of them were in English. Maybe it’s more motivational, who knows.

Keep in mind I know no one in this town especially anyone running today. Yet I found myself getting a bit emotional. I don’t know what it is about marathons! Or maybe it’s just the overall idea of people working hard toward a goal and seeing it come to fruition.  Gets me every time! 

But I clapped for every runner that passed me. (And I think I secretly was waiting for someone with USA written on his/her shirt to go by. ) More than I can say for some other people on the sidelines.

And there were even the really stellar citizens enjoying a cigarette and blowing the smoke toward the running path. Just what a runner wants as he’s finishing 26.2 long miles! To give the girl credit, she did realize and when a runner went by, she turned her head the other direction. I still shook my head.

I’m not sure if this is town planning or Italian planning, but someone had the brilliant idea of having the podium just before the finish line off to the side. So when there were photo ops, it got a bit crowded. This is added to the layout of the actual finish. They put down a red carpet (which was cute) but then had advertisements lining it forcing runners to stay on the narrow path. So when the podium got crowded, so did the last 6 feet of the run. At one point if physically waved my hand (as if people noticed) to get people to move over – a runner was just feet away!! 

I’m not sure how many runners were in the race. But it was small enough that single runners were filing in up until hour 4. And the announcer was able to read every bib number and find the corresponding name on the list so he can cheer them on as they crossed the finish line. Can’t say I’m surprised by that though. I imagine the course goes into other towns because I don’t think you can possibly find 26.2 miles even looping Porto San Giorgio 5 times!!  (I’ll have to do some research)

One of the highlights was watching an older runner sprint to the finish. And it turns out he got an award for being in every marathon the town has hosted. Which from what I understood, was 30! Pretty impressive.

I stayed as long as I could before having to go back to the house for lunch because no one should cross any marathon finish line without some sort of recognition. And I wasn’t exactly leaving the runners in the enthusiastic hands of the citizens of Porto San Giorgio. However, after hearing “Eye of the Tiger” I felt better about it.  And I walked away as the theme song of Rocky IV played. It put a little bounce in my step.

Overall, I had a nice weekend in Porto San Giorgio. I think that’s the first time I can say that about a full weekend here! Saturday I relaxed on the beach and read, got to “go out” on Saturday night and enjoyed more of the town’s festival Sunday evening after the marathon and some teaching. To define “go out”, I mean found a place that had a table I can read at while having a couple of glasses of wine and dessert. That’s pretty much the extent of my night. But it ended with some pretty spectacular fireworks – I’ll take it!

The band that capped off the evening, That’s Amore Swing Band, was very entertaining! I struck up conversation with the bandleader’s mother and turns how he and his wife lived in Manhattan for 8 years. I had to know if he spoke English because his diction when he sang was too perfect. I exchanged contact information with his wife and we’re hopeful we can meet up either before I leave or when they visit the city this summer.  And as if the band knew I was there, ended with “New York, New York”. I headed home with a pretty big smile on my face!

Running. I've gotten back into the sport since I've been here. Which has at least meant that thing called "my belly" has a chance of staying the same size instead of growing. One can only hope anyway!

My days start very idly - the alarm goes off at 9am and I head down for what they call breakfast around 9:30am. Seriously, I don't know how they last until lunch with what's on the table. It's mostly cookies - yes cookies!! I'm DYING for a good brunch. Eggs, bacon, home fries......how many more days again?? :) And I can't help but remember the days of waking up at 5:30am to get in a run before work. Are those days really ahead of me?

Back to my schedule. I'm out the door for a run around 10am. I do this anywhere from 2 to 5 days a week depending on what's going on. No running on market days because by the time I get back, a lot of it is over. Priorities! And I go anywhere from 2 to 5 miles, again, depending on if I have to be back for Luca. I'm sure my friends training for the marathon are getting quite the laugh out of my distances. Sorry guys! And if I had half the drive and motivation of my friend Fiona with running and training, I'd be a superstar. But I don't, so I'll have to settle for plain old star! My goal when I head out is to not twist something or fall down, K? So far I've been able to manage that.

While it's usually a test of motivation to get me out the door, I feel like I've accomplished a lot for the day when I get back and it's quite the high, I'll admit. Even though I think I'm known as the "foreigner who doesn't wear enough clothes while running and it's 'cold' out". I think I'll miss some of that when I'm back on the streets of NY and become just one of the many along the West Side Highway.

I'm glad I extended my run today - I got an "I love you" in English from an older gentleman. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt of not being one of the creepy old men (just let me go with it). I said "grazie" as I passed him on my way back. No stopping. I didn't really want to know if I was wrong.

Ciao Roma!

Rome was a bit more relaxed since we’ve all been there before. But don’t be mistaken; we did a lot of walking there as well. In fact, for the first day, it was mostly in the rain. But seeing the Coliseum in the rain was still pretty amazing.  It was the first time we decided to go inside. Coming from a country that’s so young in comparison, thinking about how old the buildings and the many, many ruins in Rome are is pretty mind blowing. To me anyway.

We did a quick stop at the Trevi Fountain, Piazza di Venezia, and Spanish Steps as well. Along the way we got a bit lost and did a quick drive-by of the Vatican. Just long enough to wave to the Pope. I’m sure he was excited for our visit!

 

The new home of Da Gigetto

The food – very good! We got a recommendation from my friend Kara and headed to Da Gigetto in the “ghetto” of Rome which is where the Jewish section of the city is. The term has a very different meaning than what we now know it to be.  Da Gigetto has delicious artichokes if you’re ever in the area.  The rest of our food stops were just places we walked by or got recommended from the hotel. Our last night was at a place called Gioia Mia. Very local, low-key restaurant near our hotel. We were thoroughly entertained by the multi-family dinner that was happening around us. Kids at one table, adults on the other. Just watching the interaction provided us with enough laughs for the night!

 

From Rome we drove to Porto San Giorgio. It’s about a 3 ½ hour drive, not too bad. And we did it in this. Somehow the car, our luggage and we made it in one piece!

The days spent in Porto San Giorgio were VERY quiet. There isn’t much to do during the day being things close from 1pm to 4:30pm. So we did what we do best, walked! I showed them the jetty I visit quite often, the port and the store my new friend works at. I think between my mother and me, we’re keeping them open another year!

We attempted to visit a neighboring town for lunch one day, but it pretty much looked like PSG just a bit bigger. However, the lunch place we found was delicious (Club 23). I had the grilled calamari and shrimp – yum!

On their last night in PSG, we headed to Pat & Gary’s house in San Ruffino (the couple from CA I met at the train station). The ride there was interesting – we weren’t sure if were going the right way pretty much the entire 45 minute drive, but we made it there! Their house is beautiful, right on the lake. It’s definitely not a bad place to be for 6 months of the year, that’s for sure.

My parents left PSG Friday afternoon to head back to Rome since they had an early flight Saturday morning. So my life went back to how it was way before my travels started. And I’m not sure if I like it that way! 

This week brings a festival in town to celebrate a national holiday that I’m still unsure of what exactly. Either way, it’ll be another experience! 

Next stop, Paris!

I met my parents at the airport in Paris to start the next leg of my travels. After a bit of a tour of the airport, we eventually got in a vehicle that would take us to our hotel. Let’s just say it wasn’t part of the original plan!

The hotel was beautiful – Hotel Vernet – right near the Arc de Triomphe. This was their first time in Paris so I wanted to make sure we got to see as much as possible. Which I think we did a good job of! Lots and lots of walking – up hills, down stairs, up spiral stairs, down elevators. But overall, we had a lot of fun exploring one of my favorite cities. We even got in for the last opening hours of the Musee d’Orsay. One of my favorite places! And for those that have never traveled with my mother, let’s just say we saw the inside of a lot of shops and stores!

The Louvre took up a good part of one of the days. We saw the Mona Lisa and Venus of course and wandered around taking it all in. The stops for crepes and wine were very much welcomed with each passing day! And who wouldn’t take a break for this???! 

We did so well on the planning, Versailles even made it to the list. After a few trains and a metro croissant and caffé, we were on our way! I’ve seen it before, but it still amazes me. We did something different there – we walked!

Oh, and I might have made them wait one night till midnight just to see the Eiffel Tower light up and sparkle. It’s just too pretty to pass up.

The food in Paris was amazing. We had a lot of great recommendations from Glenn, Shaya and the hotel. Each and every one was fantastic!  I had what I think was the best hamburger I’ve ever eaten at Chez Andre and you can’t go wrong with tagliatelle with season truffles in a truffle cream sauce at Maison de la Truffe. And who can forget the steak frites at Le Fontaine de Mars – even President Obama ate there! We’re pretty important like that. :)

This was the first time I’ve been there without someone that can speak French, but we did pretty well. We even got about 75% of the way through a menu at the last restaurant we ate at (Le Congre) before cheating a bit with the English version. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t ordering anything gross!! :)

We had a great time in Paris and headed out very early the day of the Paris marathon. I would have liked to see some of the race, but Rome was calling our name. Sometimes, you just have to make certain sacrifices…..

Where do I even start to catch up from the week! Croatia is probably a good place.

The boat behind me is not the ferry I took. I was already on that. 

My travel to Split, Croatia was by ferry from Ancona. Departing at 8:30pm, arriving at 8am the next morning. Since my 20’s are securely in the past, I had a cabin room, which allowed me to have a bed for the long journey.  It’s not the Ritz, but it was a hell of a lot better than the option of sleeping in the equivalent of an airplane seat or the floor.

At the train station before arriving at the port, I met two American girls. They were both in undergrad, but I was happy for the company. During our chat, it became clear they were the back packers of the group (aka, young) and I was a 32 year old still figuring out what I’m doing with myself. All of us ran into yet another back packer whose first question was “So, what hostile are you staying at in Split?” I think the look I gave her explained I don’t really do hostiles anymore. However, one of the girls who knew my age had the best line of the year and says “Don’t they have an age limit for hostiles?” OMG! I couldn’t help but laugh. And the poor girl turned every shade of red after realizing what she said. I still laugh every time I think about it.

Dinner

So the 4 of use board the ferry early and head out for something to eat. By 7:15 we had a bottle of wine and plenty of food. And we still have over an hour until the boat actually left the port. Added to the 12-hour ride. It was going to be a long one. But we killed the time with a few beers and some card games. By 12;30am, I was happy to be setting off for some form of bed. Even if it mean walking into every cabinet and door making a lot of noise in my attempt to not wake up the woman already asleep in the room. 

We had plans to meet at 5:45am for the sunrise, but when my phone died in the middle of the night, I missed it. Which worked in my favor being it was too cloudy to see the sun. We had breakfast together and then said our goodbyes.

After a few drinks

 The line for passport control once the ferry docked was insane. 1 hour and 15 minutes to get through. It was a massive line 10 people across trying to get into one small door with 2 workers. Not fun. But during this waiting time, I was able to thankfully see my hotel. I had all the information in my phone of how to get there – which was now of no use without power. Small victories!

Cathedral in Split

Afshin met me in the afternoon at the hotel after I had a massage and a much needed shower. It was a great morning! Split was a lot of fun. We had a bit of rain (OK, maybe one night it was a bit of downpour) but we did luck out with some good weather during the day, which was perfect for an afternoon snack and wine. The nightlife seemed to be pretty happening if you could just figure out which small street to turn down.  Overall, if I do say so myself, we had a good 2 days there. And I saw people from my ferry ride all over town! Still waiting for the bar where people over 30 go! :)

Sunday was the 4.5-hour bus ride to Dubrovnik. This was also Easter Sunday. We made the attempt to do something church-like just to experience it, but they pretty much knew we weren’t from there and we got a bit turned down at the church doors. But we got to see the inside of the cathedral, which was mostly our purpose.

Unfortunately Afshin didn’t get a lot of time in Dubrovnik. We arrived there around 4:45pm and he was off to the airport at 5:30am the next day. But we wandered around and had a good meal at a Bosnian restaurant. Speaking of which, who knew you had to drive the tiniest part of Bosnia to get from Split to Dubrovnik??! I sure didn’t! Does that count as a country I’ve visited? :)

Dubrovnik from the cable car

 next two days I was solo – good thing I’m used to that. The city is incredible. I took the city wall walk the next day and you literally walk above the city with amazing views of the sea. It got to the point I was sick of taking pictures!! I ended up back at Exit Club for 20 Kuna ($4) beers and some free WiFi. I know how to live! The next night over dinner I met a lovely Australian family. That night ended at 1:45am with a few more beers at a local jazz bar. I ended up running into them in the morning for coffee and again in the afternoon after lunch. You can’t get too far in Dubrovnik!

The city wall in Dubrovnik at night

Dubrovnik at 4:45am - not because the bars were hopping, but because I had a plane to catch

I always heard Croatia is a beautiful country but I was definitely amazed at just how breathtaking it is. Definitely happy I got to cross that one off the list!

Tomorrow (or soon thereafter) I will post about Paris.....

Hi blog world, it's been so long! I'm currently in Paris with my parents. This is after a few days in Split and Dubrovnik, Croatia. Both were amazing. Another thanks to Afshin for joining in the fun! We did notice lots of cats in Croatia. Anyone know what the deal is with that? But the fresh seafood and sights were great. Dubrovnik has the option of walking around the city along it's city wall. The views are incredible. I'll post pictures when I'm back in Italy. Along with more details since I'm failing at that currently. We've been in Paris for two days and for anyone who's been here before, lots of walking! So far we've seen the Arc de Triomphe and the view from the top, Sacre Coure, Notre Dame, Montmarte and all that surrounds it, the Latin Quarter, Pantheon, and the Luxembourg Gardens. I think I need new shoes since I've worn out the ones I'm wearing. Or so it feels. :) But credit is due to Mom and Dad for trekking up the hill to Sacre Coure. Of course, there was a good 15 minute break to stop at a store! Tomorrow we are planning trips to museums. We have to fit in some culture in between croissants, cheese, wine, and waffles with warm dark chocolate drizzled on top. OMG! (oh, and a ridiculously amazing burger) Thankfully things happen late here given it's 8:15 and I still have to shower and get dressed for dinner. But having a great time on "vacation"!

The Italians have no idea they are missing out on warm, fluffy towels right out of the dryer. You know why? Because there are no dryers here!!! Nothing like wrapping yourself with a stiff, slightly below room temperature towel because I leave the windows open. Heaven. Again, not a shock to me, but definitely missing it. Having to fold the towels right out of the dryer never seemed to be a chore to me as a kid. I loved the feeling of them! Of course as I got older the excitement died down a bit, but I will admit there's a hint of it when I fold a load of laundry from the dryer and all of my socks have a pair. What a thrill!!

But I digress. While the Europeans are much more progressive in certain areas when it comes to energy conservation than the Americans (i.e. censored lights in hallways so they aren't always on - only when needed, having to put your key in a slot to have your hotel lights work) they are lightyears behind in the washing machine efficiency. If I were to put my towels and sheets in the "cotton" cycle, that would take 2:12 hrs. Over 2 hours for one small load! And being I love shortcuts, I don't shy away from them in this category. I throw mine in the "cotton express" (that's not really the name of it) for just 0:59 min. What a time saver!

And then the synthetics. Which take a good day or two longer to air dry then the sheets and towels, just FYI. If I were to put on the "jeans and darks" cycle, 1:15 hr. "Express", 0:59 min. Are you seeing a pattern here yet? And here is what my room looks like when waiting for things to dry.

That's just one half. There are pants hanging over every cabinet door I can reach! The experience of sleeping among wet clothes is definitely a new one.

So maybe it's best they don't have dryers here because if a proper wash of cottons takes over 2 hours, I can only imagine how long it would take to dry them all. There goes your afternoon!!

I think Mr. Rogers took his cue from the Italians. I knew before I got here it’s not the norm to go barefoot in the house. God forbid a child run with naked feet in his own home. He might catch something that hasn’t existed since 1892 and cause a premature death. Those drafts will get ya every time!

However, I find it fascinating that every time a family member comes home, there is an immediate change. Luca was wearing an outfit the other day that would be more than suitable for indoor playtime. Nope, Vera changed him into his “house play clothes”, waistband up to his chest and all! And of course, the shoes. One must change from outdoor shoes to house shoes. (Which I understand because I don’t like walking around my apartment with my shoes either, but just adds to it all really).  But really, everyone changes. Off with the clothes and into the casual wear. While it’s definitely more comfy to sit on the couch this way, does that mean they don’t leave again? Or does the process start all over again when they do decide to walk back out of the house? As for me, I’d rather be ready to party like it’s 1999 at a drop of a hat!

So, in the attempt to adapt to my surroundings, I become Mr. Rogers when I get home. There’s a quick change of sweater and/or pants and of course, I put on my slippers.  And life begins to slow down……