Culture in a cup

I’m never drawn to the proper side of life, I prefer the messy – yet something was drawing me into the sophisticated side of Vienna. The aroma of coffee and music of Mozart being played on the piano in the background must have put a spell on me. Or maybe it was the dour faced waiters dressed in their dark jackets and bow ties wielding little silver trays around silently that appealed to my controlling side. Or maybe it was feeling of time travel as walked through the door and was transported into 1950’s and 1960’s making me feel as if I had just entered a period piece movie and I was the star.

Whatever it was, I was hooked – hooked on the Coffee House culture of Vienna.

I chose Vienna as part of my Go with Oh European Spring Tour for one simple reason – coffee. Well, specifically not just coffee, but coffee houses. Yes, I like the taste of coffee, and some may even say I’m addicted to it – however I was interested in the coffee houses more for the atmosphere and culture than the coffee. I loved the idea that in Vienna exists this whole culture which has survived through the changing times of Starbucks, cup sleeves, and ‘to-go’ coffee cups.

The Houses

I decided to ignore most of the ultra popular coffee houses listed at the tourist board in exchange for some lesser-known ones recommended by friends. I was in Vienna for a week but managed to visit a coffee house a day.
Café Pruckel – I stopped here twice…definitely my favorite!
Café Central
Café Demel
Café Drechsler
Café Ritter – amazing strudel!
Café Frauenhuber

Each café served coffee and food on dishes with their name on it. I became fascinated with where all of the namesake china came from! I loved simply analyzing the font they used on the dishes which seemed to mirror the décor and personality of the house.

Elegance of days gone by

Atmosphere

Once you walk in you immediately feel it – there’s a hushed tone about coffee houses that reminded me of libraries. The moment I set foot inside I felt as if I needed to be on my best behavior else someone would come shush me or give me a disapproving glance. The décor is always what captured me – each coffee house was a little different and the décor showed its personality. Most of the houses I visited were old and classic with big upholstered booths that curved around corners like a snake slithering through a garden. And if you looked closely in a corner you’d find a rack of daily newspapers and current magazines to choose from. Many of the cafes offered musical entertainment in the afternoons or evenings. Providing an even more sophisticated feel as you sat and sipped coffee listening to a pianist play Mozart.

A pianist entertains at Cafe Central

Working Space

Each coffee house has a different historical culture to it. Some of the coffee houses were known to specifically be the place where writers, politicians, journalists, or artists hung out exclusively. Such as Café Central, which was known for writers using it as their office, sitting all day sipping coffee and working. I learned that some even took calls on the house phone at the cafe as editors/publishers knew they could reach them there. Ah – life before cell phones…
Modern day coffee houses are used much the same way, each offers a free wifi connection and you’ll see people sitting tapping away on their laptops for hours.

Waiters

It appeared that the role of coffee house waiter was a very serious one. It was mainly men dressed in formal suits with bow ties. They weren’t very personable, but they got the job done. They served all of the drinks on a little individual silver tray which reminded me of my mother giving me a poptart on a metal tray when I was young!

Ice coffee delivered on a tray with water and chocolate

Even beer was delieverd on a tray...minus the extras!

Food

Each coffee house had a menu of some sort and normally served snacks (sausages, in a variety of ways) or they would serve a full meal with wiener schnitzel and other main dishes. Some, like Café Demel, also specialized in desserts ranging from sachertortes, to strudels, to pancakes. Yes, I tried all of the desserts.

The Coffee

Ah – we can’t forget the coffee! Beautiful, aromatic, dark coffee.
Mokka: black coffee, mocha
Kleiner oder großer Brauner: coffee with milk
Melange: coffee with extra milk, usually steamed
Fiaker: mocha with rum or brandy, served in a glass
Einspänner: mocha with whipped cream, served in a glass
Kaffee Johann Strauß: large mocha with whipped cream and apricot
Wiener Eiskaffee: vanilla ice cream with cold mocha and whipped cream

Each cup was brought out on a silver tray, with glass of water, a spoon (normally placed on top of the glass), and a little chocolate. The coffees were small and strong, there were no American style refills.

The coffee's perspective

From the elegant surroundings from days gone by to the proper way each coffee is delivered to your table, the coffee houses suspended me and held me in this elegant world of a time that seems to be disappearing. From the moment I opened the door, I felt like all of the hectic noise in my head slowed down to ‘waltz time’ and I could relax. This was the perfect kind of slow travel. Sit, relax, drink coffee, eat some sausage, listen to music, read, and repeat the next day – that’s how to visit Vienna.

See more Vienna Travel Tips

A lovely little place to rest along the Camino close to Astorga Spain

After a lovely break in Carrion de los Condes and getting treated to a scrumptious steak dinner from a retired doctor from Canada, things could only go downhill from there – and they did. Fast forward to me puking in a albergue toilet to begin week 3 of my Camino de Santiago journey .

I knew something was wrong as I was walking my 26k, I started deteriorating after about 10k. I felt tired and began to yawn while I was walking, and then my shoulders started to get sore, followed by a headache. These were not the normal aches, pains, and exhaustion of the Camino – this was the flu.

Strangely the flu passed through me quickly and this ended up being my strongest week yet which reminded me that just when you think you at your lowest, things turn around. I covered 89 miles over 6 days (144km) which makes a total of 278 miles of my 441 miles overall. A strange feeling hit me this week – you stop thinking/worrying about IF you will make it, and after you hit halfway you start to worry about the fact that you ARE going to make it and this journey will come to an end. The mind can be such a roller coaster at times.

This week I owned the meseta, the high plains of Spain. Everyone warned me about the meseta – they said it was ugly, flat, boring, long, and hot. But I love an underdog and from the moment I had heard all of this bad talk about the meseta I had decided that I would like it – yes, I’m just that stubborn. When I got onto the meseta and started taking it all in, I realized quickly that this was not an ugly or boring place – this was basically just like the Midwest (Illinois) where I grew up. This familiar landscape immediately made me happy, and it sent me in mental directions I never would have imagined.

In addition, I used the long, flat distances between villages to try to work/think on things such as the annual Meet Plan Go! career break presentation and event plans. I also worked on something that has had me frustrated for years – I tried to teach myself how to roll R’s – a sound included in so many languages but sadly not in American English. I looked up some instructions/exercises on the internet and came across these instructions from Benny at Fluent in Three Months – for the next 17k I was doing tongue exercises, repeating words, and trying to say “Erre con erre cigarro. Erre con erre barril. Rápido corren los carros sobre los rieles del ferrocarril” It was great practice, but I still have a long way to go. My rolled R is sort of in slow motion yet – but hopefully by the time I reach Santiago I will be successful!

This little snail crosses the Camino on the meseta...talk about a risk taker!

Feilds of green remind me of home on the meseta

A gate without a fence...an interesting image and thought to ponder

Physical

The flu was a physical hiccup I wasn’t planning, but it really did pass through my body quickly, so after one really horrible day of discomfort and wobbling into the albergue, puking, sleeping for 14 hours – I was better.

My feet also started to play nice this week. The flat, even surfaces helped a great deal (another reason to love the meseta!). However, my heel blisters were so deep under the tough skin that I was unable to get them drained properly until a lovely couple from Holland gave me my very own sterile scalpel…just what every trekker wants and needs! The scalpel allowed me to actually cut an incision into the thick skin and keep the blisters open and drained while I continued to walk. My other heel blisters seemed to have calmed down and toughen up a bit on the flat – so things are looking up for my feet! Granted, they are still super sore at the end of the day, but yours would be too if you were walking 16 miles a day…every day.

Mental

For anyone who doesn’t think that it’s necessary to take time away from your day to day routines to clear your head then I’m here to tell you that you are wrong. This week is when things started to really come unplugged for me in my mind. It became about the freedom to simply think – think about my life, my goals, my decisions, my family, my friends, my culture, my shortcomings, and my satisfaction. It was so powerful at times that I found myself crying in the middle of a field. It wasn’t tears of sadness – it was tears of …well – I don’t really know…freedom of thought I guess. Memories, thoughts, ideas, conclusions all rushed at me on Saturday as I walked along a particularly ugly part of the trail (yes – those exist in great quantity at times).

It was a simple smell that stopped me in my tracks. I was walking alone through some fields and a big tractor was out working in the fields tilling up the soil getting ready for planting season. The wind was blowing just right and I suddenly was breathing in the odor of freshly tilled soil and it hit me like a tidal wave. All of a sudden I was 9 years old again and my father was tilling in our garden and my brother and I were planting peas fighting with each other as normal. I stopped walking and just stood there as memories of childhood summers came back to me. I wondered how in the world 33 years went by. I thought about where I was at this moment – in a field in Spain and how never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined myself here in this life I have chose for myself – wandering the world. The whole experience made me miss my childhood, my brother and sister as well as my parents and what we all had. And it also made me take stock of how far we had all come. Jobs, marriages, kids, houses, travel…it was a good life inventory to take for that moment. It made me appreciate all of our lives and connections that I had taken for granted. Who says that your senses aren’t powerful…even your sense of smell can transport you to places that you hadn’t thought possible.

I feel like I am starting to really form a direction again for myself – as I had become a bit lost in the last year. I’m reconfirming things and getting back to basics of what I know makes me happy and satisfied. Having time to think is so wonderful. No distractions, it’s just you and the trail. It’s comforting, and I already know I’m going to miss it when I reach Santiago.

The sun rising up over the 'boring' meseta

The meseta looks pretty much like the Midwestern US

Religious monument along the meseta

Lodging

I’m convinced my sickness this week was meant to be since it made me change my daily mileage and landed me in the town of Bercianos de Real Camino where I had an eye opening experience at a public hostel like nothing I’ve had before. This was a public albergue that was donation based. My Rayo iphone guide had said

“the municipal albergue in Bercianos is an experience you won’t soon forget! The old home seems to be falling apart, yet most come out thrilled to have stayed and having experienced something unique.”

When I arrived two lovely men sat me down, gave me biscuits and water, scrutinized my credentials making sure I was a real walking pilgrim, and then gave me the schedule and ‘rules’. People helped make dinner at 6PM, everyone ate at 7PM, small church service at 9:30PM, lights out and in bed at 10PM.

That night at dinner the men announced (via Pilgrim translators) that they are running the albergue during their 2 week vacation since they believe in keeping the Camino spirit and pilgrimage alive. The albergue has volunteers manage the hostel throughout the year. That night at the albergue there were 39 people form 14 different countries. We all introduced ourselves and out country and then after dinner we all had to sing songs from our country as well as a Camino song in Spanish – more chances for me to practice my R’s! Then everyone pitched in and cleaned the dishes, did a little church service and went to bed. It was a night that I thought was going to be corny and all I wanted to do was sleep, but soon I was swept up in the atmosphere these men created and ended up having a fabulous and memorable night. I gave them big hugs upon leaving the next day and thanking them for their commitment.

The men running the Bercianos municiple albergue - left me with such great memories

An old, crumbling city wall surrounds Mansilla de las Mulas at sunrise

A fog hangs over a river crossing on the Camino

Food

I swear I have a bottomless appetite. I don’t know how many calories I’m taking in each day, but it’s a lot. Even with all of the calories I’m definitely shrinking. I eat a sweet pastry breakfast in the morning with coffee, then snack on bags of nuts, fruits, tuna, breakfast bars, olives, chocolate, and sometimes potatoe and egg tortilla during the walking day – and then at night I have a 3 course pilgrim meal.

However when I arrived in Leon this week I had a mission – and that mission was a Big Mac. I actually walked an extra 2k to get to the McDonalds in Leon and that night my pilgrim meal was a Diet Coke, super salty fries, a big mac, and a hot fudge sundae – I was in heaven. Sometimes, you just need a familiar taste when you travel, it doesn’t mean that you are a horrible person or traveler, it just means that you are hungry for a burger and some familiarity.

My typical breakfast...that pastry is sticky sweet and filled with cream...heaven

We had some beautiful weather last week - this was the view heading into Astorga

A rocky descent - makes me slow down...

Gear

My trail running shoes are doing ok this week – but they are great on the flat – light and flexible. I’m a bit more worried for the coming week which has me climbing over proper mountains and down steep descents – that’s where the trail shoes are really put to the test. I sort of wish I could just duct tape the shoes to my feet so that my feet didn’t move around in the shoes creating blisters!

My favorite travel gear this week is my Trekr travel washcloth  it’s perfect for this trip. It dries super fast, is odorless, and never needs to be washed. I’m also loving my smart wool socks as they dry fast too overnight after being washed out in the bathroom sink. My silicon earplugs are an absolute miracle as they actually allow me to sleep amongst 30 other people in the albergues. In fact they are so good that they allow me to sleep through everyone leaving in the morning. I wake up and everyone is gone in my room!

People

This week I was on my own as Katherine had to slow down due to a knee issue. I really missed her this week – it’s been really solitary lately – but at the same time, I think that’s what I needed for this section. I still see her at night for dinners and I leave her little messages and gummy bears along the trail. I basically walk alone during the day saying hello to people and maybe sharing a few sentences, and then doing all of my socializing at the albergues in the evenings.

This week I met new people from Canada, Germany, South Africa, America, Holland, Japan, England, and Bolivia (a Bolivian family runs the cute San Javier Albergue in Astroga). A special mention goes to my bunkmate from Germany, Ullie, who had to sleep with me throwing up. He was an angel and I’ll never forget him!

This week some of the most important people for me have been my ‘digital cheering section’ – yes…you. The outpouring of support has been amazing and I am thankful that I have so many people concerned about me and sending me good vibes…thank you.

My support team of Rayo Travel has been a lifesaver this week – I forgot my favorite travel scarf (with me for 5 years) at the albergue where I had the flu and they are getting it back for me and I’ll pick it up in Santiago when I finish. This story of lost travel gear has a much better ending than my story of the Dissapearing Traveling Pants! It is so wonderful to have someone in the area ‘on the ground’ supporting you – thanks team Rayo!

The stunning cathedral in Leon Spain

A metal structure across the trail provides more thought diversions

Me arriving in Astorga - happy for another rest day!

Next week brings on mountain climbs that I’m very nervous about. However, having JacoTrans transporting my heaviest luggage allows me to keep my bag lighter to get over the mountains – so thankful for their luggage transport service! I will be climbing to 4,250 feet, but one way or the other I will make it…even if I have to duct tape my shoes on!

As I was walking this week I saw a little quote that I loved that I think really applies for everyone that I will leave you with – “Even if you don’t know where you are going, just go!”

You can follow my journey along in ‘real time’ on my Facebook page – OttsworldTravel

Please leave comments and questions as your support as I walk is greatly appreciated and just knowing people are out there following me keeps me going!

View my first week and second week of trials and tribulations on the trail as well as the photography on the Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage.

View Camino de Santiago Week 3 Photography:

The layers of seat in the Vienna Opera House

Some people drink a Diet Coke a day, or have a daily piece of chocolate, or a daily route they take to work – daily routines can be a good thing.  Even the Vienna State Opera House has a routine – they put on a production every day – yes, every day.  It’s like a factory pumping out musical culture at an alarming rate.  To make it even more unbelievable, the don’t put on the same shows every night – they frequently change from night to night.  And are you ready for the final ‘blow your mind’ piece of information – they aren’t always putting on operas, sometimes it’s ballets.  Can you imagine how big a stage has to be to deal with a production schedule with this kind of variety?

Well, I couldn’t either – so I had to go see it for myself.  I took the one hour English tour one afternoon which allows you to see the inner workings of the Opera House, arguably the busiest opera house in the world,  in addition to getting all of the facts and trivia that your mind can handle.  We were able to go onstage and watch as crews changed out sets for the performance that evening.  The complete stage was bigger than the overall seating area which holds 2,200 people.  It felt as if I were standing in an airplane hangar.  Each day the crew doesn’t get to the work on the stage until after the daily rehearsal is over at 2PM.  From 2PM to curtain call that night the crew is busy changing out sets.  I could have simply stood around and watched the crew set up and been entertained for an hour – but there was much more to see in this massive structure.

From intermission rooms, to private seating, to the grand lobby – we saw it all.  And now you can too!

If you are interested in purchasing any of these photos, simply click on the image for more information.

Lighting in the grand entrance

One of the intermission rooms

Seating and the open stage - see how far back it goes!

The grand staircase in the entrance

Seating for the show

The outside seems somewhat plain as compared to the inside

Levels of seating stacked to the rafters!

Back stage with the crew setting up for the night's performance

Detailing inside the lobby

Intermission seating area

Cheap ways to see the opera performance:
Standing Room tickets for 4Euros sold the day of the show
In the summer months the opera is broadcast live in the square, so just sit out side of the opera and see the show under the stars!

Vienna has so much to see, how do you choose?!

I had never really considered Vienna before, however upon reading an article by Andrew McCarthy in National Geographic last fall, it came onto my radar.

He wrote, “I have arrived in Vienna with a simple plan: to live as local a life as possible. Instead of discovering this famously imperial city from the comforts and security of a hotel, with an attentive staff to stand behind me, I’ve decided to plunge in on my own terms and rent an apartment—and not in the city center I know to be the heart of tourism, but in one of the outer, more “local” districts. I have always found that the less insulated I am from my surroundings, the richer are my experiences.”

The article was a perfect description of why I like to stay in apartments when I travel, and all of a sudden I found myself wanting to experience this Vienna apartment lifestyle that Andrew wrote about.

Luckily Go with Oh had apartments in Vienna, so immediately it became one of my four destinations on the European Spring Tour.

This was my first trip to Austria let alone Vienna, but instead of getting a guide book, I relied upon social media to bring me my tips! The Go with Oh crew was busy gathering Vienna tips from their readers for me to follow. And as usual I ran out of time to do them all, but I was able to follow many of them.

Sweet Tooth

Winning Tip – @cambridgecook Demel cafe on Kohlmarkt has better cake than Sacher Hotel #Vienna

The winning sachertorte at Cafe Demel

The person who provided the tip about Café Demel knew exactly how to get my attention…chocolate. I loved the fact that the tip went against the norm of eating sachertorte at the typical tourist spot, Hotel Sacher, and instead directed me to a much better option! The scent of chocolate enveloped me as I walked into Café Demel. There’s a retail store there selling sweets, a bar for a quick stop, a traditional coffee shop upstairs, and a bakery where you can view them making the sweet creations in back. This place will entertain you for hours!

View video of my sacher torte tasting at Cafe Demel.

Architecture

@SophieR In Vienna, check out the fabulous houses designed by eccentric architect Hundertwasser.

Hundertwasser House - pretty eclectic for Vienna!

This was a super easy tip to do since my apartment was only 2 blocks from the Hundertwasser House! There’s lots of great architecture to ooh and ahh about in Vienna, but this one sort of makes you go “huh?”  Of course I made a quick stop at the colorful and very Un-Austrian looking building!

Food

@IreneHaidner Wiener Schnitzel types ummm good .. a must try if you haven’t
Not only did I try Wiener Schnitzel, I tried sausages, potato salads, and plenty of beer!

@cambridgecook Trzesniewski on Dorotheergasse off Graben for tiny open faced sandwiches and tiny beer “Pfiff” #Vienna

Brötchen - Open face sandwiches

I didn’t exactly get to Trzesniewski, but I did get to try the tiny open faced sandwiches called Brötchen that they make when I was visiting a friend who was holding a cocktail party!  Yum!

Music

@aerofede Another great idea may be going to an Opera,or visiting the opera theater,depending in what’s available

Inside the State Opera House on the daily tour

I had multiple tips telling me to get the cheap standing room tickets for the opera; however, even though I like a good bargain, I opted to see a string quartet instead of a standing ticket at the opera. Instead I took a great tour of the opera house! For a mere 5 Euros you can go on an English tour of the famed Opera house. Not only do you get to see the magnificent seating and balconies, but you even get to step on stage and see just how massive it is for yourself.

Since I love string instruments, I utilized the great ViennaUnwrapped.com event listings to determining if there were any classical concerts happening during my stay.  I found a  quartet performance in a smaller theatre which I splurged on. I really enjoyed this as I felt a bit more local this way and was able to see yet another gorgeous Viennese theater. Plus, what’s better than hearing Mozart being played live while in Vienna?

History

@STACEYLCRONIN Schoenbrunn Palace is an amazing must see!

@IreneHaidner My first suggestion in #Vienna, #Austria is #Castle #Schönbrunn @ottsworld @GowithOh #travel

The mighty Schonbrunn Palace

The woods surrounding Schonbrunn Palace

A short metro ride out of the city center transported you back into imperial Austria. I suggest you pack a picnic lunch and go wander around the woods and gardens (it’s free!) and find a little secluded spot to relax. It’s not hard as the gardens are huge. I also took the indoor tour while I was there and loved getting a first-hand look at the opulence of the imperial Habsburg Family.

Get to the outlaying towns

@cambridgecook Outskirts Wine Tavern (Heuriger), not in Grinzing! Wieninger & Mayer am Pfarrplatz have great food & wines.

Getting out of town for a massive plate of food!

I actually had a friend take me out to a wine tavern on the outskirts of Vienna. It was a completely different feel from the rest of Vienna!

Ask the Locals in Social Media!

In addition to the Go with Oh tips, I reached out to a few Austria based bloggers to get some advice. No only did I get some excellent local tips on what non-touristy coffee houses to go to, Andreas offered to show me around! I had been following Andreas on twitter (@travelwriticus)  for quite some time, and it was a treat to get to meet him in person and have a few days with him showing me the city and answering all of my silly questions about Austrian culture. He was my lifeline in Vienna.

Andreas showing me coffee houses around Vienna

My favorite ‘Andreas tips’ were food based!

Go to Café Pruckel for the best Wiener Schnitzel…seriously was the best I’ve ever had.

Go to the Naschmarkt to see a variety of outdoor stalls and shop for your apartment.

Naschmarkt - a great place to shop if you are doing an apartment stay!

I’ll be writing much more about some of these tips in detail over the next week, but be sure to check out all of the Vienna travel tips I received in the Go with Oh competition!

View Venice Travel Tips
View Rome Travel Tips

Disclosure: Go with Oh hosted my apartment lodging in Vienna. However, all of the opinions expressed here are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

Arriving in a new country can cause some despair!

It wasn’t until I got off the train in Vienna that I had realized just how long I had been in Italy. I disembarked the train and followed the breadcrumb trail of “i” signs making my way to an information booth to figure out how to get to Landstraße (District 3). The apartment owner, Leo, had provided me with some directions but this was my first trip to Vienna and I needed a little reassurance of how to use the trains, trams, and metros  -  the English speaking information attendants came to the rescue. Information booths are like lighthouses to travelers, and you should pay attention to them and use them whenever you can – you never know how long it will be until you encounter another.

Armed with a map and directions from the information attendants, I rode the metro into District 1 in order to catch the tram to my neighborhood in District 3. I surveyed my surroundings and noticed the people on the metro were quiet and emotionless. There was very little color and energy emitting from them; they were serious, yet perfectly pleasant – the best way I could describe the first Austrians I encountered was “proper”. Upon thinking this I immediately tried my best to stop slouching and straighten up – a difficult task when you are wearing two backpacks like a sandwich.

Layers of transportation - cars, trams, and horses...typical Vienna

The metro slowed down for a stop and I quickly tried to look out the window to see the name so I could ensure I was plotting along on the right path to the city center. There on the wall was a mishmash of letters that appeared to have the complete alphabet in it. It was so long of a word that my brain couldn’t do anything but panic when I saw it. Soon it was gone and I tried to remember the first few letters I saw to match it with a station on that map.

Even though the bus/train ride from Venice to Vienna was only 8 hours, I felt as if I had traveled for days considering how different these two countries were. I paused for a second and realized – no, this is just Europe. This is the Europe that I’ve never experienced before. Normally I would come to one country for a few weeks and then leave – focusing on one culture specifically. Now I’m traveling through Europe with my Eurail pass  ticking off countries in a matter of hours. I’m experiencing that weird sensation of time travel that you can only get in Europe. The sensation which is quite normal for Europeans who grew up with different languages, ethnic foods, and culture right next door – but it’s foreign to Americans where you can go for weeks driving before you get to another language or country.

My mind immediately went into overdrive soaking in the new Austrian culture that surrounded me. When arriving in a new culture you tend to more clearly understand the culture you came from last. All of a sudden I realized just how colorful, loud, and boisterous the Italians were. The Italian language was like a melodic song and their hands movements conducted the symphony of words that rapidly came out of their mouth. Here in Vienna I was befuddled by the length and guttural sound of the language – my brain had to get used to these new sounds.

Lots of letters to decipher quickly

My eyes focused in on the long string of consonants on the wall and I was jolted out of my cultural thoughts as I realized I was at my stop. I rushed off and followed the signs to Tram #1. As I came up out of the subway the tram was pulling up and I quickly got on hoping that my metro ticket was useable on the tram. I asked the tram driver, “Hetzgasse?” and he nodded, so I had confirmed I was at least going the right direction. I stood on the tram listening to the driver announce the next stops – but it was no use – I could barely read the language and I certainly couldn’t understand it yet. I opted for watching the signs out the windows and shortly I saw the sign for Hetzgasse and hopped off as nimbly as I could considering I was carrying about 50 pounds in my backpacks.

Thanks to good directions I was soon as the door of my new Go with Oh apartment in Vienna. The owner, Leo, greeted me warmly and showed me around the palatial apartment. I ooo’ed and ahhed at heated towel racks, a washing machine, blazing fast wifi, a coffee maker, and a complimentary bottle of wine. It was decorated in such a clean and sleek manner with everything properly placed. And from what I had seen of Vienna so far – I would have expected no less.

Disclosure: Go with Oh hosted my apartment lodging in Vienna. However, all of the opinions expressed here are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

Approaching clouds was the theme in week 2

Most of this week I felt like a cartoon character – the one with the big cloud over my head with rain pouring down just on me. However, instead of one cloud following me wherever I went along the Camino, there were multiple clouds all lined up and circling like planes at O’Hare airport trying to get their ‘ok’ to land. I could see them all off in the distance eyeing me and sometimes even taunting me. I imagined Mother Nature with a headset on sitting up in the air traffic controller’s booth communicating with each rain cloud. One after the other would come in for a landing leaving me soaked, cold, and frustrated.

Week 2 of the Camino (view my update from Week 1) has yielded another 99 miles (159 km) which brings me to a total of 189 miles completed out of the 441 mile total.   A little sobering to realize that I’m not even half way yet – but I can only go as fast as these two feet will take me!

Week two was a weather,elements, and gear battle on a mass scale for me. Yes, I know it’s just a little rain and I don’t melt – but tell that to my soaked feet cramped in squishy socks and shoes rubbing against blisters for 8 hours a day. You know how you look when you stay in the bathtub too long and your skin wrinkles – well imagine that on your feet after WAAAAYYY too long in the bathtub. Suffice it to say there were many, many expletives screamed at the top of my lungs this week in the middle of the countryside in Spain. There was a time where I was close to tears until Katherine turned around and handed me a huge chocolate bar right at my tear breaking point. I halted the pending tears and took the chocolate and sucked on it like a baby with a pacifier.

But – here’s the good news – I survived. I can still walk. I still have all of my toes (and partial skin on my heels). It wasn’t the end of the world. The Camino makes you stronger. It makes you realize that you can get through anything – even when you think you cannot. You can push your body and mind to new limits – and that’s exactly why I’m here.

Dark clouds provide a nice backdrop if you don't have to be outside walking!

Crosses dot the landscape along the Camino

Trees line our path in the meseta (high plains)

Weather and Gear

There’s really no where to run from the weather on the Camino. If you are lucky, you may be in a village when a storm passes through – but that happened only once for me. The rest of the time you just watch it come your way over the scenic rolling hills and brace yourself. We had rain, wind, cold, and the byproduct of all of this weather was mud – deep, clay-like mud.

The good news is that with the right gear you can combat some of these weather elements. The bad news is that I don’t really have the right gear much of the time. Since this is part of a longer trip around Europe in general for 5 months, I made the decision to hike the Camino in Saucony trail running shoes. They are perfect 75% of the time – they are light, flexible, and they keep cooler than boots. However in rain and mud they are not the right kind of shoes. In a downpour it doesn’t take long at all for them to get soaked through and my feet are squishing away in my socks. I have wool socks I’m using which are great as they dry quickly and withstand odor, but even they can’t stay dry in rain. In the deep mud the shoes are so light they about get pulled off my feet and I wobble around with no ankle support. The shoes have taken a massive beating, and I don’t know if they will last me the whole 450 miles, but they have survived so far. And on the plus side – they dry out super fast with a few newspapers inside of them. On dry days they are perfect – so I’m not sure that I made a wrong decision – most of the time the Saucony trail runners are good.

My rain poncho tore midway through the week and luckily a nearby village had a shop with expensive (unfortunately for my pocket book) ponchos. Supply and demand…what can you do? The store also had wool socks which I stocked up on since I have learned to carry about 3 pairs of dry socks with me in my day pack.

My trail shoes weren't meant for this!

Dark clouds headed my way

Katherine braving the elements

Physical

My body tingles at night when I sleep as my system is at work trying to repair all of the damage I’m doing during the day. Because of that I’m not getting great sleep, but overall, my body is adapting to the physical demands of walking every day. I start off each morning feeling pretty good and then the last 4 to 10k I tend to fall apart. Muscles hurt, my feet are in pain, and if I stop it’s worse to start up again. However I do feel stronger overall, and I have a voracious appetite which I hope I can curb at the end of this journey!

My blisters were getting better until the soggy rain – and now they continue to turn up all over in new spots and I continue to try to combat them. In fact my heel blisters, Jack and Jill, have decided to have children…blisters within blisters.  The big key is to try to get your feet and blisters dried out over night well. Every 2 hours I stop and take off my shoes and socks to let my feet breath and dry. Then I slather on Vaseline and take off again. I use more Vaseline than any human should. I have even started putting thread through my blisters in an attempt to keep them open, draining, and dried out. This photo isn’t for the squeamish.

Mental

This week has been a roller coaster of mental. On the tough days I have felt very mentally tough. As if I were in a war with Mother Nature I felt strong taking her on. And then, at the very last minute at a time when I wasn’t expecting it she would throw me a curve and it would make me mentally crumble. On the day we were walking 30k to Hontanas it was particularly brutal. We were up on a plain as the rain pelted us so hard it felt like pins on my flesh. But I was joyous, I felt invincible – listening to my ipod, singing, feeling stronger than ever. Until the last 4 k when the rain had stopped and there in front of us was a field of mud for the next 4k. This slowed me down to a snails pace and the mud was like clay on my shoes. It would build up around it and add about 2 pounds to each foot and you couldn’t shake it off. I felt like I was growing clowns feet. And this is what broke me mentally. By the time I arrived in Hontanas to a cute little albergue I was pissed off. Pissed at mother nature, but mainly pissed at myself that I couldn’t hold it together.

The next day something similar happened, and I have vowed that the thing I need to work on is to try to arrive at my destination in a better mood. No one likes to see an angry, pissed off pilgrim showing up at their albergue.

Passing through villages provides some time to think about something else other than weather!

What goes up must come down...right?

A big, rainy, windy descent

Lodging

This week was about experiencing some great lodging along the trail. When you are a pilgrim walking the trail you can stay at pilgrim albergues for low prices (from 4 to 10 Euros). After walking all day you simply want a place where you can sleep, eat, and get cleaned up…and have a beer or 3. That’s pretty much all the albergues offer – it’s very minimal. Sometimes you are sleeping in a room with 30 other people on bunkbeds.  Sometimes you are sleeping with only 6 other people (those are the good nights). For some unknown reason there are never any chairs near the bunkbeds – which really annoys me (the angry pilgrim). There is usually very little space to lay your backpack and there is a symphony of snoring that you can only combat by wearing ear plugs (I highly recommend the silicon ear plugs – they are the best). Sometimes the bunkbeds can be 3 high and you are literally 12 inches from the bunk bed next to you. Men and women are thrown together and generally you share shower and bathroom facilities (normally about 5 showers per 30 people). The good news is that I have always at least had hot water showers and I have confirmed the stereotype that Germans have no nudity issues like the rest of us.

However – a few places have been able to stand out among the minimalism of albergues.
Belorado Albergue Caminante – this was a typical albergue with 30 people crammed in a little space – but the owners made up for it in other ways. They were so nice, helpful and made a HUGE meal that you could easily overlook the cramped space. It was clean and the owners (a sister and brother) helped you in every way possible. They even had a warm fire in the common room and provided plenty of cold beer – a great atmosphere.
Ages Albergue San Rafael – was a maybe my favorite private albergue so far.  It was also run by the cutest brother and sister team ever. The rooms were small – only 4 beds to a room which was a blessing. The brother and sister made an amazing meal and were constantly joking around with you. This is a must stop place if you go through Ages.  And if you don’t stop in Ages – then I suggest that you organize your schedule to do so.  Pass up the crowded municiple albergue of San Juan Ortega and go the extra 5k to San Rafael in Ages.
Hontanas Albergue Santa Brigada – was also a small, private albergue that provided you ample space. Instead of cramming 30 beds into a space, they only put 6 in a space that could fit 30. It was only 3 years old and very modern and nicely designed with Pilgrims in mind.  They had a full service snack bar and store too. The only complaint – one bathroom for about 25 people, but the showers were absolutely lovely with ample room to set things and even a chair – bliss!
Boadilla Albergue en el Camino – was huge, cramped, chaotic – but once again the people there made the stay. The food was great, and the people I was crammed in a room with were even better.  They put up with my original arrival pissy mood and seriously changed my whole attitude.

Cathedral in Burgos along the trail

Camino markers along the meseta

Each Albergue/Hostal has their own stamp for your Pilgrim passport. Hostal LARS in Burgos

 Food

Welcome to the Pilgrim’s menu – this is a 3 course meal served with bottomless wine (note, no water…which is really annoying) all for about 7 to 10 euro. Every night restaurants and albergues offer a pilgrim’s menu at 7PM and the hungry pilgrims stuff their face. The choices are normally pretty basic (however some of the albergues I mentioned above had amazing choices and food which is what make them stand out). First course is soup or salad or pasta. Second course is always a variety of meat/fish and fries. Third course is ice cream, fruit, yogurt, or pudding. The quality ranges – and I normally expect pretty bland basic stuff – but for the price you can’t beat it. And as someone who is walking 25k a day – you don’t really care – you just want food.

During the day while I’m hiking I am constantly stuffing my face with bread, tortilla (sort of like egg and potato quiche), cans of tuna (to get a needed dose of protein), fruit, chocolate, and mixed nuts. You can always buy this food along the way at bars and shops in villages – unless of course when it’s Sunday and everything is closed.

Even the trees reflect along the Camino.

Storms brewing around us. Mother Nature can be moody.

Entering Hontanas...finally after 30 k of storms and the last 4k of mud...I've never been so happy to see a place.

People

By taking a rest day, I’ve met a whole new group of people who amaze me and make me laugh every night. This week I’ve met wonderful people from Hungary, Philippines, Brazil, Holland, Denmark, Canada, Germany, and Poland. I even met a couple in a room with 8 other people on bunkbeds who were honeymooning.  They had been married 7 days and chose this as a honeymoon – very cool.  By meeting these international pilgrims,  I not only feel like I’m traveling through Spain, but I’m traveling through various countries as you meet this international crowd and learn about their lives and countries. This is the beauty of the Camino and travel in general I believe.

Katherine and I have continued to journey together this week through the elements. We each have our good moments and bad moments – luckily never at the same time as the other. So even though we many times walk separately at our own pace depending on how we feel during the day – it’s a blessing to know that someone has your back. We ebb and flow throughout the day and eat together and pump each other up – and we laugh…brilliant laughter.  And sharing table with her and a gin and tonic are my highlights of the day!

My support team of Rayo Travel has been amazing this week – solving little problems for me along the way and providing encouragement. I’ve used their iphone app to find the great albergues I listed above as they came recommended. In addition, every morning my back thanks the JacoTrans luggage transport team who is transporting my bigger (very heavy) backpack from location to location daily. By utilizing JacoTrans it’s saving my feet and back…and mental attitude! They are invisible to me except via sms messages, as I leave my bag in the lobby each day when I leave and it turns up at the next destination like clockwork. They are an essential part of my Camino.

Onward to week 3!

Once again – after this journey is finished, I will be writing in more detail about gear, the trail, and experiences – so stay tuned!
If you are one of the wonderful people I met this week and gave my card to – please make sure you leave a comment below and say hello!

You can follow my journey along in ‘real time’ on my Facebook page – OttsworldTravel

Please leave comments and questions as your support as I walk is greatly appreciated and just knowing people are out there following me keeps me going!

View my first week of trials and tribulations on the trail as well as the first week of photography on the Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage.

Photography from Week 2 Camino:

A fallen cross in the Orthodox cemetery

If Venice is named the Floating City, then Cimitero San Michele should be named the Floating Dead.  Yes, it sounds eerie, but cemeteries can also be quite beautiful and moving to visit.  The Cimitero di San Michele has no shortage of moving stories and images.  The only way to get to it is via boat.  It’s a very quick trip out to the cemetery island and you can use your normal water bus pass to get there on the No. 41 or 42 vaporetto at the Fondamenta Nuove platform.

The island houses 3 different cemeteries; Catholic, Protestant, and Greek Orthodox sections vary greatly.  The Catholic section is well kept and groomed.  However, the Protestant and Orthodox sections are in disrepair.  I actually prefer the less coiffed cemeteries as it makes me stop and reflect more about the graves I’m looking at.  The toppled over crosses and gravestones leave many questions in my head; why did no one fix it, did no one care, is anyone in their family left, and the list goes on.

The bodies are of course transported by boat to the island in either a boat hearse, or a  funeral gondola.   Since the island has a finite amount of space, real estate is an issue.  The bodies are allowed to decompose for twelve years, at which point they’re dug up. The families can then pay to ‘extend their lease’ or the remains are moved.  Even when you have passed you are still moving around I guess.

The island is beautiful to photograph – go see for yourself!

The Catholic cemetery is stacked high

Rasaries are draped on a statue

Watering cans hung for flower maintenance

The Protestant cemetery

Graves in the Catholic section

The view of Cimitero from Venice

The grave of Sergei Diaghilev, the head of the Ballet Russe

A woman walks through the Catholic cemetery

Ladders are placed around the cemetery to reach the top grave-sites

Grieving statue

Flowers placed on a tomb

I’m not the only one who finds cemeteries beautiful – check out this website solely dedicated to Cemetery Travel!

Disclosure: Go with Oh hosted my apartment lodging in Venice. However, all of the opinions expressed here are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

Blood red oranges were in season and in abundance

The Rialto Market is buzzing with activity; boats pull up to docks and burly men unload crates of blood red oranges and artichokes, locals laugh and socialize with the shop keepers, and the fish mongers scale and prepare the fresh catches of the day.  This is the main market for locals on the island of Venice and it’s located beside the Rialto bridge. The surrounding area is full of great photo opportunities if you are willing to wander down some dead ends and get lost.   Be sure to come early in the morning to get the best pick of produce and fish.  Plus, if you want to see the general activity of the market then you must get up early!

I didn’t only go to take photos, I also decided to go to the market to get fresh, seasonal fruit and veggies to cook dinner at my cute little Venice apartment.  Going out to dinner in Venice can be really expensive, so having a kitchen allows you to save some money, and still have great Italian food.  Simply ask the fishmonger how to prepare a certain fish and he’ll gladly give you instructions.  By purchasing seasonal veggies and interacting with the shopkeepers, you’ve given yourself a great local experience during your time in Venice.  Just another reason why I love staying in apartments when I travel!

When you get to this clock tower, you know you are close!

Beautifully dressed local women buying fish

Colorful scallop shells

Rialto bridge - the namesake of the market

Unloading crates of fruit from the boat

The outdoor market is surrounded by beatiful, old buildings

Locals catching up on their way to/from the market

Tasty artichokes were in high season - found throughout the market

Thanks to the Go with Oh readers for this great Venice tip.  See all my favorite Venice travel tips I received.

From the Rialto market direct to my Go with Oh Apartment table! Cooking up a meal with friends in Venice!

Disclosure: Go with Oh hosted my apartment lodging in Venice. However, all of the opinions expressed here are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

St. Mark's Basilica (right) in San Marco Square dominates Venice

“Thou shall not steal” is known as the eighth commandment – Christianity is built on the Ten Commandments. Yet somehow the most holiest of places in Venice, St. Mark’s Basilica, exists thanks to people breaking the 8th commandment!

To my surprise I listened to our guide Giussepina talk about how everything we were looking at in and on the basilica was stolen…or as she so kindly put it – “borrowed”. It starts with the outside marble façade, to the famous horses on the top of the basilica, and finally the namesake of the church was also stolen and interned here at the altar – St. Mark himself!

St. Mark’s Basilica is the centerpiece of Venice and served as the Doge’s private chapel for centuries. As you gaze at its beauty outside look very closely at the walls and columns. Focus in on the marble designs and seams of the walls – what you are looking at is actually a patchwork quilt made of marble. The whole exterior is covered in marble that was stolen from Istanbul and brought back square by square and column by column. The marble was then ‘stitched’ together as the facade of St. Mark’s. No one column is like the other – look closely and you’ll realize that there really is no symmetry to this structure.

Look closely to see each 'stitched' together square of marble from Istanbul

A mosaic over one of the outside doors tells the story of how St. Mark’s body made it to the basilica as it’s final resting place. A few crafty Venetians went to Alexandria, Egypt where his body lay originally and stole it from the Muslims sneaking the body out by wrapping it in pork – quite a clever heist. Now St. Mark lies in the basilica at the altar.

Viewing the inside of the church is free yet there is normally a line. You can skip the line if you book ahead online for 1 Euro – a Venice tip many people aren’t aware of. The gold leaf mosaics at the entrance of the church have just been cleaned and restored and are looking particularly shiny. The inside is massive and full of more contraband marble from Turkey. But the real site to see is the altar where St. Mark rests.

St. Mark's final resting place - minus the pork products

Also at the altar you will find the ‘Pala d’oro’ one of the richest and most precious alters covered with more than 3000 precious stones and enamel icons inlaid in gold. Even though the entrance to the basilica is free, to view the altar you will have to pay a small fee. I thought it was worth it to see such a work of art. The ornate details and images were accompanied with large gems making me wonder just how much the Pala d’oro was worth!

The Golden Altar of Venice - look closely past all of the gold to see the precious gems!

The golden frescos of St. Marks are only lighted once a day starting at 11:30AM

Finally, we climbed the steep stairway in the front of the basilica to view the 4 bronze horses which were also originally stolen from Istanbul/Constantinople. In 1204, after the fall of Constantinople, Doge Enrico Dandolo brought them to Venice where they were placed on the façade of the basilica. However, with the fall of Napolean and the republic, the French looted everything they could carry including the four horses. They were returned to St Mark’s by the French government only in 1815. The famous horses had made a number of journeys but now are preserved and rest upstairs inside the Basilica. The ones outside are replicas.

The stolen horses have been around the world but now are in their final resting place upstairs at St. Marks

The 4 horse replicas outside on the balcony of St. Mark's

Giuseppina took us out on the balcony overlooking San Marco piazza for the fabulous view and pointed out the various historical sites around the piazza wrapping up our 4 hour tour of the Secret Passageways of Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Basilica. It was a long morning, but one filled with riveting stories and stunning sites.

My head was full, my stomach was empty, and my mind was swimming in the past.

This is the 2nd part of the Doges Palace ad St. Mark’s Basilica tour I took with Walks of Italy.  Read Part 1

The Good:

• Our guide Giuseppina was great – engaging and very knowledgeable.
• The secret passageways were completely worth it. To go through these two worlds of public life and private sentencing was fascinating. It was great to see these rooms that very few people get to see and to feel that you are all alone.
• Giuseppina ensured we were at the basilica at the right time so that we could see the frescos lit up inside. The lights are on only for an hour or so each day where you can actually see the intricate work of the mosaics.

The Could be Better:

• The tour was jam packed with information on two slightly different subjects – the Doges Palace and the Basilica. I felt as if I had to sort of rush through the Basilica in a way (yet we were able to stay there at the end and wander around at our own pace). The two buildings are sort of related, but a part of me thinks that the Secret Passageways alone would have been enough . However, I’m not complaining as we were able to get a complete tour of both sites!

Would I Recommend It?

Yes, it was a reasonable cost for the amount of time and thoroughness of the tour. Plus, the special, private viewing of the Chancellor rooms holds a lot of value.

More Information:
Website: www.walksofitaly.com
Secret Passageways of the Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Basilica Tour
Cost – € 98

Disclosure: Walks of Italy hosted my Secret Passageways Tour in Venice. However, all of the opinions expressed here are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

The Basilica from above

The exterior of the elegant & secretive Doge's Palace

Put the word “secret” in front of anything and you’ll get people’s attention. It congers up thoughts of voyeurism, hushed tones, sneaking around, mafia, politics, and religion. Putting the words “Doge’s Palace” behind it creates even more allure…that is if you know what the Doge’s Palace is.

If you’ve set foot in Venice, then you’ve probably heard of the Doge’s Palace – but like me you may not have known what it is. I had been to Venice previously and even though I had heard of the landmark, I didn’t really know what it was about. In fact, all I really knew about Venice was gondolas and canals so on this trip I was determined to learn more. The words “Secret Passages of Doge’s Palace” had me hooked and I signed up for the Walks of Italy VIP tour hoping to learn about the secrets of Venice as well as what in the world the Doge’s Palace was.

The Doge's Palace from the outside - what goes on behind the exterior?

Giuseppina, our guide, met us at San Marco square and walked us to the Bridge of Sighs explaining what we should expect on this secret tour. As Giuseppina dished out information I quickly realized this secret Doge’s Palace wasn’t as much about prisons, questionable practices, or horrible torture as I had originally thought, but instead it was about politics.

The Doge’s Palace was basically similar to the White House, it was the home to the Doge (Governor/Mayor) of Venice. The Doge was elected by the people and held office for a lifetime. There were many people the Doge worked with such as advisors and the Senators that (supposedly) ensured that no one group could have all the power. Sound familiar? Much of the American democratic system is modeled after Venice.

Ancient Venice was all about Silk Road trade, politics, and justice. The Doges Palace was not only a place for the Doge to live, but behind the walls of the palace is where law and justice were determined. Justice was swift at the Doge’s palace and ranged from prison terms to be-headings, to simply disappearing.  One can see ‘mail slots’/masks around the outside of the building in the shape of lion’s mouths marked Per Denontie Segrete (“For Secret Denunciations”) for those who wished to call attention to individuals stealing from the state or otherwise violating the law.  If you lived in Venice in those days, you had to be wary of anyone since your neighbor or ‘friend’ could place your name on a slip of paper and into the lion’s mouth.  Death sentences were without appeal, and their proceedings were all done in the secret passages of the Palace.

A place for secret denunciations, just slip a piece of paper in it's mouth...

We entered the palace and walked up the ornate golden staircase into the formal rooms lavishly decorated to demonstrate the great wealth Venice possessed. We walked through the massive committee, tribunal, and senate rooms as well as the large ballroom – each room looking more regal than the next. The high ceilings and lifelike paintings swallowed me and made me feel small. But if you concentrated and looked closely past all of the gold and ornamentation you’ll see it, a little door. This is where the secrets began.

Golden staircase

Giuseppina and a palace docent led us through the secret door and our whole world changed. Gone were the gold walls, high ceilings, and paintings – we were surrounded by wood floors, with low wooden ceilings, and very few windows. (no pictures allowed in this part of the palace…so I guess it will remain a secret) The furnishings were sparse and the dimly lit room was cold. The previous rooms were for the public, but these passageways were not open to the public as this is where all of the secret work of the Venice Empire took place.

The Chancellor was the ruler of this part of the Palace and he dished out sentences and torture upon the accused. We walked through the Chancellor’s office, which was quite small considering the power the man had. But it was in alignment with the rest of the secret rooms – dark, wooden, and very little natural light. We learned about the various forms of physical and mental torture applied and the types of sentencing that could occur.

Prison cell (not in the secret section)

Upon sentencing the condemned would be sent to a prison. The prisoner’s last bit of freedom was their walk over the bridge connecting the palace with the prison across the canal. The bridge had a couple of little windows where the prisoners could look out and see their family before heading into confinement. It was said that you could hear the prisoner’s sighs on their way to prison – hence the name Bridge of Sighs.

Bridge of Sighs connecting the Doge's Palace (left) to the prison (right)

Giuseppina took us to the cell of the famous Casanova and explained how he escaped this seemingly impenetrable fortress. We also saw how the fortress was built as we examined the inventive architecture from viewpoint of the attic. During this whole time we never saw another person or tour group – it felt as if we were the only ones there.

As secretly as we went in, we popped back out another little door into the world of wealth and privilege – engulfed in the sea of tourists looking upwards at the frescoes. It felt like the Chancellor’s office and rooms were but a dream as they were so different and only a wall separated the two worlds.

A Doge’s Palace visit wouldn’t be complete without an inside view of the Bridge of Sighs. We walked over the Bridge of Sighs to the prison; my body felt heavy as I thought about what it may feel like hundreds of years ago to make this journey.

The ornate window of the Bridge of Sighs

Sigh....my last look at freedom

We were able to see all parts of the Doge’s palace, inside and out and I was enthralled with learning about Venice’s role in the world of trading, finance, and justice; as well as it’s secret life which few people get to see.

The tour continued to St. Mark’s Basilica, which will be covered tomorrow!

More Information:
Website: Walks of Italy
Secret Passages Tour

The corridor connecting Doge's Palace with St. Mark's Basilica

See all of my Venice Travel Tips

Disclosure: Walks of Italy hosted my Secret Passageways Tour in Venice. However, all of the opinions expressed here are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

Finishing up the first 90 miles

I am so happy to not be walking today. This body has made it 90 miles in 6 days through rain, wind, mud, hail, and heat – I deserve a break. My Camino de Santiago journey is in full swing – however, my body still seems to be rebelling against the idea.

As you recall, I started this 450 mile journey knowing very little about what to expect and with very little preparation, but in 6 days I have learned a lot. I have learned what NOT to do with blisters (through my own trial and error unfortunately!), how to find my way on the trail, how to find lodging and food, how to know when I need a break, how to stay (somewhat) dry, and how to maintain a positive attitude when you feel like you can’t go any further. Rayo Travel has been a huge cheerleader for me contacting me daily and assisting me with anything they can. I’ve been utilizing their iphone application to find lodging, food, and pharmacies on the way as well as stay connected online. In addition, the wonderful men at JacoTrans who are transporting my luggage daily have been a God send. Showing up and having access to my bag and clean dry things at the end of a day is wonderful. Plus – lessening the weight of what is on my back is essential. I have an amazing team behind me!

To follow the trail, you simply follow the arrows...they are everywhere...

Or you can follow the scallop shell markers through the towns which point you in the direction to Santiago.

Arrow made of rocks by a pilgrim

Sometimes you get arrows and scallop shells at the same time!

Scallop markers lead me through Estella

I won’t lie; it has been a struggle for me on a grand scale. As a pilgrim walking the trail in essence you are really stripped of your normal life accouterments and your life is simplified on a grand scale. I consider this a type of hard reboot of life– as if you were a computer humming along with a myriad of applications open and running and someone suddenly pulls the plug. Boom – darkness. Start over. Food becomes simplified and suddenly you get great joy out of eating tuna out of a tin can with bread. A shower is pure bliss and having a bed to lie down in is a whole new type of high.

This first week I have spent dreaming about all of the great gear that is perfect for this type of journey and thinking about how it is all sitting back in my storage unit in NYC. I have been walking in trail running shoes, which are ok for about 75% of the time. But the 25% through rain and mud leaves me dreaming of my hiking boots in storage.

Walking Progress

I’ve gone 90 miles in 6 days leaving from Pamplona. I shocked my body by climbing over Alto de Perdon (a historic high pass) the first day and if that wasn’t hard enough Mother Nature decided to throw hail down upon us and kick up the wind as we climbed. Gail force winds joined me the next day but luckily they were at my back most of the day pushing me along. I walked through fields and fields of green wheat grass that would blow as if it were a giant wave in the ocean – a mesmerizing sight. The following days provided a little sunshine and then a lot of rain. I realized the challenges of walking the Camino trail in running shoes as opposed to my hiking boots as the water soaked through. But – you make the best of what you have and keep going – with plastic bags on my feet! The rain left rivers of mud as an obstacle for the next day. The mud was caked on my shoes and I slipped along slowly trying not to lose a shoe. After two 20 mile days in a row in tough weather and trail conditions, my body was screaming for a rest in Santa Domingo and I happily obliged.

It feels as if my physical body and mind are no longer working together, instead they are struggling against each other in a battle of the wills. It’s as if they’ve gone through a messy breakup and are trying to sabotage each other in a myriad of ways.

Flowers along the trail

It never fails - the towns are always build on a hill it seems! So that means we have to go up and over!

It's not easy being green...views from the trail

Physical Hurdles

My body just aches. I walk gingerly and often find odd noises coming out of my mouth as I try to move through the aches and pains. It’s worse than when I used to run marathons as there’s no end in sight. My heels are screaming for me to stop – they have formed two big blisters on them in an attempt to try to convince my mind to stop. My mind isn’t listening though – it just keeps putting Band-Aids on the blisters and keeps going. I’ve actually developed a number of blisters and have to sit and try to treat them in the lovely process of popping, draining, and disinfecting them – a nightly ritual. If you want to actually see the blisters you can view them on my Facebook page – I’ve named them Jack and Jill.

Beyond the blisters my heels are just absolutely sore. My knee was screaming in pain for the first couple of days, but with better stretching of my calf and hamstring it has seemed to fall into line for a little while. I’m sure I will hear from it again though. On day 3 my shoulders and back decided to make itself known to me and started screaming at the weight I was carrying. I tried to tell them that it could be worse if it wasn’t for JacoTrans transporting my other bag and then I satiated their hurt feelings with Tiger Balm. Yes, I’m back to using Tiger Balm and you can smell me coming down the trail. As a final blow, in the evenings my rash on my legs flares up caused from the constant friction burn from my walking pants – joy. I think my most visited shop is the pharmacy.

Another stormy day ahead

The church in Los Arcos as I was leaving that morning

Walking past farmland

Mental Hurdles

The one thing to realize about such a physical, long distance challenge is that it’s 50% physical and 50% mental. Your mind will get you through many hardships and the mind is the most powerful and integral muscle in your body. My mind has been stretched to the limits and it has surrendered to the trail. It tells my achy limbs to keep going no matter what, and it provides me with lucid thoughts to get me through the times where I want to just give up.

My mind’s natural tendency is to worry. Worry about everything – my shoes, my feet, my knee, my gear, my lodging, my food, my lack of understanding of Spanish, my lack of training, and of course about what is ahead of me. But after 6 days it’s getting closer to kicking into ‘present’ mode – the mode where it just deals with the moment and doesn’t project. This is a good place to be. It simply knows that it has to keep me walking right now, right here.

A wood puzzle along the trail

Dark skies keep me moving fast!

Surrounded by flowers and olives!

Social Joys

The beauty of the Camino is the variety of amazing people you meet along the journey and in 6 days I’ve made friendships which I know will last my lifetime. I’ve heard stories that have made me cry, gasp, and laugh. People are walking this journey for a number of reasons and no two seem to be alike. I love meeting/seeing people, checking in for a few miles, and then knowing that you will see them again sometime in a few days.  However a day doesn’t go by where I don’t wish I had brought my father to do this with me.  He would have loved it and I’m already plotting in my head how I can bring him ‘next time’.

I met a beautiful Spanish family (mother/father/daughters/son-in-law) from Madrid who are walking together for a week and doing the whole Camino trail in sections as family vacations. And it was a lovely German man, Manfred, who helped me treat my blisters and Sabina (Danish) and Larry (American) who brought my spirits up when I needed it most one night. Sue from San Diego has inspired me with her story and I look forward to seeing her along the trail every day to see how she’s doing.

Katherine (left) and the whole Spanish family enjoying a well deserved dinner in Santa Domingo

But it is one person who has lifted me up and got me through this week – Katherine from the UK. This is her 2nd Camino journey and her wisdom and humor is worth more than gold bars to me. We briefly met the first day I walked and then came back together on Day 4 and have been walking partners ever since. We have bonded in this journey and I wonder if I could have got this far without her support. Sometimes friendships just click and an immediate rapport is achieved – I feel like we’ve known each other for years, but it’s only been a couple of days. We take care of each other when we need it – and I am thankful that she was sent my way.

Tomorrow I walk on…and on and on. I wonder what and who this week will bring!

You can follow along in ‘real time’ on my Facebook page – OttsworldTravel

Please leave comments and questions as your support as I walk is greatly appreciated and just knowing people are out there following me keeps me going!

View my first week photography on the Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage:

A gondolier hops from boat to boat near Rialto Bridge

They are everywhere you look in Venice; you will spot them by their blue stripes and spastic leg movements.  Some of them even have a special song they sing.  However, they are quite rare as only about 400 of them exist in the wild…the wilds of Venice that is.

Gondoliers maneuvering their sleek, black gondolas are the symbol of Venice; the canals are like veins carrying blood to the heart (Rialto Bridge).  Much like being a NYC taxi driver, it’s not easy to become a Venice Gondolier.  The boat is expensive, but even more troublesome is that there are only a few (aprox. 400) licenses provided.  You must pass a test  to even have a chance of getting your license, but very few new licenses are given.  They mainly go to men and they mainly are passed down through a family.

I endlessly wandered the streets and alleys looking for the best vantage points and shots of these striped men and their boats.  However, on this trip I was able to do a little first hand research of the gondoliers.  I took a ride for 20 minutes around the canals and was serenaded by my gondolier, Little John, who also periodically blew me kisses.  I of course loved him.  I watched as he knew just the right time to push off the wall with his foot ensuring we would make it around the corner, while not missing a beat in the tune he was singing.  Gliding through the canals was a peaceful dream and I’m glad I did it at least once in my lifetime.

I have collected all of my best gondola photography taken from Little John’s boat, the bridges, and the walkways so you too can see how the striped men on the water live.

Foggy mornings make the Gondolas appear even more mystical

Gondola parking

Crossing the canal with locals

Parallel Parking

Pushing Off - a typical gondola maneuver

The official uniform

The Gondola perspective

Little John at the helm

Gondolas at Rialto Bridge

Gondola on the Grand Canal

Gondola from above

If you are interested in purchasing any of these photos, simply click on the photo for more information.

Colorful Burano Island

“You have to go to the islands! You have to go to the islands!” everyone kept telling me. Clearly they didn’t fully appreciate my neurosis regarding how stubborn I am. I can’t help it, if everyone keeps telling me to do something, then I really am skeptical about it and the less and less I want to do it. The more I heard about Murano and Burano the more skeptical and disinterested I became.

But then someone mentioned the magic word – cimitero. “What’s that? There’s a cemetery island too?” I thought. Visiting an island of the dead, now you’ve got my attention.

Julie and I navigated through the winding streets and canals of Venice to get to Fondamenta Nove water bus stop on the northern edge of the historic center. Of course we got hopelessly lost as I stopped to take photos and took wrong turns, but eventually we made it and squeezed onto a water bus heading for San Michele Cemetery.

Cimitero di San Michele

The island actually houses 3 separate cemeteries; a Catholic, Protestant, and an Orthodox graveyard. Each have a distinct personality to it and you’ll know immediately when you pass from one to another. In the Catholic section the remains are interred in high rows of tombs, resembling chests of drawers. There are photos of the deceased on the outside of the ‘drawer’ providing an interesting step back in time.

The stacked graves of the Catholic Cemetery

The Orthodox Cemetery has a completely different feel

Some interesting facts about the cemetery island:
• The bodies are allowed to decompose for twelve years, at which point they’re dug up. The families can then pay to ‘extend their lease’ or the remains are moved.
• In the past, the dead were transported by a funeral gondola and procession (it’s unclear if this still happens today)
• There are a few famous graves on the island; composer Igor Stravinsky and his wife Vera lie in the Orthodox cemetery as well as Sergei Diaghilev the head of the Ballet Russe who brought Russian dancers to the West and changed the history of ballet.

Murano

We squeezed back into the water bus (seriously, no claustrophobia allowed here) that passed by the Cimitero and we got off at the next island of Murano. Murano is the home of glass blowing. And, well…that’s exactly all there was to it. There were glass blowing factories, a museum (which was slightly expensive for me), and hundreds and hundreds of shops selling the same things made of murano glass.

Murano glass sculpture in one of the piazzas

Hand blown glass horse

Colors used in glass blowing

To accompany the hundreds of shops, there were thousands of tourists milling about and some restaurants and cafes catering to those tourists.

Very honestly – this island was hell to me. It existed for one thing, to sell to tourists; like a floating mall that I couldn’t get off of until the next boat came. And if you are like me and didn’t really want to buy any blown glass, it was a pretty big waste of time. Ok, I’m being a little harsh as I know plenty of people like to shop, but it just didn’t do much for me. There were a few lovely glass sculptures placed in piazzas, but not nearly enough to entertain me for long. However we spent the afternoon there having lunch and seeing a glass blowing demonstration; I don’t regret it, but next time I would skip it.

Burano

I had been told that this island was picture perfect – a rainbow of colors and cuteness oozed out of it like a newborn baby and it’s tiny little feet. Oozing cuteness is not normally my thing, but I have to admit I was excited about the photography opportunities there. I purposefully did not look at a single image of Burano before going there so that I could be surprised and find my own creativity.

Burano is known for fishing and lace making, so of course you’ll find plenty of lace shops catering to tourists there. However the colorful fishing houses which line the canals are the real draw; it looks as if an Easter egg exploded all over the island! There are even strict rules about painting your house in Burano according to Wikipedia – “if someone wishes to paint their home, one must send a request to the government, who will respond by making notice of the certain colours permitted for that lot.”

Even the little alleys are colorful in Burano

The houses have strict color rules to follow.

It was lovely to photograph, but in my opinion the island had a weird feel to it; full of tourists mulling about and very few locals were seen. I wondered if a trip there in the early morning hours would yield scenes of fishermen taking out their boats and give it all a more natural feel.  The island and houses were so picture perfect it was a bit eerie to me, as if Mickey and Minnie were going to jump out from behind a pink home and start waving! Clearly my blood sugar was low and a gelato stop helped my attitude before heading back to the island of Venice on a long boat ride.

Overall, the advice to “Go to the islands!” was pretty sound if you are a typical tourists just looking to shop and take some photos. However if you have only a few days in Venice, then choose wisely based on your travel style.  For me, I loved the photography of Burano, but honestly I could have been just as happy sitting at the Cimitero di San Michele all day and taking photos! The beauty of travel is that it’s different for everyone!

More information:
I found this extremely helpful site on how to organize your self guided Venice Islands Tour from Europe for Visitors
If you are planning a trip to the islands – this should have everything you need in the way of water bus directions, advice, and what to do on the islands.
They warn you in the articles that the water buses can be crowded and they are (and we were in the off season!). I think that potentially doing the islands backwards may make things less crowded as you would be going the opposite way of the crowds. Start at Burano and then go to Murano and stop at the Cimitero at the end if possible.

What’s that? You want see more of the islands?!  We took lots of video footage in Venice so be sure to check out the videos provided by Go with Oh!
View video footage of my visit to the islands

View Burano and Murano Photography:

Disclosure: Go with Oh hosted my apartment lodging in Venice. However, all of the opinions expressed here are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

The skies opened up upon my arrival at the Venice train station

My arrival in Venice was a bit bleak as I looked out the train window. “It can’t rain on my short 4 days in Venice! I have too many fun tips to do for it to rain!” I thought.

Venice was the second stop on my Go with Oh Blogger Tour and I had chosen it as one of my 4 cities because I had always wanted to stay in Venice. I had actually been to Venice once before on my original career break, however I was on a severe budget and stayed off the island and took a boat taxi every day to go explore which was good for my pocket book, but it was a bit of a pain.

This time I was in the heart of Venice, in this palatial apartment thanks to Go with Oh!
Luckily I didn’t stay in this place all alone, instead I had my friend Julie, Katrina, and Dario with me for a few nights there since it had 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms! It was a great homebase from which to explore, and we even spent some nights ‘in’ cooking dinner for ourselves!

I will be writing in much more detail about some of the twitter travel tips and sites, plus some new ones I found on my own. But for now this is a great collection of some of my favorite tips which led me around Venice…and yes, they got me lost!

Wine Tip

What can I say…I love wine, and I love wine even more when it can be bought in bulk…and it actually still good tasting! So, it may be no surprise that this was my pick for the Go with Oh tip winner!
@olga_valentin You can also take an empty water bottle/jug to a wine shop & fill it up with GOOD red wine for just a few euro

Do the Traditional:

@Maria_Kristjans take a gondola ride:)

For the first time I actually did take a Gondola ride with Julie. We found that it is possible to negotiate prices with the Gondoliers, and if you go in the middle of the day (like we did) you can negotiate quite a bit. The demand is much higher in the evening for the romance seekers. We talked our Gondolier, Little John, down to 60 Euro and off we went! Little John was quite a catch since he sang to us the whole time. I guess he thought he’d supply his own romance! The vantage point of the gondola was great for photography!

Little John getting warming up his voice!

@VickiFletcher88 Tip #1: Go to the peaceful and pretty old Jewish ‘Ghetto’ on Cannereggio where the word originated from.

Julie and I walked through the lovely Jewish Ghetto and even stopped and had a picnic lunch with this view dangling our feet over the canal and soaking up the sun!  A great way to spend little to no money if you take your own lunch and wander – sometimes the hidden spots have the best views.

A fun lunch spot near the Jewish Ghetto.

@GQtrippin chase pigeons in St. Mark’s Sq! Lol

Oh yes…a must do!

Pigeon coming in for a landing in San Marco Square

How to be Local in Venice:

See the markets and shop like a local
@JBCanepa To experience Venice like a local visit the Rialto Market in the early morning for some fresh food and homemade gifts!
@thetravolution Check out fresh market at Rialto Bridge in the morn! U can beat the public eating ban and picnic in St.Elena gardens!

Markets and me…well, we were a match made in heaven!  Of course I made a stop at the Rialto Market. We even picked up food for dinner that night!

Artichokes were in season at the Rialto Market!

Drink Like a Local

@olga_valentin Join the locals in aperitivo w/ the orange coloured drink Spritz (Campari, white wine & sparkling water)

Julie and I enjoying our Spritz

Eat at little cafes
@kets_1 make friends with a singing gondolier! (you find them in cafés)

I did actually see a gondolier having a drink and a panini at a little local café, but I can’t say that I made friends with him. But I did find that little cafes are the best place to experience local life. All the locals eat standing up!  In addition, I learned the the locals start drinking at 10AM, and of course I joined them…standing up.

Go to the Islands:

@wanderingwyatt my best Venice travel tip is to be sure to get to the little islands, like Murano! Oh, and have some tiramisu gelato.

I did a whole day of travel around the islands of Murano and Burano and a very special stop at the Cimitero (the island cemetery). Want to guess which one was my favorite? The water taxi’s take you there and can get rather crowded – so my best advice is to go early and do them backwards. Start with Burano (the colorful fishing village), then go to Murano (the glass blowing island) , and then make a stop at the Cimitero on the way back to Venice!  Oh yes, I did have gelato that day too!

Burano

Murano Glass

Cimitero - an island of graves

Get Lost!

@Littleleona Hi! best tip on Venice is to look up.. High on the walls are directions to the nearest main bridge..You can’t get lost!

I loved this tip and used it every day. Pretty much every corner had an arrow to either the Rialto bridge or San Marco Square. This really made it about impossible to get lost – and it also made for some great photos.

Signs in Venice were sometimes confusing!

@chipoblana No specific advice, but a heads up: you WILL get lost in Venice and that will lead you to wonderful discoveries!!!

I specifically took time to simply wander with no plan, the smaller the street the better and I purposefully went to see dead ends. I took my time, and my camera. These were a few of the ‘surprises’ I found when I was lost.

Venice alleys

I went right up to the edge of the canal and look what I found.

@aileenagan take the ‘wrong’ water bus on purpose and get to see another part of Venice. tht happened to us!

I accidentally did this on the my day in Venice as I was trying to head to the train station early in the morning. I intended to get on the ‘express’ perimeter water bus, but ended up on a Grand Canal water bus. It ended up yielding the best boat trip down the Grand Canal that I took. Here’s why:

These tips should get you started for your stay in Venice, but there are many more where those came from! To see a complete list of all the tips including some great money saving ones, check out the Go with Oh Venice Tips. Thanks for all of the advice!

Also – check out my Go with Oh first stop and the great Rome Travel Tips I received!

Here’s a little secret, I’m not where you think I am.

Do you think I’m in Naples? Surprise, I’m not. In fact, I’ve been to 4 countries since I was in Naples and I’m currently in Pamplona, Spain. It’s impossible to travel at this pace (6 countries in 7 weeks) and be able to keep up with the work of a blogger. What’s that…you are surprised that bloggers work?! Well, keep in mind that my job as a travel blogger is to make you wish you were somewhere else. It doesn’t seem like that would be hard, but it is and it’s most definitely work!

So in order to continue writing about my European adventures as the Go with Oh Blogger, and to keep you slightly up to date on my current happenings, I’m starting a new section for a few weeks called “Postcards from (Fill in blank with exotic city/village here)” to be posted on Mondays. This is where I will be real time on that Monday and what I’m doing.

So – even though I’ve only just started writing about my Go with Oh experiences across Europe, my gig with them is currently finished and I’m in Pamplona now ready to begin my next adventure.

What is the next adventure?

I’m going to walk 441 miles (711 Km) across Spain for the next 5 weeks.

The road ahead of me...

I’m preparing to leave tomorrow and this will begin my Pilgrimage of the Camino de Santiago trail across Northern Spain. To be honest – I’m quite nervous about the whole thing.

Research

I’ve done no research on this trek, and have no idea what to expect. This has been partially because I’ve been quite busy with other things taking up my time, but also a large part due to the fact that I like surprise. I like to experience things with new eyes and not have expectations. This is probably the least amount of research and planning I’ve ever done for such a big trek; the longest trek I’ve ever done. I simply know that I put one foot in front of the other and walk. Walking is not rocket science, and you don’t necessarily need a detailed plan for every step – at least that’s what I keep telling myself.  Yes – I know there are guides and movies out there that could give me lots of info; however, I’ve made a conscience decision to not look at them becuase I’d rather experience it with new eyes and discover it for myself.

Here’s what I know:

Yeah for baggage transport!

The route I’m walking (Camino Frances) will be a total of 441 miles. It should take me 33 days including 4 rest days planned. I will walk an average of 14 miles a day – every day (this is the number that scares me). I will be doing this solo, but of course I expect to meet people along the way to talk to! I will walk into my destination for the day and find a pilgrim albergues to sleep in. This is basically a low cost bed for pilgrims walking the trail; sort of like a dorm. I will have my big backpack transported for me by JacoTrans  (a luggage transporter for the Camino) every day and will plan on carrying about 12 to 15 pounds with me in a day pack (mainly my camera, lenses, layers, first aid kit, water) I will eat at villages along the way whenever I feel like it. I will go as high as 4,970 Ft. I don’t know Spanish. I will get blisters. I will be sore. I will probably cry at some point (tears of joy or of pain).

Here’s what I don’t know:

What is the historical importance of this Pilgrimage. How many people will be on the trail with me. I don’t know my route or how I am supposed to find my way. I don’t know anything about of the towns I will be going through. I don’t know what I will see. I don’t know how I will do laundry. I don’t know if my knee will hold up.  I don’t know if I packed warm enough clothes.

Finally, I don’t fully know why people do this trek, but I know why I’m doing it.

I love hiking and it seemed like a great challenge. I sort of have a goal to do all the great hikes in the world and I feel like I’ve accomplished my share (Kilimanjaro, Inca Trail, Annapurna Circuit, Mt. Kinabalu, Half Dome, Milford Trek – to name a few)

Mt. Kinabalu Summit, Borneo

I also wanted time to slow down and reflect upon my current situation. I think I have been going so fast and furious these last 2 years that I have not had a chance to actually consider what I’ve accomplished and most importantly – where I’m going. Five weeks of alone time and slow walking should provide me plenty of time to reflect. I have no idea what will come out of it, but I do hope that some clarity appears in some aspects of my life.

Don’t fear, I have help:

The Rayo phone app I will use

Rayo to the rescue! Rayo is a company who I’m utilizing to help lead me into this unknown. They have a cool iphone/ipad application which will guide me every step of the way. They provide trail maps, and with the phones GPS function the application will let you know exactly where you are at all times. This way you know exactly how far you have to walk to get to the next albergue or the next café/market, and obviously, insure you don’t get lost or make a wrong turn. It also provides details on all of the historical sites you pass and even has a translator so that when I arrive in a town in desperate need of Band-Aids, I will be able to ask for them in Spanish. Finally it will also provide me a 3G connection throughout the trail so I can upload iphone photos and keep as plugged in as I’d like.

I’m really excited to try the Rayo application out as they have been super to work with thus far!

How can you follow my Pilgrimage? I have an easy answer…

My new Facebook Page! If you hadn’t heard, I have finally started a real Ottsworld Travel Page on Facebook as opposed to the personal profile that I had been utilizing before. So to christen the new FaceBook page, I will be providing daily short updates on my trek. I expect in the beginning there will be many pictures of blisters and me whining about how sore I am, but hopefully that will give way to lots and lots of great photos and little snippets about the trail and my experiences. So as I make my way to Santiago, you can make your way over to my new Facebook page! Simply go ‘Like’ my new Facebook page and follow along, and please leave me some comments!

Click Me!

Finally, not only will I be taking photos with my new camera I bought, but I also have another cool new toy in the world of photography – the new Lytro camera. The rectangular looking camera that lets you focus the shot after you take it.The folks at Insure My Trip have loaned me the camera for a few months so I get to test it out and see how this new technology works.

I take off tomorrow and have no idea what to expect – but that’s just the way I like it. ‘See’ you in a week!

The roof of an old indoor shopping are in Naples

I never spent longer than 30 minutes in Naples prior to this trip; however that 30 minutes did yield one of he scariest cab rides I’ve ever taken! Since Bethany and I were on a quest to have the best pizza in Naples, we got to spend more then 30 minutes in Naples this time. We spent a whole afternoon eating pizza, walking around the streets, trying deserts, going into churches, and seeing castles; all thanks to our hosts Dario and Katrina. They used to live in Naples, so it was a real treat to walk around with people who knew the city. Naples is one of those cities that is very easy to be intimidated by, and having a local show you around brings that intimidation factor down. In fact, I now think of Naples as a cute little kitten as opposed to the man-eating lion I vision I had from my previous visit.

The streets were filled with people and traffic was horrible, so we were better off on foot. Thanks to our slow walking pace we were able see and photograph some cool sites such as this tree mixed in with graffiti art (my favorite tree ever by the way). I would have loved to spend more time there and explore the narrow laundry lined streets and allies. The streets looked like a giant Christmas tree with lights and decorations strung from branch to branch in the form of laundry.

I’ve still only barely scratched the surface of Naples, but now since it’s a fuzzy little kitten in my mind, I think I’ll be planning a trip back!

Where are your favorite places in Naples?

Probably my favorite mix of graffiti and real life that I've seen.

The Piazza del Plebiscito, one of Naples' largest public squares.

Pizza Margherita from Sorbillos

Laundry strung like garland on a Christmas tree

A cannonball hole in the Castle door still remains

A stop in a moody church

Naples Piazza

Early kings ruled from the Castel Nuovo.

The Beehive Recomends guide

Rome is buzzing – can you hear it? It’s near the termini and the buzz is indeed from a Beehive. Don’t fear, it’s not the winged gold and black bees feeding off of the spring flowers in bloom, it’s my favorite ‘hotel’ in Rome.

Why the cheesy quotes around ‘hotel’ you ask? They are there because I’m not really sure how to describe the Beehive, it doesn’t feel like a hotel, it’s not really a true hostel, but it’s the coolest place to stay near the Termini. Even after talking to Linda, the owner, for a few hours hanging out and sharing travel stories, I still didn’t really know how to categorize this unique lodging option; but I do know that it has a mojo that has brought me back multiple times. This was my 3rd stay at the Beehive over the course of 4 years, and it gets better every time!

What made this most recent stay memorable was the fact that I was able to meet Linda and her family and hear their story first hand. Linda is a kindred travel spirit who has a passion for supporting travel in every way possible; her business is travel, but her love of travel goes way beyond the business and the Beehive. Since I was there last in 2007, she and her husband took a sabbatical from the Beehive and left it in the capable hands of their staff to opt for living in Bali for a year. A year turned into two as they realized the many benefits of raising a family in a foreign environment and the benefits of a sabbatical in general. This short afternoon with Linda opened my eyes and refocused me in many ways. Don’t you just love it when good people rub off on you?

The common area in the Beehive is filled with family memories

Check out these great videos the Beehive has made about various aspects of getting around and staying in Rome. They are cast with her 3 daughters and are a great example of how easy it is to be ‘local’ in Rome as well as an indication of the overall atmosphere of the Beehive.

They built the BeeHive concept from the ground up and are continuing to expand it into new and unique lodging options for Rome. While I was there I was lucky enough to experience two of their lodging options.

Beehive Hotel

Location:
Just two blocks from Termini the yellow building with a cute garden patio are a welcome site. But an even better site is the helpful staff – who actually remembered me after 4 years of being away. The central location is perfect to catch metros or buses or simply stroll to sites in the Historic Center. Plus, if you are traveling outside of Rome, it’s a great location near to the Termini.

Rooms and Amenities:
You have a choice of staying in the cheaper dorm room which houses a few bunkbeds in a comfortable airy room, or you can stay in a private room with shared bathrooms. The private rooms are a great bargain if you are traveling as a couple or a family but they still give you the social fun of being in a hostel like environment with common areas and a little café downstairs open for breakfast and snacks.

The Beehive cafe

They provide a great Rome Recommendation Guide as soon as you reserve your room so you can start to use that to make plans. It covers their favorite ‘local’ restaurants, shopping, activities by neighborhood, and a whole section on Holistic Rome which includes organic food markets, yoga studios, and massage options. This guide is better than anything you’ll get from a guide book; it’s much more personal. I used the guide to find a place to eat in Termini neighborhood one night and it was a great local place where all of the patrons were speaking Italian!

Bee Hive café serves healthy options for breakfast as well as snacks and drinks throughout the day. They also have brunch which runs all afternoon on the weekends.

All of the other standards are available – free wifi throughout, towels, hair dryers, safes, an internet connected computer, books, magazines, and patio.

They also offer extremely reasonable massage at the Beehive. For 35 to 45 Euro you can get a 50 minute massage from a trained masseuse who will come in and work out all of your kinks from carrying luggage!

Atmosphere:
That’s what keeps me coming back. The staff are extremely helpful even allowing me to send them things to print at the front desk, providing restaurant and transportation recommendations. They simply take good care of the place as if it were their own home. It’s bright and cheerful throughout every room, bathroom, and shared space. The downstairs is filled with family photos which makes you feel like you are staying in someone’s home rather than an impersonal hotel. They often have art exhibitions from friends who are local artists hung through the halls and in the rooms.

Costs:
Dorm room – € 30 per person
Privates shared bathroom – €80 double room / €105 triple room
Be sure to make reservations – even for the dorm beds as they do fill up.

Would I recommend it?
Yes – else I would have never gone back 3 times. Each time it does seem to get even better. The Beehive is an oasis in the myriad of hotel choices in the Termini area. From the original booking process, to the amount of great information they give you when you make your reservation, to your experience at the hotel – it’s the best I’ve found in Rome.

The Sweets

The new project that Linda and family have taken on are the Sweets; a cross between an apartment rental and a private room. Just ¼ block away from the Beehive are the Sweets, private rooms with ensuite bathrooms and a shared kitchen and living room area in an existing apartment building. I had the opportunity to stay a night at the Sweets in the first few weeks of their opening!

Shared kitchen and lounge area

Location:
Also 2 blocks from Termini in a local apartment building. Just around the corner from the Beehive lobby. You actually check in at the Beehive Lobby and then they will provide you keys and information for the Sweets.

Rooms and Amenities:
All rooms have private bathrooms and a little desk, and wardrobe. They have towels and air conditioning. There is no ‘front desk’ in your building, but you can easily go to the Beehive and get any assistance you need.

The kitchen is stocked with cooking necessities and is shared among all of the rooms. There is also a living room and dining table that make the whole place feel cozy. In addition, each room has a little balcony where you can get fresh air or sit out and eat breakfast in the morning. The kitchen area is cleaned daily, but guests are asked to pick up after themselves in the kitchen.

There is wifi throughout and an ipad that is located in the kitchen/living area for people to use to catch up on news, look at maps, or research things online.

You still get all of the same access to Amenities such as the videos, Rome Recommendation Guide, and the café in the morning.

A room at the Sweets

Atmosphere:
The rooms are brightly decorated again providing a really cheery atmosphere. However since this is more like a private apartment the amount of socializing is less typically.

The design is very minimalistic and I love how they have furnished the rooms in cleverly designed furniture.

Costs:
€ 60 to €100 – varies during holidays

Would I recommend it?
If you are looking for a bit more private experience, and you want to save money and cook some meals yourself, I would recommend the Sweets. Even though I was there in the first few weeks of opening the place was up and running nicely. It was a more private way to stay if you weren’t really looking for a ton of socialization, but still wanted the ability to have your own kitchen to eat breakfast in and be able to pack lunches for a day or touring. Strangely though I ended up meeting a great couple out in the kitchen area and we sat and talked most of the night! Basically the Sweets are as social as you want them to be. They are slightly more expensive, however you can save money on food by eating breakfast in and storing snacks in the fridge or cook dinner for yourself one evening.

More Information:

Beehive Hotel Website – www.the-beehive.com
Rome Videos (tips on shopping, and traveling by train)

View all photos of the Beehive:

Disclosure: The Beehive hosted my 2 nights of lodging in Rome. However, all of the opinions expressed here are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

You've got this great looking pie in front of you, but how do you eat it?

The waitress brings out my pizza straight from the wood oven. The smell of the bread and the wood from the oven makes me salivate. It’s thin, crispy and on an individual little plate just waiting for me to dig in. The waitress sets down a knife and a fork and says “Buon appetite!” I take one look at my plate and the excitement I initially felt about my Italian pizza quickly morphs into panic. Unlike pizza in America, this pizza isn’t cut at all, it’s simply a round, crispy pizza served on a normal size plate.

I look at the knife and fork, and I look around me at the Italians eating the pizza and realize I have to cut this myself; there’s no American pre-cut slices here. But where does one start when you have an uncut pizza spilling over a normal size plate; do you do it the American way and cut it like a pie, or do you use your knife and fork and cut it as if you’d cut up a steak in little pieces that you eat with your fork? I simply wanted to get it in my mouth as quick as possible; not sit and cut it up into bite size pieces! As an outsider to this culture, I immediately feel self-conscience about trying to cut my pizza. This is the one thing in Italy that has always baffled me – how do you eat pizza like a local in Italy?

This is harder than you think...

After many various attempts of trying to slice my pizza to appear like a local, I finally met someone that could help. Dario is the husband of my friend and fellow travel blogger, Katrina from www.tourabsurd.com and www.absurdreviews.com.   Dario is from the Naples area (ahem – the birthplace of pizza) originally so I knew I had found the right person to ask about how to eat pizza the ‘correct’ way.

In addition to solving this dilemma, I would also be able to utilize Dario to take Bethany and I to the best, local pizza joint in Naples. When we first met Dario and Katrina in Rome I had told them about my quest to go to eat the best pizza in Naples AND to learn how to eat it properly. They immediately accepted the challenge and told us to make sure we didn’t order pizza in Rome as it would be a waste of time. They were insistent that the only pizza worth having was a Napoli pizza. Bethany took this advice to heart even though the Amalfi Coast and Naples was the last stop on our trip. Every day when we sat down at a restaurant to eat, I’d try to temp her with ordering pizza and she would refuse based on Dario’s instructions. I was quite impressed with her resolve; I on the other hand didn’t really have a great of resolve.

Dario knew right away where he wanted to take us in Naples for a slice – Antica Pizzeria Sorbillo. – a local pizzeria which happened to be close to the place where all of the tourists went. There are multiple restaurants called Sorbillo along Via dei Tribunali; this is NOT the one with lines of camera toting tourists, but a instead a small gathering of locals waiting for a seat. It looks like this:

Bethany and Dario waiting for a table

However, Sorbillo’s lack of line didn’t mean that it wasn’t good; the place was a constant buzz of activity with the wood oven in the front manned by a few big Italian men full of smiles and the back was packed full of people speaking Italian.

When we sat down I asked Dario what we should order and he said, “There’s really only one thing to order. Pizza margherita – it’s the only thing we really consider pizza.” He went on to talk about how the ‘less is more’ theory allowed you to simply taste the homemade sauce and enjoy the taste of the crispy crust. We decided to take Dario’s advice and we ordered 4 margherita pizzas.

Soon we had a table full of the best ‘pies’ Napoli had to offer and I could hardly wait to dig in. But wait…first I must learn how to eat the pie properly! Dario and Katrina nicely demonstrated for me and to my surprise it was more like the American way of eating pizza than I thought! Watch below and you can also learn how to eat pizza like an Italian.

The pizza was divine, and the sauce was perfect. It tasted as if they went out and picked the tomatoes 5 minutes earlier and put them on my pie. Now you know the best place to eat pizza in Naples AND you can look like a local eating it! Go forth and eat!

More Information:

Sorbillo’s Address: Via dei Tribunali, 38 – 80134 Napoli
Website: www.sorbillo.eu

The pizza makers take a break and pose with us

Positano - a charming stop for lunch along the Amalfi Coast

There’s more to Italy than Rome and Tuscany.  Have you seen the Amalfi Coast?  It will leave you breathless! This collection of photos is from my recent trip back to the Amalfi coast after 4 years of being away.  I’ve also included some of my older original photos too in order to get an idea of what summer looks like there.

Typical pottery sold along the seaside town of the Amalfi coast

The cliffs of Sorrento, one of the main towns along the coast

The ancient streets of Pompeii - an easy stop along the Circumvesuviana Train

The hill town of Positano

Cook up some dishes at Mami Camilla's cooking school near Sorrento

Beach cabanas in Sorrento - a popular beach in the summer

The villagers (plaster cast) of Pompeii caught in the eruption

The Sorrento coastline is a boating paradise

Old door in Positano

Get out of Rome and visit the Amalfi Coast!

For more great information on the Amalfi Cost – check out Italylouge.com

For information on the Mami Camilla’s cooking school check out Mami Camilla and tell them you saw it on Ottsworld!

The sunny Amalfi coast

“I know you, you’ve been here before?” I was stunned that they would remember me after 4 years and countless travelers coming through their doors. I don’t really think that I stand out at all, I have no real defining features, no distinct accents, and with each year the landscape of my face changes with additional wrinkles which weren’t there before.

But they remembered me.

This happened multiple times on this trip to Southern Italy and Rome because I was retracing a path I had traveled before, but this time with my niece in tow. When I came to Sorrento the first time I had been on the road for my original career break for 9 months and I made the area my home for one month taking Italian language instruction and cooking classes. Of course the moment Bethany said that she wanted to see Pompeii I was excited about seeing my old friends again in and around Sorrento.

I don’t often go back to a location I visited before, but when you spend a month living somewhere, you make friends, and it’s great to be able to get back and visit old friends and locations. I found that some locations had closed, and some had expanded; surprisingly, most remembered me, and we were all able to pick up where we left off 4 years prior.

Mami Camilla cooking school - Then and Now

My friends and favorite old wine bar, Bollicine in Sorrento, was on holiday...sad I missed them.

A trip to the Amalfi coast is a jaw dropping experience. Little towns built into cliffsides, ruins of Pompeii, beaches, limencello, and plenty of Southern Italy food specialties. If you are traveling on the Amalfi Coast, I suggest you put these three stops on your Amalfi Coast  itinerary; and say hi to some of my friends!

Positano – Take a Bus

This seaside town is an easy and gasp-worthy bus ride from Sorrento. You can catch the local bus at the train station and take the 50 minute ride down the winding cliff road as you peer out the window and hold your breath as you look straight down into the Tyrrhenian Sea . Try to sit on the right hand side of the bus for the best views.

Bethany peers out the bus window

The little walkways of Positano filled with locals in the off season

Bethany had no idea what to expect from the Amalfi coast, and it had been years since I had been there so it was equally surprising to me again as if I had seen it for the first time. She snapped photos out the bus window until we arrived in Positano where we slowly walked down to the beach through the little pathways which led through town.

This was off-season, so many stores were closed or doing repairs, which gave it a more local feel. We sat down by the beach and ate lunch while soaking in the sun and atmosphere of this magical town.

However, after this second trip to Positano for me, I decided if I ever come back, I’m renting a convertible and driving myself next time. Half the fun would be the drive and being able to stop wherever you want to take photos!

Italian Cooking Classes and Restaurant

Who doesn’t want to learn how to make their own pasta and sauces when visiting Italy? We stopped in at Mami Camilla’s cooking school and hostel and was happy to hear that business has been good for them in the years I had been gone. They just opened a new Italian cooking school and hotel (Soleluna) in Piano de Sorrento (a town just outside of Sorrento).

Bethany finishing dessert at Mami Camillas

Mami Camilla’s was one of my highlights of my career break and I was overjoyed to go back and see my old friends Augustino and Chaf Baggio. Bethany and I went to dinner at the new school/hotel where the students prepare 4 course dinners for patrons every night at a great value. We arrived and the family remembered me; soon we were all family again drinking apertivos and sharing stories. I introduced them to Bethany and they introduced me to new employees and students.

Bethany and I sat and ate with the students at the school who were doing chef internships; and as expected, it was one of the best, most social nights we had the whole trip. One of my favorite things about the school is getting to meet the students and other travelers; it’s a social experience that a solo traveler like myself craves. Oh yes, and the food was divine of course; homemade ravioli, fried sardines, and a pastry dessert.

The gang at Mami Camilla's - a rowdy & yummy night!

Pompeii

Using Sorrento as a home base is a great way to see Pompeii; it’s an easy train ride away via the Cirumvesuviana local train. I had been to Pompeii before, and quite frankly it was my least favorite place to visit in the area; I just have a hard time appreciating and visualizing the ancient history from ruins. I even used the audio guide on my first trip, but it still wasn’t enough to help me enjoy my time there. It’s a personal flaw I suppose, I just don’t have an imagination when it comes to ruins. But this time I really wanted it to be different and I wanted Bethany to get something out of her time there. Thanks to a recommendation from Karina, my expat blogging friend, I hired a local tour guide named Aldo ( third generation Neapolitan tour guide) to help visually paint the picture of Pompeii and it’s history that I needed to enjoy it my second time around.

The ancient ruins of Pompeii require imagination

Aldo providing some impromptu visualization

Aldo filled Bethany and I with history, facts, stories, and theories about the old, doomed city of Pompeii for 4 hours and it changed my feeling about Pompeii. Sometimes people make all the difference, and for me Aldo made Pompeii come alive.

Of course there are many other things to do while in the Amalfi coast area of Italy, but if you have 3 days, be sure to check these experiences out!

See my Rome travel tips and highlight video with Go with Oh here:

If you are looking for place to stay in Rome, check out Oh-Rome Apartments – it’s a great way to get a comfortable space, be local and save money!  And for more great tips on how to be local in Rome, read through the Rome Blog filled with Rome events and tips.

Disclosure: Go with Oh hosted my apartment lodging in Rome. However, all of the opinions expressed here are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

Peer into the Colosseum 'basement' where the animals & gladiators were held

I was given few directions; Rome was pretty much up to me. I had asked Bethany months ago what she wanted to do in Rome and she replied, “Eat pasta.”
“Ok, I like to eat, but what do you want to do beyond pasta? What do you want to see in Rome?” I probed further.
I don’t know, what is there to see in Rome?” she replied.

Bethany with a plate of pasta...happy.

I went out immediately and bought her a guidebook and told her to look through it and see what there was to do in Rome and get back to me.

A few weeks later she came to me with a rough idea of things she wanted to see including the Colosseum, the Vatican, and Pompeii – and eat lots of pasta. Now I had something to work with. I used these as anchors and filled in the rest with Eating Tours and plenty of free time to eat pasta.

At the same time Go with Oh was collecting Rome travel tips for the blogging campaign I was working on with them. Twitter followers sent in tips, and I could choose the ones I wanted to do. I was sent some amazing tips for Rome on the best places, the non-touristy places, advice on how to avoid scams, and ways to save money. You can see all of them here at the Go with Oh Rome Travel Tips.

Armed with Bethany’s wishes, and the Go with Oh tips, we took off to explore Rome for 4 days!

Colosseum

@itsme__jessi – Buy tickets for the Colosseum at the Palatine Museum down the street to skip the long lines & walk right in.

Bethany walking in past the line with our tickets we purchased earlier

Inside the Colosseum

View all of my Colosseum Photography

Trevi Fountain

@TourAbsurd – Visit the Trevi Fountain at midnight. It’s romantic and a lot less crowded.
@CailinONeil – My tip for @ottsworld while in Rome is to throw a coin in Trevi fountain, they say if u do u will come back!

Our visit to the Trevi Fountain at night

Spanish Steps

We didn’t get any tips for this landmark, but my best advice is to go late or early – the crowds are crazy. If you want to be alone on the Spanish Steps, go in the middle of the night!  Clearly we didn’t take this advice!

Bethany and I at the always crowded Spanish Steps

Vatican

@Heathercowper – The View from the Dome of St Peter’s in #Rome @ottsworld @GowithOh crowded, claustrophobic & unmissable

We didn’t get to the dome, but we did take a wonderful and informative tour of the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter and skipped the lines at all of them with a reserved ticket!

Cemetery Visit

@eur0peanne – On a pretty day, visit the Protestant Cemetery near Piramide, and then have lunch at Felice. Cacio e pepe is divine!

This was my favorite tip of all and the winner of the Go with Oh contest.  View Non-Catholic Cemetery Photo Documentary

How to get around:

@grantbton – if bad with maps follow long paving slabs (running in middle of cobbles) – marks route from trevvi to piazza navona via pantheon

We followed this path from Trevi fountain to Pantheon - easy!

Eating & Drinking:

@CitySmackerels – For a truly wonderful meal, go to Taverna Lucifero located on a small sidestreet off Campo de’ Fiori #Rome

The first night we had dinner using this tip! It was near our apartment.

@gfreefun Get lost in Trastevere and find an inexpensive place to sip vino outside in the late afternoon.

Wander around the Trastevere neighborhood

We stopped for a glass of wine in Trastevere

@eur0peanne – Go to Volpetti (short walk from Piramide) and bask in the cheeses, meats, olives. They’ll give you samples.

Volpetti salami - delicious - worth a visit to Testaccio neighborhood!

@MhnParee – in Rome bars and cafés, table-service prices are generally at least double what you pay if you stand at the bar.

Ordering and ejoying coffee in Rome - the local way

Culture tips:

@acooknotmad – Drink the water, from the tap, the fountains, everywhere, it’s all safe to drink and delicious

Bethany drinking from the water fountains in Rome

This was just a few of the tips we did, but here’s the full list of  Rome travel tips I received.

View All Rome Photography:

Disclosure: Go with Oh hosted my apartment lodging in Rome. However, all of the opinions expressed here are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

Sunset at Mt. Sinai, Egypt

With one of the biggest religions celebrating their revered holiday this weekend, I thought it would be fitting to show you some symbols of Christianity I have encountered around the world on this Good Friday Photo of the Week edition. I have been lucky enough to see some of the most famous churches in the world and some lesser known ones which are just as beautiful.  They come in all sizes and shapes and they are found all over the globe in some surprising places.  Regardless of your faith, you can’t help but be awed by them; they are works of art and architecture on an grand scale.

Notre Dame, Paris France

St Mark's Basilica - Venice, Italy

Byblos Lebanon

Aktobe Kazakhstan

Kiev Ukraine

Inside Cathedral in Milan, Italy

La Sagrada Familia - Barcelona, Spain

Santorini, Greece

St. John's Co-Cathedral - Valletta, Malta

Memorial church near the old Berlin Wall

Christian Mosaic - Madaba, Jordan

St. Peter's Basilica - Vatican City

Bergamont, Italy

Volgograd, Russia

Jesus sculpture outside La Sagrada Familia - Barcalona, Spain

Milan, Italy Cathedral

St. George's Basilica - Gozo, Malta

Sacre Coeur - Paris, France

St. Mark's altar - Venice, Italy

Church sillouette - Dubrovnik, Croatia

Malta countryside

St. Peter's Basilica - Vatican City

Golden crosses - Kiev, Ukraine

Golden Altar - Venice, Italy

Door of La Sagrada Familia - Barcelona, Spain

Church in DeSmit, South Dakota USA

If you want to see another side of religion and faith, take a look at my photo documentary of Mosques around the Middle East or Religions Collide on Adam’s Peak Sri Lanka.

The Raphael Room in the Vatican Museum

I listened to man in the suit in front of me and really tried to concentrate on what he was saying. I took notes rapidly about dates, religious timelines, leaders, and wars. He authoritatively stated the names and periods as if he had given this lecture a thousands times. My mind started to wonder how to spell Raphael – is it an ‘f’ or a ‘ph’? I really wish he would write this stuff on a board I thought to myself. I suddenly had a wave of panic roll over me wondering if we would be quizzed on any of this and I rapidly started writing notes again.

Today in Rome I felt like I was transported back to my old college lecture hall, trying to stay focused on looking at a big screen with slides being flashed in front of me in my Art History class. However instead of slides and a professor lecturing, I was seeing the works of art first-hand, only a couple feet away from me.  And my ‘professor’ was actually a tour guide; an extremely knowledgeable tour guide named Gregory.

Gregory 'lecturing' us in the Map Room

I still remember getting the glossy, well designed tour pamphlet at the travel conference 2 years ago and tucking it away to be used at a time when I really needed it. When I asked Bethany what she wanted to see in Rome, she surprised me and said that she’d like to see the Vatican. She’s not particularly religious, or artistic so I wondered what her goal was. Then again who was I to judge, after 4 previous trips to Rome I had never gone to the Vatican; it always seemed too crowded, too religious, and too artsy. Truthfully, I was intimated by it since I’m not very knowledgeable in religion or art. So when Bethany decided she wanted to see the Vatican Museums and grounds, I knew it was time to dig out the Context Tours pamphlet.

Context is a niche tour company, which staffs their tours with experts, docents, and professors. With a tag line of “tours for the intellectually curious”, they’ve set themselves apart from the average tour. The Vatican seemed like a perfect place to utilize this expert knowledge and really try to make the most out of it. After all, I had waited this long to experience the Vatican, I might as well make it completely worth it for both of us.

Our guide, Gregory, led us through the entrance gates and lines as if he were Napoléon and us mignons were just riding his coattails. Before I knew it, the process that I had most dreaded, getting through the horrible lines at the Vatican Museum, was complete and it didn’t hurt at all! Context has reserved tickets which allows you to avoid a lot of the hassle of simply getting into the museum.

Once inside Gregory approached the next four hours like a lecture. It had a point and purpose. He introduced characters and theories throughout, but they all tied together perfectly and he made it easy to follow a very complex historical time. He first introduced us to 3 sculptures of different time periods, which served as models for everything we were about to see in the next 4 hours. Instead of slides we were looking at the real things and like any great college professor Gregory infused humorous yet informative elements into what I was afraid may be dull information.

The three sculptures used as models for future artistic periods

Apollo shooting an arrow

A model for the future

Belvedere Torso

I had been worried that Bethany may be bored with the tour as it might have resembled her college classes too much and she was on Spring Break after all. Instead she was completely into every tidbit of information Gregory dished out. He had a great way of speaking beyond the paintings and sculptures and infusing the everyday cultural happenings of the time into the works of art. He put these cultural tidbits in terms of modern day in the same way we speak of the paparazzi and ‘celebrities’ and egos. He took Art History and religion and made it as entertaining as Access Hollywood.

Bethany marveled at ceiling frescoes and refused to believe Gregory when he told us that they weren’t 3 dimensional. I enjoyed seeing her process the complexity and beauty of what she was seeing. Like any good teacher, I think it was equally exciting for Gregory as he bantered back and forth with her amused by her disbelief. As Gregory explained the walled frescoes in the Raphael rooms as well as the Sistine Chapel you knew that we weren’t even scratching the surface of what this man knew. He pointed out elements, characters, and motivations that I never would have known had I been walking through these rooms self guided.  After 30 minutes in the Sistine Chapel I had a whole new appreciation for Michelangelo and the personal, political, and religious undertones of every stroke.

These frescoes are not 3D, they are completely flat - much to Bethany's surprise!

We next entered St. Peter’s Basilica, the largest Christian church in the world. Upon entering you were dwarfed by the building as if you were an ant scurrying out of your anthill into the big world for the first time.

Gregory walked us through the various chapels and threw out a host of architectural facts that turned out to be Bethany’s favorite part of the whole tour – or at least the most memorable as she gasped in disbelief when Gregory told us the dimensional optical illusions in the architecture.

The lettering is actually over 6 ft. tall!

Feeling rather small...

The main altar was about 10 stories high

After 4 hours we had barely scratched the surface of what there was to see in the museums. Gregory however deftly led us through the important things and luckily there was no quiz at the end. Gregory bid us goodbye and I felt as if it were a complete semester college course coming to an end and I was saying goodbye to my respected professor.

I can finally tick the Vatican off my list now in Rome; I was happy I waited so long to do it the right way. Bethany and I walked out to the piazza and took a last look at the mammoth structures having a whole new respect for everything inside those holy walls.

Bethany and I after the tour - don't we look smarter?

The Good:

• Context only does small groups on their tours. On our tour there were only 5 of us.
• The guides are extremely knowledgeable and that’s really what makes Context stand out. It allows you to really delve into a subject.
• Context provided a pre-reading guide which was useful to sort of orient yourself before showing up at the Vatican. The overall quality of the information on the tour was top notch.
• You just follow your guide through the very crowed Vatican museum and don’t have to wonder where to go next or how to get around!
• Skip the lines with reserved entry tickets to the Vatican Museum.

The Could Be Better:

• 4 hours is a long time, so be sure to bring a snack as you are on your feet the entire time
• Could have used a scheduled bathroom break, but honestly Gregory was so into his ‘teaching’ that he forgot.
• There wasn’t a ton of time to take photos, but this type of tour isn’t necessarily for taking photos, it’s about seeing, learning, and being present.

Would I recommend it:

If you didn’t study art history then I believe this is the best way to see the Vatican. There’s so much to see there that it’s easy to get overwhelmed and not really get much out of it but saying that you saw the Sistine Chapel. With a tour like this, you walk away knowledgeable…and you saw the Sistine Chapel.

More information:
Website: Context Arte Vaticana Tour (includes St. Peters and Sistine Chapel)
Cost: €85 per person + Vatican Museum Full Price Ticket – €19.00 (mandatory)
Other Context tours:  www.contexttravel.com

See all photos from the Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s:

A moving tribute to death

The cemetery in the Testaccio neighborhood in Rome has many names; Campo Cestio, The Protestant Cemetery, The Non-Catholic Cemetery for Foreigners, or the Cat Cemetery. It holds the grave of the poet John Keats, the famous pyramid of Rome, about 40 cats, and most importantly it holds the grave of Emelyn Story. What’s that, you don’t know who Emelyn Story is? Well, neither do I. However, I know that Emelyn Story is eternally associated with the most beautiful, moving sculpture I’ve ever seen.

I was following our Rome Food Tour guide through the cemetery and he was filling our heads with all kinds of information about the cemetery; specifically stories about John Keats. When we went up the small hill, I stopped immediately. I sucked in a short breath, my hands dropped to my sides in a limp fashion and I just stared.

The angel was all I could see.

I have seen all kinds of grave stones before, but none as beautiful and emotive as this one. The feeling coming out of this gravestone was pure despair and surrender. I felt as if this guardian angel had finally lost the battle it had fought for Emelyn Story.  Now it was guarding her in her death.

I stood back away from her at first and took in the scene letting it settle on my heart and mind. As I walked up closer and examined the grave marker I about expected to see a tear coming from the angel’s eye. I circled her, I photographed her, and I wondered who Emelyn Story was and how she received such a beautiful tribute in her death.

By far this was the most memorable piece of art that I’ve seen in Rome, Italy, or Europe. I’m not sure why it touched me, but it did.

I know I could probably research Emelyn and the angel, but I choose to let it remain a mystery.  That way I left it how I found it; sometimes we don’t need to know everything about a person.

The whole cemetery is beautiful, you could spend hours there away from the bustle of Rome. It was my favorite place we visited, thanks to Emelyn’s angel.

Who was Emelyn Story?

The non-catholic Cemetery has many surprises

A pyramid tomb is the most prominent grave in the cemetery

The most famous grave in the cemetery - John Keats. It simply states, "Here lies One Whose Name was writ in Water."

The graves were all quite different

Wild daisies had started to bloom, giving an accurate meaning to the phrase, "pushing up daisies."

The cemetery is home to over 40 cats and donations are taken for them. When the cemetery closes for the day the caretakers put on classical music which let the cats know they can come out and roam.

Emelyn's Angel

Where are your favorite cemeteries?

This post is sponsored by Rome City Breaks – Traveling to Rome?  Check out Rome City Breaks!

Locals interact in the Testaccio Covered Market

Locals bustle around the market picking out fresh vegetables and carry on in conversations in Italian with the shop stall owners; the ease in the conversations lets you know that they’ve known each other a lifetime. A breeze blows through the open air market leaving the scent of fresh flowers in the air of the covered market. Slightly round, old, Italian women dressed in plain frocks putter around rolling their bags and carts stuffed full of vegetables. You hear the loud laughter of the butcher as he slaps his side in joy reacting to a patron’s story. If Rome were human, the neighborhood of Testaccio would be it’s heart; or maybe more correctly, its stomach.

In more than 4 trips to Rome I had never heard of the neighborhood of Testaccio, until I came across a tour called Eating Italy Food Tours in Rome. Bethany had originally chose to come to Italy as part of my Niece Project in order to eat pasta; yes, that was her sole purpose, and I felt like it was as good as reason as any to travel to Italy. I scoured the internet looking for the right kind of food experience for her. That’s what landed us in Testaccio early this morning about to embark on a 4 hour food extravaganza.

A small group of people gathered at Piazza Testaccio and our guide, Kenny, handed out maps, and prepped us on what we would see, taste, and do today.  In addition to eating a variety of Italian food, we’d be seeing some of the more famous sites and oddities of the Testaccio neighborhood. The day would be a nice combination of walking and eating.

Mozarella di bufala - made fresh that morning!

We started at the covered market which we sadly learned were in it’s last days. This market, which began in 1914, was the largest in Rome at one point. We learned it would be moving soon to a new, shiny location down the street. Progress sometimes is bittersweet. Kenny took us around the market describing what was in season, introducing us to the stall owners, and the explaining the difference between cheese and Mozzarella di Bufala; trust me, you don’t want to refer to mozzarella di bufala as cheese in Italy – they may deport you immediately.

An abundance of tomato varieties from the Tomato Poet

When he pointed out the man referred to as the ‘Tomato Poet’ named Carmelo, and I was immediately enraptured. This man knew everything there was to know about tomatoes. And I love tomatoes.  Kenny had us try 4 different varieties to experience the different flavors as if we were tasting wine.  Carmelo carried 45 varieties of tomatoes at his stand. He was referred to as the poet because when you went to visit Carmelo, you didn’t pick out tomatoes, HE picked out the tomatoes. You’d tell him what you were cooking that evening and he would walk around picking out the best and appropriate  tomato variety to use. I love this idea of letting the ‘expert’ choose; it’s probably only a matter of time before Whole Foods gets their own tomato poet on staff. Once again, progress can be bittersweet.

A platter of Italian meat - I could eat this morning, noon, and night.

We moved on to Volpetti, an old specialty food shop; the oldest gourmet food market around. Salami hung from the ceiling and cheese was stacked in the windows. We stood outside as Kenny brought us a platter of fresh meats and cheeses. This is where Bethany started her love of prosciutto; something I think she had probably turned her nose up to before, but now here at Volpetti, cured Italian meat takes on a different taste.

We stopped in next door at Barberini a pastry shop established in 1945. This is where we learned more about the art and importance of eating standing up. This typical Italian bar/bakery was filled with locals standing having their espresso and cornets. Eating quickly in Italy meant that you stand, converse with those around you and don’t waste time. In true Italian form, we had our little tiramisu treats and kept going.

Tiramisu in a chocolate edible cup!

It was time to digest this food and that meant a break from eating and instead a stroll around the famous Testaccio non-Catholic cemetery. This was a wonderful break in eating and a great lesson in history. Kenny entertained us with stories and I entertained myself taking photos of this picturesque cemetery. This is where I found my favorite sculpture in all of Rome, and maybe the entire world.

Back to eating and it was time to get to the serious stuff, pasta. Kenny took us to Flavio restaurant inside of Mount Testaccio – the most unusual ‘mountain’ I’ve ever laid eyes on. Here we were introduced to an abundance of wine and all you can eat pasta specialties of Rome. We tried Carbonara (pancetta, pecorino, egg, spaghetti, and pepper), Caccio and Pepe (pecorino cheese and pepper), and Amatriciana (a tomato based sauce with smoked pancetta ). As we ate Kenny told us entertaining and informative stories about the restaurant and schooled us on our knowledge of pasta. Did you know that there are over 600 kinds of pasts in Italy? It’s sort of like the varieties of rice in Asia I thought to myself.

Traditional Roman pasta sauces at Flavio

We kept moving on to view the old slaughterhouses in the neighborhood form 1890 to 1975. Testaccio really was the food capital of Rome, it is where all of the food shipments were brought in and the large slaughterhouse was a key part of the neighborhood years ago. This is how the neighborhood got it’s name the 5th Quarter . The buildings had been preserved, however they were now turned into a contemporary art museum which seemed to be a unique, inventive use of the old slaughterhouse space.

We moved on to yet another food stop at 00100 Pizza, a fusion of Italian snack food. We sat outside in the warm sun and tasted the suppli’ alla Genovese ; I had wished that I hadn’t gone overboard on the perfectly cooked al dente pasta at Flavio. I was  full at this point! I looked over at Bethany and thought that maybe she had reached a food coma herself, until Kenny mentioned the magic word, gelato, and everyone perked up.

The perfect gelato - 2 flavors and fresh cream.

He continued to tell us neighborhood stories of mafia and food until we reached Giolitti gelateria. This is where Kenny ruined my gelato experiences in Italy for the rest of my days. He told us the secret to how to know if the gelateria serves real homemade gelato or if the gelato is made from a powdered mix. There were 3 things to look for and I refuse to share them with you since it will disappoint every other gelato experience you have as you walk around Rome; it was sort of like learning that Santa Clause isn’t real. Suffice it to say, Giolitti serves the real stuff and I know – because now I have the secret power to tell real from powdered. And the real stuff is delicious beyond words. I had the freshly made just-brought-out-from-the-back-kitchen dark chocolate and pistachio flavors. And don’t worry if you choose two flavors that aren’t complimentary, they will tell you and not let you order it!

Four hours later, our Italian food desires were fully satiated. In addition, we had become extremely knowledgeable about this local neighborhood tucked away from the Rome tourism madness. Bethany and I had learned a great deal from Kenny and the tour, but most of all we learned where we wanted to come back and have dinner!

Bethany and her gelato - a great finishing touch!

The Good:

• The tour was a good mix of eating and learning. We did eat a lot, but in between we walked a fair amount and learned about non-food things in the neighborhood, as well as the food culture in Rome.
• The portion sizes were generous.
• Provided with a map and names of all of the places we went to and learned about for future reference.
• Kenny was a great guide, clearly passionate about his neighborhood and had what appeared to be good relationships with all of the owners of the places we went to. This aspect made it feel even more personable.
• I loved the sit down ‘pasta tasting/lunch’ at Flavio – it was great to get off our feet for a bit.
• Plenty of place for bathroom breaks – which is important when you are eating and drinking for 4 hours!

The Could be Better:

• I don’t really have anything to improve. I enjoyed the 4 hours, but I suppose for some it could be long.
• It’s a little pricey, but you do get a full meal and entertained for an afternoon. In Rome, you won’t find things for much less!

Would I recommend It:

If you are traveling in Rome and are wishing to get away from the crowds, this is a great rome tour to do just that! In addition, you really learn about the food industry and history in this region of Italy and the neighborhood of Testaccio. You’ll get introduced to some great local restaurants and have a true local experience away from the historical center. Plus, you’ll learn enough to easily come back on your own and try more of the places Kenny recommends!

More Information:
Website: www.eatingitalyfoodtours.com
Cost: 59€ standard 40€ child

Disclosure: Eating Italy hosted my Testaccio Food Tour. However, all of the opinions expressed here are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

View all Rome Food Tour photos:

Piazza della Repubblica in bright afternoon sun

Buongiorno! 

I’ve been to Rome many times before and I’ve even taken my camera and shot many photos there.  However, with each year I improve in my photography, so this trip was quite special for me as I was able to finally get some of the shots I’ve always wanted to get.  I tried to play with the light more and find unique ways to highlight the sites at all times of day with natural lighting.  For amusement (and to see how far I’ve come in 4 years) – you can see an old photo documentary I did of the dirtier side of the city here – Rome’s Dirty Little Secret. Granted, I still have a long way to go, but it’s always fun to go back to a place and see improvement; it means you are growing.

Being in Rome this time with a better camera and better skills was fun, and going with my niece made it even more fun as everything was new to me through her eyes.  I loved seeing what pictures she took and what caught her eye.  Next week I’ll be writing all about our Rome experiences and sharing more photos of these specific places, but this should good pre-show!

View all photos of Rome Here

St. Peter's Basilica shines with a ray of light

Tiber River on a clear spring day

Sant'Agnese in Agone at Piazza Navona

Trevi Fountain at night

Colosseum

The inner workings of the Colosseum

Laundry hangs to dry in the neighborhood of Trastevere

The pyramid at the Non-Catholic cemetery in Testaccio

The Pantheon at night

The Vatican's Sun

Fountain at Piazza Navona

If you’d like to purchase any of these photos, just click on the image for more information.

Shining a new light on Rome

We turned off the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II and my body swayed with the motion of the taxi; happy to finally be in Rome. After days of stressing out about meeting my niece at the airport (since we both arrived from different countries), I was finally able to relax in the back of the taxi. An hour earlier it was a different story. When I rounded the corner at the airport and scanned the area anxiously, I saw her sitting waiting for me looking slightly nervous and tired. Relief swept over me like a tidal wave upon seeing her. I am a solo traveler, but more than that – I am a solo person. Basically this means that the only responsibility I have in my life is myself; if I screw up, I only have to me to blame and disappoint (which I do quite often!). However ,with this latest ‘project’ of mine to travel with my nieces, it has really thrown me into a new status – leader.

When you lead you are not only thinking of yourself, you have to think about the people following you; if not then you turn into a dictator I suppose. When I use the term leader, I don’t want you to think that I feel I’m important, because I’m not. I just now have someone I’m responsible for, someone who is looking to me to get them places, take care of them and ultimately keep them safe. I had experienced this feeling of responsibility before only once, when I traveled with my father to Nepal; I remember the weight I felt upon my shoulders. Quite frankly I don’t know if my niece, Bethany, was looking for me to be responsible for her; but I’m positive her parents were expecting those things!

Bottom line, I was nervous; yes – me, nervous. I’ve traveled all over the world and done tons of questionably sane things as a solo traveler, but now leading someone else through independent travel, and especially when my whole family was watching, was more stressful than eating lamb brains, driving a motorbike in Vietnam, or jumping out of a plane.

View of Governo Vecchio from our apartment balcony

Bethany suddenly let out a shriek, which brought me back out of my solo thoughts and raised my blood pressure. When the taxi rounded the corner and turned onto Governo Vecchio, we had turned onto a typical little ‘this is too narrow for a car’ street that Italy and much of Europe is famous for. Her shriek was a combination of “Are you kidding me?” and “This is cool!” reaction. It was then that I realized Bethany is seeing Europe for the first time, and that means that I will be seeing Europe for the first time again – through her eyes. All of a sudden I was excited about the prospect.

The taxi slowly inched down the partial pedestrian, narrow street with inches of space on each side and ‘pushing’ pedestrians out of the way. Bethany watched in amazement and was convinced that we shouldn’t be driving a car on this street. She pointed out all of the tiny little cars parked within inches of each other on the street; quite a different site from SUV riddled America for sure. I sat back and smiled thinking about all of the things that she would be discovering that makes Europe uniquely different from America; narrow streets, and small cars being top on her list right now.

Bethany next to one of the many mini European cars!

That evening after getting all settled into our spacious apartment, we went for a stroll to nearby Campo di Fiori.  As we walked there and she was surprised to learn that people here ate dinner later ; the restaurant we wanted to go to wasn’t even open yet and it was 7PM.  We instead sat and had a drink in the crowded piazza watching the eclectic happenings of the Campo on a Saturday night.  I had been here before, many times, but as I looked across the campo at the street performers and vendors I felt like I was seeing it with new eyes.  This niece project had more benefits than I realized and I’m pretty positive there will be many more to come.

Disclosure: ‘Go with Oh’  and Oh-Rome Apartments hosted our accommodation in Rome. However, all of the opinions expressed here though are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

The delicious fresh food of Malta

As you walk around Malta and Gozo, it’s very easy to simply think that the food is Italian. You will see pizzerias, and pasta restaurants everywhere you turn. However before you shovel that last bit of yummy pasta cooked perfectly al dente into your mouth and savor the sauce, or take the last bite of bruschetta – look closer, savor the taste, and notice the subtle differences and twists the Maltese have taken on familiar foods.

The food in Malta seems to be a mix of Mediterranean, British, and Italian; but the one thing to know is that it is distinctly their own. They have a few staple ingredients that exist throughout their signature dishes and snacks; and it’s these staples that make the difference.  Over my two weeks there I was able to try a number of the specialties, as well as meet some of the people who are making a difference in the agriculture and culinary direction of Malta. Not only was I introduced to agro-tourism on Gozo island, but I also was able to meet Sam Cremona the Olive Guy. Ok, he doesn’t really go by the title Olive Guy, but if you met him and spent time with him you’d realize he could have a whole Food Network show about olives if he wanted.

Sam showing me his pride and joy - olive oil

Olives and Capers

Sam was a former gemologist turned olive-ologist. He is actually an olive oil sommelier (which I never knew even existed before), but most importantly he’s spearheading a project to cultivate and bring indigenous olives back to Malta and put them on the olive oil map of the world. He’s giving away indigenous bidnija olive trees in order to get 30,000 trees actively growing and producing olives in Malta. This is no easy project to orchestrate, and he’s got his hands full being the conductor, but the olive oil I was able to taste makes all of his hard work worth it.

The beginnings of the Bidnija Olive tree, a photo of Sam's graftings he gives away in order to cultivate the variety back onto the island

A rare white olive found on Malta

Fresh olive oil is nothing like you purchase in the store. It’s cloudy in color, thick, and it has a burst of fresh flavor; sometimes bitter, sometimes sweet. Olive oil and olives are always a part of Maltese cooking. Sam’s wife even publishes cookbooks which highlight seasonal Maltese dishes. My afternoon spent with Sam was an education on many levels.

Olive oil may be a foundation in Maltese cooking, but many other things go into traditional dishes. The first things I noticed were the capers. These weren’t just normal capers; these were giant capers! They apparently grew in abundance all over the island the locals simply put them in a jar of salty brine for storage.  Salty capers seemed to be an essential part of any recipe, even their bruschetta. The Maltese twist on bruschetta was untoasted crunchy-crusted bread with tomatoes, onions, garlic, capers, and olive oil.

Bruschetta - Malta style

Rabbit

Even though the giant capers seemed exotic, the real exotic dish of Malta’s traditional seafood heavy cuisine is not from the sea; it’s from the land. Rabbit is the unofficial Maltese national dish and is traditionally served with spaghetti in a stew sauce. I was taken for this traditional dish shortly after I arrived and the peppery sauce was perfect for a chilly evening. Rabbit showed up in many forms on all Maltese menus and snack shops; it’s definitely a staple ingredient. Not only do the Maltese love their rabbit, but they love a lot of meat. My hosts treated me to a meat smorgasbord one evening consisting of a large platter of pork, rabbit, and quail. It was delicious and clearly I took a lot home for leftovers the next day!

A typical Maltese snack - rabbit pie

Cheese, Peas, and Pastizzi

The crusty bread goes great with Maltese goat cheese called ġbejniet (pictured in the first photo). Gbejniet is white in color and comes in soft or hard forms and my favorite was definitely the one that was coated in peppercorns. It was served on antipasta plates, on pizza, and in any dish that called for cheese! Homemade, salty ricotta cheese was also the staple ingredient for the well-known Maltese snack, pastizzi. Pastizzi are ricotta or pea pockets baked in filo pastry cases and sold everywhere in Malta. They take another form called qassatat (notice how great of a scrabble word this is…a ‘q’ without a ‘u’!) which are mini pies filled with ricotta or spinach. This is what the Maltese grab for a cheap snack costing under 2 Euro; I personally was quite fond of the pea ones.

Pastizzi are found everywhere in Malta - but they only come in two 'flavors'

Before arriving in Malta, pastizzi were all I heard about, they were clearly the Malta food the rest of the world knew.  However I realized there is much more to Malta than pastizzi once I arrived and experienced the vast menus of new food to try. And it wasn’t exactly new food per se, but much of it was interesting twists on items I was already familiar with.  From olives, to capers, to cheese, to rabbit, to fried cakes – you certainly won’t go hungry in Malta. The real challenge is how you eat all of this great food and still be able to fit in your swimsuit and lie by the beach!

What do you like to eat when in Malta?

Me and my big plate of meat! Rabbit, pork, and quail...yes, there were leftovers!

Additional Malta and Gozo Food Articles:

Valletta in a Day

Gozo Wines and Agro-tourism

Following Philip through this wasn't what I was expecting!

I followed Philip’s footsteps carefully, trying to place my shoe into his last place he stepped as we walked upwards through waist high weeds and overgrowth. The two dogs bound along in front of us like rabbits leaping through the weeds; full of puppy-ish excitement. The hills were starting to burst with springtime color and I desperately wanted to look around me, but I was focused on following Philip’s path. I hadn’t expected to be hiking at this moment. Instead I was expecting to be tasting the little known Gozitan wines and homemade jams in a posh little farmhouse setting.

The prickly thorns of wild weeds poked through my pants and I was quickly reminded that I was far away from posh.

However, deep down I much preferred this active site seeing and learning to sitting on my ass eating and drinking. In fact, little did Philip know, but I loved this.  It made my heart putter to be one with nature and hiking my way through the wine fields and terraced hills rather doing a typical tasting. As Phil continued to blaze a trail upwards he chattered on about the history of Ta Mena and how it has evolved from his mother’s simple cooking and work into an agro-tourism hot spot of Gozo.

Spring in Gozo - a beautiful view from Ta Mena

We stopped for a bit and the dogs kept going. Philip turned to me and said, “Do you feel that – the breeze is different up here. Can you tell the difference?”
I honestly have no idea if I could tell the difference, but I did enjoy the cool breeze as I finally had a chance to take in my landscape and surroundings. Phil explained that the different breezes and little microclimates of this terraced valley was what made the winery unique. They produced specific wines for each little terraced area where specific grapes thrived.

These hills have had various ‘residents’ in it’s soil. This family farming plot started as a winery 80 years ago and in the 1960’s changed over to primarly fruit trees where Carmena (Philip’s mother known as ‘Mena’) sold her fruits and vegetables on the side of the road to locals. She took the fruit left-overs and made them into jams.

Philip explaining the history of Ta Mena

Present day, the Ta Mena estate is back to it’s roots, literally – wine and olives. They still do produce other jams and spreads in small quantities, but their main mission today is to let the world know how great Gozitan wines are. And based on my taste test (after hiking) – they are great and can rival any Italian wine.  They not only produce classic wines that pair beautifully with a the rich seafood diet of the islands, but they also have turned the estate into a complete experience for those who want to be more involved and learn about harvesting such crops. The grape harvest occurs from mid August to September and the Olive harvest occurs in October; tourists can participate in the harvest experience.  Much like my hike up the hill, you have to be prepared to get dirty at Ta Mena.

The windmill was like an oilwell to Ta Mena

As I walked down the hill listening to Philip tell stories I spotted the a familiar windmill with an American touch. I asked him about the windmill and Philip said that his father bought it years ago and it was like an oil well for them; the irrigation it provided was the just what they needed to produce abundant crops on this dry island. On Gozitan farms, water is prosperity.

As we walked to the bottom of the valley again we stopped in the rustic building by the road. This is where you can taste samples of the Ta Mena products as well as purchase them straight from the estate. However, my journey didn’t end here, it ended in Marsalforn, a little fishing village along the sea. This is where I was able to get the complete farm to table experience and taste all of the Ta Mena delights in a full meal at the restaurant Il Kartell. They serve Ta Mena wines, spreads, vegetables and utilize many of the Ta Mena products in their dishes.

Ta Mena's great variety of fresh products

I sat out by the seaside on a patio of tables basking in the sun. This is where I was introduced to my favorite simple Maltese/Gozo snack, kunserva, a sweet tomato paste served with bread. I had never eaten tomato paste straight, but I was well accustomed to using it in cooking to supplement sauces. My friend Ana explained the kunserva process to me and I followed her lead. First, pour olive oil on your plate, then take a crusty piece of bread and spread on the Ta Mena kunserva. Next place the bread, kunserva side down, into the plate of olive oil letting it soak it up properly. Finally, add the giant salty capers to the top and eat. Delicious!

My favorite snack - kunserva with olive oil and capers

The entire meal at Il Kartel was delightful and allowed me to try the Mediterranean specialties accompanies with Ta Mena wines and spreads. The sunny day wasn’t bad either. As I finished my last bite of desert, I was happy I had made the initial climb up the valley with Philip. It not only made the food I was eating more meaningful, but it also helped me justify dessert!

More information on Ta Mena Estate and Gozo Agro-tourism:
Ta Mena website: www.tamena-gozo.com
Information on harvests ‘experiences’
Products:   Wine   |    Other Products
Il Kartel Restaurant in Marsalforn

View all photos of Ta Mena Estate:

How can you do what I did?

If you read my website, subscribe to me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter,  then I’m guessing that this is the question that you are dying to get an answer to. Right?  I’ve spent years trying to help people get answers to this question.  I have even started businesses about it , Meet, Plan, Go! ,  done presentations on it, and have done a number of interviews about how to do career break travel.

I am writing about this popular topic again because there is a momentous occasion we are celebrating over at Meet, Plan, Go! Career Break travel website.  This week we celebrate our three year anniversary!  It was 3 years ago when I was living in Vietnam and Michaela was in New York City busy getting married, that we originally launched this idea to provide people career break travel inspiration and resources and we called it Briefcase to Backpack.  Here, you can see just how far we’ve come in those three years – Celebrating Three Years of Career Break Advice

How do you take a career break or sabbatical and travel?

Believe it or not, I have an answer for you and it’s simple.

Just do it. (thank you Nike marketing geniuses!)

Okay, I understand that many of you just wrinkled your nose and shook your head and are about ready to close this web page because you don’t believe it’s that simple.

Fine – for those of you who want a more complex answer then my answer is to spend (a lot of) time scouring through the internet doing searches on Google like these:

“How can I travel”
“what insurance do I need for travel”
“How do I not hurt my career if I take a break to travel?”
“what should I do on my career break?”
“What are good volunteering opportunities?”
“How can I save money to travel?”
“How do I travel on a budget?”
“How to travel solo”
“What do I need to do to prep for extended travel?”
“How do I tell my employer I want to take a break?”
“What do I do when my family/friends don’t support my decisions”
“How do I find a job after a career break”

Eventually you will find all of your answers you are looking for. You will realize that taking a career break isn’t rocket science; nor is it only for the well off, or for those people who have traveled their whole life, or for new age hippies, or for the young, or for the single, or for those who are daring. You will realize that it’s attainable for everyone no matter what your situation. If you want it bad enough, you can do it.

However all of this searching and research takes time…lots of time. You will get lost in Google results spending hours and hours down an insurance or round-trip airfare ‘rabbit hole’ and you still may not have answers. Many professionals don’t have the time to do all of this research becuase you have other things to do – like work more hours than you should, and take care of your family.

Wouldn’t it just be easier if all of this information you needed were in once place and there were people there in that place who you could ask questions to and get answers quickly from a human being?

No, you aren’t dreaming…this career break resource and community utopia exists.

You can get access to all of the resources you need in one place and meet others who have done it or are planning it who will support you and cheer you on in your career break goals.
Learn more about why Career Break Basic Training will help you accomplish your travel and professional goals, who should join, what you get from Basic Training, and read testimonials of people where are now on the road.

You can even check out this Sneak Peak series to see what kind of information you will get access to in order to help you plan and take your career break travels.

Anniversary Celebration

Associated with this big anniversary occasion – we wanted to party of course!  However with me in Europe and Michaela in New York and our wonderful career break audience spread all over the world – it’s sort of hard to organize; even for a uber planner like me! So we did the next best thing, we decided to give our readers something…the gift of a career break.  We have knocked the cost of our Career Break training course/community down by 1/3 to only $99.  Plus – we threw in discounts worth $175 to help plan your itinerary and airfare tickets.  You’ll end up ahead in the end! Just be sure to sign up before the end of March!

See – it’s just that easy. Now all you have to do is

Just do it.

One of the many churches you'll find in Sliema

During my two weeks in Malta I stayed in the charming neighborhood of Sliema. It was a perfect location to get out and see the rest of the island via the extensive, albeit slow, bus system.

Its best asset is its promenade, which was recently developed and winds like a ribbon around the twisting inlets of Malta’s coast. Every day the promenade is filled with locals, kids, pets, and runners who are soaking up the sun and the sea air. The promenade is dotted with ancient towers, sculptures, cafes, a myriad of benches, and playgrounds.

Opposite the promenade are modern hotels and condos which seem rather cold and lifeless, but the real estate is prime and considering Malta is a vacation destination for many Europeans, the high rises make sense. However, it doesn’t take but a few blocks to get beyond the perimeter of high rises and back into the real, local neighborhoods of Sliema which is where I was most happy with my camera. The architecture, house names,  and little bars kept me entertained for hours as I would walk around the winding streets with my camera.

The inlets make a jagged but calm coastline in Sliema

Trifecta!

The Sliema houses are some of the best kept houses in Malta

Small neighborhood markets are found on every corner.

There are ample places to sit and enjoy the view along the promenade

Loved the symmetry of this corner home in Sliema.

A mobile fish vendor stands on the corner in the neighborhood.

The promenade offers a perfect place to stroll or run.

Colorful doors, balconies, and cars!

Green space makes the Sliema water front a place everyone wants to be.

Be ready for a surprise inside

I’m staying in a farmhouse? Um, ok that sounds different I thought. Will I be milking cows, gathering eggs, or cleaning out stables? I had been told that farmhouse living was ‘all the rage’ on the little island of Gozo and since I’m no stranger to staying at farms, I figured what the hell. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect from Farmhouse 37, but in my mind I had this vision of my parent’s old barn in South Dakota.

My first of many surprises was the fact that the farmhouse was in a village, not in the country side. However the village of Munxar on Gozo is quite small. We pulled up to a simple door with the number 37 on the stone wall next to it and the corresponding number in Arabic. It looked like nothing special, but much like an oyster, I was to discover that it’s beauty was on the inside.

It certainly doesn't look like a farmhouse!

Patti and Giuseppe greeted me at the door with their dogs Harry and Coco and they welcomed me into the old farmhouse’s stone corridor. The stones were limestone and light in color but the walls and corners were filled with clever splashes of colorful art and furniture. The sunlight filtered through the open air corridor and I wondered if I would have a roof over my head or it I’d be sleeping under the stars tonight in a stable.

I needn’t fear, little did I know how much luxury and style I was walking into. Giuseppe had me put down my bags and led me around the little enclosed rooms explaining how they used to be donkey quarters or places to tie animals and store feed. But clearly Giuseppe and Patti had a creative vision, as they turned a room that had been used for donkeys into a gorgeously designed living room and office. Each room continued to amaze me with design esthetic and stunning art. Each open air corridor was filled with plants and sculptures; it was vibrant, colorful, worldly – and nothing like any farmhouse I had known.

The open air corridors filled with plants

However they had kept the vestiges of the farmhouse present cleverly using the feed bins previously utilized for animals to store wine in the kitchen. Each room was like looking at a new piece of art in a cozy gallery. The farmhouse was a maze of guest rooms and suites , but there were two central areas that guests could meet and socialize; in the main living room at the front of the farmhouse and at the pool and terrace at the back of the farmhouse. When Giuseppe took me in back to show me the terrace, pool, and gardens I let out a big sigh and could only get out the words, “It’s beautiful”. The pool had inviting lounges which I felt were speaking to me personally to come over and lay down. We went to the more private suites behind the pool and enjoyed the valley view basked in late afternoon sun.

A old animal feeding trough is perfect for wine!

My room was a burst of color and art!

Giuseppe and I decided to enjoy the sunset and go for a drive with the dogs along the southern cliffs near the village of Ta Cenc. We took his old little 4×4 reminiscent of my grandpa’s old beat up truck and went off-roading onto the rough terrain of the clifftops. We drove right out to the edge for the best view. The sun disappeared behind clouds and we enjoyed the last bit of light hiking down to some inlets and getting great views of the watch towers of Gozo and Comino. Along the way we stopped and talked to locals who were out for walks or runs getting their exercise before the sun went down. The whole area had this slow, simple feel to it as if time was standing still for a few moments and I relished the feeling.

The impeccable design in the living room

We arrived back to Farmhouse 37 and Patti had been busy preparing dinner. We sat in the living room and shared wine, meat, and cheese while sharing our various travel and life stories. This is when it became clear to me why Farmhouse37 as so exquisitely decorated and designed; Patti and Giuseppe used to be in the fashion industry in Milan for years before deciding to make a big change in their lives and turn their once vacation home in Gozo into their new business in Gozo. Patti clearly had an eye for design and it most likely came from years of working in Milan as well as her international travel and living background.

We talked about what we had in common – taking the risk to leave your stable, hectic corporate life behind and trying something new. I thought to myself, how do I keep on running into people like this…like me? I don’t think I’ve ever met a guesthouse or B&B owner who specifically knew from a young age that they would be running a business in the hospitality industry. Instead I always meet accommodation owners who are doing something prior in their career and decide to to take a risk to follow their passions. Travelers and the travel industry is a strange breed, but one that I’m proud to say I fit into.

It didn’t take me long to realize that Patti is one of those people who make things seem effortless, especially in the kitchen. They had retrofitted a little kitchen into the old farmhouse design, but out of that kitchen Patti had prepared a delightful dinner of fresh pasta with tomatoes and capers, a salad, smoked salmon, and a crème caramel for dessert; it was all sourced from her neighbors and their friends who farmed locally. She does all of the cooking for the Farmhouse guests, which makes your experience there even that much more special and personal.

Breakfast even looked beautiful!

An inviting bowl of fruit was even part of the design!

There were many personal touches Farmhouse37 provided such as the little chocolates and sweets in each room, and Patti even laid out a book for me that she thought I may be interested in called Uncommon:  Malta + Gozo, a book about unusual stories and experiences in the Maltese archipelago. I thought, she couldn’t have been more on target with that book choice for me; I only wish I knew about it earlier!

37 Chocolates at my bedside

They also could create special personalized touches if requested. In addition to a massage room, they have planned special anniversary celebrations for people, parties, personalized picnics, boat trips, and even adventurous seaplane trips. That’s the beauty of being a small business; you can be flexible and really meet your visitor’s needs.

It’s no surprise that Patti, Giuseppe and I hit it off and I felt like we talked non-stop the whole evening about their old jobs, passions, and of course we swamped travel stories from near and far. I not only left stuffed full of fresh food the next morning, but I also left with a list of contacts that Patti provided me for my ongoing journey in Europe; her friends, artists, and travel industry people. The only thing I was disappointed in at Farmhouse37 was that I had to leave the old comfortable farmhouse and my new friends so soon.

If you are in Gozo, be sure to treat yourself to a little farmhouse luxury and go say hi to my friends Giuseppe and Patti.

Farmhouse37 Accommodation Information:
Website: www.thirtysevengozo.com
Rates: Room rates fall between 120 to 220 Euro including breakfast.

Farmhouse37 Photos:

Gozo's stunning coast

When I first heard of the island of Gozo, I thought it sounded like a Sesame Street character. It made me think of the old theme song which is strangely accurate for Sesame Street or Gozo.

“On my way to where the air is sweet Can you tell me how to get,
How to get to Sesame Street…”

However the only real thing that Sesame Street and Gozo have in common are it’s unusual cast of characters who lived there. It is said that the inhabitants of Gozo include Neolithic giants, the goddess Calypso, Knights of Malta, Napoleon, and the Ottomans. It’s been inhabited by residents since 5000BC; it oozes myths and history.

Spring on Gozo

The island itself is about the same size as Manhattan and has approximately 31,000 residents. Most of these residents live in small little villages speckled across the island among it’s flat-topped, rocky hills. Like the top of a wedding cake the center of the island is the highest point and it also the home of the capital city of Victoria (Rabat) and above that lies the ancient Citadel as the final tier.

The old Citadel it the king of the hill

The Citadel is the island’s fortress and was used as a safe haven when the island was frequently raided and people were taken by pirates and sold into slavery. Thanks to the system of watch towers around the island people were warned of intruders and everyone ran for the hills – literally. The residents would flee to the Citadel to escape being kidnapped or ravaged where they were generally safe behind the big Citadel walls. Today those walls offer grand views of the whole island.

View from the Citadel

Gozo can easily be reached by a 30 minute ferry from Malta and is a frequent holiday location for the Maltese.   Mother Nature has provided some eye popping sites like the site of Calypso’s home, a cave in Ramla Bay said to be where the nymph held the Greek hero Odysseus as her companion for seven years. For more great views be sure to see the Azure Window, Fungus Rock, and the Salt Pans.  Or if you are a history buff, then don’t miss the prehistoric Ggantija Temples, the world’s oldest free standing structure.  However, the villages are really the charm and character of Gozo. Each sprinkled throughout the island with winding streets and a church as a beacon and centerpiece. That’s one of the best things about Gozo, it’s like a small town community where everyone helps each other out and knows each other’s business. It was comfortable, relaxing, and simple. Stop at a café for a coffee and discover the beautiful old village churches.

The Azure Window

Waves crash into the salt pans

A gorgeous basilica in Victoria

Towers guarded the island and still remain

Windmills dot the Gozo landscape

Cafe Jubilee full of locals in Victoria

But whatever you do, bring your camera to take in the spectacular coastal views and soak the myth, history, and pace of Gozo in.

View all Gozo Photography

Watch tower protecting the Grand Harbor from Gardjola Gardens in Senglea

If you have something that everyone wants, then you better protect it; especially if it’s the 16th century and you have the Ottoman Empire salivating at getting revenge. The little island of Malta was a strategic point that has attracted a myriad of nations and tyrants through history. Malta has something that everyone wants – a Grand Harbor.

If you had a Grand Harbor and was positioned in the middle of the Mediterranean between Europe and Northern Africa, you’d be popular too. And you’d probably want to protect that harbor – which is exactly what Malta did. They fortified the harbor like no other. They built walls, forts, towers, and rolled in cannons; poised for attack. And there were many attacks.

Behind these thick impenetrable walls lie functioning cities and towns. Some of the most famous are the towns known as the Three Cities which lie around the Grand Harbor perimeter. They were bustling market centers and safe havens for the citizens in the 1500’s. The 3 towns of Cospicua, Vittoriosa, and Senglea were enclosed by the massive line of fortification created by the Knights of St John.

Today they are a neighborhood full of homes and families intermixed with historical buiildings and fortresses all flanked by an upscale yacht harbor. The area is in a constant state of revitalization as old ship warehouses and fortifications are changed into modern housing with a historical touch. These are the up and coming neighborhoods of Malta and will most likely transform extensively in the next 5 years.

I suggest you start in the morning and walk around the hilly streets of Senglea going down winding alleys and roads, interacting with the locals, poke your head into churches, stepping into the Band Clubs for a refreshment. Go through Cospicua and then go to Vittoriosa and stroll along the docks and view the massive yachts and grab lunch outside by the water at one of the many new restaurants serving the yachting crowd. Stop by the old men on the corner who are offering boat taxi rides and tours around he harbor for a small price and get a different perspective.  Then stroll up to see the Inquisitors palace or other museums making a day of the slow, simple life in the modern day Three Cities of Malta.

And of course, don’t forget your camera.

The view from Senglea to Vittoriosa across the harbor

The up and coming neighborhood of Senglea

A Dolphin as a door knocker is good luck

Wander through Vittoriosa and find quiet little piazzas

The boat taxis/tours on Vittoriosa are a great way to get a new perspective

Victory Square in Vittoriosa has beautiful architecture

Yachts park near Vittoriosa for a nice view of the Three Cities

The Three Cities is filled with numerous churches

Dusk falls over the Three Cities and it's harbor

Senglea's quiet atmosphere

The Three Cities are surprisingly hilly