Florence

 It’s funny, I could’ve sworn I posted about Florence, an amazing jewel of a city!!! Totally remiss of me - I guess I must’ve been thinking about posting. Or maybe posting in a dream. 

                                             Ponte Vecchio

What a gorgeous city. I would’ve liked to see Rome, Venice, and Cinque Terre, but I think I made the right choice with limited time. I stayed in Florence for 5 days, and loved every moment. 

I booked a motorcycle sidecar tour I found on Airbnb. It was a great way to see the other areas of Florence - away from the crowds. I preferred the other side of the river after that tour. Gilberto showed me a great gelato place and a perfect little cafe, a hidden gem near a park. I drank great wine there one day and watched people for hours. It was perfection. I found a fabulous place for pesto pasta across the river, too. The hike up to Michelangelo Square is great, the view from there- really spectacular. 

                                                       Sidecar tour!!

                                                       I hate selfies but this view!

I ate a LOT of paninis from All’Antico Vinaio!!! I’m drooling thinking about them. They had a big selection of vegetarian options, really grateful for that. 

I didn’t stay in the Airbnb I rented more than one night. It just wasn’t my kind of place. I found Hotel Milu, on a quieter street close to the river. I loved the extremely high ceilings, the simplicity and cleanliness of the rooms, a great shower, the huge windows.  It was close to everything I wanted to see. 

I went to the Accademia Gallery, saw David and left HAHA. Too crowded. Went to Uffuzi Gallery and enjoyed seeing The Birth of Venus in person as well as the all of the incredible sculptures. I almost canceled my visit - glad I didn’t though it’s not really the kind of art I’m into. I definitely appreciated it and spent lots of time wandering the galleries and hallways. Amazing place. 

                                              The Arno

                                                       Cathédrale Santa Maria del Fiore

                                                       Needs no introduction

                                                       Drinking buddy at my favorite cafe

                                             Gilberto, my tour guide

I loved wandering around the city without any plan. The light, the colors, you really lose yourself.

Portugal, you win

I’m so grateful I decided to go to Portugal from Italy. That sentence makes me want to pinch myself, this whole experience has been a dream of mine for a LONG time. I didn’t have the money when I was in my 20s-30s (freelance makes vacations hard) and in my 40s I had a job that kept me very busy and required me to travel. Don’t get me wrong, I was so grateful for the work travel, felt so fortunate to travel and get paid for it. I knew I wanted to eventually do it on my own time, choosing places I want to see. 

So here I am in Lisbon. I really love it. 

Is it because I know it’s my last stop on this Europe trip? It makes it more poignant for sure! I couldn’t have chosen a better way to wrap up what’s been a truly remarkable experience than to come to Portugal.

The food is incredible, the people are innovative and creative. The views are astounding, I love my Airbnb at the top of a building overlooking the city. It’s lovely and bright, lots of windows, clean and simple just like I like a space to be.

I love that every walk around the city is mostly an uphill climb, it’s urban hiking at its finest. I love the pastéis de nata pastries, I’ve eaten so many I’ve lost count. I love the Time Out Market, all the amazing food and wine from some of the best chefs in the city. The Alfama is so interesting, the winding, narrow streets and tiled buildings. The river is beautiful to see from the hillsides, the whole city is vibrant and colorful - that there’s water sparkling in the distance is such a nice bonus. So gorgeous and so incredibly different, though in so many ways, there’s a lot of similarities with Los Angeles and San Francisco. It’s gritty and graffiti-filled, like LA, hilly like SF. There’s even a bridge, Ponte 25 de Abril that is a twin to the Golden Gate Bridge. The weather is very much like Southern California right now, and I have to admit, I’ve really missed that. The plants are very similar too - I always marveled over California plants and trees. 

                                             Cool street art, Alfama

                                                     Alfama

                                                       Love the tiles and the colors

I went to Sintra today, a 40 minute train ride away. It’s so incredibly beautiful- a wonderland. Forests, castles, a pretty village. Went to Quinta da Regaleira, Castelo dos Mouros, and Pena Palace. Walked down the winding staircase of the Initiation Well, such a cool experience. Most of all, I loved hiking through the forests and gardens. I spent the entire day there and didn’t really want to leave!

I bought a Lisbon pass, which is a cool thing. I can use trains, buses, and trams for free for 72 hours. It also gives me discounts to monuments and museums - some of them are free. It’s pretty great. 

Portugal has a. feeling to it I can’t seem to capture in photos. It makes me want to explore more of this country. It’s got passion and isn’t pretentious, though it has so many reasons to be. 

                                                     Initiation Well at Quinta de Regaleira

                                                                  

                                                        Quinta de Regaleira 

                                               Queen Amelia’s Gardens , Pena Palace 

                                                       The greenhouse at Pena Palace

                                                       Quinta de Regaleira 

                                                       Pena Palace Fountain of the Small Birds

Paris and the Loire Valley

10/16/21

 Paris is a magnificent city, I was so happy to be there. My stay was short and sweet, Friday evening to Sunday noon. I managed to cram in all of my favorite museums into one day - The Louvre, D’Orsay, Pompidou. There was a great Georgia O’Keefe exhibition at the Pompidou, I’m so glad I got to see it.

Unfortunately it was too easy to imagine statues taking selfies - haha. You have to laugh at how popular culture has changed us.

 It was gorgeous weather, everyone was dressed for fall. I immediately needed to buy a jacket as I somehow didn’t foresee needing one. One of the first things I did Friday when I arrived was to go to the Marais and get a falafel from L’as du Falafel. I’ve been craving it since August 2016.

It was very crowded in the 1st Arrondissement as I predicted, but I welcomed it after the isolation of Corfu. 

The kindest driver took me to and from the airport. The kindness of strangers never fails to blow me away. He took great care in making sure I knew exactly where to pick up my rental car at Orly to drive to the Loire Valley.

The Loire is astounding, and I feel incredibly fortunate to be here. I will admit in the beginning I didn’t get what the big deal was with the chateaux. After walking through the rooms, my feet on the worn places on the stone stairs, I get it 100%. History is everywhere here and although I was never great at it in school, I can definitely appreciate it here. 

My first chateau was about 200 ft away from where I’m staying, Le Chateau D’Azay le Rideau. Astounding, truly. I feel that photos and words don’t really do these places justice. 

The second, and my favorite, Chenonceau. I loved the history of it, the gallery built over the river, the gardens.

The sense of time gone by is a strange feeling to me, I almost can’t grasp how old these places are. The next was Chateau de Villandry.

I loved the gardens, took a lovely walk in the woods. 

Then, Chateau de Chambord, amazing place. 

I think my favorite part of all the chateaux are the kitchens. Not sure why, I just love them.

Next chateau was Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire. The views of the Loire!!!!!

On to Amboise to the Chateau Royal Amboise. The views from this chateau were incredible as well. 

 I also visited Chateau du Clos Lucé. Leonardo daVinci’s residence in Amboise. 

I’m staying at the Hotel de Biencourt. The owners (Bruno and Xavier) are friends of my aunt, so kind and helpful. My spoken French isn’t great, but between English and French, we communicate fine. It’s about confidence in speaking and listening, I can read and write it decently. Being here is a whole different thing with the language, it’s intimidating but I’m getting by. 

Bruno made reservations for me at the best restaurants!  First night was Le Petit Gousier, where I met the kindest woman. She went out of her way to encourage my French and find a bus route to Tours for me. The food was simple but beautifully done. The second was L’Auberge du XIIe Siècle in Saché, absolutely amazing food and service. I also went to L’Auberge Pom Poire on Bruno’s recommendation - the food here I will never forget. I was thrilled that they asked about dietary restrictions and built your 5-7 course tasting menu around your preferences. All of the restaurants really blew me away. Tonight I’m going to Cote Cour, another recommendation of Bruno’s. The food here in the Loire is some of the best I’ve had in my life. 

Azay le Rideau at night, with a little slice of 🌙 moon.

The river at Chateau D’Azay Le Rideau.

The gardens at Chateau D’Azay le Rideau

Church in Azay le Rideau.

It was in the Loire Valley that I decided to see Florence and Lisbon, then go back to the USA on Oct 28 from Lisbon. The way I booked the trip after Lisbon was chaotic and not planned well. I don’t think it’s the best way to see places - frantically zig-zagging from country to country.  I planned as if I would never be able to do this again, and I prefer to think that it’s absolutely possible to see all the places in the world I want to see - and it doesn’t have to be done all at once. 

The Storm

 I imagine that storms in Corfu are fairly typical at certain times of the year and the locals are used to it. When I saw there was a storm coming, I thought “oh ok, a few days of rain, thunder, and lightning”. I didn’t consider the power would go out, the lightning would strike the antenna for the WiFi and the ocean would rage, coming far too close to my Airbnb for my comfort level. The sound of the lightning striking those antennae was something I don’t think I will ever forget. 

Call me spoiled, but with no internet and intermittent electricity, I made the call to get the hell out of there. 

With my one bar of cellular service that was unreliable at best, I managed to change my plane ticket, book a hotel room in Paris, and schedule an airport transfer on Welcome Pickups. 

Thanking the universe the entire time, I dropped off my rental car, got to the airport, boarded my flight. It was late taking off because of the storm, but you can bet I sat on the tarmac, smiling my head off under my mask.

It was great to see Corfu, but I was ready to get out of there.

So, hello Paris. Good to see you again. 

Corfu

 10/6/21

Wanted to give myself some time before I posted about Corfu. 

In the first few days, I will admit I was slightly disoriented. Corfu reminded me so much of California that I started to get homesick. Having taken a right turn, instead of the left towards Old Town Corfu, I have seen how Corfu is its own, unique place. 

It’s bigger than the islands I’ve visited so far in Greece. I drove through Old Town Corfu and saw The Old Fort, didn’t stop because parking was nonexistent and traffic was intense. The good thing about being stopped in traffic is that I could look around. Driving here isn’t easy. The roads go from narrow to insanely narrow, the locals drive them fast. I overcame the fear of it after a while, but I will admit that I spent some time riddled with anxiety. If you’ve ever spent any time in that shitty place, you know it can paralyze you. I stayed local for a few days, visited some tavernas. First the taverna next door owned by a man called Spiros.  Then I got a little braver and took the 5 min cliff walk to Taverna Yiannis, which is owned by the hosts of the Airbnb. Such a nice, welcoming family - I spent a lot of time there and on the beach directly in front of it. 

This is an abandoned house in one of the oldest villages in Corfu called Sokraki

Aggelokastro Castle from a distance - loved the hike up. 

Of course there’s cats. I will probably cry when I leave this orange kitten. I named him Leo and he’s been my little companion. 

Favorite retsina. 

Beach in front of my rental. I love listening to the sound of the waves rolling the pebbles.

Sunrises are glorious. And of course there’s Leo.

Today, I sucked it up, got in the car and took the right off the very steep driveway to visit Kassiopi, a lovely little fishing village. I took a walk along the cliff road, so happy I did. Amazing little beaches carved into the cliff sides, the water an astounding color of green-blue. I’m proud that I overcame the fear of driving to see these places. The ride there is also insanely gorgeous - stopped to take a photo from the cliff side of the famous Lawrence Durrell house on Kalami Beach. 

The last white house on the water is the Durrell house. So cool to see it. 

Kassiopi, the gorgeous cliffs and sea. Truly remarkable.

Loved the olive groves. 

I think we are all little children inside, and it seems that we could treat ourselves with the same gentleness we’d treat an actual child or kitten/puppy.  I struggle with this and have to remind myself often that we are all students in the school of life, and each thing is a lesson.  I leave Greece for France on the 10th, rented a car there too. Driving in Corfu has prepared me for it, so grateful for these learning experiences. 

I’ve spent almost a month in Greece and really only scratched the surface of a remarkable country. The weather is changing, storms are rolling in. The sea is an entirely different beast today.