Thanksgiving in Prague

Another Turkey Day away from the States.

It's sad not to be with my family, eating some favorite Thanksgiving trimmings, but since I can't be there I'm happy that there is always a great travel destination a plane ride away.

This year I traveled to Prague, with some of our new teachers that arrived in August. I had heard that Prague had Starbucks and bagels, so this made Prague an excellent destination. I was not disappointed. I had bagels for breakfast most mornings and Starbucks lattes multiple times. Yum!

Enjoying my first Toffee Nut Latte
of the trip!

Twice while in Prague I ate traditional beef goulash with dumplings. It was pretty delicious. The beef was made with my favorite "stringy beef" and I was happy to try the traditional food.

Goulash #2- these dumplings were better than the 1st!

Another highlight of visiting Prague was getting to see Breaking Dawn 2 in English. The theaters in Milan have been showing it in Italian but my Italian is still pretty rough. In Prague, it played in English with Czech subtitles. I was so happy to get to see it before heading back to the States.

Breaking Dawn poster in Czech

So, onto things actually related to the city of Prague! We spent Friday and Saturday touring the city and its various quarters. The "Old Town" area was very nice. We wandered through those streets several times. There were a lot of souvenir shops! It felt harder to find handcrafted gifts here than in other places, but I did have a lead on a jewelry store where I could buy Bohemian garnets, so a few people are getting this under the tree this year!

Prague still shows evidence of it's communist past. Many of the buildings were cold and stark and felt very industrial. It wasn't a city that was warm and friendly like some other European cities seem to be. I wonder if my opinion would vary if I visited during the warmer months.

My favorite thing about Prague was that it was in the Czech Republic and everything says CZ! I bought stickers and magnets with my initials, which aren't always the easiest to come by!

A Trip to Scandinavia!

When I first moved to Europe over a year ago now, I never realized exactly how much traveling I would be lucky enough to do. I'm up to 15 countries that I've visited during my thirty five years. This trip to Scandinavia added two more. 

Copenhagen is only a two hour direct flight from Milan, so it was easy enough to make a journey here for our first long weekend of the year! (Waiting until November 1 for that took a really long time!) We rented an apartment through the AirBNB website. It had a pretty good location because it was within just a few minutes walk to a metro station and we navigated around the city fairly easily. There was a nice bakery on the way from the apartment to the metro that we stopped at each morning. The Danish had a better selection of "danish" to choose from than we see in Italy- surprise! So delicious!

Eating Danish in the metro station! Our morning routine!

The money in Copenhagen was difficult to adjust to because the amount are so much larger. One euro was worth about 7 kroner, so I spent my week dividing everything roughly by that number to guesstimate how much it really costs. Out one evening for drinks, the bill totaled 140 dkk! Thank goodness that wasn't in euros, since it was only three drinks! Denmark was much friendlier towards credit and debit cards than Italy is and that helped out a lot!

Danish kroner

The local brewery, Carlsberg, produces Christmas beers each year. While we were in Copenhagen the seasonal beers were released. The bars have parties to celebrate and a lot of people over indulge. We sampled the Tuborg and Jacobsen version and enjoyed a few glasses. It was great to experience a local event like that!

Christmas beer!

Since Malmo is only a 30 minute train ride away we were able to add Sweden to the countries visited list. We went on Saturday only to discover that it was a Swedish holiday and most shops were closed. Note to self- always check for local holidays when traveling! We wandered around for a bit, took some photographic evidence of having been there, had a great lunch, and headed back to Denmark. The girls almost left me behind when my credit card and debit card options all failed to work in the ticket machine to get back to Copenhagen. Thankfully, Kate came to my rescue and helped by my ticket!

Overall, Copenhagen was a great place to visit. The hardest part for us seemed to be finding places to eat- it was all seemingly expensive or too nice a place in your sightseeing clothes or take out- so that required a little navigating. While Copenhagen is a budding scene for major foodies, eating weird ingredients is not part of my regular dietary plan, so I like to stick to most of what I can identify! The best part of Copenhagen also involved food. Kate and I found this great market on Sunday afternoon that was very reminiscent of Madrid's Mercado di San Miguel, where each vendor serves and sells different things and you can buy portions of any size. We wandered through here that afternoon and indulged in some hummus for our lunch! So good! 

A favorite picture of Copenhagen, edited in Instagram.
Rosenborg Slot

If I get another opportunity to travel to the Scandinavian region, I want to go during the summer! While the weather wasn't terrible, it was a bit cold and rainy and gray! I like seeing the sun more!

The sun did come out on our last day! A view of Copenhagen from the Round Tower.

Today Kate and I are going to Florence for the night and I'll be celebrating Thanksgiving in Prague. I've heard it's a great city! And, of course, the countdown is on for Christmas break! We're under five weeks now!

Absolut Love.

During my recent trip to Verona, I happened upon this button. It seems so appropriate for the city in which Shakespeare's love story, Romeo and Juliet, is based.

Verona is a great city. It's like a smaller version of Rome. It has an arena, reminiscent of Rome's Colosseum and the overall feel of the city is similar too. We hadn't planned on spending our Sunday here but a train strike kept us from traveling from Verona to Vicenza. The joys of strikes in Italy...I swear they happen ALL the TIME!

I took one of my favorite photos in Verona. Lately, I've been taking pictures with only my iPhone and playing with the light using the ProCamera app. This picture I edited in Instagram. I posted one version to Facebook, but here's another.

Verona...on a drizzly Sunday morning

This iPhoneography fun is causing me some problems. I take so many versions of the same shot I can't decide which to use. The solution has become not to decide, which results in a lack of blog posts and photo sharing on Facebook. Here is one I like from later in the day.

Verona...the weather having improved

We also did the tourist thing and checked out Juliet's house. We went early so that it wouldn't be too crowded and checked out the balcony, wall of locks, and, of course, the gift shop!

From the courtyard of Juliet's house

This weekend trip in early October began in Mantova, a town about an hour south of Verona. This town is famous for its zucca (pumpkin) dishes, so I was desperate to feast on these delights. Mantova was a nice small town. Kate and I wandered through churches and markets. We happened upon a vendor, who I'm convinced must do "As Seen on TV" advertising. He would be perfect. What do you think?

Kate, considering the kitchen tool that would make her zucchini into spaghetti!

So, back to the zucca. In Mantova, we ate at a busy place that was along a touristy street. It was probably not our best decision. We ordered a cheese plate that I'm pretty sure came from the local grocery store, nothing worth remembering. And, we each had the tortelli di zucca in a butter and sage sauce. It was rather disappointing overall. Perhaps, I'm becoming too selective in my zucca preferences.

The zucca in Mantova...only okay, unfortunately.

While in Verona we ate at a restaurant that also had tortelli di zucca on the menu. So. Much. Better.

The zucca in Verona...looks way more homemade than the Mantova version!

Arrivederci tutti! I promise to work on my pictures from Copenhagen and post about last weekend's trip soon!

A Day in Milano

Today I decided was the day to cross off a long awaited item on the "Must Do While Living in Milan" to-do list...

I climbed the Duomo...you know, the huge, monstrous, gothic cathedral in the heart of Milan.

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It never gets old, every time you set foot in the piazza, the sheer amazement you feel looking at this church.

Here are some shots from the day!

After the Duomo, tried out the Luini's Panzerotti shop. Holy cow! It's like a Bella's breadstick stuffed with pizza sauce and mozzarella! Yum!

And, finally, a stop at the SuperPolo grocery store for some of my favorite and most necessary baking ingredients!

So, now, a challenge! Anyone want to guess what these five cans cost here in Euros? I'll look for  your guesses in the comments!

Thanks to everyone who left a comment on a post a few weeks ago! Love when everyone does!

Happy Fall Y'all!

One of these things is not like the other...

Time to catch everyone up on two recent events!

Last Tuesday, I went to La Scala for the first time. La Scala is a world-renowned opera house that has been around since the late 1700's. We went to hear the La Scala Symphony Orchestra play Robert Schumann's Symphony n. 4 and Johannes Brahms' Symphony n. 1. Of course, I know nothing about symphonies or classical music and kept wishing there were visuals to go along with the music. Since there were not, I was forced to notice the following things about some of the musicians...

• There was a handsome bass player, who looked to be the inspiration for Gaston from Beauty and the Beast.
• One of the French horn players appeared to wear one of those glasses, nose and mustache get-ups. Except I don't think he was wearing any of it as a joke. This guy was also dumping spit out of his instrument constantly!
• Brahms clearly didn't write enough notes for the trombone players in his piece...they looked incredibly bored! 

Here are some images from the night.

what we were there to hear-

Kate and I in our "box"

There are seats on the floor and then boxes all around

the chandelier and ceiling

more boxes; the really fancy one had only one person in it

the orchestra and guest conductor

In complete contrast to the regal and prim feel of La Scala was my weekend trip to Oktoberfest. My friend,. Elizabeth, from the Boston job fair lives in Munich and was gracious enough to put me up on her couch for the weekend. Saturday morning we got up super early and arrived at the festival grounds by 7:30 AM. We waited in line outside the Ox tent until about 8:30 when they started letting everyone in. Everyone seemed to behave well while waiting in line, though as soon as they allowed anyone in the line became a can of sardines in which we were all packed too tightly! But, once in the tent, we snagged a table for our group of 15 and sat down. It seems that if you want a table, this is the only way to go about things. Pretzels are being sold as you sit, and the first beers arrived by 9 AM. As you see in the pictures, everything was giant- the pretzels and the beer. This tent served ox, and while I was hesitant to try it, I just went with it and it was just like eating roast beef. It was served with the most delicious German potato salad, and, of course, washed down with a liter of German beer. 

After awhile a band started playing and people started standing on the benches and singing along. It was a lot of fun, especially when the tunes were American songs that I had heard before! Listening to a room full of Europeans singing Sweet Home Alabama is something else! 

Here are some of the best pics of the day!

9 AM= beer thirty!

the OX tent- the had ox on the spit

ox and German potato salad

Elizabeth and me

cookies for sale!

me- sporting a dirndl!

Day trippin'

People are always asking what I miss about the US or what I love about Italy and my answers tend to vary with my mood. But, I have officially decided one thing that I absolutely love about life in Italy and Europe in general-- day trips!

This past Saturday Kate and I took a train trip to Vigevano, Italy. It's probably only 30 minutes by car, but takes more like an hour and a half to go the round about way from the small town of Opera. We hopped on our bikes and pedaled down to Locate (lose the English pronunciation and give it three syllables), the next small town south of us. They have a train station. We locked our bikes, took a picture for posterity, and prayed that they'd still be attached to the pole upon our return. Bike theft is just a bit of a problem around here.

Thought I'd snap a pic just in case it was the last time we saw them!

So we took the train from Locate to Pavia, and switched at Pavia to a train heading to Mortara (I'd never heard of this one before), and at Mortara switched again to get to Vigevano. It took about an hour and a half. Vigevano has a long history in this part of Italy, primarily because the Duke of Milan, Ludovico il Moro, had a castle built here as part of his noble residence.

The center of the city is quite picturesque, with a cathedral at one end of Piazza Ducale and the castle and tower sitting beside the piazza.

One of four weddings we saw, with the cathedral in the background

We climbed the castle's tower, which unfortunately didn't allow you to climb very high, and toured the Museo Internazionale della Calzatura (aka shoe museum), which sounded much grander than it was.

View from a decorative hole in the tower

Some shoe museum highlights...

Pope Benedict's shoes up top, and Pope John Paul II down on the left

Shoes by Alexander McQueen...little signed claimed they were the last two pairs he made,
but somehow I doubt that this little museum would have such a treasure.

We ate Napolitano style pizza, reminisced about eating the real thing in Naples a few months ago, and sampled a gelato that reminded us of cookies and cream ice cream.

Not a bad day at all. It got better when we returned to find our bikes where we left them. Yes!

As for things I miss from the US? Tonight it's that delicious frozen garlic bread you can buy at the grocery. I made this yummy pan of baked tri-color pasta and was thinking how nice a slice of that greasy garlic bread would have been. Plenty of leftovers...who's coming to dinner tomorrow?

Finally, a special shout out today to my friend Becky (Nease) Johnston to let her know that I'm thinking of her today as Kyle deploys with his unit to Afghanistan. Keeping you both in my prayers! Love you!

Madrid, Memories, and Munchkins...

The past several weeks have been busy ones for sure!

Patatas Bravas- potatoes with a spicy sauce

After I enjoyed Rome with my sister and Melissa, I came back to Milan and packed for my solo trip to Madrid. I've never traveled by myself before and part of my choosing to move overseas was to challenge myself to do things out of my comfort zone. So, in order to avoid the heat of my apartment I flew to Madrid for a few days of Spanish fun. Once again, thanks to my sisters amazing hotel discount I was able to stay at the Westin Palace. It was nice to stay in a plush and air conditioned place!

Once in Madrid I navigated the metro system and wandered around the area near the hotel. I found a street side cafe and sat down for tapas and beer. It was a little odd eating alone, but the food was delish and I was proud of myself for taking on the challenge. I tried a tortilla in a soup form, which was salty and amazing. I also had a ham croquette and patatas bravas.

Plaza Mayor

My first full day in Madrid was spent at the Royal Palace and the Museo del Prado. I followed Rick Steves' walking tour through some major sites, including the Mercado di San Miguel. I had heard about it through a friend and found it to be a great place to be able to try lots of different foods without the pressure of eating alone and I was able to buy single tapas too.


On Thursday I made my way to El Escorial, a palace that serves as burial grounds for the Spanish kings and queens, about an hour outside of the city. When I traveled to Spain in 1992, this was a highlight for me and I was curious if I would feel the same all these years later. This time I thought most of it was okay, but still was impressed by the room that holds the coffins of the Royals. The Royal Pantheon is a round room with green marble caskets on each side. Kings on the left, queens on the right, with the exception of Queen Isabel II, since she was a "ruling" queen and her husband was a consort. And, being a Queen is not enough to gain entrance. If you don't give birth to a son who becomes King you don't make the cut. The most recent addition is King Juan Carlos'grandmother, who died in the 60's, but was only recently moved into the room from the Rotting Room- seriously, you have to decompose for decades before you move into your final resting place. Unfortunately, the room is now full. Looks like King JC and his Queen are out of luck.

El Escorial

With some time to spare that night, I went to the Reina Sofia modern art museum to check out one of the most famous paintings in Spain, Picasso's Guernica. While modern art has not proven to be of much interest to me, this painting clearly exhibits the passion that Picasso felt about the bombing of the Spanish city, Guernica, and was quite striking. And, entrance to the museum was free, as almost all of the Spanish museums and sites have evening hours that are free to the public. Not to worry, I spent enough at the gift shop to make up for it!




So, Madrid was great. I'd like to go back with some others to eat my way through some more tapas!

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When I returned to Milan it was sweltering. Just in time for our new teachers to arrive and suffer through the August heat without air conditioning. Those first few days back were brutal...96, 97 and up. I took three showers on some of those days. It was impossible to stay cool!

Some of the ASM staff...old and new in Bellagio!

Our new teachers arrived and I had the opportunity to feel what it's like to be on the veteran side of things. We've taken them shopping and toured the city. We've tried out public transportation and taken them to Lake Como. A lot of their experiences have reminded me of my own memories from just a year ago. The good news is that for now, at least, the temperatures have cooled off and living conditions are actually pleasant. I'm thankful for the reprieve, and hoping it lasts.

School started on Monday for us. We were laboring here while my US friends enjoyed the day off. Since my schedule is less defined this year, I had more work to do for our week of pre-planning than I do for the first week of school. I gave three presentations last week and while I was really anxious about this, I'm pleased with how everything went. My job this year will involve a lot more of this, so I need to be as comfortable in front of adults as I am in front of a room full of munchkins. Practice makes perfect?