Tiny Italian Towns

As I mentioned in my post about Rome, I didn't go to Vatican City in the four days I was there, but instead took Monday of my trip to go to a couple of small towns in the hills outside of Rome. I meant to go to the Vatican on Monday, but when we were unable to buy tickets online the night before, we didn't hesitate to scrap the plan. (The line for the Vatican is meant to take 2-3 hours, and I'm sorry, I'm sure it's worth it, but I am not one to wait in line on a hot day.) So Camilla said we could go check out Frascati in the morning, pick up some pizza for lunch, and then spend the afternoon in Nemi. Perfect sounding plan!

I'd heard about Frascati before we went, mainly because the town is widely-known for their symbol: the three-titted woman. They say she's got two for milk, and one for wine. Now, I'm not the biggest wine drinker, but I enjoy a glass or two with some good food and conversation, and I definitely love any place that's given women another nipple just for this purpose! May I present to you Frascati and their "I've got it all covered" lady...

After picking up some pizza to take home for lunch from a place that apparently has the best pizza in the town, buying Camilla's favorite cake in the world, talking a quick stroll, hitting the grocery store so I could stock up on Italian goodies to bring back with me, and spending a looong time talking to the parking lot attendant, we headed home for lunch. I wish I'd taken pictures of all the meals that her mom prepared/laid out. It was quite the impressive and delicious event. So many different dishes were on the table, even the pickiest of eaters would walk away stuff from various things. Amazing. I love Italy. (Even though her mother is New Zealand born, English raised, and has been living in Italy for 25 years. I asked her if she now feels herself more Italian than anything, and she said she doesn't really feel her self as anything. I wonder what I'll feel like in another 23.5 years when I've spent the majority of my time away from where I was born and raised...)

I feel like I'm cutting everything here a little bit short, but it's because I really freakin' can't wait to tell you guys about Nemi! So I'm just going to get to it, because I am so in love with this teeny, tiny town, and I want you all to know about it. (Now watch, I'll go back to Nemi in 10 years, and it'll be seeming with people like Rome, and I'll be saying, "Blasted tourists! They've ruined my calm haven of delicious flavors and beautiful sights!" Hahaha.)

Nemi is a small town outside of Rome, one in which you MUST visit if you are in the city for a while. Give up a day to go there, it's worth it. I gave up Vatican City for it, and I don't regret anything about the choice. Seriously.

It's in the mountains, looking down on a lake and at another small village all the way across the lake, and is known for a few things: truffles, wild berries (namely strawberries), and wine. I mean, do you need to hear more words? Maybe you do, but maybe what you need to be further convinced are pictures. So, here you are...

Falling in love yet? Well, I've got a bit more to show you before we're through here!

Camilla enjoying some gelato with fragolini (little, wild forest strawberries), and myself freaking out over how delicious this strawberry tiramisu was! And of course, the view of Lake Nemi :)

Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum!!!!

I don't think I can ever eat a regular-sized strawberry again after the experience of these tiny forest delights!

And let's not forget about the impromptu wine tasting session we enjoyed at this, quite literally, hole in the wall place..

I recommend going to the shop next door to this, too, and trying some of their crazy-good truffle dips and stuff. Buy in bulk, then send me some. ;)

Nemi is completely designed for tourists, and we were both equally shocked to find out that Russian tourists are those that most-visit Nemi. But in spite of the place looking like a catalog offer, it's still so calm, the people so kind, and every gastronomical offering so divine. Tiny but mighty, I say! Go, go, I say! Enjoy it and let me know what gems you found while you were there. I know I'm going back when I get the chance! 

Sending lots and lots of love to you all! As I become more serious and dedicated to writing my first book, I ask that you please send me encouraging, motivating vibes, and pray for me to believe in myself, and get this thing finished, edited, and self-published before New Year's! I believe it can be done, and believe God's got my back, would be great to add your support to the pile! :)

I love you fam_{{ily}}, have a blessed and beautiful week!

Blessings, Love, Light & Wonder

Raining down

From Above

-Allie-Sun <3 

Room In Girona in Girona, Catalunya, Spain

I almost always prefer to couchsurf while I'm traveling, but I think that my trip to Catalunya a couple weekends back was supposed to be a fairly solitary one. Only two of the couch requests I sent got a response, and both people were out of the city that weekend. I went without making arrangements for a hostel, knowing I could find something. I checked hostelworld.com beforehand, and saw there were plenty of spots, so I decided to wait till I was ready to check in. 

Before I went, I looked online to find out where they were, and decided to go to the cheapest, nearest one. It happened to be Room In Girona, which is pretty much right on the river. I'm almost certain that if my room had a window or balcony facing the river, I'd have been able to see it. When I got there about 19h, the guy said that there were no more beds available in the shared dorms, and they only had private rooms. I asked how much the private room was, and he told me 42 euros. So I said, ok, no thank you, I can find a room somewhere else. It was then that he decided to cut me a deal, and told me that what they could do was charge me half price for the room, since it was late, and no one else would be coming for it anyways. (I think that maybe there were spots in the shared dorms, but he was trying to make a higher sale.) So, in the end, I paid the price of a 6-bed shared dorm, but had a queen-sized bed and large room all to myself. :) Thanks, God!

The place was more like a house/apartments than a hostel. The bathroom was for everyone, but it was so big, clean and nice, I felt like I was in a home more than a place I was renting for the night!

There was also a kitchen, common room, and laundry room, and breakfast was included. The breakfast included cheese, slices of meat, Spanish omelette, fruit, yogurt, cereal, coffee, tea, and a variety of carbs. All of this, in combination with an incredibly nice and helpful staff, definitely left me with a good impression, and ability to recommend the place to anyone who wants a reasonably priced place that's well located. It was no more than 10 minutes to walk to the train/bus station from there, and since it's right on the river, you have easy access to all the city. 

Room In Girona, thank you for a great stay!

Room In Girona

Barri Vell (Vell neighborhood)

C/ Santa Clara, 9

3rd Floor

972 426 480 / 678 177 916

info@roomingirona.com

But Where's The Blue??

When we think of Greece, I think more often than not the image that comes to mind is one of white homes and buildings with beautiful blue dome roofs, and a gorgeous coastline. We have this one picture in our heads, and when we arrive to Greece, expect to see just that. The most-used and publicized image of Greece happens to be taken here in Santorini, so of course when we arrived we expected to be overwhelmed by the sight of blue and white. But I am here to bust the myth, and blow the lid right off that one! 

The most common picture of Greece/Santorini (Source: Google)

Fact: Greece and Santorini are not actually synonymous for white buildings with blue dome tops. 

There is a bit of that, but these buildings that we so often think of in association with Greece are actually the Orthodox churches. The churches have these dome tops, and yes, many of them are blue. I asked our host why they are usually blue, and he said that it's to represent the sky. So when they look up, they see the blue, and think of the sky (sky -- God -- heaven -- you see where this takes us). I love this explanation and reasoning, and it completely made up for the fact I felt somewhat deceived coming here.

But I will admit, because this is the image we have stuck in our minds, my friend and I actually spent sufficient time searching, in a way, for the area with these smooth, beautiful buildings with the amazing blue dome roofs. And we were so perplexed when we just couldn't find them. It then dawned on us that this isn't actually what is common, and through seeing this image, we had just decided that that was Greece, that's how it all was. Interesting how our minds do things like that to us, and our brains decide to create a place based off a picture. (I should probably point out that we were also completely confused. We were searching in Fira for this image we always see of Santorini, when in fact, it's taken in Oia. Whoops.:)

In spite of everything, Santorini has been a beautiful experience. We've seen so much of the island, and though I know there's much more to see and do (especially in the high season when it's overflowing with people and parties), I am leaving quite satisfied with the trip. It's been a really cool experience to learn that we really can't judge a book by the cover!

Oia, where the classic Santorini image is taken. Look there, and you can see the blue domes that have become so closely associated with the island.

 

Fira

 

*To read about Santorini, tips, tricks, and things to do, click here!
*To read about ANNY Studios where we stayed in Santorini, click here!
*To read about Piraeus, click here!
*To read about Athens, click here!
:)