Guys, my 4th Gen Camaro found a 5th Gen friend! (Mine's still faster.)
Ugh
I logged into my website today to do some much-needed updating. Things went a little haywire last cycle (*cough* redistricting *cough*) and I have been neglecting my website duties.
I intended to upload a bunch of photos and do a little blog update, then get overwhelmed by all the pictures from trips I really want to post. So everyone will have to wait a little longer. I know how much everyone is yearning to see more cell phone pics of sunsets.
California Dreaming
Earlier this year, I took an amazing trip to California. It was my first time there and I managed to visit Oakland, LA, Napa, Beverly Hills, Sausalito, and San Francisco. It was tremendous and I can't wait to return. This country is beautiful.
#WesternTour
For the last few years, I've gone Out West during the summer, to Wyoming. It's cooler and the people are made entirely of granola. Here are some photos from this year's #WesternTour.
File: Places That Look Fake
Sneak peek: Villa Rufolo
I've actually had some questions. Yes, this is real. Yes, I took this picture mere hours ago. Yes, it's ridiculous.
The town of Amalfi
Yesterday, my mom and I took the bus to the town of Amalfi and Salerno. Amalfi is similar to Ravello but about 30% larger, and therefore doesn't retain the quaint solitude of Ravello. Salerno is surprisingly large and bustling. The small portion of it we saw was very metropolitan and jam packed with retail stores.
Positano was inaccessible due to a road collapsing. I guess that's what happens when you build places lodged into the side of sheer mountains.
So far Ravello is still my favorite. Here are a few snaps of Amalfi town.
Religious things
They're everywhere. You can't walk 200 feet without running into some crumbling, beautiful church, Chapel, monastery, convent or painting. As a non-religious person, these things remind me of the human capacity to express complex feelings and emotions through inanimate objects. And how we're all improved by that effort.
Three views of the coastline
The mountains look dramatically different depending on the time of day and weather conditions. Here's a sampling.
Sunrise on a clear day.
Sunset on a foggy day.
Mid-day, clear.
Two charming days in the village of Ravello
The village of Ravello is a picturesque treasure. We've spent the last two days walking into town in the mornings, seeing the shopkeepers arrange their displays, friends greet each other (and strangers) in the street, and old men having lively discussions in the town square. It sounds cliche, but this is truly a village trapped in time. There are no chain restaurants, no set schedules and no sense of urgency or unease. Just the sense that everyone here is earnestly enjoying life in this gem on the side of a cliff.
Always take the side streets. You'll be surprised what you might find. Here are some of the better pictures I've taken in the last two days.
The Amalfi Coast is exactly what it looks like in pictures
We took the bullet train from Milan to Naples yesterday. This thing goes like 200mph and it's quite a way to see the countryside. Mia mama asked at one point, "Weren't we supposed to get a bullet train in Florida?" and so I ordered another glass of wine.
From Naples Centrale, our hotelier sent a wonderful private car to take us to Hotel Parsifal in Ravello. And it's a good thing he did. When we arrived it was raining, dark, foggy and windy. The winding road we took literally up the side of a mountain was like something out of a movie. But Giancarlo was a capable driver, and he talked non-stop about the history of Amalfi, all the celebrities who frequent it, and his love of American muscle cars.
I promise this is the garden at our hotel, not an MGM backlot.
We're here for 6 days, and I can't wait to explore the little village of Ravello, with crumbling walls, cobblestone streets and a church that looks exactly like it should. More pictures soon.
Amalfi Alarm Clock
Anyone who knows me knows it takes something pretty important to get me out of bed at sunrise. I think this qualifies:
Above and below are views from our private terrace. Not sure what else I could possibly say about this.
This is a completely useless caption.
La dolce vita, indeed.
We're in Milan
My mother is clearly shrinking. Or I'm six and a half feet tall.
So everyone here is beautiful. Even when they're not physically striking in the traditional sense, they're so well-groomed, appointed and put-together. The general color pallette they all use (lots of blacks, greys, muted tones accentuated by animal furs and exotic skins) is like a uniform code of apparel by which every Milanese abides.
So, naturally, us crude, coarse Americanos stand out. But something great has happened! I've figured out that 6 years of Latin and two semesters of Italian actually did something. I can speak pretty passable Italian - who knew? So maybe we're not as barbaric as we appear.
Here's a cute picture of mama mia and me, and mama mia really enjoying her stuffed zucchini flowers, burratta mozzarella and prosciutto. In case you're wondering, this is what I'll look like in fifty years. And I'll be just as excited about a good antipasti.
That's the face of pure joy.
The #ItalianTour commences
The beginning of the #ItalianTour. An early family Christmas dinner before we get on a plane.
I guess it's time to start using this thing...
I went to the trouble of (badly) redesigning my website myself. Hire a professional! you might be thinking. And you're probably right. But there's a certain industriousness that comes with being raised by really old parents who grew up during the Depression.
For me, "blogging" is something you do when you want to talk about extreme couponing or sixteen ways to use Nutella in everyday foods. I promise to blog about neither.