Hello from Italy & Greece!

Day 10: Thessaloniki to Chicago

Updated: December 15, 2024

It did not stop raining last night and it was super windy. Gusts up to 50 mph went into the morning, Our flight from Thessaloniki to Zurich was originally scheduled for about 11am, so we got ready, had breakfast as usual, and had a car scheduled to pick us up at 8am. Before we finished breakfast, we got the notice that our flight was delayed until 12:30pm. And that was an issue because we had a 45-minute connection in Zurich if everything was on time. So, that connection was not happening! Cordwood and Belinda’s flight was still scheduled to depart at about 12:30pm, so we all went to the airport at 8am anyway.

Yup, still raining

Matt and Jo had to wait a few minutes before being able to check in, and in the meantime, we received notice that we had been re-booked on a United flight direct from Zurich to Chicago tomorrow (Monday) morning. Since we had looked at other flight options when buying this ticket, we knew that would be the best plan. We were also glad to keep the Greece to Zurich flight since Zurich seemed like it has many more options to get back to Chicago — compared to the relatively small Thessaloniki airport. Cordwood and Belinda had to wait until closer to their flight time before they could check in, so we hung out and explored the shops. We found a card game called OMG (AKA “Oh My Gods”), which is basically a Greek Gods version of Uno. Small, quick, easy to learn, good art, Greece-related, and cheap. We were in!

Pretty Greek Christmas tree in the airport

Fellow beleaguered travelers!

Yogurt, salad, gods, etc.

Once everyone was checked-in, we went through security and found a lounge. We had some breakfast snacks and played a couple of rounds of OMG. Instant classic. Eventually, we had to say goodbye. Cordwood and Belinda left for their gate and we followed shortly thereafter.

Well, there’s your problem!

Once on the plane, they confirmed that the delay was due to needing a bigger plane to handle the strong crosswinds. The flight was pretty comfortable and when we landed in Zurich a couple of hours later. We went straight to the transit counter. Since we already had the rebooked flight, we just needed some food vouchers and a place to stay. They booked us at the nearby Mövenpick Airport Hotel and gave us vouchers for lunch.

Oh sure, now it stops raining in Thessaloniki

On the way to Zurich

Last week’s snow in Zurich apparently melted

One of the places in the airport that accepts the vouchers was a sports bar and grill. We split a burger and sausage. When we were done, we attempted to find the United counter so we could officially check-in and get seats assigned, but no luck. We think there were no United flights out for the rest of the afternoon/evening and so there was no United counter open. The Zurich airport has proven difficult to navigate, but we finally figured out how to first, exit, and second, locate the shuttle to the hotel. It was already early evening so we decided not to go anywhere and relaxed for the rest of the day. We made a quick stop at the lonely hotel buffet for dinner, then back to the room to get ready for our flight home tomorrow.

Zurich airport free lunch

Oh yeah, first week of Advent starts today!

Our alarms went off at 5:30am. We made sure we had everything and went downstairs to the breakfast buffet. Since it was so early and because we wanted to catch the shuttle to the airport, we just grabbed a quick bite. The shuttle left promptly at 6:20am. When we got to the airport, we found the United line (which definitely wasn’t there yesterday) and got our seats. Our seats were both aisle seats, one behind the other. Technically not sitting together but close enough!

We navigated our way through security and found a lounge. The person checking us in very kindly told us that we were quite far from our gate and might want to go to a lounge closer to our gate in the International Terminal. We took her advice and ventured our way across the airport. We had to go through a passport check and take the tram (which we probably should have remembered). We found a different lounge a few steps from the gate. Now ready for breakfast, we got some food and relaxed before the flight.

Priority Pass still useful if you’re not in the US!

Bring on that negative nine degrees Celsius, hell yeah!!!

Since we were now on a United flight, we got the perks of being card holders, such as priority boarding. We got on and settled in for the ten hour flight. The seats were pretty comfortable and roomy. The time went by quickly with a few movies and a crochet project. When we landed, it was time for the super-awesome combo of Global Entry and carry-on luggage only. After stepping off the plane, we were in a cab about five minutes later.

Direct shot back to Chicago

Had time to crochet a cowl in time for the cold weather

We settled back in to our regular routines and tried to stay awake long enough to sleep through the night. We had a great time on the trip!

Day 9: Kalabaka

by Joanna

Updated: December 9, 2024

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We woke up early this morning to get ready for our full-day tour of the Meteora Monestaries. Originally, we were going to walk to Lily’s hotel where we would meet the driver. But the rain continued, so we decided to take the bus instead — and then the driver said he would pick us up from our hotel. Even better! We were able to relax and enjoy the rest of our hotel breakfast. Yesterday we learned that espressos are included, so with that level unlocked we had our morning cappuccino. At 8am, we met Yanis who was our driver for the day. We went to pick up Lily and were on our way. The monasteries are located in Kalabaka in central Greece, which is about a three-hour drive from Thessaloniki.

Driving out of the city

Yanis is technically a driver, but acted as our tour guide as well. He told us about the city walls that still have segments standing from centuries ago and the metro line that was supposedly opening today after 30-some years in the works. He also mentioned that the industrial area with multiple factories is called the “Mordor of Greece.” We are going to get along great with Yanis!

As we got close to Kalabaka, Yanis stopped at a cafe for a quick break. Matt and Jo were eyeing the sandwiches in the fridge and Yanis suggested to have the owner make one of the sandwiches in the “special” format. He added tomatoes, pickles, mayo, and an egg and toasted it. Add two cappuccinos and boom — perfect elevensies.

Still raining

The name Meteora means suspended between the earth and sky. Thousands of years ago, the area was huge lake with tall sedimentary towers. The tectonic plates pulled apart and lake dried up, leaving the towers.

From the cafe, it was a few minutes to the first stop, the lower caves. When hermits arrived in the 1200s, the found caves to live in. They then moved to upper caves, higher up the towers. In the 1400s, they started building the Monastaries on top of the towers, because the higher you are, the closer to god, obviously.

After viewing the ground level cave, we went to see the upper caves and one of the monestaries built into the wall.

Cave houses in the cliffside

In the mid 1400s monks built 25 monasteries on the towers. Each of the large ones took about 200 years to complete. There are only six remaining, but they are still functional and “active.” The first monetary we saw has one person living in it. Another has two.

Monasteries on towers

Second-largest Varlaam Monastery

The leaves in this part of Greece are surprisingly large

In theory, a new monk can come live here. There are a total of 17-18 monks in the six monasteries and about 45 nuns. As long as anyone lives there, they stay open.

Holy Monastery of Saint Barbara

Check out that monastery

The road to Meteora

The first monastery we went into was Varlaam, which is one of the two largest. We were able to explore for about an hour. The art, architecture, and views were incredible.

Including the geography into the art

The “Yo, Listen up, God’s talking” Meteora team

One interesting part of the monk life was using the pulley system to get materials. Since the Monastaries were purposely hard to access, it meant they also had to get creative to get food and supplies. They build a “net” to lower to the ground below and would pull it up with new materials, and sometimes, new monks.

Pulley system to get materials from below

View from the top

Exploring the museum in Varlaam

We then went to a much smaller monastery that is currently a nunnery. We were lucky to be running about 30 minutes ahead of a couple tour busses full of people who were entering when we were on the way out. Yanis then drove us to a few additional lookouts where we could see the other monasteries and the ruins of some others. We stopped at an overlook for pictures and then drove down back into Kalabaka for lunch.

Group shot in the rain

Crossing the bridge

Bird’s eye view of the nunnery

Still rainy weather setting the mood

Beat the crowds

At our lunch spot, Yanis explained the menu and warned us that they serve large portions. He recommended we order a few main dishes and share. And that’s exactly what we did. One order of pork chops, black pig steaks, mousaka, lamb baked in a pot, and baked feta later we were fed and happy. Everything was amazing. We were full, and ready to go, but then they brought out dessert, which seemed to be a honey walnut cake and ice cream with chocolate sauce. Again, delicious.

Since we finished lunch (call it supper) at 4pm, we agreed that we did not need a sit down dinner later today. Yanis suggested some local, seasonal pastries to try later. We drove the three hours back to Thessaloniki. On the way, a herd of black pigs crossed the road in front of us. It was still raining when we got back. We all went to Lily’s hotel so she can give Cordwood and Belinda some clothes to take home. We then ventured out and took the bus to Aristotle Square in search of the chestnut pastries Yanis mentioned.

There is a pastry store right on the corner that we’ve passed multiple times. We tried there first and found a Christmas chestnut pastry covered in white chocolate. At the time, we were not 100% sure it was exactly what Yannis was talking about, but it was delicious. After some googling, we think we found the right treat. We also got a giant chocolate brownie because, why not?

Picking pastries

The rain wasn’t too heavy, but there were high winds so even the awnings outside of the stores were not coverage enough for us as we walked back to the hotel to eat our treats. We played a round of Stone Soup, a cooperate game Cordwood got for free from the Chick-fil-a kids meal. We won, but it was close. Phew!

City dogs trying to stay warm and dry outside the hotel

Today was our last day, so we went back to our room to pack and get ready to go. We leave early tomorrow for the airport. Hopefully the rain stops by then. Spoiler alert: It’s won’t!

Day 8: Thessaloniki

by Joanna

Posted: December 9, 2024

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As usual, we started the day at the hotel breakfast buffet. Today is family day at Anatolia College Thessaloniki (ACT) where Lily attends (via Northeastern University). We left hotel at 8:15am and walked along the boardwalk to the Queen Olga hotel where Lily and many other students are staying and where the shuttle picked us up to take us to ACT. Belinda signed up in advance and didn’t need to include Lily in the count since “your student is accounted for.” Apparently that meant “not with you” since she had class and exams all day.

Walking along the boardwalk in the morning

Walking past the White Tower

We all started with a welcome speech and some general information about the program. We learned that the campus actually houses students in Pre-K through college with the upper campus buildings almost exclusively for Pre-K thru 12 and the lower campus’ three buildings for the college.

Anatolia College

Welcome speeches

After the speeches, we had a tour of the campus including the soccer field, gym, a few buildings, and bunkers which the Nazis built when they occupied the campus during World War II. Nobody cares about that hilly land in the outskirts of the city until ya need a fortified military location!

In the lower campus, we started with a tour of the library, but ditched the tour group and found Lily studying with her friends instead. We walked her to class and regrouped with the tour — which was really just coffee/pastries, the cafeteria, and the building we had just walked to with Lily.

Heading into the bunker

In the bunker

Finding Lily in the library

When we officially completed the tour, there was a couple of hours for lunch. The campus is in a pretty “industrial/car repair” part of town and away from the city center, so there aren’t really any notable areas to go for a walk. We bought some salad and sandwiches from the cafe and hung out until the next item on the agenda — a city tour.

Lunch spot on campus

Found Lily between her classes

We got the first coach bus and were started back towards the city. We started at an old fort where some of the northern walls were still standing. You could look south and view the city towards the water.

Starting the tour

Highest part of the city walls of the old Upper town

Looking out from the Upper Town

Greek Orthodox Church

Next stop on the tour was a Greek Orthodox Church called the Holy Church of Saint Demetrius, who is the patron saint of Thessaloniki. We spent some time inside as our guide explained the history and architecture.

Holy Church of Saint Demetrius

Inside the church

The “Yo, Listen up, God’s talking” Thessaloniki team

By this point, it was getting late in the afternoon and traffic was picking up. We spent some time driving a short distance to the White Tower. Another structure with historical significance from the 12th century. It’s located back on the waterfront and was the end of the tour.

Statue of Alexander the Great

We walked back to hotel from white tower for a quick break before going out to meet Lily at Aristotle Square for gelato and dinner. Not surprisingly, it took her longer than originally expected due to traffic. We wandered the square as we waited.

When Lily arrived, she joined us at our table for our new tradition of dessert before dinner. Cordwood and Belinda got gelato, Lily got a chocolate shake, and Matt and Jo split a stack of Oreo Cereal pancakes.

Cordwood and Lily

The server said, “good luck.”

We didn’t need luck.

From there, we went to dinner at Ikigai, an Asian restaurant with the tagline “the dumpling experience.” We got an order of dumplings featuring one of each flavor they offer, as well as Tom Yum soup. Quite tasty and actually the right amount of food.

Lily “One Piece” anime pose

Dumpling sampler plate

By the time dinner was done, we were pretty tired (except Lily who was going out with her friends later) and went back to the hotel to sleep.

Tomorrow we have an early morning start to visit the Monestaries at Meteora. It started raining today and is expected to continue tomorrow, so we will see if we get a good view. It should still be a memorable experience.

Day 7: Enipeas Gorge

by Joanna

Updated: December 10, 2024

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Today is a hiking day! We woke up early to eat a good breakfast before leaving at 8:00 for Enipeas Gorge on Mt. Olympus. We opted to guide ourselves and rented a car just for the day. The hotel arranged for the rental to be dropped off and picked up right at the front door. A few quick checks and paperwork and we were off.

Getting the rental ready

While the city of Thessaloniki is full and active, according to Cordwood, the tollway was giving Mexico and Wisconsin vibes. It wasn’t the most exciting drive, but it only gets better from here. We started at the Mt. Olympus visitor center in the town of Litochoro.

On the road to Mt. Olympus

We knew we didn’t want to hike the entire trail from the visitor center up to the town of Prionia, but we definitely did want to do the best portions of it. The person as the front desk showed us a map and gave some pointers as to where to start the hike. The visitor center also has a museum with the history, flora, and fauna of the area. We spent some time walking around the museum before driving up the mountain to our starting point.

Olympus National Park Visitor Center

3d scale model of Mt. Olympus and Enipeas gorge

Map

We decided to start at the Dionysios Monastery. We started hiking away from Prionia towards caves of the gods, then back up until Prionia. It was a really nice hike that was certainly uphill, but not to challenging yet. It was also perfect hiking weather (about 50 degrees and sunny), and there were no other people on the trails, which also helps.

Group shot

Bridge

Scraggly tree

Crossing the bridge over the river!

Crossing the river under the bridge

Once we reached Prionia, we were immediately greeted by a very friendly dog with a bell on his collar. We named him Zeus and gave him some attention before deciding to continue hiking up the mountain for about another hour. You could hike to the top in a couple of days, but not in the winter. This section of the trail was significantly harder than what we had just completed. It was steeper and had more stairs. We eventually made it to the point we had picked on the map, took some pictures, and headed back down.

Zues and his favorite toy shirt

Came from that way, going up that way

Made it to Pigadouli

View from Pigadouli

We hiked that way

When we got back to Prionia, Zeus said hi again and we continued back on the trail to the monastery parking lot. Soon, we heard Zeus’ bell and realized he started following us down the trail. He then started leading us. He would walk ahead and then stop to wait for us to catch up. He led us all the way back to the car then carried on his way. We felt bad that we couldn’t tip him. He was an excellent guide. The hike was about six miles in four and a half hours, and 2000 ft elevation gain.

Heading back down

Zeus leads the way

Zeus likes waterfalls, too

Back at the Dionysios Monestary

Hike Stats!

We wanted to make sure we were off the mountain and well on the road before dark. When we finished the hike, we drove back to hotel. There really wasn’t any traffic until getting into the city. But the last 2.5km took a whopping 30 minutes! As per instructions, we left car at the hotel and the keys with the receptionist. We took much needed showers and got ready for the rest of the night.

Other than breakfast, we didn’t really eat much today. So, first on the agenda was getting gelato. Lily recommended Freggio, a place nearby (and always nearby — there is one on every other block) that was indeed delicious. We walked to Aristotle Square to meet up with Lily and two of her friends, Coco and Sanchita. The plan was to all go out to dinner with another friend, Evia, and her parents.

We met at a Greek restaurant where Evia’s mom Tina (who is Greek) helped us order. We shared appetizers and lots of wine along with our own meals. Everyone was chatting and having a good time, but then live music started. There were two men playing guitar and mandolin and singing. It was great, but it kept getting louder and louder and we eventually had to yell to barely hear each other. It was a small restaurant and could have really been an acoustic set. Unless we were mistaken for trying to have dinner at a concert.

Dinner at Restaurant Kazaviti

Live music was great before they cranked it up to 11

Dog parking. Zeus returned to Mt. Olympus after the hike, of course.

The restaurant definitely followed Greek Time and dinner was done at about 10:30pm. We were tired from the day and walked back to the hotel. Tomorrow is family day at the school (but without the students for some reason?) so we are signed up for some tours.

Day 6: Cortona to Thessaloniki

by Joanna

Updated: December 30, 2024

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The main objective of the day was to get to Thessaloniki, Greece. Our flight was out of Rome at 4:15pm, so we did not need to rush out of the door. After packing up and getting ready, Matt and Jo ventured back out into the town for cappuccinos and to buy our traditional fridge magnets (including a wild hog on a scooter, obviously). We ate as much of the leftovers in the fridge as we could, took some as car snacks and got rid of the rest.

Morning view from Cortona house front window

Step up your espresso game, Rick

Last night, Kiara recommended stopping in Orvieto on the way to Rome. We took the advice and parked at the bottom of the hill town. From there, we hopped on the funicular to get up to the actual town where there are more shops and a duomo from around the year 1300. Opting to walk the half mile instead of take the bus, we followed a residential path up to the church.

Fun with Funiculars

Welcome to Orvieto

Views from the top of Orvieto

More views from the top of Orvieto

We took some time to view the facade of the church from the outside. It’s quite detailed and there was a lot to see.

Side view of the Orvieto Duomo facade

Duomo di Orvieto

Since we had the time, we decided to pay the five euro to enter the church to see the statues and frescoes that were still pretty well preserved. We took our time to walk around and admire the art, but almost all descriptions were in Italian, so we didn’t always know exactly what we were looking at.

Inside the Duomo

Tile floor with eastern Byzantine influences

Quicksand zombie frescoes

Laser-beams-shooting-from-faces frescoes

When we had our fill of church art, it was about time to meander our way back to the funicular. We took the more central route and window shopped on our way. We finally passed a gelato shop that met two criteria… (1) It was open, and (2) It had gelato available (harder to find than you’d think in late November). Since it was basically our last chance, we all got our own.

Finally found gelato

Worth the wait

We made it back to the funicular for the ride back down and back to the car. From there, we went straight to the airport (well, with a stop to fill the rental back up with gas and to drop the car off). Security was quick and easy. When we made it through, we checked the departure board to find our gate. The gate number was not available yet, but it did tell us to ‘relax.’ So that’s exactly what we did.

Thanks, trusty rental car

Fiumicino Terminal 1 in Rome

Priority Pass actually came through this time and we found a lounge for lunch (dinner?), dessert, and of course more cappuccinos. When our gate number was available, we discovered it was pretty close by, so we continued to do as we were told and relax until a few minutes before boarding. We got to the gate, got in the boarding line, and settled in as best we could on a pretty small plane.

Successful lounging

The flight was pretty short at an hour and a half and went smoothly. Once we landed, we took the tarmac bus to baggage claim. Cordwood and Belinda’s bag came out really early and we were off to meet our hotel shuttle.

Welcome to Thessaloniki

The shuttle turned out to be a taxi, so a but squished for the four of us, but nice and easy. The hotel was only 30 minutes away and when we arrived, Lily was there! We checked in and settled quickly before meeting up again to go to dinner.

At the hotel

Lily led us to the main town square with tons of restaurants. For a Tuesday at 8:30pm, it was pretty crowded and lively. We found a place that turned out to be a little more touristy than intended. The menu was in English and the gyros were in a tortilla (surprising good).

We hung out for a while, catching up with Lily. She has been here for two months studying abroad at a university nearby (as part of her first semester at Northeastern in Boston). When we were done, Lily went back to her hotel/dorm and we walked back to our hotel.

Special Christmas tree lighting for this Thessaloniki VIP!

Tomorrow’s plan is to drive to Mt. Olympus National Park and go for a hike!

Day 5: Arezzo

by Joanna

Posted: December 9, 2024

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Last night, we couldn’t quite finish all of the food. So this morning’s breakfast was leftovers. Who says you can’t have gnocchi and tiramisu for breakfast? It’s basically hash browns and coffee with cream.

Crosswords and Crostinis

We drove about an hour to the hills north of Arezzo to the Antares Horse Club. We met our guide, Olga, who took us on a two-hour ride through Monte Della Verna. We first had to match up with our horses and get a mini lesson. When we were all comfortable and ready, Olga led the way up the mountain.

Olga is ready to ride

We are also ready to ride

Riding into the forest

Matt and Stella doing fine

Jo’s horse, Zumba, was hungry and tried as often as she could to grab some grass. By the end of the ride, she seemed tired and went straight into her stall instead of following the group (or the reins) to the area to dismount. Honestly, I respect it.

The sun makes an appearance

Breaking thru the clouds

End of the ride

With plenty of time before our cooking class, we were looking for things to do in the area. Olga suggested a place in nearby Talla for lunch. It was called Note de Guido, named after the monk who invented the musical staff (among other musical innovations) and was born and lived in Arezzo around the year 1000.

The restaurant was definitely authentic. The menu was hand written, the manager/server did not speak any English, and the Italian chef appeared to be a semi-famous contestant from some Italian TV cooking shows. Once we translated everything on the menu, we placed our order including cappuccinos, only to receive a strange look and “now?” Apparently milk isn’t really consumed after noon and coffee comes at the end of the meal — not before. Knowing we were making pasta later, Belinda and Cordwood were smart and ordered chicken (which ended up being wrapped in bacon) with potatoes and sausage with peppers. Matt and I ordered pastas.

Restaurant named in honor of Guido d’Arezzo

From there, we drove to the old walled town of Arezzo. We went to see the Christmas market in the main square, do some shopping, and see the fort. Unfortunately, a tourist town on a Tuesday in November isn’t exactly a hopping place. The Christmas market and the fort were closed as were most of the shops. We did walk around the park, saw some tacky statues, and got cappuccinos. What else do you need?

Basilica d’San Francesco

Where is the Christmas fun?

Found it!

Bibliotecca Citta’ di Arezzo (Arezzo Library)

Palazzo dei Priori

Still with a little time to kill, we drove to an old bridge on the way to the cooking class. On the way, we almost ran into a wild hog that tried to cross the road in front of the car. We have been seeing hogs on magnets and other souvenirs — apparently they are over-populated in the area of Tuscany. They are allowed to be hunted and eaten. We almost had one to bring to dinner.

We arrived at the Ponte Burano right at sunset making for a pretty good view. The bridge was built starting in 1240-something and finished in 1277. Some historians believe that it is the bridge in the lower-right quadrant of the Mona Lisa… but thats debatable.

Very old bridge

Sunset on the Arno River

The next stop was the cooking class, which was at Dina’s (the chef) house. We drove just a few minutes and were lucky to find an easy parking spot on the street. Dina met us outside and introduced us to her husband and her sister, Kiara. While Dina really runs the show, they all support the experience. Kiara was vital as she spoke the best English and acted as translator.

Dina showed us how to make three pastas: a ravioli with spinach and ricotta, a tortellini with beets in the dough making it naturally red and cheese with lemon inside, and tagalitelle — the traditional pasta of Tuscany. We mixed eggs into the flour and kneaded the dough until it was ready to be rolled out. For the first two, we used a pasta maker to flatten the dough. The tagalitelle was rolled out with a really long rolling pin.

Making pastas!

Master Chef: Arezzo

Local Italian approves

We cut, filled, and folded the ravioli and tortellini, then finally rolled and cut the tagalitelle noodles. Dina demonstrated everything with such ease, but it was all harder than it looked. Once the three pastas were made, we celebrated with Prosecco.

Beet tortelloni (mostly for the red color)

Kiara led us into the living room to enjoy our drinks and start the antipasta course while Dina did the actual cooking of the pasta. They served cheese, local crackers, spicy jam, olives, and fried polenta. When that was done, we moved to the table for red wine and to the crostini course including tomato from their garden, chicken liver, olive oil, plain bread and prosciutto.

We all love crostini, but knew there were still THREE pasta servings coming up so tried to not eat too much. Starting was the ravioli, which we got high praise for since none of them fell apart when cooking. Next was tortellini (also somehow all stayed together). Finally, the tagalitelle was served with ragu. As the tagalitelle was being served, we asked if there was any more food coming out next and was told no. They lied. When we finished as much of the pasta as we could, Dina brought out cantucci (what we might call biscotti), a sugar twist pastry, and a traditional almlond flour fuitcake type thing. And of course, you can’t have dessert without dessert wine and homemade limoncello.

The team after dinner

It was a very fun experience and we left full enough to last a few days. With no more stops for the day, we drove back to the house to pack up and go to sleep (dinner was done around 9:30pm). We leave tomorrow to drive to Rome to catch a flight to Part 2: Greece.

Day 4: Montalcino

by Joanna

Posted: December 9, 2024

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After yesterday’s action-packed day, we knew we would take it easy today. The first item on the agenda was a winery tour with lunch. We didn’t need to leave until 10am so we were able to relax and enjoy the morning. Matt and Jo went out to the closest pastry shop to pick up a few things for breakfast. We got four flavors of cream filled little croissants: lemon, pistachio, cream, and eggnog. We also got a marmalade tart that ended up being fig (delicious).

I’ll take all of these

These too

After taking our time with treats and coffee, we got ready and left for the vineyard in the town of Montalcino — located maybe a hour or so southwest of Cortona. The winery is very small in comparison to other wineries in the area and family-owned. It is located in an old castle. We enjoyed the nice weather and views as the other members of the tour arrived.

Castle Tricerchi Winery

Contemplating vineyards

View from Tricerchi vineyards

Vineyard selfie

When everyone was there, Alessio took us on a tour of the grounds and shared a history of the winery. The name of the company is Tricerchi and their logo includes three circles to represent coins. The top half of the logo is a bull to represent strength.

Touring the castle

Castle courtyard

We overlooked the vineyard, which had already been harvested for the year. From there, we toured the fermentation room and where the wine is kept in barrels. Alesso told us that when the building was a functional castle, the barrel room was the dungeon with the prison below. We weren’t sure if he was joking, but seems plausible.

Big Barrel room

When the tour was done, we sat down for lunch and the wine tasting. All of the wines produced ant this winery are brunellos, which is made entirely with Sangiovese grapes and Italy’s highest wine classification. We started with an antipasto course of bruschetta, salami, prosciutto, cheese, and bread to pair with the first wine. We then had the second wine with stronger fruit notes and easy to drink that paired with our next course of pasta. Finally, we had the third wine with dessert.

Lunch — this is just the first course

Tricerchi selections

Selfie with Alessio

We drove back to the house in Cortona and hung out for a little while. We didn’t have any plans until dinner where a private chef was coming to the house. After regaining some energy, we went shopping in Cortona. Belinda had a pair of boots she was eyeing, so buying those was the first mission. We leisurely shopped and walked around as we made our way back to the house.

Heading back to Cortona

Tuscany sunset

Shopping

Back in Cortona

The chef, Christina, arrived at 6:15pm and gave us wine that we enjoyed as she prepared our dinner. The first course was toast with honey that we ate in the living room. We then moved to the table for the always present bruschetta course. There was sausage with melted cheese (basically pizza toast), blue cheese with pears and jam, and tomatoes. The main course was gnocchi in ragu (Italian for meat sauce — not the American brand name). Finally, Christina busted out a tray of tiramisu. Everything was delicious and we went to bed full and happy.

Waiting for dinner

We finished almost one of these

Home-cooked Italian treats

Tomorrow is another relatively chill day starting with horseback riding and ending with a cooking class for — you guessed it — pasta!

Day 3: Florence

by Joanna

Posted: December 9, 2024

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Should you go to Florence the same day they are hosting their 40th Marathon? Heck yeah!!! And should you run it? Of course not! BUT… if they are also running a 10k on the same course as part of the marathon festivities, and you can sign up to run that… then definitely YES!

We woke up at 5am this morning to get ready and drive to Florence. We secured a reserved parking spot last night so we didn’t have to worry about finding a spot upon our arrival, but we still needed to make sure we got to the garage before they started closing the roads. We wanted to give ourselves enough time to walk to the gear check and the starting line. We arrived right on time at 7am and started our Florence day adventure.

The Allegory of Parking in Florence

First stop was walking north across the Arno, and making our way to the gear check stations located in the Piazza Santa Maria Novella. We got ourselves situated with the right layers and pinned on our bibs. We checked our bags at the correct stand and walked to the starting line on Via Tornabuoni (aka. Florence Rodeo Drive).

Ponte Vecchio in the early morning

Basilica of Santa Maria Novella — AKA gear check

The gate for the 10K was in a different location than the marathon, but the finish line was the same. With only about 1200 people in the 10K, there were no corrals. We all started at the same time.

Getting ready to run

Cordwood ran off ahead while Matt and I stayed together for about the first half. Belinda was always planning on taking it slow and leaving the course when she felt like it. She went about 6K, then took a shortcut to meet us at the finish line. It was a good vibe and we all had a good time.

The Chuck McGill special

After the race, we retrieved our bags, changed into clean clothes, and made a pit stop back at the car to drop off the things we didn’t need for the rest of the day. Then we set off for the rest of our Florence Day, starting with a return to the Pizza del Duomo — which is where the marathon finish line was still rocking.

Belinda pre-purchased Giotto Pass tickets that included access to the Bell Tower (scheduled for noon), the Baptistry, and the museum. We still had a couple of hours before noon, so we started with a cappuccino, then on to the baptistry. With the marathon, we had to be a little crafty about how to cross streets to get around, but we figured it out.

Piazza della Repubblica — site of old Roman Forum

The facade of the Duomo

Once in the baptistry, we discovered that the mosiac ceiling was being repaired, so we didn’t get to see that, but we did see the other mosiac pieces as well as the in-laid marble floor in different patterns. From above, the various marble patterns makes the floor look like it is covered in carpets. It was almost time for the bell tower stairs, so we made our way over. We attempted to check our bags, but the check-in area was across the marathon route, and it didn’t look like we were going to be able to cross. We strapped our bags in under our coats and hoped for the best. We had to wait until exactly noon until they let us in, and fortunately, they did — bags and all.

The replica Gates of Paradise

Marathon finish in Pizza San Giovanni

We climbed the 414 steps to the top of the bell tower for 360-degree views of Florence. It was slightly vertigo-inducing, but cool to see the places we had ran past.

View of the finish from the Bell Tower

Brunelleschi’s Dome at the Florence Cathedral

At the top of the Giotto Bell Tower

We loved you in Elf

With our second workout under our belts, we were ready for lunch. We found a cafe/deli/bar for cappuccino round two (a very fancy one) and some tasty food including lasagna, pasta, sandwich, salad, and a milkshake. After filling up and relaxing, we went to the Duomo museum. Inside, they had the original Gates of Paradise doors (we had seen a replica outside the baptistry earlier). They also explained how the dome was built — namely the fact the Florence Opera didn’t actually know how to build a dome for the size of a Cathedral they starting building.

Views of the Duomo from the street

Excellent wine cork architecture

The real Gates of Paradise by Lorenzo Ghiberti

The “Yo, Listen up, God’s talking” Florence team

By now it was about 3pm and we were ready for the next part of the adventure — a bike tour! We arrived about 10 minutes early and got fitted with our bikes. When we were ready it was 2:59pm. We waited exactly a minute to see if anyone else showed up (they didn’t) and off we went! We were unsure if anyone else actually signed up or if this is just the most punctual tour ever. Our guide Julia led us through the city and gave some history on the area and buildings that we saw. The tour took two hours.

Revisiting the Piazza Santa Novella Maria on the bike tour

Over the Arno River with Ponte Vecchio behind

In front of the copy of The David in Pizza della Signoria

Pretty much everyone had finished the marathon when we started the bike tour and the streets/pedestrian paths were getting pretty crowded. By the time we were done, the race was cleaned up and there were people everywhere. We were tired and ready to get the car to head back to Cortona.

View of Ponte Vecchio at night

Party with the gold shops on crowded Ponte Vecchio at night

As easy as it was to park this morning, it was just as hard to leave. By parking in the garage, we had permission to enter the restricted zone. Only a few cars are allowed, and the streets are open to pedestrians. Since it was so crowded, it was difficult to navigate around the people and onto the streets we needed to leave. We eventually made our way out and onto the main road towards the Piazza Michelangelo, which overlooks the city. The sun was well set by this point, so the view with the city lights was great.

Thanks Florence!

From there we drove all the way back to Cortona. Fortunately, there was no 45-minute traffic delay this time and we arrived at about 7:30pm. We dropped our things off at the house and went out for dinner. We found a restaurant in town called Panne e Vino which matched our craving for pasta and wine. Everything was delicious and we left full and satisfied.

Dinner in Cortona

We decompressed at the house for a few minutes before going to sleep. Tomorrow will be much more relaxed than today. The only plan is a winery tour with lunch in the afternoon, and then a private chef comes to the house to make us dinner at night. Probably won’t get 30,000 steps again tomorrow.

Day 2: Perugia

by Joanna

Updated: December 10, 2024

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Falling asleep was easy after yesterday’s long day of travel. Staying asleep for a normal amount of time was more difficult. Eventually, we all managed to sleep enough to wake up and get ready for the day. Jo figured out the most important part of the house — the coffee maker. Once everyone was up, we ventured back out to the grocery market for some essentials like fruit, bread, and eggs.

Grocery shopping. Just don’t touch anything.

Cortona Clock Tower in the morning

Local architecture

We then realized we should shop in the street market. We bypassed plenty of clothes and shoes (which were very reasonably priced) and looked at the meat and cheeses. Since we weren’t exactly sure what each meat and cheese name meant, we copied the order of the Americans in front of us and ended up with prosciutto and a sharp pecorino of some sort.

Local cheesemonger

Happily ordering meats and cheeses

We walked back to the house to eat our spoils. Belinda cooked up the eggs, prosciutto and cheese sandwiches were made, and the apple (with a surprisingly pink inside) was sliced. Next on the plan for the day was to drive to Perugia to go to the world famous chocolate festival, Eurochocolate. We followed the website’s instructions to get to a parking lot, which we realized was about a mile and half away from the actual festival (but near a Kung-Fu competition!).

We figured there must be some sort of shuttle or something to bridge the gap. Then we figured out that the long line of people at the ticket counter were getting tickets for the Mini Metro — a rail car about half the size of an L car that comes every few minutes. Since the ticket line was long, and the line to get on the Mini Metro was even longer, we decided to walk. We pretty much followed the Mini Metro rail to the center of town. The walk was gradually uphill with a few steep sections.

Fall vibes on the walk to Perugia

Cordwood says always follow the escalators

It was a more complicated route than expected, but we made it! And then were rewarded with chocolate. There were many booths of different chocolate vendors. We started in the official Eurochocolate store for their famous Baci chocolates. We made a variety bag of flavors that we snacked on throughout the day. Fun fact: the wrappers include a fortune-cookie sayings, but sometimes more ominous sounding.

Made it to the Chocolate Festival!

Eurochocolate!

Views from Perugia

Walking around Perugia

We perused the festival for a while and shared a plate of fried dough (similar to a funnel cake) with chocolate sauce on it. Having satisfied all our chocolate cravings and purchasing needs, we explored the Rocco Paolina, a Papal fortress built in 1540 when the Pope decided it was high time the locals stop complaining about paying a Salt Tax.

Exploring the fort under the streets

Underground city vibes

Use this 3d model to plan your attack

Before the Pope fortressed the place, the Baglioni family was pulling off red weddings here

Porta Marzia (Mars Gate) features part of an Etruscan Arch from 3rd century BC

The walk back to the car seemed faster as we were more confident with the directions. We also found more escalators to make our way down the hill, so that helped as well.

Before driving all the way back to the house in Cortona, we made a brief stop at Lago Trasimeno just in time for sunset. The city also has a Rocco (or fort) which we explored a bit, but sections were already closed for the night.

Sunset on the lake! Hurry!

Sunset selfie

Exploring the narrow alleys

Don’t see many garage ports in these old towns

Trasimeno also has a clock tower

Overlooking Lake Trasimeno

Once we got back to Cortona, we stopped at a bodega type store for a few items, and walked around the town a little. We showed Matt a few of the shops he missed last night. Tonight’s dinner was sandwiches from the walk-up window. We brought them back to the house to enjoy with a bottle of wine only to discover there seems to be no wine opener in the house. We made do with Fanta.

Sandwiches!

Finally, we figured out the transportation/parking situation (we think?) for tomorrow’s 10K in Florence and headed to bed early to catch as much sleep as we can before leaving around 5am tomorrow.

Day 1: Chicago to Cortona

by Joanna

Posted: December 9, 2024

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This year’s Thanksgiving week plans are unique! Rather than spend time in Chicago or Minnesota, Belinda and Cordwood invited us to join them at a house in Cortona, Italy. The time flew by and suddenly it was time to leave. After work, Matt and Jo hopped the usual Blue Line to O’Hare. TSA was a breeze and we had plenty of time to relax in the lounge… just kidding, the Priority Pass lounge at O’Hare is not actually for Priority Pass members. We are now 0-for-2 trying to get into that Terminal 5 lounge because they reserve it out for business class travelers on other airlines. No matter, we don’t need you anyway. We have comfortable seats at the gate next to a friendly chatty lady named Cindy.

Leaving snowy Chicago

Poe on his way to camp

Thats our train!

The first leg of our journey is Chicago to Zurich. The flight boarded on time and we got to our seats. Not too bad so far, Swiss Air. The plane had to be de-iced thanks to the snow (which certainly melted a few hours later). By the time we were ready to push back, we were at the end of the line. We eventually took off an hour late and pretty hungry.

Getting de-iced before leaving Chicago

Next stop, Zurich

After dinner was served, Jo fell asleep quickly while Matt stayed up to get some work done. There was some turbulence and general economy-class comfort issues, but hey — travel isn’t supposed to be comfortable! We originally had a two-plus hour layover, but since we were late, that time was cut to about an hour. We didn’t bother with a lounge and headed straight to the gate. The Zurich airport is pretty big. We had to leave the gate area, find the tram, go to the next terminal, go through a customs/passport check (got a stamp!), and go through the shopping area. We finally got to the gate with plenty of time to spare, especially considering the flight was delayed by about 15 minutes.

Landing in snowy Zurich

The flight from Zurich to Florence was a much smaller plane (no-frills flying school bus!) and not a very full flight. We loaded up in buses to get to the plane waiting on the tarmac. Once again, thanks to the snow, our plane was de-iced. Shortly thereafter we were on our way. At least I think so. I passed out immediately. Fortunately Matt collected my Swiss Air chocolate for me.

Navigating the Zurich airport

Getting de-iced again before leaving Zurich

Italian Alps and Lake Como

When we landed in Florence (finally in Italy, woo!), we met up with Cordwood and Belinda. Originally, they were going to get in about two hours before us, but they had some weather delays, and after some finagling booked a different set of flights that got them in at the same time as us. We met Cordwood at baggage claim while Belinda went to get the rental car. Soon after, we all took the shuttle to the rental car area and we were on the way!

We found Belinda and the rental car!

Before going to the house, we made a stop at the Florence Marathon Expo for packet pick-up. While we had the good foresight to not run a marathon, we did sign up for the special 10K Florence is hosting this year as part of the marathon’s 40th anniversary. The expo is a crowded event in the city, and parking was a challenge. Matt and Jo jumped out to see if we could pick up everyone’s packets. Spoiler alert, we did! Eventually Cordwood met us inside for a few minutes before we went back to the car with Belinda waiting patiently in definitely a legal parking spot.

Packet pickup here

Excited to be at the Firenze Marathon expo

Ok, so now we are on the way to the house. Google says it will take an hour and 40 minutes, getting us there just in time for the official check-in cut-off time. We made it out of the city and got on the A1 headed south… and then… just stopped. Traffic was insane and we remained at a near standstill for quite a while — it is Friday afternoon/evening after all. We contacted the host of the house and got instructions to check ourselves in, so no more worries there. We also took the extra time to give Lily a call and see how she is doing over in Greece. We will see her next week. Stay tuned.

Eventually we were out of the traffic zone. We never saw an accident and hypothesized the backup was from when the highway went from four lanes to three. We made it to the house at 7:10pm — 40 minutes after the original google prediction. At this point, Matt wasn’t feeling too great. He had been feeling sick for a few hours (jet lag? sleep deprivation? bad peanuts? all of the above?) and went to lay down.

Entering Cortona’s old city

Jo, Cordwood, and Belinda went out in search of food. The plan was to pick up some bread and olive oil as well as other essentials, but all of the grocery shops in town were closed. We weren’t in the mood for a sit down restaurant meal either. Luckily, we came across a walk-up pizza place. We did some quick translating and ordered a sausage pizza. We walked around the town window shopping and getting a lay of the land while we waited for the pizza to be ready. Once it was, we took it back to the house to eat. We all were exhausted from the travel and turned in for an early night.

Cortona Clock Tower at night

Official Italian pizza acquired!

Tomorrow we’ll try those grocery shops again before heading to Perugia for a Chocolate Festival.