Day 2: Santiago to Punta Arenas

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Updated: March 22, 2025

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First order of the day — early wake up and walk across the street back to SCL. We arrived by 6:30 am and checked our bags. The airport is currently undergoing construction to improve the domestic terminal (much needed!), so we followed a long meandering path from Terminal 1 security to reach our gate in Terminal 2. Once we made it, we found our trusty Pacific Club lounge from previous visits and grabbed some espresso and breakfast before the flight.

Long walk from our hotel room window to the airport

On this flight, we did not have fancy first class seats. After the sweet taste of first class life on yesterday’s fight to Santiago, we attempted to use LATAM’s “make a bid to upgrade option” and get our fix. Alas, despite placing a bid and winning, it turns out there were actually no upgrades available. Thanks for the bidding practice, LATAM! The good news is our lowly peasant seats were exit row seats in Row 11, so we lived for the three-and-a-half-hour flight to Punta Arenas — which included a nice view of Torres del Paine along the way (we were there in 2019).

Torres del Paine “W”

Waiting for us at PUQ on arrival were our main guides for this trip – a trip leader/lead guide, and an assistant guide. They are both named Matias, so the leader is called Matias and the guide is called Matias Guide. And Matt, well, is still Matt. Matias met us in the airport and we waited for the other couple who arrived on the same flight – Jen and Johnathon from Australia. We went to the car where Matias Guide was waiting to drive us to the hotel.

The ride was about 30 minutes to La Yegua Loca hotel. We checked in and met the fifth and final guest, Ann, who arrived the day before. We had the afternoon free and decided to first have lunch at the hotel restaurant before exploring the town. We shared salmon ceviche, traditional empanadas and a flight of pisco sours. We already knew about the deliciousness of Calafate Sours, but now have a close second with the Carmenere Sour – a wine based pisco sour.

Hello again Punta Arenas!

Why you gotta call the Lady Horse crazy???

All the sours are delicious

After lunch, we took an afternoon stroll across town and stopped at a couple shops. No dice on the perfect magnet yet, but we did get a lapis lazuli stone penguin to continue Jo’s new tradition of stone animals from travels (see malachite lion from Tanzania and amethyst parrot from Brazil). Sure, we haven’t actually seen any penguins yet, but they’re on the agenda for tomorrow.

Picking a penguin

From there, we continued to the town square and revisited our favorite Magellan statue — this time reading the plaque dedication and roman numerals like champions (thanks Rocky!).

Still Gellan! Dr. Scholl’s 4 life.

After that, we headed east toward the city cemetery per Matis Guide’s recommendation. The trees on the grounds are the main attraction (aside from the headstones), because they have been trimmed over the years to resemble very large bushes (aka. large round gumdrops). We walked around for a bit before wandering back to the hotel. We stopped in a few shops along the way back, including Patagonia Moda, a combo Target, Party City, Homegoods store.

Wild dogs of Punta Arenas

Double-take on this fence-painting guy’s water bottle

Back to La Yegua Loca on the hill

Horsing-around is tolerated here

Back at the hotel at 5:30 pm, we met with the group for our first Explora briefing. The Matias duo gave us an overview of the history of Punta Arenas/Tierra del Fuego and told us what to expect on this trip. Even though this is not an Explora lodge, there was no shortage of appetizers and Calafate Sours all around.

Cheers, team! (L to R: Matias, Matias, Jen, Jon, Ann)

The weather forecast looks great, fingers crossed

After the briefing, we moved into the dinning room for dinner all together. We ate and drank while we chatted and got to know each other. Eventually, we had eaten as much as we could and went back up to our rooms for the night. Tomorrow, we leave early to hop a ferry to the island of Tierra del Fuego.

Dinner time

Day 1: Chicago to Santiago

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Posted: March 21, 2025

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We’re off again on another spring break adventure. This time, we are embarking on Explora’s ‘Expedition’ to Tierra del Fuego — which will involve traveling between remote areas with rural accommodations. First step… getting there!

Dodging severe thunderstorms out of Chicago

During the planning phase, we decided to repeat the flight strategy we used last time we came to Chile: take a direct flight from O’Hare to São Paulo, then take LATAM to Santiago. Our flight out of Chicago was not until 10:00 pm on Wednesday, so we were not in a huge rush. Jo is close to the blue line at work, so we left around 4:30 pm. The timing worked out great as we got on the L a few minutes before the skies turned dark and started pouring again.

Pointing… rain or shine

The airport was relatively quiet, and we made it through security quickly. But, as the storms caused delays, certain areas started to get crowded — mainly the lounges. This time, we were flying United and so were leaving from Terminal 1. With no Priority Pass lounges to reject us, we opted to use the two United one-time lounge passes we get each year. In typical fashion, the United Lounge was not accepting one-time pass holders when we arrived. However, that was a temporary restriction and after camping out across from the entrance for an hour, we were graciously granted access.

Both the weather and United Club availability

We lounged it up with some food and drinks until it was time to board. Luckily, our flight was not delayed and was conveniently located right next to the lounge. We’re sitting in the center section of three seats. As the plane starts to fill up, we notice our third seat is still empty. It looks like boarding is complete, until an announcement states that we are waiting for passengers from a late connecting flight. Somehow most of the seats around us are taken, but ours was not. A little extra room on a 10 hour flight is pretty nice.

Clubbing! (What’s with the paper thin chocolate chip cookies?)

Night mode to Sao Paulo

Since the flight was overnight, we slept (or attempted to sleep) for pretty much the entire time. Despite leaving a few minutes late, we arrived on time. We went through customs and waited for our bags. Last time we arrived at GRU (with the same luggage), our bags never came out of the carousel. We found them in the Lost Luggage area where apparently they place over-sized bags, backpacks, and duffels. Knowing this, we were on the lookout at both the carousel and the lost bag counters. This time, there were actual announcements saying where to find basically any type of bag other than the rectangle roller-boards. We listened and found our luggage waiting for us.

São Paulo is still on top of the clandestine transportation

The next step was our flight to Santiago. We went upstairs to the check-in counters to re-check our bags for the LATAM flight. When Matt was buying the tickets, there was a minimal cost difference between basic economy (where you have to pay extra to check a bag) and premium economy (where bags are included) and splurged on the premium. We checked our bags in the basic economy line, completely forgetting we could go in the priority line. It was OK though. There wasn’t actually anyone there and they still gave us the special priority bag tags.

We went though a very empty security line (pro tip: Sao Paulo airport is not so crowded at 11:00 am on a Thursday) and had time to go back to our favorite lounge before the flight. We relaxed with a couple of cappuccinos to counteract the lack of good sleep.

A Brazil Nut in a Brazil Lounge

World’s longest jetway???

We accidentally purchased the fanciest tickets for this flight

From there we boarded our flight to Santiago. As previously mentioned, we had premium economy seats – 1A and 1C to be exact. Not gonna lie, it was pretty comfy. They served lunch and drinks and we relaxed with books and movies.

My foot is basically in the cockpit

Finally, we made it to Santiago. Since we were pretty much the first people off the plane, and because Santiago had more than one customs officer working this time, we got through in just a few minutes. Plus, that handy Priority bag tag meant our luggage came out in the first batch. Before we knew it, we were on the way to the hotel.

Welcome to Chile!!! (fyi, we have police)

Guy holding Machu Picchu sign in the taxi line is gonna be disappointed

After checking-in and putting our bags down, we went to the patio section of the restaurant. We enjoyed the 73 degree weather before heading inside for a snack before bed.

Found our table

Tomorrow, we take an 8:00 am flight to Punta Arenas and start the adventure in Tierra del Fuego.

Day 10: Thessaloniki to Chicago

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Updated: December 15, 2024

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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!

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