With Easter Sunday just days away, I am reminded of all of the houses of worship I have seen. In Europe, one church after another starts to blend together, especially if you are on some whirlwind tour. Regardless, these spaces evoke a silence and calm away from the rest of the world. Even if you aren’t a religious person, you can appreciate the architecture, history and peace that comes while sitting in a pew. St. Kevin’s Church, Glendalough, Ireland St. Kevin’s Church in Glendalough Ireland has that rugged appeal. The saint set up a monastic site here around 570 A.D. In the Continue Reading
Paestum, Italy Wishes You Were Here
Heading south from the Amalfi Coast, Paestum tucks away from the tourists and crowds that seem to linger solely at Pompeii. Having never heard of this ancient site, I figured it was worth the gamble to go see. The UNESCO listed temples of Paestum seem like a well-kept secret. With only a handful of tourists wandering around the site in the heat of summer, I could appreciate Paestum fully, letting my imagination run wild. All that can be heard amidst the reverberating locust’s song are the sounds of history lingering. The Greek settlement of Paestum contains some of the best-preserved Continue Reading
Praiano, Italy Wishes You Were Here
You might not know about Praiano. However, the name Positano may be familiar. Praiano rests a town down from the famous Amalfi Coast city. Positano is without a doubt more popular, while Praiano is subtle, quiet and small. I first visited Praiano with family, back when I fell in love with Italy in those incredibly awkward, there shouldn’t be any photos from that time, teen years. I remember walking down to a local restaurant on the water at night, in disbelief somewhere like Praiano existed. For my last birthday, I decided to head back down to Praiano. I knew it would be the perfect spot to Continue Reading
Under Travel Pressure
A giant book bearing the title Italy sits on my coffee table. Truth always be told, I never really looked at the book until the other day. I had flipped through it when I received the Modern Language Award at my college, appropriately deemed "The Dante Award”. Two women, Costanza and Maria Grazia, my Italian professors who inspired much of my love for Italy, gave the book to me as a gift for winning the award. After spending three months in Italy this summer, a country I have spent years living in, I was somewhat sick of Italy. Reading other travel blogs and articles almost convinced me I Continue Reading
Remembering Places and Having Places Remember You
I walked into my favorite lazy day café in Sicily, part bookstore, part chocolate paradise. I was nervous to enter for it had been over a year since I came here every Sunday, especially when the weather turned bitingly cold. I thought I would glance at the Italian books, maybe get ambitious on my plane ride home and read an Italian novel. Then I heard the sweetest of sounds come from the hot chocolate bar. “Sei ritornata!” Those words translate as you might imagine, “you have returned”. Behind those words was the woman who ran the café, a glasses on the tip of her nose, frizzy haired Continue Reading
Learning Italian and How To Travel From The Nonna
BUZZZZZ! BUZZZZ! “Non lo so! Non lo so!”, my driver Giovanni kept saying as he pressed the buzzer to my new home for the next month. 18 years old and for the first time in a foreign country alone, I began to wonder what I got myself into as it appeared nobody was home. Hand gestures and phone calls commenced as I sat on my suitcase wondering why my Italian host family wasn’t answering their bell. Did they already regret their decision? Will I have to live on the street? Questions in my mind mixed with an overzealous imagination that errs on the worried side more than the carefree. Coming Continue Reading
Rome, Italy Wishes You Were Here
I was beginning to fall out of love with Italy. After three months of living in Florence, I grew tired of little Italian nuances I used to find charming when I studied abroad. When a place starts to lose its magic, it is usually time for you to go home, get perspective and appreciate it all over again. When I was 14 years old, I fell in love with Italy in Rome. Perched at the Trevi Fountain lapping up a gelato, there was something about that evening that dictated the rest of my life. When I returned to Rome this past September before catching my flight home, I became reacquainted with the Continue Reading