A little taste of Heaven or Love Boat

Here are some highlights from the ten-hour train ride from Naples to Palermo (we had to go to Naples from Sorrento on Saturday morning):
-mom's water bottle rolling off the table and down the train aisle
-first class seats
-our picnic lunch spread when the train broke down (temporarily)
-us generally taking over our area with all our stuff
-the nice man who showed us some pictures of Sardinia (I think he was crushing on mom)
-mom and I being SO over-tired and laughing about everything and nothing - I snorted quite loudly at one point, and the nice man with the pictures pointed at my water bottle and said, "rum?"
-part of the ride involved a twenty-minute ferry ride...the train actually went on the ferry!

A little story about the ferry ride: Mom and I went up to the top deck to stretch our legs and take in the view. Then I spent the next ten minutes looking for a washroom. No such luck. Mom and I just planned to meet back on the train. So I went to the back of the ferry to the middle deck. I was taking out my camera to take a photo. The man - whose name I later learnt was Rocco - offered to take my picture. We chatted for the remaining ten minutes of the journey...in French! That was our common language, as he lived in Switzerland for five years. Anyways, it was really nice to chat. It was light and fun - we covered a lot of territory in that short time. He wanted my phone number but I am travelling sans phone. À la prochaine. Mom was wondering where I got off to and assumed that I was off steering the ferry or something.

We stayed in Palermo that night, after the long journey, really just to put our heads down. We went to sleep, and got up to catch two buses to the airport in Trapani. We jigged around our luggage to meet Ryanair's ridiculous weight standards, and amused ourselves watching everyone else (much less successfully) do the same. Our flight landed in Cagliari on time, and we were greeted by the father and daughter of the B&B. Right away we had a good feeling about them.

Because it was Sunday when we arrived, we were invited to join the family for their mid-day meal. What a delicious feast it was. We started with spaghetti with clams and garlic. Then there were two types of grilled fish - one being sardines - and stuffed mussels. Neither mom nor me (that looks foreign?) had ever enjoyed clams and mussels before. These were heavenly. Then there was salad, followed by fruit for dessert. I might add that the capers in the salad, the lemon for the fish, and the peaches for dessert were fresh from the garden. Then the father made espresso and I may have died a little, from happiness. The family is beyond welcoming and hospitable. After the meal, the mother (Gianna) and her sister took us to the marina and the four of us walked around. Then we came back and picked figs from the garden (at dinner the mother was explaining that the black ones are shaped like this - long - and the white ones are shorter haha). Last night half the house was in our room because a little lizard/gecko thing got in. It was quite the episode. Then we asked Gianna about the bidet in our washroom...if you could see her antics acting out its use. She is a most hilarious and animated woman, so lively and wonderful.

To top this all off, our common language is, once again, French. So all of this goes on in French! I am so grateful that Heather and I dabbled in some French conversation while living in Radom so that I've at least used it somewhat recently! I understand 90% of what is being said, and I can communicate back decently. It's definitely fun, to say the least!

Our room here is lovely and spacious. The breakfast is plenty. We've spent the last two days at the beach nearby, soaking up the sun and swimming in the Mediterranean. Resting up for our jaunt to Venice tomorrow! And Venice means a reunion with Heather!! It feels like we've done so much yet there is so much more to come...! Ciao for now! xo

Sorrento Girls

Sorrento is a bit of a love-at-first-sight kind of place. The people treat you like family (like our sandwich man at the grocery store, and the family who owns the restaurant we ate at the first night), it’s welcoming and full of character. Mom and I were greeted with open arms, right from the get-go. After dropping our stuff at our “hostel” – luxurious resort-style hotel is more like what it actually was – we went to a little pizzeria and sat at a table on the narrow cobble-stoned street, watching the Italy versus New Zealand football match (tie game), eating marinara pizza – which I highly recommend – and drinking that tasty Italian beer. Two Italian gents watching the game cheers-ed us, and ended up sending another beer each to our table. We were flattered. We ran into them again as we continued to explore the narrow streets, and they invited us to join them for another drink. Hello, Sorrento! It was a very fun and silly evening, indeed. After they left, we continued our night by sampling lemoncello at all the local shops. Delicious! The next morning was raining and grey, so we decided to stay in town and see what more there was. We started the day at a little place that all the locals seemed to come into – cappuccino for mom and espresso (best ever?) for me – checked out the two marinas, and went in and out of the little shops. At Marina Grande, I went into the water just up to my ankles. While letting my feet and shoes dry, I wrote some postcards and walked them to the postbox. A cute old man stopped me and patted the empty space on the bench beside him for me to join. So we chatted – he knew a bit of English and my French knowledge is quite useful with the Italian language – and played a bit of charades. Mom turned at one point to see where I had gone off to, as she could hear me talking away.

The next day we climbed Mount Vesuvius and went to Pompei. We were only at Pompei for about four hours…I could have easily spent four days there, seeing every little piece. It is so fascinating. I was expecting it to be much less preserved than it is…a real treat. Our bus ride from the base of the volcano back to town was open-air…it was so exhilarating and the smells from all the flowers and trees were lovely.

The island of Capri and Anacapri was our next day trip. We took a fast ferry there. (There was a tour group with an especially obnoxious guide, who kept instructing to, “close ranks!” and, “get your elbows up!”, while also requesting, “does anyone have an winterfresh gum?” I have peppermint. What are you going to do about that?) Back to the island: Wow. Wow. SO beautiful. The town is built such that you must walk up from the harbour to get to the centre. The view even from the main square is stunning. The island is full of great walking trails and lookout points; the turquoise waters below look so inviting. We hiked up about a million stairs to a grotto (many laughs along the way), and then to a natural rock archway. We took a bus to Anacapri, and from there we took a chairlift to the highest point of the island. The chairlift was a good 15 or 20 minutes up! Definitely a honeymoon-worthy destination. There was a family of four that walked by us at one point, and the mother was saying that she had never been to Hong Kong. “I have”, says her three-year old son, perfectly serious.

That evening, back in Sorrento, it was raining lightly. To go out to dinner, mom and I were each wearing our rain jackets. My hood was up. At one point I felt a particularly heavy drop of water hit the side of my hood, but I thought nothing of it. We continued to walk around and found a very busy restaurant on a quiet little side street. It wasn’t until the end of the evening, when I was putting my coat back on that I noticed that the heavy rain drop was actually bird poop. I had been walking around with bird poop on me – quite close to my face, might I add – around the town, into the restaurant. No wonder so many people were smiling at me!
Thursday we spent the best seven Euros each – it buys you a 24 hour bus pass to use along the Amalfi Coast. This goes on the top of my list for best bus ride/coast line I’ve ever seen (a close second is the coast of Croatia). We lucked out with getting window seats each time, on the “good” side of the bus too. We spent time in Amalfi, Ravello, and Positano, all cute little towns along the coast.

Yesterday was soooooooooooo relaxing. We saw the coast yet again, but from a boat. We stopped at Capri near one of the grottos, and I stayed in the water until they made me get out. So refreshing. So blue. The captain pulled me in to take a picture of my driving the ship, and then in fact he had my steer for a bit. At one point he said, “you’re the captain now” and he went below the deck and left me in charge. There were two British couples we befriended and they were complaining about my steering – can you make the boat stop rocking so much? – all in good fun. They applauded me when the real captain took over again. Later on, one of the crew members came up behind me and presented me with two little pastries. I smiled and thanked him, and thought he was giving them out to everyone. Nope. Turns out the captain sent them just to me and everyone on my side of the boat witnessed this. The couples had a good laugh, and were teasing that the captain fancied me. Unfortunately he wasn’t really my type; I don’t usually go for men 35 years my senior. That was about as amusing as one of the restaurant hosts telling me that I was the most beautiful girl he’d seen in seven days. Haha.

Last night was a bit stressful, as our ferry plan to Sardinia backfired – all sold out. But here we sit on a train to Palermo, with a cheap flight to Sardinia tomorrow in the early afternoon, so it all worked out. Beach and resting, here we come! After we got it all sorted, we had a nice dinner at the Marina Grande, sitting right on the water. A perfect last meal in Sorrento. I love lemon too much not to return there someday.

Rome-ing

Ciao readers! I apologise for not writing sooner but mom and I have literally been on the go everyday! Boy do our heads hit the pillow hard each night. I haven’t slept this well in a very long time; I haven’t slept in a proper bed since leaving Canada. I suppose you can count hostel beds as beds, because that’s what they are, but sleeping on the saddest excuse of a futon in Radom for the past nine months hasn’t exactly made for the sweetest of dreams. Enough about beds…

I had a smooth getaway from Radom, very early in the morning. The original plan was for me to leave my keys in the mailbox for my boss to pick up. That changed and she decided to come at 6:30 in the morning, when I wanted to leave. Oh well. Slept on the train to Warsaw, had one last stop at Coffee Heaven, then made my way to the airport. I kept just the right amount of cash on hand, and it bought me a nail polish at the duty free, and an iced tea. I slept on the flight too. Then came the reunion! My flight got in about 15 minutes before mom’s. I went to her terminal and there we were, together in Rome! We caught a shuttle into the centre, and found our way to our accommodations. We spent the evening getting our bearings.

First full day in Rome, check this out: the Coliseum, the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, the Pantheon, the Spanish steps (and another set of steps that we mistook for the Spanish steps…it was in fact the Spanish embassy), Trevi fountain, and gelato. We threw coins over our shoulders, though we didn’t know which shoulder to throw it over (like a continental soldier) so hopefully there isn’t a wrong way and we won’t be cursed with seven years bad luck. The Coliseum is monstrous. You really don’t believe it until you see it. I saw an amphitheatre in Pula, Croatia last summer, and thought it was huge. It has nothing on Rome’s. It was fun to sit on the Spanish steps and people watch. There are lots of men who sell single roses, among other (useless) things, and they put them in people’s hands and then expect money in return. It’s quite amusing to watch. Mom and I started thinking up really annoying questions to ask them about the products they peddle, so they see how it feels to have someone in their faces so much.

Day two was no less full: the Campo de Fiori market in the morning, the Vatican museum, and Piazza de Popolo, and back to the Coliseum for a night-time view. It sounds like less, but it really wasn’t. On our long walk back to our place, we found a great little pizza bar and had a really amazing slice of pizza with some Italian beer. It was just what we needed. The market was wonderful and full of aromatic spices, produce, breads, cheeses, meats, and nuts. Later in the day I had some sort of coconut drink – which I thought was granite – but it was fluffy and creamy and smooth and delicious. I still don’t know what it was. Josy? Thoughts?
Day three was my favourite: we first went to the Callisto Catacombs, then walked through a big flea market, spent some time in the Trastevere neighbourhood (my favourite) and had a pasta lunch there, and then went to the Piazza Novanno. In this area I had read about vintage shopping…I found a wonderful vintage dress. The owner was a delightful mid-thirties man who I would love to just take with me in my pocket. He was so sweet. I was humming and hawing over the dress, but then he insisted he wanted to see it on me. “Be my model!” Then he brought me another that he thought would suit – I ended up with the first choice – and he let me pick out a scarf just for fun. He grabbed my hand and was showing me around the shop. A memorable experience indeed. After that mom and I bought a glass of wine each (to take away; goodness I love Europe for that), and sat in the Piazza with it. Then we made our way back. In the catacombs we were 11 metres underground, the oldest and largest where everyone used to be buried. Because it’s so large and there are many pathways, you must enter with a guide. How I wish we were given 20 minutes of free time to wander and get lost in the labyrinth.
The next morning we headed out to the train – Naples bound en route to Sorrento! In a nutshell, we walked everywhere and saw most (if not all) of the main highlights in Rome!

PS. I totally navigated us around Rome. I am a map-reading all-star.

We'll always have Poland

Bittersweet parting words, careof Heather, on Sunday morning in Warsaw. I thought I was going to keep my cool, but a sudden burst of sadness came over me and I cried like a baby, minutes before her bus to the airport came. My eyes teared again as the bus pulled away, and I softly sobbed myself to sleep on the lonesome train ride back to Radom that afternoon. It's like I'm missing a limb....I know we're meeting up in Venice (in 15 days!!!), but it's not the same. Our life together in Radom is over. The end of an era. Man oh man did we have a fantastic year though! Some of the best memories and laughs ever. A real adventure with a true friend. We survived Radom...now where's our T-shirt?

We went to Warsaw Saturday to hang out. We met up with one of Heather's students, and also with a long-time friend of Heather's who is travelling Europe with her boyfriend right now. It was a most excellent time - gorgeous sunny weather, beer, perogies, and our favourite night spot.

Thursday night Heather and I went out with Gosia, one of our Polish friends/colleagues, for a drink. It's sad how quiet the town was at 10:30 on a Thursday night! The mosquitos were killer but the beer was good. Heath and Gosia went to the washroom at one point, and came back with a guy from Radom THAT HAD BEEN TO THUNDER BAY! Apparently my reaction to this was an evening highlight. I jumped up with 150% enthusiasm and asked if he'd been to the Persian Man. Haha He agreed, though I'm not sure he knew what I was talking about, as he was 11 when he went. He also informed us of a Canadian guy he met living in Radom. I had heard that at the beginning of the year, from a student, but never actually met the guy.

Friday night the same trio of us went for sushi one last time. We predict Gosia will be calling us within the month to let us know the restaurant went out of business, since we seem to be the only clients. It was delicious, and I had worked up an appetite after cleaning my flat all day. I don't think I've sweated so much since Bikram yoga...well, maybe not that much. But it was SOOOO hot. I'm not complaining, lovely weather, but being inside my flat was too much. A 7-11 slurpee would have hit the spot.

Friday morning was a chore and a half. Heather and I went to the bank to close our accounts. Because we wanted the close date to be at the end of the month, we needed a letter, written in Polish, explaining this. Our boss had given us such a letter, so we brought it and signed it in front of the teller. Unfortunately it was missing an important line...basically it was two hours of a broken Google Translate conversation between us and the teller. He was SO helpful and actually rewrote the letter for us, but it was definitely a headache (which had nothing to do with the events of Thursday night...). Haha

Yesterday my suitcases got picked up by a shipping company, my flat checked, got my final pay...and today I'm just passing time until my early morning departure tomorrow! One of my friends/coworkers is coming over tonight to hang out, which will be nice for my last night. It still really hasn't hit me. I'm excited for what's to come, but I'll miss living in Europe. I have friends scattered throughout, and it's so wonderful to meet up now and then. I know I'll be back though. Wow.

Italy with mom for the next four weeks! I'll still be blogging, though I can't say with how much frequency. But I do take my journal with me everywhere, after all! Thank you to all who have followed, commented, stayed in touch, mailed, emailed, loved, thought, supported, laughed, everything. We'll meet again soooooon! xo

Making progress

In case you were wondering, my packing and cleaning is coming along. I'll be at it for the next few days, with an overnight weekend trip to Warsaw in between. I can't believe Heather is leaving on Sunday. It doesn't seem real. We are constantly asking ourselves and each other what we'll do without the other...seriously. It's only a temporary parting though - thank GOODNESS - as we'll be meeting up in Florence at the end of the month!

I forgot to mention my classes in Koz last Friday. For my first two classes we combined with the other classes in the school and had a kareoke party. It was awesome. The kids were shy at first, but before we knew it they didn't want to leave. It was great to hear about 25 Polish kids all singing the Cranberries' "Zombie" at the top of their lungs. That and Barbie Girl were the most popular choices.

The weather has made its way up to the low-thirties, FYI. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow...and so on. I love it!

I had a great evening out with my Wednesday adult group. We sat at a patio and had some beer. It was a really nice finish. I told them I want them to come to South Korea with me so I can keep teaching them (I told the one woman she can bring her son too - who is Claire's age and who I teach. She told me he loves me as a teacher! Awww.). This group said they would pay English College to keep me as their teacher next year. It was so sweet. I am very sad to be leaving them! Of course, out-of-class conversation is when the real questions come. What do I think of Polish men? Do I have a Polish boyfriend? Do I have a boyfriend in Canada? (They were genuinely shocked when I answered 'no' to the last question, in a good way, I think! Hahaha)

Too hot to type. Back to cleaning and packing, and then off for my LAST TEACHING DAY. Whoa.

Mid-twenties and blue skies

The weather, that is! Luckily I've been able to enjoy it, though I do have to spend much time indoors, organising my life, as we're down to the final days. A week today I'll be boarding a plane to Rome! WOOOOOO!

I'm actually sorta kinda freaking out a little now. Things are slowly but surely coming together though, because, well, they have to. Having a lighter work schedule this week definitely helps. I've become a purging machine. My flat looks like a a tornado hit about ten times over, yet somehow I'm living in it. It makes things look more conquerable, because what I see is what I have to deal with. Please, no surprise guests.

Heather and I had a great Saturday - our last together in Radom. It was both productive and enjoyable! The weather was gorgeous, so we hit a patio late afternoon for some beer and perogies - how Polish is that?

I had another sleepless night a couple nights ago...to bed at 4am and up around 8:30am. Did you know it starts to get lighter outside between 3:30 and 4? That's early! Once again, it's been great catch-up time with friends, and it actually keeps me sane. Fortunately last night I had no trouble sleeping at all.

I'm looking forward to my adult class this evening, as the weather is fabulous. We're just going to a patio. And then tomorrow is my last day of teaching! Classes finishing up this week so far have been a bit lack-lustre, but I'm too tired to mind, and it makes leaving easier - less teary goodbyes to face!

Ok. Back to more cleaning and packing. WEEEEEEEEEEE!

Sleep is overrated

But I don't really believe that.

Tears have been shed this week, as some of my classes have come to a close. On Tuesday, two of my classes of younger students (ages 4-6, and 7-8) ended, and the latter group witnessed my tears. They gave me the best hugs, and held on tighter when they saw how sad I was to say good-bye. I've been getting some lovely gifts too, and I feel so spoiled. If I could, I would take some of these kids to South Korea with me, so I could continue teaching them. I'm going to miss them so much! I had a nice dinner out with my adult group on Tuesday, and had pierogi for the second time since living here! About time, eh? They were quite delicious! We're going out again this upcoming Tuesday, so I didn't have to say farewell just then.

I foolishly ate some chocolate before bed on Tuesday night, thinking I was too tired and the chocolate wouldn't affect me. I should know better, because chocolate ALWAYS keeps me awake. Sure enough, I had a fitful night and was up at 4 and again at 5. I stayed awake from 5am on, because I am a crazy person, and somehow got through the day! We had Thursday off, so I was able to sleep in. But then again last night I was up between 1am and 4:30am. There is a lot to think about right now, so I think that is keeping me awake. Plus I had a very full tummy from a delicious sushi dinner, so that wasn't helping either. The time has been well spent though, and is a great time to catch up with people on Skype! Haha

I predict more tears being shed today, as it's my last Friday. I love my Fridays. Then next week, Monday and Thursday are my only full days of teaching left! (Tuesday and Wednesday are dinners out with my adult groups.) WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN???

I think I am going to nap now...