Galway

With the sun rising in my rear view mirror, I left for a drive across Ireland.  Galway was the destination, and I had a weekend of beautiful tours planned. 

When was the last time you saw the sun rise?  It's fresh, golden rays bounce off the dewy grass and the whole world seems to come alive, sparkle, and take a deep, waking breath.  New day, new start, new possibilities. 

Around mid journey it started to sprinkle as the sun filtered through the rain clouds, and a huge, full, vibrant rainbow literally arched in front of me, and I drove right under it.  My good fortune and opportunity was not lost on me.  I was traveling through paradise as an open book, waiting for adventures to take up the pages.  I closed my eyes in thanks for the gift of the day.

In Galway, I found cheap parking a few blocks away from the hostel I was staying at. I gobbled down an apple and made me way toward Sleepzone.  This would be my first time in a hostel, and I was very excited for a new experience.  I walked through the door and was instantly transported back to college dorm days.  The place was a friendly, bustling space with college students and young travelers everywhere.  They were drinking coffee, on their laptops using the wifi, watching tv, some just of the shower carrying around wet towels and sporting wet hair.  It was fantastic!

I checked in and would be staying in the female dorm, less drama that way.  Then I was off to catch the Galway Tour Company bus.  Today I was doing a tour of Connemara and Cong, two places renowned for boating the typically beautiful Irish landscapes you often see in the movies.  The weather was cool and overcast, but not raining, so weather lucky!  I hopped on the bus, presented my ticket and the girl driving smiled at me and said "you're very chipper this mornin". 
Once everyone was settled, the bus driver hopped on, introduced himself, and started us on our way.  He had a wonderful Irish accent and was a pleasure to listen to.  Throughout the day he would tell us stories and histories of the lands we were visiting, and it was an amazing experience.

This side of the country is more rustic, and you start to get a sense of real Irish life as it was back in the days of potato crops.  The soil here is so filled with limestone that people had to dig all the rock out of their fields.  They broke up the rocks and used it to build walls around their properties.  This helped to define property lines and keep livestock in, but really it was just something to do with the loads of rock they dug up.

 

 

No wonder George Clooney vacations here!

Lake Como, Italy... breathtaking, beautiful, elegant and soooo Italian! 

We walked around the lake, took in the local sights, and then took the ferry from Verena, where we were staying, to Bellagio.  The lakeside city that inspired the famous Las Vegas hotel was very high-end, full of jewelry stores and the latest Italian fashions.  It also had great gelato, but was missing the  music synchronised fountain show...? 
 

 

Back in Verena, we hiked up to the old fortress ruins at the top of a VERY steep hill, feeling the gelato and focaccia weighing us down.  It was worth the huffing and puffing for the beautiful views we were treated with at the top of the hill.  The old fort was graced by mature olive trees, very beautiful, and eerie ceramic statues...so creepy!  As a matter of fact, when we rounded the corner and I saw the first one, I just about had a heart attack.

 


















Again, the food was amazing!  Our favorite thing to do in the afternoons was to sit on our balcony, the lake sprawled out in front of us, with an amazing spread of prosecco, cheese, bread Italian cold cuts.  Dad always treated Mom and I to this spectacular indulgence.  He would go out to the local markets and buy the best selection of treats, and then would come back to the hotel and set it all out for us to enjoy.  I felt like an absolute princess. 

 

 I found more inspiration for the bakery I will open someday!

For our last dinner in Lake Como, we dined at a small, family-run restaurant in the mountains.  The owners actually picked us up in the town square and drove us up to the restaurant, and that was an E-ticket ride.  Once there, the very personable man of the house and head chef greeted us and took us through the menu.  We all chose the same thing, the "Chef's Special", which was a coursed dinner comprised of their most popular and succulent dishes.  It started with cheeses, meats and breads, moved on to risotto, raviolis and salads, then finished with our protein of choice.  Amazing food, prepared with love and tradition the way good Italian food is.  What an experience!  And the best part was that the family loved what they were doing, they were passionate about their craft, and they loved sharing it with their guests.  I was inspired.

Leaving Lake Como was horrible.  I was saying goodbye to Italy and my parents all at the same time.  Mom and Dad were going on to Florence and I was going back to Dublin.  I shuffled onto the train reluctantly, trying to keep a positive smile on my face as I took my seat and waved goodbye.  Once the train was out of the station, tears started rolling down my cheeks as the empty, lonely feeling overtook my stomach.  Thankfully, when I reached the Milan train station and went to catch a taxi to the airport, the queue was a mile long and put me into time-management-panic-mode, which snapped me out of the sorry state.

Thanks Mom and Dad for an unforgettable vacation!  Thank you for the adventure, the gelato, the lakeside views, the afternoon cheese and prosecco, and most importantly, for being there for me, always!  XOXOXOX

Entering as patrons, leaving as family... in Stresa Italy

Stresa woke me up to an Italian dream.  The lake and hillsides were beautiful, the food was indulgent, the old castle houses were whimsical...but the best thing about being back in Italy was the people.  As soon as we entered the narrow shopping streets, I could hear the fire in their voices and see the passion in their body language.  I felt like I was home and surrounded by people just like me. 

We had great adventures, but my most memorable experience in Stresa was the last dinner we had in the city.  We were visiting La Rosa Dei Venti for the second time, as we had enjoyed the food SO much the night before.  A local family-run restaurant, the waitresses recognized us and smiled warm greetings when we walked in.  They set up a table for us near the open pizza kitchen in the back.  We were treated like adopted family, and this time were recommended special items from the menu they were sure we would like.  We took their recommendations and enjoyed a phenomenal meal.  

There was a large party sitting to the right of us, a bunch of old Italians, and we figured they were all family, or at the very least locals. Turns out, they were actually all retired chefs from the region...SOOOO cool! At one point, when my PIZZA PIE came, I turned around and waved a thank you to the pizza chef, blowing him a kiss.   That started a clunky conversation in broken English and Italian with the head chef at the table next to us about how we were liking our dinner.  In the couple Italian words I knew, but mostly using body language, I told him it was "Fantastico! Perfecto!" He really liked that.

We had our complimentary limonchello and cookies brought over, after the dessert course, which just stuffed us all to the absolute brim. As we were getting up to leave the restaurant, the table of chefs called us over, and one of them smiled at me, waved me over and gave me European cheek kisses. They asked where we were from, and we struggled through a few lines about how long we were staying, where we were going next and where home was.  I showed them the pictures of dinner on my phone that I was going to post to facebook for la familia back in California- full plates of beautiful food, then empty plates ready for the wash. They loved it, and more so, they loved that we loved and appreciated their food and culture. When we waved goodbye, they clapped and smiled and sent us off with warm, heartfelt hugs. It was a fantastic night...one that captured the magic of Italian culture. 

Food aside, Stresa was a beautiful lake city.  Within the lake were islands, and on these islands the rich and powerful of old built their castles.  We toured these on one of our days out, appreciating the amazing art collections and fabulous gardens.  My favorite thing about Italian masterpiece paintings is that they portray a female body image I can identify with.  Curvy bodies carrying a little extra padding were the model of beauty, wealth and stature.  I could have been royalty, lol!

We browsed the local artisan shops, looking over shelves of Milano glass, leather purses and ceramic plates.  Airline baggage restrictions can keep a person on budget while on vacation, so that was a good thing.  We bought a few things to take home, the most important of which was a set of beautiful shot glasses that caught Dad's eye.  They would be used for special occasions, and for initiation would most likely be filled with limonchello. 

The ONLY reason my parents were able to pry me away from Stresa was that we were leaving for Lake Como.  As long as we were staying in Italy, I was willing to get on the train.