there's no place like gnome.

We visited Rome today and it was what we expected – hot and people-y with cool ancient sites around most corners.

We went in knowing there was way more than we could ever see in one day so we made a basic plan – the Pantheon, Colosseum (from the outside – not a tour), and the Baths of Caracalla (a lesser visited site I learned about through my favorite travel guy Rick Steves). Plus some food and espresso and gelato. With that, we would be content.

And so that’s what we did. We grabbed the train from our port of Civitavicchia; it was about an hour ride into Rome. Figuring out we weren’t all that far from the Vatican, we decided to walk by. It’s free to get into St. Peter’s Square and thought we might do that but were met with long security lines and the square was FULL of people. Our travel companions would send a photo later that confirmed the Pope was addressing the crowd today.

From there, we worked our way down busy streets and cute alleys to the Pantheon, a dome that defied architectural standards of the day. (And stopped enroute in a cute espresso store that was right up my alley.) The dome is as wide as it is high. Much of the marble floor still original, two centuries later; the pillars on the portico cut from a single stone.

We headed towards the coliseum and we both got a little cranky on the way. (Truth.) We found some food and regrouped before taking our photos and continuing on.

At the Baths of Caracalla, we didn’t learn a whole lot but relished the nice breeze and enjoyed a space with very few people. We envision that in its glory, the baths were like a country club; it’s where the people of status would come to soak in the pool and talk politics. Or something. But it was neat and old. Check.

We found some gelato before a brisk walk to the train station. We were toast – seven miles later – and learned that it was either the train now or wait two more hours. Now, please. We even figured out how to validate our ticket this time in the machines on the wall. (We couldn’t figure it out on the trip in and were lucky a conductor didn’t ask for our tickets; an invalidated ticket comes with a fine.)

We were toast … but still had energy after the train ride to find some drinks by the sea in the port city before taking the shuttle back to the boat. I finally tried an aperol spritz, the quintessential mixed drink here. I liked it. (I had two.)

Today we were in the port of Naples, a city Rick Steves describes as ‘gritty.’

Agreed.

We were planning to go to Pompeii but Dave did not sleep well the night prior; that combined with the sun and heat was probably going to make things pretty miserable. So we pivoted and went with plan b – eat our way around Naples.

Five hours and twelve thousand steps later we were tired but with happy bellies. We stepped foot in a couple churches (which, honestly, all kind of blur together at this point, sorry to say). We followed a little bit of Rick Steves’ city walk and saw a city that was very much alive. We made two coffee/pastry stops and a pizza stop. (Naples is known as the birthplace of pizza.)

Once back on the boat we napped before relaxing poolside and taking in the view of the city from the 16th deck. Tonight we’ll join back up with the rest of our crew for a show and dinner. Tomorrow: Rome. (Hopefully. If Dave sleeps well and our train travel plans come to fruition.)

The last couple days we’ve been in port at Ibiza and Mallorca, two Spanish islands. (Though Mallorca has their own dialect of Spanish – a Spanish/Catalan mash up of which I could not decipher, despite my These are the two cruise ports at which we booked a cruise excursion – kayaking in Ibiza and biking in Palma, Mallorca.

Kayaking in Ibiza. Waves that envied that one overnight kayak trip I took with my friend Sara on Lake Superior. No wet suits this time but tandem kayaks and some pretty (okay, really) high waves/swells. The part I enjoyed the most? That part when we were heading back towards the beach.

We stopped at this little cove for a moment to rest and swim if we wanted. But see, in Ibiza, there is this sea grass that it’s known for and the first 10 feet of water was full of this dead grass. Let us just say when we got back to our room to shower, we made a complete mess. Sorry, room steward. (Photo: Dave full of the dried sea grass. He also pulled a fistful out of his shorts pocket!)

Today: Mallorca. We booked a bike tour for the morning which promised to help us explore a bit of the old city. Our guide was great as she led the way. We saw the old palace, a couple gothic cathedrals, and learned the history of the island. The ride was easy and fun until noon came and it became super HOT.

We visited a covenant of cloister nuns – they don’t leave the covenant and have taken vows of silence. They bake for a bakery that’s on site. We didn’t see any of them but did see a ‘helper nun’- a nun who also lives on site but can communicate by speaking – when some of our group purchased from the bakery.

This was the cutest old city and we could have spent much more time wandering its puzzle system of alleys. Our guide said that it’s become a huge tourist destination; people arrive and stay exclusively on this island. They just added a direct flight to NYC to meet the demand.

Following our tour, we headed back to the bus, sweaty, hot and hungry. Lunch was had and now it’s a lounge chair poolside in the shade. (The sun got me while kayaking yesterday; I’m a bit toasty in places.) Tomorrow: a sea day before reaching Italy.

I write this Friday from the top deck of our cruise ship. We arrived and are ready to relax. Dave said to me this morning after breakfast in the hotel that one of our stops yesterday was “one of the most beautiful things he has ever seen.” I agree.

But first we explored Barcelona cathedral – a beautiful, old Catholic Church. This was impressive and very cool to explore. Our ticket allowed us to go on the roof which was super cool.

From here we explored a local market and oh, the seafood we saw on ice. A quick stop back at the hotel and then we had a mountain to climb. Our next stop was a guided tour of Park Güell (pronounced ‘gway’). It was 2.5 miles from our hotel and we said, eh. We can do that. We weren’t anticipating the heat or the hill, aka mountain. We made it but barely. The tour was a bit overshadowed by our exhaustion but still cool to see. This park, by architect Antoni Guadi, was commissioned as an exclusive community but no one bought onto the idea so in the end, it became a park.

From there, we took a taxi to our next destination, stopped for a sandwich (ham, of course) and a beer (Dave)/sparkling water (me), before meeting our tour guide again at La Sagrada Família. Aka the most beautiful place dave has ever seen.

And it was. Words and pictures won’t do it justice. So much thought and incredible detail. For now, photos.

Maybe more stories to come another time. But for now, it’s time to meet up with the rest of our group and find some lunch on this gigantic floating hotel.

Last night, after our arrival, we took a bus to the city center and settled in at the hotel before having a late night meal of tapas down the street from our hotel. No complaints.

We set off this morning after a fruitful night of sleep, stopping first at a tiny fruit market for a couple bananas and a plantain. We found a cafe on the corner for breakfast. No doubt the first of many cafe stops and beautiful espressos.

I’m typing this quick before we set off to explore the cathedral and gothic quarter. More to come!

Dave and I embarked on a time travel adventure in the last 24 hours.

We left American soil, spent eight hours on a plane, and emerged in Copenhagen with the clock set another eight hours ahead for a trip we’ve been dreaming about for a long time. (Fun fact: yesterday was the anniversary of our pizza place marriage!)

We’re now killing time and trying to catch some sleep as we wait for the final leg of our trip – a jump over to Barcelona, where we will stay until we board our Mediterranean cruise ship on Friday; that ship will become our home for the following eight nights.

As for this airport layover, Dave officially set foot in Europe for the very first time and has already ate his first Kinder egg.* (He got a deer; I got a penguin.) Priorities. He also ate his first plane meal and this frankenfurter thing in a roll at the airport. (He said the ketchup was weird.) Not ON a roll; in a roll.

It is my hope that I’ll come back here a couple times to recount the things we do and places we see, not so much because you need the play-by-play but because I do love to look back at these entries and remember what we did. It’s like your privy to my personal journals

*Kinder eggs – the kind in Europe that have toys inside – are one of my core memories from my teenage trip to Spain. My friends and I LOVED those chocolate eggs. Fun fact: some of those kinder egg toys (oh, 25 years later) still hang out in my potted plants.🪴

To dig in the dirt.

I started my first batch of seeds in early February. I’m growing a couple of trickier things that I knew would take some additional time to grow and become established, all with cut flowers in mind. (That goes without saying!) Eucalyptus and yarrow are the two biggies that need a little extra time and care to grow big. They were started, along with lots of snapdragons, globe amaranth, and craspedia. A second batch of seeds will follow in a couple weeks including tomatoes, coleus, and some other flowers that missed round one.

Sad news: my dahlia seeds that I collected last fall have failed to grow. Another attempt will have to be made at the end of this growing season.

Speaking of dahlias: I panic-pulled them out of storage (a cardboard box in the garage) because I checked on them and feared they were starting to become dehydrated. I washed the dirt from the clumps and then spent an afternoon splitting them so each cutting had a “body, neck, and eye.” If even half of the tubers (the potato-looking things) that are sitting in tubs in the sunroom are viable, I’m going to be in some big trouble. Last year, I think I planted around 15 dahlia plants. I’m guessing I’ll end up with three times that (at least) which begs the question – what grass/hosta garden should I dig up next to make room for MORE FLOWERS? (Don’t worry; I have an idea.)

Our sunroom is now a greenhouse (which makes me so incredibly happy).

Cheers to 2025!

We rung in the new year (before 11pm) at our home with Dave’s sister, Sarah, and her four kiddos. There were fancy glasses (read: real) with juice (or milk or water), noise makers (which the dogs LOVED – full sarcasm), and a sharing of gratitude for the year behind. And then we went to bed, already much past my bedtime of 10pm. (Scroll to the end to see what we did the next day.)

Reflection post. 2024/2025 hopes/dreams. In and out. All of it/everything. Ready GO.

IN:
+ Road trips. We took a couple last year – NJ, GA, MI. We’ve gotten pretty good at them. Only found cockroaches at one of our budget overnight stops so we’re basically winning. Here’s to more (roadtrips not cockroaches).
+ Entering our travel era. I declare it. Our 40s will see our passports stamped and world traveled.
+ Wool clothing/capsule wardrobe. Both Dave and I will give you our wool clothing TED talk anytime, probably even if you don’t ask for it. (It’s how we will do two weeks in Europe in June with only carry-ons. WAIT FOR IT.)
+ Even bigger flower garden. (Have I mentioned my obsession with cut flower gardening? Oh wait. That’s ALL I BLOGGED ABOUT this summer.)
+ Books. More books. Quilts. Always more quilts.
+ Being socially adventurous. You know, like I got invited to a Bunco night with a bunch of ladies I don’t know. And I think I’m going to go. (Whoa, right?)
+ Lentils? We think it would be cool to eat less meat. We’ll see how this goes …

OUT:
+ Spending my PTO hours on sick days, please. (Stomach flu x 2 + covid in 2024. Gross.)
+ Cooking shortcuts every night. You all, I have gotten away from cooking dinner. Gathering recipes now.
+ And that’s all I can think of. 2024 was pretty great; not much needs to change.

Right. So what did Dave, myself, sister-in-law Sarah and her four kids do on New Years Day? We began with sourdough pancakes. And then? Road trip to Chicago for Legos and supper in the rainforest. There were a few hiccups along the way. (Who knew it was supposed to snow? Uh huh. And who could have predicted that carsick kiddo delay? Yup.) But we made it there and then back again to our house for pinball, Candy Land, and ice cream sundaes at Uncle Dave and Aunt Lindsay’s.

I posted back in August about the cut flowers in my yard that were in the prime of the season. Well, today is October 1 and this is what I cut from the garden after work today –

Many of the flowers will keep producing until the first frost. I’ll divide the flowers above into a couple bouquets to give to coworkers tomorrow. I have a standing Thursday afternoon visit with a patient who loves flowers; she gets a bouquet most weeks too. THESE FLOWERS (and giving them away) BRING ME GREAT JOY. Sorry I had to yell. They just make me so excited. (Also: Next year I’m planting way more snapdragons.)

With the first frost inevitably arriving sometime, I’m turning my attention to seed gathering. I’m dipping my toe into seed collecting with celosia and zinnias that currently are drying on paper in the sun room. (Zinnias are the ugly things in the upper left.) Next up: dahlia seeds.

Science: Here’s what I’ve learned (mainly from Floret Farms, where they do an excellent job of sharing how to and why) — If the varieties of your flowers from which you are harvesting seeds are not isolated, because of pollination, you don’t know what variety will grow from the seeds you harvested the year prior. I planted four varieties of zinnias in close proximity; when I plant the zinnia seeds next year, I don’t know what variety will germinate or what colors. Cross-pollination. Surprise!

But a step further: I’ve learned that with dahlias, you harvest a seed pod (which is a flower that has bloomed, died, and shriveled up while still on the plant). It doesn’t matter what type of dahlia it came from, the seed pod contains something, like, fifty seeds and each of those fifty seeds could germinate to be different dahlia flowers. Perhaps a variety of dahlia flower that has never grown before. Here’s what Floret Farms says about it: Unlike tubers or cuttings, which produce an exact clone of the plant they come from, dahlias grown from seed offer a treasure trove of new possibilities, each one something that’s never existed before. The opportunities are endless, and if you find one you love, you get to name it!  How cool is that?

I’m so excited for this project. But here’s what I hope: that frost doesn’t come too quick because, before I was armed with this knowledge about harvesting dahlia seeds from spent flowers, I went through the garden and cleaned out all the done-blooming flowers and seed pods. The very things I need for seeds. Fingers crossed there is enough time in the season for more seeds pods to brown on the plant so I can try my hand at planting my own dahlias.