Adio

I’m too lazy to look up how to say goodbye in Italian, so I just cheated and had Mr. W tell me how to say it in Greek. Yes readers, I am bidding you adieu because I’m leaving for the Mediterranean tomorrow.

We’ll start out at 4 a.m. to make our 6:30 flight to New York. Then we’ll catch another flight to Athens, and yet another to Santorini. By this time, we will probably be muttering gibberish and bumping into walls. We’ll have two nights in Santorini then hop a ferry to Naxos.

I’ve heard mixed reviews of Naxos. My Lonely Planet book described it as the most fertile and lush of the Greek Isles, but a friend at work said it was an ugly port-town-filled island. If it’s ugly, I’ll just have to stare into Mr. W’s eyes the whole time. Or bury my face in Angels and Demons, which is quite good so far.

From Naxos, we’ll head to Paros via ferry. And after a night there, we’ll go back to Athens. I’m already preparing myself for a letdown in that city. Everyone says it’s dirty and not that cool and there’s construction around the Acropolis. But it’s Mr. W’s homeland (sort of) and I think our hotel is pretty nice.

We’ll catch a flight the following day and head to Venice, where it could be down to 37°. I’m prepared to freeze there, but also extremely excited to visit—especially after watching Giada DeLaurentiis go there on the Food Network. We will definitely be hitting Harry’s Bar, where Hemingway used to hang out.

Next we’ll take a train to Florence, where I suspect we will stuff ourselves on pasta and gelato and art and romance. I’m hoping my adoration for Mr. W grows more than my waistline on this trip.

We may try to take a trip out to Pisa for a quick glimpse of the tower, then we’ll travel to Arezzo, which is sort of nestled in the heart of Tuscany. I’m hoping for some nice sweeping hillside landscapes and some good wine there.

From Arezzo, we’ll catch another train to our final destination: Rome. I read Eat, Pray, Love last year and almost licked the pages when she wrote about Rome. Everything about the city just sounds decadent. It will be perfect that our last day of the trip—Valentine’s Day—will take place in Rome. I’m sure I’ll be ruined forever after that.

I’m going to try to post pictures and write a bit if I can. Mr. W is taking his laptop, so I should have blog access. But I won’t likely read anything you all are writing. I’ll check in on all of you when I return on the 15th.

So long!