Where we went...
London, England: 4 days
Yes, that's me in a phone booth in front of the Victoria & Albert Museum with its current exhibition The Golden Age of Couture. Did we go inside? No. Why not? We're idiots. No other excuse. Period. Well, maybe some of the idiocy can be attributed to jet lag (I did travel from Phoenix after all) but not that much...We stayed with my husband's cousin in his flat just outside of Wimbledon, which was lovely. Truthfully, I didn't enjoy London very much last time I was there. Now, this could be due to the fact I avoided a mugging only by making a run for it. Plus, I was still a student and had no cash to spend. Being a professional this time around helped with this some what, but London is still a very expensive place to visit and the American dollar only goes half as far as it does back home. This visit was a vast improvement, I am happy to report! We had a grand time and walked about 10 hours each day. I think I could happily live in that town. I like the way the Brits do things...It's all very organized and such.
Next stop, Thessaloniki, Greece: 3 days
We flew from London to Thessaloniki, where my Aunt Tasoula and Uncle Kosma picked us up from the airport. My father's village, well now is more like a small city, hasn't changed too much in the last five years. Neither has my family. They all are rather ageless...That's me with my aunt below in front of the harbor in Nea Mixaniona. They all commented that my Greek had improved since my last visit, which I found interesting given the only person I speak Greek with these days is my father on the phone. We don't even speak Greek that much either, it's sort of a family mix of Greek and English. However, by nightfall, I had begun to think entirely in Greek and had to translate in my head to English for my husband...
Mixaniona is now the main fishing port for Thessaloniki and much of northern Greece. The pier behind us is where all the fishing boats moor in the off season. They all starting fishing again full time Oct 1... Thessaloniki, which is the second largest city is also a university town. There are lots of things to do there and we did a one day tour, with the requisite stop at Alexander's statue in his square along the waterfront. Note the scale...Greeks are certainly proud of their history, to say the least.
On to Athens and the Acropolis for 1 day...
We drove through the night with cousin Kosta, who is currently staying in Pireaus, the port town within Athens. He's the first mate on a Greek 300 meter long oil tanker and is studying to for his promotion to captain. Out of all the family, he speaks the best English by far. My husband was most comfortable with Kosta, I think, because he was able to communicate independently. I did my best to translate for him, but I think I got a little lazy. Must have been the jet lag...
So we hit the Acropolis in the morning, where it was ridiculously windy. It was so windy at times I had to hold on to avoid being swept off my feet on the slippery marble! After lunch, we were walking around towards Syntagma Square and lo and behold we find ourselves in front of the Parliamentary buildings. It was 5 o'clock and we happened upon the changing of the palace guard. Yes, they do wear skirts and those are pompoms on his feet. And yes, they are all 6'4" and gorgeous. sigh...
And from Athens, on to Italy, four days between Milan, Tuscany, and Rome...
Milan brought us to the best dressed people in Europe, I think. Being that it is the fashion capital of Italy, this is to be expected, but everybody seemed to be in top form. We were there I think just after fashion week, so there were an awful lot of tall skinny women running around. Stick figures, I tell you. The best Duomo we visited was in Milan as well. It was the most inviting and beautiful.
Tuscany brought us to a nice little hotel, which was murder to find, but that's neither here nor there. Some lovely italians on their way home from a bar helped us in the wee hours of the morning. Gratzi! Prego! Highlights of Tuscany? Michelangelo's David, Renaissance art at the Uffizi gallery, the Cinque Terre (just not the drive in; in a word: harrowing), the tower at Piza (just like all the pictures!), the prosciutto, the people, and tourists carrying Rick Steves' guide to Italy. At one point, it was embarrassing, there were so many of us running around town. It kind of made me feel like I was part of a cult or something. My husband refused to carry it past that point.
And then there was Rome! Bella Roma!
By the time we got to Rome, I think I was so physically exhausted I couldn't see straight. However, that's not really a problem there since everything is colossally big. I even managed, on the last evening possible, to find the fabric district! Right around the corner from the Pantheon, if you can imagine. It was Saturday evening just about 5pm, and we had decided we had to see the inside of the dome so we left the ruins in the center and headed off by foot. I turn the corner and lo, there they were: Textiles! I really, really wanted to go shopping - I hadn't done ANY shopping at all on our trip thus far - but my husband wanted to see the dome. So, we compromised. Find the Pantheon, spend 30-45 minutes and come back. Now, we got to the Pantheon and there was a crush of people outside, but they weren't letting anyone in, except one or two at a time. I looked at the sign and realized that the place was closed for Saturday night mass! Yes! Back to the stores I went with instructions to my husband to find the nearest book store and hang...
I did buy some fabric, about $200 worth and it is lovely:
Massimo, the salesman, was wonderful. He was young, hunky, and very knowledgable and pretty much had me at hello. The print is a gorgeous silk charmeuse from last year's collection of an Italian designer, 1 meter for 18 euros.
The next is a wool navy and white houndstooth that at first I figured would do just for a jacket with paired with white silk crepe pants. The wool was 22 euros/meter and the silk Massimo brought me was 80 euros/meter. Since the silk alone would have killed my budget entirely, I said thank you, but lets see some more woolens. I purchased 4 meters of the houndstooth. It's quite possibly the loveliest 100% wool I've ever touched on a bolt. Smooth hand with a fabulous drape and good body.
I also purchased a stretch wool in burgandy, that doesn't want to be photographed for some reason. I've tried repeatedly, but it's shy I suppose. Anyway, that too, is lovely, with a subtle sheen on the right side and more of a classic wool on the wrong, but not scratchy in the least.Oh! And lest I forget, my grandmother also gave me some fabric! From her trip to Paris in 1984, no less. Now, my grandmother gave me an assortment of fabrics, content unknown but highly suspicious because of the hand. This comes back to Gorgeous Things post about polyester, and these are definitely not modern day synthetics. We shall see how they present themselves for use...
I returned to Phoenix about 11:45pm Sunday night after departing Rome at 5am, exhausted after travelling many, many hours. Under my doormat was a Fedex envelope from my employer, and that is never good news. In the envelope were three checks, one which was two weeks severance pay. I was laid off while on vacation. I was mostly grateful I didn't have to go to work the next day, if you can imagine. Jet lag, people, jet lag. At least now I'll have more time to sew.
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