Travel Opinion

Assisi, Italy Travel, Travel Opinion

Assisi, Italy: A place to find your inspiration.

by Gracefully Global travels •
Assisi, Italy

I came to Assisi as a solo traveler after several weeks of intense work in Rome, to celebrate my birthday.  It was a fitting way to celebrate a day for me, as part of my identity relates to Saint Francis, who was born in Assisi and founded the Franciscan religious order here in 1208.  Many years ago, before I gave up my home to travel, I was a foster mom to dogs, cats, and a hamster, and Saint Francis is, perhaps, the ultimate animal lover.

I took a train from Rome to Assisi, an insightful trip into why Assisi’s region of Umbria is affectionately known as Italy’s “Green Heart.” So many lush valleys framed by beautiful mountains.  I was caught by surprise, upon arriving at the train station, that there was a steep climb up Mount Subasio still required of my journey to my Airbnb.  My taxi driver was a local and laughed at my Italian slang as he sped up the winding road, up the mountain, as the streets got narrower, and the traffic got sparser.

Assisi, Italy


My Airbnb and my host were both lovely.  It was early March and there was a chill in the air, and a quiteness about the evening.  I stepped outside in search of food, but truly in pursuit of curiosity.  I was ready to finally orient myself to this town I’d been imagining for years.

Assisi, Italy


Assisi is a UNESCO World Heritage site.  I didn’t know that at the time, I don’t believe, but it wouldn’t have come as a surprise.  Dusk on the side of this mountain, winding through Assisi’s expertly preserved medieval streets, with the town spreading down into the sprawling valley ahead with twinkling lights and the occasional sihlohette of a tower, couldn’t have felt more special.

Assisi, Italy


The next morning I set out with a minimal agenda.  I didn’t have a name for it then, but I realize now that I practice slow traveling.  I read up on thoroughly on my destination before I arrive, and then I just go with the flow based on how my days go, and with the aid of locals and Google Maps.  It was a typical windy, March day, and there were very few tourists this chilly morning.  I wandered around, taken with the sincerity of the spirituality of the area, with each passing sign and religious icon.  In addition to St. Francis, St. Clare and St. Gabriel were born here.

Assisi, Italy


I eventually made my way to the major attraction of Assisi: the basilica ordered by the pope to be built for Saint Francis after he died.  The picture at the top of this post is one of the first glimpses I had of the basilica.  I sent it to my mother, and she responded, asking me if my photo was a postcard.   I watched the giant white puffy clouds moving around it, as if by design.

Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi

As I walked toward the basilica, I came across an opening in the long stone fence that lined the upper piazza.  The door seemed to call to my name, and after walking through it and down a short, dirt path, there was a small tourist office taking donations for the nature trail.  It somehow felt like the perfect activity for the day, my birthday.  There was something enchanting about this place, and it felt like it needed exploring.

Bosco di San Francesco trail outside of Assisi

The trail was easy, and had much informative signage along the way.  I busied myself taking photos of views and plants along the way, until the trail approached a Benedictine complex of Santa Croce, a former home to Benedictine nuns.  I was charmed again by the small garden in honor of the nuns’ garden which was maintained by FAI, the widespread Italian environmental organization that had restored the trails and ran a visitor center out of the complex.  They were running a composting class that day.  I listened in as I explored the chapel that shared a wall, Chiesa Santa Croce.

Chiesa Santa Croce in the Bosco di San Francesco

I continued along the trail which now paralleled a small river, and watched across the river as locals enjoyed the day with their children and pets.  I eventually ran into Torre Annamaria, which looked out over a land art project explained by signage called “Terzo Paradiso” (Third Heaven) by Michelangelo Pistoletto.  I walked along the circular paths lined by 121 olive trees, the beautiful sun shining through the olive branches, contemplating the artist’s third heaven.  There wasn’t another soul in sight.  It was an unexpected and not unwelcome spiritual experience.

Olive trees in Bosco di San Francesco

I emerged from the olive trees and decided it was time to make my way back.  It didn’t take me long to walk back to the basilica, which I explored.  The basilica is actually two churches stacked on top of each other.  I couldn’t recommend them more, no matter what religion or spirituality you identify with.  The church on top tells important stories through the images on the walls, and is really like visiting an art museum, as you walk along the walls and take in the information the images are conveying.  The church on bottom feels like the heart of Saint Francis.  It has a very low-key, welcoming and deep spirituality about it.  I just stood there and took it all in, breathing a long, relaxing breath.

Assisi, Italy

When I finally left the basilica, no tourists were in sight, only priests.  Assisi is one of those towns that most people just see as a day trip, so at night, it feels as if I have the town to myself. The region of Umbria is known for its simple, delicious cuisine, so your dinner is sure to be as soul-nourishing as your day’s adventures. 

Assisi, Italy dining
Trattoria Degli Umbri

Assisi has inspired some very inspirational people.  I hope you’ll visit Assisi and find your own inspiration.

Mexicali, Travel Opinion

An Ode to Street Photography and How it Has Made Me a Better Traveler

by Gracefully Global travels • • 5 Comments

My mother gave me perhaps the best photography advice I’ve ever received: “When you see everyone taking a photo in one direction, turn around and shoot in the opposite direction.”  She gave me that advice for a wedding I was about to photograph.  But my mother had become my photography teacher long before when we first started wandering the streets of Mexicali, Mexico together in the 1980s.

Peggy in the backyard in Bloomington, Indiana
My mom took this photo of me in our backyard in Bloomington, Indiana, when she was pursuing her master’s in photography.

We had fairly recently relocated to El Centro, California by way of Bloomington, Indiana, where my mother had gotten her master’s in photography. She was eager to keep practicing her craft, and the urban capital of Baja California, Mexico, just a few miles away across the border, was the perfect opportunity. It was an ideal setting for her to work on her hip shot photography, a technique in street photography where you “shoot from the hip” instead of putting the camera to your eye and alerting your subjects that you are taking a photo. Many of the famous street photographers at the time were known for their work in urban areas of the United States and Europe, but not so much in Mexico.

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El Centro, California and neighboring Mexicali, Mexico may be neighbors, but are very different places. Mexicali has a population of 690,000 and El Centro has a population around 44,000.

I was very young at the time, around six, and neither my mother nor I spoke any Spanish. We would wander the streets of Mexicali in the daytime, me eying the many window displays we passed, hoping my mom would buy me a little gift in exchange for cooperating with our long walks, and my mother busily focusing on the often chaotic environment around us as she took her photos covertly. We crossed back and forth over the border on foot, lucky to have the privilege of our United States citizenship to cross with relative ease, and the assumed lack of threat or culpability of a young white American mother and her child were also on our side.

Mexicali, Mexico hip shots
This is one of my mother’s hip shots that she took in Mexicali. Click the photo to view the album.

It was meant to be that we were able to cross so easily into this city that was so close yet so different, because the work my mother did was very unusual at the time – and is now unusual again for different reasons – telling stories of the lives of citizens of Mexicali that had not often been told to a U.S. audience. Some days she’d also lug her large format camera across the border and wander into neighborhoods where my mother would charm her way into people’s homes and take their portraits. I would wait for her outside, and the children would try to talk to me, and then tease me when they realized I didn’t speak Spanish.

Simultaneous Moments
These are my mother’s large format photos. Click the photo to view the album.

When I look back on our mother-daughter adventures with ten years of solo travel under my belt, it dawns on me that those formative trips to Mexicali have probably affected my approach and passion for travel and photography more than I ever realized. Following in the spirit of my mother and her hip shot photography, my camera amplifies my curiosity about my environment, encouraging me to be content wandering a city instead of checking off a bucket list, and being drawn in not only by the buildings, art, and views that I pass, but also by the people around them and how they are interacting with each other in these spaces. I am so grateful to have had this rare opportunity as an American to acclimate to being comfortable outside of the U.S. at a young age, a gift that has supported me time and time again.

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My mom and I just a few years ago on a trip to Mexicali just for dinner – no long walks this time.

A great benefit of these uncertain times, where travel and exploration are indefinitely on hold, is the opportunity for artists to work on their craft and organize previous works.  My mother has happily embraced new technologies, and you can view her work on Flickr by clicking here or on the images above.  I’ve embraced a platform that is photographer-friendly called Steller, and have recently put together a collection of some of my favorite street photos in Italy.

Couple on the beach in Cervia, Italy
This is a photo I took on the beach in Cervia, Italy. Click on the photo to see the rest of the collection in my Steller story.

But my love of street photography isn’t just limited to my own work – I take great joy in taking in an exhibit or a book of street photography. Unlike other forms of art where composition can be a dominant element of the work, street photography’s dominant element is often storytelling. I love seeing a street photographer’s photo for the first time that appears, at first glance, forgettable, which is an alert for me that there’s a really good story there for the finding. And then I take the time to figure out what story the photographer found in this photo, and what story it is telling me. They often aren’t the same story, which is beautiful. Some of the most memorable street photography exhibitions I’ve seen have been at Fotografiska (The Swedish Museum of Photography), in Stockholm. But there is also a wonderful photography museum in my home base, the Museum of Photographic Arts, in San Diego, that exhibits incredible work.

One of my favorite street captures: A pair of girls on their way home from school, sharing gossip in front of the Ferragamo headquarters in Florence.

I wrote this article this week because the art of street photography is partially supported by the belief that everyone has a story to tell, so there are infinite quantities of stories to be found in every person we see when we are walking on the street. In this period of tumultuousness and disconnectedness, embracing an art like street photography and the idea that strangers, friends, and perceived enemies alike have an important story to tell, is a way that art can help bring us back together. I hope you’ll take some time to give some street photos a longer look. And maybe even give it a try yourself, when the time is right. Sometimes, shooting from the hip can be a good thing!

Bologna, Life in Bologna, Travel Opinion

Take a Chance on Bologna

by Gracefully Global travels • • 18 Comments
Bologna_Italy

A typical vacation in Italy is usually dominated by stops in Rome and Florence, and possibly Venice and the Amalfi Coast.  But Rick Steves offered some wise advice that inspired me to write this for you: if you only visit a country’s major (and popular) cities, you’ll miss a glimpse of what the culture of that country is truly like.  If I can convince you to amend your Italy travel plans to include at least one city that is not mentioned above, my work here is done.  And my first suggestion is Bologna.

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I’m slightly biased because Bologna was my home for nearly five years.  When my master’s program at Carnegie Mellon University offered me a chance at a second degree at the University of Bologna – touted as the oldest university in the world, but I’ve heard rumors that it is the second oldest – I jumped at it, which would mark the first time I was in Italy as an adult.

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As an American, it was hard for me to grasp the size of Italy until I lived there.  Smaller than my home state of California, Italy’s geographic accessibility makes frequent travel very doable, especially because Bologna is in the north central part of the country, making it a major travel hub for accessing the east and west coasts, and for traveling north by train or bus into other European countries.  My numerous weekend trips exposed me to the striking diversity of culture and cuisine within the relatively small geographic area, a reminder of the youth of the nation, unified in 1861.  It was my travels to the towns, cities, and countryside of Italy that helped me understand what made Bologna so unique.

Bologna_Italy

Boasting the world’s oldest university means Bologna is the world’s oldest college town, and if you’ve ever visited a college town, you know they often have a sort of different feel.  The university has affected Bologna more than we’ll ever know, from the arcades you walk under that were added to support the expansion of the upper levels of buildings toward the streets to provide more housing for the students, to the graffiti you see on the walls; so many of Bologna’s signature characteristics are byproducts of the college influence. 

Bologna_Italy

Bologna is known to Italians as the city of “la dotta, la grassa, e la rossa,” which translates to “the learned, the fat, and the red.” The politics stemming from the professors and students making up much of Bologna – “the learned” – differ from most of Italy, resisting fascism and supporting communism for many years.  This is where “the red” comes into play, but some believe “the red” also signifies the beautiful tone of the architecture of the city, which shines red if you ever look at photos taken from high above the city from one of its signature towers.  And “the fat” predictably signifies Bologna’s famous rich cuisine.

As a vegetarian and not so inclined to Bologna’s typical meat-centric dishes, my favorite food memory in the city of “la grassa” is sitting outside on a sidewalk patio of the famous Tamburini along one of the tiny streets in the historic center on a Sunday, and enjoying people-watching, medieval architecture, a bottle of Lambrusco or Pignoletto, and a platter of regional cheeses (and cured meats and mortadella for my non-vegetarian friends), accompanied by tigelle, which are unique circle-shaped flat rolls typical to the region. 

Tigelle and meat on a platter, typical of Bologna cuisine.
My friend’s portion of tigelle and local cured meats and mortadella.

After dinner, there is no shortage of bars and clubs to fill up your night and into the wee hours of the morning if you so choose, as the large student population has also influenced nightlife, making Bologna known as the city of the night.  You can also just grab a bottle of wine or beer at a small market and join the students sitting and socializing in the gorgeous piazzas.

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Ultimately, it is Bologna’s environment that won my heart over.  Bologna’s architecture is among the most beautiful I’ve experienced in Europe.  After living in Florence for a year and returning to Bologna, I found myself treasuring the portico (arcade) lined streets even more, marveling at the different styles of porticos. 

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And even though I’ve passed them hundreds of times, I will still take the time to admire Bologna’s towers caught in perfect light. 

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Some of the towers are open to the public, which give you a chance to catch a view of “la rossa” from high above the city. And the beautiful environment doesn’t stop at the city’s architecture.

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Enjoying the famous hilled countryside is as easy as making the popular five-kilometer walk from the historic center on the winding, portico-lined sidewalk to the Santuario della Madonna di San Luca – an icon of the city of Bologna – where you can pay a small fee to enjoy the lookout from the back of the church over the stunning countryside.

I hope this small introduction to Bologna will inspire you to pay a visit to this beautiful city, easily reached by plane, train, bus, or car.  If you are interested in learning more about specific destinations and activities to pursue in Bologna, try visiting the hyperlinks in the article to reach my Instagram and blog posts with more detailed descriptions, or visit one of my other posts linked below.

Florence, Illustrious Instants, Italy Travel, Travel Opinion

It Even Snows in Florence

by Gracefully Global travels •

Today, on the first day of spring, Florence got its snow.

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Tuscany is not a region of Italy where snow falls very often, so the flurry of white flakes has brought a bit of uncertainty and a lot of joy to all of us.  Without much means for cleaning up after the snow, roads and sidewalks were slippery, and subsequently, schools and some public offices were closed.

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Walking through the city, it felt like a Saturday, when families and couples take the time to enjoy the day together.

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Children and dogs alike rejoiced in the snow;

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and parents offered their creative solutions for making the most of their children’s fun in the snow.

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Today was a long workday for me and my work partner,

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so we took advantage of being out and about

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and dodging snowballs

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on this special day in Florence, that gave us a new perspective on the sites we’ve become so accustomed to looking the same nearly every day.

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The winter wonderland was fleeting, nearly all but disappearing before the sun went down.

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But the memories, and lots of photos, will last forever.

Dublin, Travel Opinion, Video Guides

Vlog: Gracefully Global Goes to Ireland – A celebration of music on the Emerald Isle

by Gracefully Global travels •

My time in Ireland this year developed in me a love for the Irish that will never go away. Of the many qualities I fell in love with about the Irish is their love of music, poetry, and performance.  This was the connection to my family heritage that I subconsciously sought after.  My grandpa was a first-generation Irish-American and a paid actor in FDR’s Works Progress Administration.  This video prompted my dad to tell me for the first time that my grandpa had also been a singing waiter in Brooklyn.  The pieces of family history are slowly but surely coming together, and I thank my time in Ireland for a lot of that.

Since leaving Ireland, I’ve told so many stories of the special nights in the Irish pubs with locals singing and dancing, that I drove up a bit of demand for sharing the beautiful music and performance that I experienced. So, I decided to make my next vlog be a focus on the music I experienced during my trip.  This is my edit of the sounds from a few of my favorite performances I witnessed, which I paired with video I took on my phone of some of Ireland’s beautiful landscapes. I hope you enjoy, and I hope you make it to Ireland soon.

Oh, and don’t forget to turn your sound up!   🙂

Italy Travel, Travel Opinion

My first backdoor experience at the Colosseum

by Gracefully Global travels •

I must admit, as far as travel experiences go, visiting the Colosseum never ranked highly on my list of favorites.   Until recently, that is.  The mass confusion entering the Colosseum and the stress of dealing with their stringent yet non-communicative ticket office, followed by feeling pretty much like one of a million sheep, and not much to do once inside other than take selfies or watch other people take selfies really downgraded the experience for me.

When my extended family came to visit Rome and asked me to help them organize their trip, I was struggling my way through the Colosseum website and thought, “There must be a better way.”  And entered, The Roman Guy.  But more on that later.

Normally, Colosseum ticketing options are not ideal.  I’ve had first-hand experience through my work managing on-site logistics for groups of American and Australian university students with CISabroad.  Often we opt to pay the reserved group entry (which is an additional cost on top of the ticket to enter).  The group entry has its own entrance a bit closer to the metro stop than the single ticket entrance, but, ironically, there is always a line at the reserved group entry, and eventually, this “special” entrance converges with the non-reserved single ticket entry line.

A small part of the line to get into the Colosseum.

Being fairly disillusioned with the group entry options, I eventually decided to try arriving early with one of my groups and give the unreserved entry line a go, only to find out after waiting a half hour that I was prohibited from purchasing more than 12 tickets at a time.  I’m not sure how I would have known this rule in advance, but whatever the case, now I finally understood the need for reserving the otherwise unhelpful group entry in advance.

The final solution for entry into the Colosseum is to purchase your single tickets online in advance and print them out at home.  Then when you arrive at the single ticket entry line, you have access to a special line for people who purchased online, which moves a bit faster.

All that to say, there isn’t really an ideal solution.  Until I finally rolled up my sleeves and was determined to find a better way.  That’s when The Roman Guy came in.  The Roman Guy sounds like one guy, but it is actually a robust Italian tour company based in Rome.  They have a lot of different tour options for exploring the Colosseum with a guide such as Colosseum underground and floor tours.\

The idea of having someone else manage the craziness of getting us into the Colosseum was reason enough for me to book, but the tour also resolved my other primary disappointment with visiting the Colosseum: the lack of information about Colosseum history available to visitors.  Having a trained guide would really open up the experience for us, giving us the narrative that would make the place come alive.
The day of our tour arrived, we met our Roman Guy guide, and everything started out smoothly and normally.  But then everything was suddenly different.

The backdoor entry to the Colosseum was empty other than us.

We passed the mobs of people waiting in the three lines I had mentioned, kept walking around to the back of the Colosseum, and stopped in front of a back gate.  I was flabbergasted.  There was no one at this back gate.  Our guide simply called the name of the guard, he came over, opened the door for us, and we walked into the Colosseum.


Instead of the typical mixture of stress, anxiety, and annoyance that I carry with me after finally getting through all of the hurdles to enter the Colosseum, we merely just walked in.  I was in heaven

We then proceeded to walk onto a deck perched just above the floor of the Colosseum.  Every trip I’d made here, I’d seen people on this deck from the other side, and always wondered what this magic place was that was not accessible to us.  Well, now I finally understood.

The view I usually have, without a guided tour, of the exclusive access area to the Colosseum.

This area was regulated by Colosseum staff, and only a certain amount of visitors can be there for a given amount of time (20 minutes or so, maybe a half hour), meaning there was plenty of space to move around and take pictures.  Since The Roman Guy is registered with the Colosseum, they can reserve this special entrance onto the Colosseum floor (and other restricted access areas), and bring people in through the back entrance.

I was such a happy camper that I took a rare selfie.
My stepbrother with his wife, his brother-in-law, and his parents-in-law.

We had plenty of time (and space) to take photos, and then our sweet Roman Guy guide, an archaeologist, started explaining the highlights of the Colosseum’s history.

Our sweet and knowledgeable guide had great visuals to accompany her talks.

We walked around nearly the whole Colosseum together, up to the second level, then ducked here and there, finding shade, water, and places to rest, as she explained fun facts.  My favorite trivia was about the female gladiators.  I had no idea they existed!  We also learned that the ruins across the street were ruins of a gladiator training school.  So cool.

We had a lot of fun.

The second part of our tour took place across from the Colosseum at the Forum and Palatine Hill, where we learned about the fascinating Virgin Vessels, and our guide showed us where Caesar was cremated.  I’d been to the Forum many times but had never noticed the tiny sign that points out this incredible history of the temple, now partly in ruins.

The Roman Forum is so incredible it doesn’t seem real, but there are no historical explanations so we were so glad to have a guide.

I had a few favorite moments, including when she pointed out a piece of what would have been a massive statue, and now all that remains is a foot.  I wouldn’t have noticed it otherwise, and it is rumored to be good luck to touch the pinky so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

Touching the toe for good luck.

The tour finally wound down, and our guide shared one last insight with us.  “Rome is like lasagna,” she said. “It is full of many layers, all of them worth discovering and savoring.”


I loved that moment, as it really made me think, and appreciate all the insight that this lovely archeologist guide brought to our experience that we would have missed if we had done it alone.  It is an experience that I won’t soon forget.

 
 
 

Travel Opinion

Speak Out: How I Am Helping Make My Country Great, and How My Country is Making Me Greater

by Gracefully Global travels •

When I started this blog, Gracefully Global, I meant it as an evolving study on how to be a traveler, gracefully.  That is, to cherish and respect the cultures that we come upon as we learn about and interact with the world through our traveling ways.  Somehow, the political turmoil of this month has felt like a big slap in the face for many of us who value other cultures and exploration, no matter what our political identity.  In the face of the daily barrage of political news and the persistently changing landscape of our government, I almost feel like I should be cutting up my passport and never leaving my house again.
Luckily my passport is still intact, as, surprisingly, I’ve experienced some major positives as an outcome of the events over the last few weeks that I never would have seen coming.  Two positives, in particular, are keeping me motivated and steadfast in my beliefs and in working to maintain my optimism for whats to come.  So I’d like to share them with you.

I feel connected.

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Marching together and writing postcards together! The fight continues. 🙂

The fact that I am writing this post now is a testament to the higher engagement I’ve experienced online and in person over the last few weeks, connecting with friends, acquaintances, and strangers alike.  Not to say all of the connections have been positive, but they have all certainly been illuminating.  Life somehow feels more interesting when you delve down a bit deeper to what makes each other tick, doesn’t it?  And with connection, and a deeper understanding, it seems the sky is the limit on what could happen next.

The standout occasion for this connectedness was, of course, the women’s march, an incredible wash of positive energy, and a unique, historical moment of togetherness.  Peaceful and optimistic, women of all shapes, sizes, ages, religions, politics, you name it.  We were all there, and even better, we all seem to agree on the quality of this experience.  I made a video about our experience at the San Diego march.

And the connectedness continues.  I read a Vogue article about advocacy that I immediately trivialized as being too “beginner” in its advice.  But really, it was perfect.  It suggested that we organize groups of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances to work together on political advocacy goals.  I don’t know why I originally thought of the article as overly simplistic.  A few hours saturated with of frustrating political news later was all it took to change that thought, as I was fired up and the Vogue article suddenly seemed genius.  I reached out to some friends, and we’ve already had our first meeting!

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My college roomie holding up her stack of postcards.

The friends that agreed to participate in these meetings are the women from each of my life’s major adventures that have stood out as the no-nonsense, powerful, empathetic, energetic, intelligent people that made life feel better.  We met in a cozy, neighborhood café in San Diego.  There were a few new faces, friends of friends, who I was thrilled to welcome.  We enjoyed our food, and rolled up our sleeves and started writing Women’s March postcards to our political representatives.  We cracked jokes and strategised.  Laughed and shouted (the café staff were really patient with us, thankfully).  It was exactly what we needed, after starting the evening feeling rather helpless and overwhelmed, politically, and each leaving that evening with a stack of postcards covered in the ink of our thoughts and concerns, and addressed to each of our political representatives. If meeting together these ten times for the 10 Actions/100 Days movement serves only to give me a bellyache from a good laugh and some updates from my favorite people, then so be it.  That would still be a win in my book.  And, ironically, the action for the current 10 Days is forming huddles, just as we have done, which we realized on the night of our meeting.

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Writing postcards to our political reps!


The other equally significant outcome of this rollercoaster of a month is something that I never saw coming:
I feel comfortable calling myself a feminist again.  

As much as I’ve changed as a person over the last few decades, I’m realizing that I really haven’t changed that much.  I’m still that gal that took gender studies my freshman year of college, and started making my own t-shirts in the first versions of Photoshop with whatever deep feminist theory was on my mind at the time.  Which I wore to the annual feminist theatre production I produced at UCSD.  As I’ve increased in age, I’ve learned to “tone in down.”

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My beloved godmother. Let’s just say, this wasn’t even close to being her first march.

I can’t put my finger on exactly what caused my current change of heart. I surmise that Hillary, Pantsuit Nation, and our participation in the largest protest on American soil – a women’s march – has something to do with it.  I hope that feminism can now achieve for politics what it once was criticized for not achieving for itself: bringing together women of every background, united in our quest for ethically minded government leadership.

That’s the lemonade I’ve managed to squeeze so far, and I’m expecting a lot more of it to come.  So I hope to have many other positives to share, soon, as well as more reports from our meetings!  In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you.  Have you felt more connected, more feminist, or anything else that is personally positive?  Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

I wrote this piece to join others in the WordPress hosted conversation, Speak Out.

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My wonderful friend Lindsay, who made the trip to Washington.

Bologna, Travel Opinion

Italian Liberation Day in Bologna

by Gracefully Global travels •


Today is a special day in Italy. A holiday from work, a day spent relaxing with family and friends, enjoying the new season of warmer weather, and remembering the close of a dark period in Italian history.

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The Cineteca’s Instagram account from this week posted historical photos of these days 71 years ago, including this huge crowd on the streets in the center of Bologna.


April 25 is known in Italy as the Anniversario della Liberazione d’Italia, or the Anniversario della Resistenza. It was during these last weeks of April, 71 years ago, that one by one the cities of Northern Italy successfully renounced 20 years of fascist dictatorship, and five years of war. A friend of mine equated it to the 4th of July in the United States, as what was happening 71 years ago in Italy created the momentum for what would officially become Italy as we know it today, the Italian Republic, when the constitution was signed in 1948.

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A day of sunshine in Piazza Maggiore, Bologna. This is where some of today’s festivities take place, and where they took place the very first time.


As an ex-patriot living in Italy, these holidays always catch me by surprise. Growing up in your own culture, holidays are tied to so many memories and anticipating them is second nature. But when you are living outside of your culture, none of these triggers exist and life from one day to the next is just one huge learning lesson.

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Late afternoon sun in Piazza Maggiore.


Even though I’ve lived in Bologna for several years already, I’m still learning. I just found out from a friend that Bologna is an important destination for Italians celebrating this holiday. The city is full today – it is very exciting.



As an American, it is hard for me to understand the impact of a war happening in someone’s own backyard, and therefore, the significance of a holiday dedicated to the end of such a war.

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Another historical shot from Cineteca’s collection: A happy group celebrating 71 years ago in Piazza Maggiore.


I’ll never forget the afternoon that my English student, a Bologna police officer and a lover of history, showed me something in Bologna’s central square, Piazza Maggiore, that changed the way I look at this hub of activity and concentration of precious architecture in the center of the city.

We took a familiar path toward the piazza, one that I had walked hundreds of times, and he stopped me just as we were stepping up onto the center walkway.

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Piazza Maggiore during a night spring rain.


“See here? Where the stone is missing? Do you know why it looks like this?”

I looked around. Strange, he was totally right. There were chunks of stone missing along this shallow curb that I had never noticed. But it wasn’t like that around the whole walkway, as far as I could see.

“Weird, I never notice,” I responded. “Why is it like that?”

“The tanks,” he responded. “From the war. They would damage the stone when they were rolling up onto the curb to go to the center of the piazza.”

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From this photo posted by the Cineteca, you can see one of the tanks he must be referencing.


I was flabbergasted. The war seemed so long ago, but this visible damage to the piazza in front of me made it so tangible. “Why didn’t they ever fix it? It has been so long!”

“I don’t know,” he said quietly. “Maybe they want to remember…”

In honor of today, I paid a visit to that curb, and took this picture. Turns out I wasn’t the only one with this idea. The gentlemen on the left side of the photo were doing the same thing. You can see the same clock tower in the background here as is pictured above the tank in the historical shot.

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Visiting the broken curb in Piazza Maggiore today.


I’m discovering a little bit more every day how rich our pasts are, and how much there is to be found just below our footsteps.  And most of all, I’m grateful to be included in today’s important festivities on this day of liberation in Italy. Here’s to many more to come!

Travel Opinion, Travel: My stories

Traveling the Earth and Loving it.

by Gracefully Global travels •

I have a bit of a guilty conscience about the traveling I do.  I think about my carbon footprint growing each time I get on an airplane. Trips to protected national and state parks also weigh on my conscience, reminding me of how fragile these ecosystems are, as their protection comes for a reason.  In the same way, time spent on incredible beaches not yet visibly polluted by mankind feels like a luxury, yet at the same time, a responsibility.  On the other hand, I am grateful for improvements in transportation that not only help us but also help the environment, like the wonderful train system in Europe, where each train service has a way of reminding me how much more environmentally conscious train travel is in respect to other options.

Overwhelmingly, though, my travels give me a simple love for the world, which I am celebrating today on Earth Day along with many of my fellow bloggers.  The diversity and scope of this earth is hard to even compute in a logical way,  and I am grateful to have my camera lens to use as a way of sorting through and putting together all of the pieces of our wonderful world.

The first pieces of my discoveries are those moments in my travel adventures that have been so big that they’ve taken my breath away, such as the enormous mountain landscape in the Rocky Mountain National Park,

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and these giant trees that seem to almost dwarf the Washington Memorial,

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or me emerging from Piazza San Marco and taking in the Adriatic Sea in Venice,

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the valley that I love that falls below Assisi, which must have been such an inspiration for St. Francis,

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the feeling of seemingly being on top of Rome,

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the drama of the Italian Dolomiti,

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the landscape of Utah,

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or just a simple bend of the road on Highway 101 south of Santa Barbara that opens a whole other world.

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Along with the “wow” moments are the moments of serenity that have given me the time to reflect on just how amazing the world can be, like Ojai’s incredible “Pink Moment” that I’m lucky to witness every year at the Ojai Playwrights Conference,

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or the island of Ponza’s incredible sea,

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and the beautiful countryside in the center of Salzburg,

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and the equally enjoyable countryside just outside of Ben Wheeler, Texas,

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as well as at the Chiemsee lake in Germany,

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and Lake Como, Italy,

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and at home in El Centro, California.

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Perhaps my favorite moments on Earth are the ones that just grab me and make me happy to be alive, almost as if I’ve stepped into a bit of heaven, like here on the Lincoln Highway in Pennsylvania,

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and at these enchanting gardens outside of Castelfranco Veneto,

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and on my way down to the sea in Cinque Terre,

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enjoying lunch with some of my favorite people in the hills of Bologna,

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at the Mirabell Gardens in Salzburg,

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taking in mountains and public art in Trento, Italy,

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and the cherry blossoms blooming at Lake Como, Italy.

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In addition to all of the glee and appreciation that I get from discovering all there is to appreciate about the world, there are also a lot of times when I am saddened by what I’m seeing happening to the earth.  Luckily, I know I’m not alone in my frustration.  These moments really overtake me when I’m visiting the big cities on the sea like Naples, where so much of the beauty is obscured by smog and buildings,

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or when I’m reminded what’s happening under the sea,

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or finding trash covered beaches in Puglia that makes me wonder what our American beaches would look like without the great volunteers and public money that keep them in better shape,

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or finding big pieces of waste where you least expect them.

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But my travels also show me what we are doing right.  I am very respectful of the diligence that many Italians have with recycling all of their trash meticulously.  Or the absolute attention that the Austrians give their environments, inside and out.  And the hard work of architects to incorporate our necessary buildings into our beautiful environments. When it comes to architecture, I can think of no better example than Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater in Pennsylvania,

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and in Siena, Italy, I experienced a similar harmony which was gorgeous, whether purposeful or not,

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and not forgetting about the work of artists like this one on exhibit at Art Basel in Basel, Switzerland, who did such a great job of projecting our love and fascination with the creatures under the sea,

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or these locals in Cesenatico, Italy, who created their own respect for the sea – the city’s economic livelihood – as a public art display for all to enjoy.

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I hope that what has come through the lens of my camera has brought you a little bit of the emotion that these discoveries have brought to me…as well as a little reminder of what Earth Day means and the challenge in and importance of preserving these incredible places.  Thanks for reading. 🙂

Italy Travel, Travel Opinion

A dream job doesn’t always have to be perfect: What I’ve learned as a guide in Rome.

by Gracefully Global travels •

I learned when I was still nearly a teenager that dream jobs aren’t all they are cut out to be when I landed a much sought-after role as a directing assistant to the directors of the Lion King, the stage musical, in Los Angeles.  When I started the job, my memories of walking through Times Square in New York and dreaming about seeing and working on all the Broadway plays were still fresh.  It only took three months of an exhausting and somewhat mind-numbing round-the-clock work schedule in Los Angeles preparing for the opening of the Lion King to teach me that there’s always a complement to our dreams: reality.

Fast forward (quite) a few years to just two weeks ago, when I started another dream job joining a team of OPCs who provide on-site program coordination for CISabroad‘s Faculty Led Programs around the world.  I was brought on due to my expertise in Italy, and I was offered my first week-long program in Rome, which just ended a week and a half ago.  And I’m still trying to catch up on sleep.

Me and my partner in crime and fellow CISabroad OPC Jamie, as we wait for the students and faculty to arrive at the airport.

Ha!  Actually, I’m exaggerating.  Slightly.  When you think about how exhausting it is to be a tourist – being outside on your feet everyday no matter what the weather is like, taking in a million new details and always having to be on your toes because you’re so far from home – and multiply that exhaustion by the amount of people you are responsible for as an on-site coordinator making sure every detail goes as planned for their experience abroad, the math is clear as the exhaustion multiplies very quickly.
But in the end, life is all about balance, right?  When I am in a challenging situation, I’ve learned to ask myself: ‘Does the experience and the work outweigh the exhaustion?’   And in this case, the answer is an overwhelming ‘yes.’
This job has given me the opportunity to see the cities that I have visited so often in the past in a whole new light through the perspectives and the knowledge that the students and faculty bring with them to these cities, from something as simple as a student’s comment about how she is surprised at the grand scale of all of the buildings in Rome, to visiting places that I would never have even known existed, let alone gone on my own, thanks to the expertise of the professors and the CISabroad staff that design the travel abroad programs.

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Students and faculty crossing the street on a tour of the churches in the center of Rome.

This work is only going to enrich the resources and the stories I get to share with you on Gracefully Global blog, and I’m really looking forward to hearing your feedback on my new job. 🙂
In just a few days I’m heading to Florence to prepare for a program that will be visiting Florence, Ferrara, and Ravenna!  I love these cities and I can’t wait to see what the students think of them.  And I’m already saving up some extra sleep hours so I’ll be doubly prepared. 😉
Since I’ll be on the road for the next week and a half, I won’t have many updates for you.  But in the meantime, here are a few highlights and favorite discoveries from our last program in Rome that maybe you can enjoy for yourself someday:

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Students seem dwarfed in size by trees at the Baths of Caracalla during our day trip to the Appia Antica area.

Appia Antica: Via Appia is a historic Roman road that connects Rome with Brindisi in the south, and when I say historic, that’s an understatement.  There is so much history to explore in this area outside Rome along the historic Appian Way that it could easily take you all day, including the Catacombs of San Domitilla, the Tomb of Cecilia Metella, the Palace of Maxentius, and a bit of a drive away, the Baths of Caracalla (my personal favorite).  The downside to this neighborhood is that it is best reached by car, but there are buses that can take you there.  It is worth the investment in a day trip, especially if you like nature, as there is also a great park nearby that is beautiful on a nice day.

Capitoline Museum view to the Forum
Students looking out onto the Forum through the beautiful arcades along the side of the Capitoline Museum.

The Capitoline Museums: I very much enjoyed this group of archaeological and art museums on Capitoline Hill in Rome for reasons other than the artifacts – on one side of the museums (which are all connected but a bit confusing to navigate across) the view of the Forum is amazing, and on the other side of the museums there’s an affordable cafe with a gorgeous terrace where you can sit and enjoy the view of the city.  This is a destination for a beautiful, relaxing day – it is never crowded, and you can sit far above the crowds and enjoy the best views of both historical and contemporary Rome.  It is also right next to the Victor Emmanuel Monument (note that there is paid admission to go to the top of the monument), so if you want an even more dramatic view of Rome you can head up the monument after you’ve enjoyed lunch at the cafe.

Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square
Pope Francis looking wonderful as ever during the papal audience in St. Peter’s Square.

The Papal Audience: On Wednesday mornings, if Pope Francis is in town, he gives an informal service in St. Peter’s Square which is a free, ticketed event, open to anyone who would like to attend.  I had no idea what to expect of this experience, and it far outweighed my expectations.  It was such a positive experience seeing so many families excitedly waiting to see the Pope and to sense his wonderful spirit as he greeted pilgrims and audiences, and finally to enjoy the peacefulness and spirituality of hearing him speak.

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Excited audiences anticipating the Pope’s arrival.

The Pope usually starts greeting audiences around 10am, then speaking around 10:30.  There are introductions of groups in attendance in all different languages beginning at 9am.  We arrived at 8:45 and we easily found a seat.  You have to go through security, and tickets are free but required.  We had a difficult time requesting tickets when we went directly to the Vatican, and then we got a tip – if you are American, contact the North American College, which is the U.S. Bishops seminary in Rome at this email address. When we finally contacted them, they were very gracious and helpful and coordinated our tickets right away, and even gave us an orientation in their office so we would know what to expect from the experience.  They were truly wonderful, which added to the experience as a whole as being positive in every way.  Please note that we attended the papal audience during the early spring.  Summer hours and logistics will be different due to demand.
The Prati neighborhood: We all stayed in the Prati neighborhood in Rome.  As a tourist on my own accord, I never would have thought to stay here.  But it was truly a delight.  Not only is it well-positioned to reach many of the must-see destinations in Rome like the Vatican and Castel Sant’Angelo, it is pretty and “orderly” and has very few tourists and many chic bars and restaurants, making dinner after a long day on our feet an easy choice.

Here are our dining favorites in Prati:

For breakfast we loved Vero Cafe (Via Marcantonio Colonna, 30, which is not far from Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Cavour) because of its organic, healthy, and delicious traditional Italian breakfast offerings as well as more hearty American-style bagel breakfast sandwiches.  They have a wonderful staff, and also offer to-go cups for coffee and tea, which are a true rarity in Italy.

For lunch, don’t miss the opportunity to try the neighborhood star, Il Gianfornaio (Via Attilio Regolo, 12/A) for an informal meal.  They actually have several locations in Rome, so check out their website linked above.  They are a bakery, making delicious pizzas and desserts, but are also pros at buffets in general and offer a weekend brunch buffet and a nightly aperitivo buffet.  It is a popular, hectic place better for a quick lunch or dessert and coffee, but whatever you end up getting will probably be quite tasty.

Tea and ricotta tart at Il Gianfornaio.
Tea and ricotta tart at Il Gianfornaio.

For dinner there was nothing better than the warm, modern basement of Zi Gaetana and a huge, traditional, thin-crust pizza followed by one of their incredible desserts.  We also really liked 3Quarti for its traditional menu mixed with some fun surprises and its comfortable, pretty interior (although it is small so a reservation is suggested, otherwise be prepared to wait a bit).

Zi Gaetana dessert
Jamie and I were both exhausted yet determined to make it through dessert because it isn’t every day we can get a dessert like the ones they have at Zi Gaetana.