Jon and Molly visited me in Paris back in June. They were here to greet me at my apartment with
flowers and champagne when I finished and passed my thesis defense. We walked, we took our time, we ate great food, we danced and danced, and we ended up at a Chinese restaurant for a poetry reading we never heard. But we ate Chinese chicken and got inappropriately hit on. We talked at night and laughed over beers, ran into a problematic washing machine at the laundromat, hung out with friends, and stopped often for coffee and wine.
Then we all met in Amalfi, Italy. In a villa for 14 people, we had a rather revolving door of friends and family in and out for 2 weeks. We started days with yogurt and coffee, did yoga and spent entire afternoons on the concrete slab by the sea. We jumped from the cliff and took group swims over to a public beach, we snacked on bread and procuitto and pecorino, we ordered our groceries daily with the help of an Italian dictionary and Leah's sister Mari's preparatory Ita
lian lessons. We ordered local wine. We got lemons from groves above our house, tomatoes on the vines with leaves, entire half wheels of fresh cheese, Italian meats wrapped in paper, fresh basil and beans and zuccini. The chefs gathered at 8ish, everyone was showered and dressed up for nightly dinners. We played music and lit candles and cooked for 14 people...Polenta and pasta, rissoto and vegetables and salads and fresh fish (thanks to Nic!). We 
played games or just sat and talked in the soft light of the moon across the Mediterannean.Leaving the villa, Leah, Mari, and I went to Rome for 2 days. Then Leah and I went to Greece. Trouble getting out of Rome, I ended up in Athens a day after Le
ah, but we eventually got on a ferry to Santorini. Thank goodness that Santorini quickly negated the horror of having rode the ferry for 12 hours, sitting and sleeping only on a wooden bench breathing in dark black ferry exhaust. But we hit the beech in Santorini. And never left it. Really. Our hotel was right on the beach walk, across the pedestrian street from the pebbles and tiki umbrellas that mark the beaches of K
amari. Outside cafés, warm sun, a day in the "capital" city of the island--Fi
ra--which led to an entire afternoon in an artist's studio, drinking his father's wine, smoking Greek cigarettes, and listening to classical music. He took us to a super local dinner in the old port, where we pulled apart freshly-grilled sardines
and calamaris, washing them down with little beers. Andrés. Amazing art, very interesting man. Sizzling cheese, dolmas, eggplant salad, tzaziki, moussaka, stuffed tomatoes...(clearly a foodie's delight!) The sunsets were amazing, the people so open and friendly, and every night we found ourselves out with new groups of people.
That was summer Part 1. European vacation. Beach vacation on the Mediterranean. I returned to Paris without my bags, in a sun dress, to find 55-degree weather and rain. But July wasn't all that bad. Though I admit that it doesn't qualify as vacation Part 2. That took place in the States. And that will be a new blog altogether....!
