As sometimes happens in life, after months of relative quiet, things can get busy in a hurry. After limited work travel for months, I suddenly squeezed in both Albania and Jordan within a few short days of eachother. I went to Amman for a short training course and met a bunch of lovely people, ate more non-Italian oriented food and took in wistfully the arid landscape.
I squeezed in some workouts and even managed to find Amman’s one record store – where eye watering prices put Italy to shame.
This visit was very much appreciated as Amman figures highly on our list of possible next postings and it was wonderful to be able to get a sense of the place and hear some insider reviews before we likely leave Italy next summer. And also, who knew, it’s just over three hours away – so many great destinations so close in this part of the world.
I haven’t travelled much for work since being in Italy, mostly due to covid restrictions and now because of being one of a handful in my position who are occasionally going here or there. I took two small trips in Italy for work, including to Bari, and also to Greece this year, but was more than happy to spend a few working days in nearby Albania in late September.
The occasion was the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Albania and Canada and it offered a great chance to get a sense of a place that is very close to Italy but also quite distant in terms of development, culture and global stature.
I found the people to be very welcoming, food a welcome break from pizza and pasta, and coffee just as good as Italy – and somehow more unrushed. It was a busy and enjoyable few days and hopefully not my last visit.
As the summer approached its end, we hosted Dalia’s brother back for another visit to Rome. We’re lucky enough to be at the point of having a few return visitors, which hopefully means both Rome and us are providing inviting travel experiences.
This time Robert returned with his wife and young son, just about one year younger than Aleksander. This was the first chance for the cousins to meet in person and Aleksander’s first opportunity to hang out with another baby outside of his pals at daycare.
As it was Robert’s birthday weekend, the timing seemed perfect for an out of town escape to help close the summer season and spend some extended family time together. We set our sights on Gaeta, a little bit further down the coast than we’d been before and still within easy striking distance from Rome.
The weather was not exactly on our side as heavy clouds jostled over windy seas to put a bit of a damper on our well intentioned beach plans. Nonetheless, we did our best to enjoy the almost entirely abandoned beach front as Aleksander frolicked and kicked anything in sight and we searched for any last slivers of September sun.
As the beachfront didn’t end up as the weekend destination we had hoped for, we spent more time exploring the narrow streets and squares of Gaeta itself – and, as always, were not disappointed.
We ate as much of Gaeta’s amazing seafood as we could and paired it with as many lovely white wines as we could find. We made the most of this September long weekend, discovered another gem of a locale in Italy and enjoyed some much needed fam R&R.
Hopes were high for our second summer beach season in Rome. Last year we were able to visit about half a dozen popular spots near to Rome and this year hoped to fill in some of the gaps. In fact, we made our first ‘beach’ trip long before the season opened with a visit to Fregene in April, just to start getting the engines revved.
From there, we enjoyed a lovely long weekend on Ischia at the end of May to start the summer proper. Although we spent more time by the pool and walking and exploring the town than by the sand and sea, the hardcore beach set were already out in the small stabilimenti near our hotel.
Since we didn’t quite beach enough in Ischia, I insisted we go to Ostia the following weekend. We were hoping to find our new favourite beach club after surveying a few last year and ended up at a place called Venezia. Unfortunately, the pool wasn’t open until July and the sea quite choppy (typical Ostia probs). We still had a nice breezy bright day and got to dip our toes.
In June, we were caught up in out-of-Italy travel in Poland and France and likely missed the best sunning weather of the season in Rome. Very few complaints were made as we visited old and new favourites in both countries, including some beauties in the South of France.
We returned to Rome and faced an absolute wall of heat for the heart of the summer. It was noticeably hotter than last year and made all outdoor excursions almost unbearable during the day. Temperatures were the in the 37-38 range for the better part of six weeks and made the sand feel like lava. Although Aleksander had grown out of his habit of last year of eating sand, this year it was impossible to explain to him that he needs to stay off of it for the sake of his feet. All that to say that we mostly stayed indoors until Dalia’s mom arrived in August and we braved the heat for two beach days: one new in Anzio and another old favourite at Santa Marinella.
As the intense summer heat finally started to wane ever so slightly, we hosted Dalia’s brother and family and spent a few nights in the absolutely lovely city of Gaeta. We were debating between Gaeta and Sperlonga for a little bit but the prices were much more reasonable in Gaeta and we were not disappointed. Except, that as quickly as the heat had dissipated, the winds had picked up and seemed to signal the end of the this year’s beach season. In fact, we walked into the empty beach club and they let us stay if we ordered a drink, rather than the standard 40€ day fee. All good things come to an end and so did our enjoyable but a bit scattered and sweltering summer season of 2022.
As with all things travel related in Italy, you will actually never see everything and will always discover more to experience. Next year, we hope to get to Sperlonga, maybe the Amalfi, perhaps the coast near Tuscany and to finally make our already twice postponed trip to Puglia in the South-East of the country. We’re not exactly running out of time here but we may be running out of summers in Italy. We’ll really have to focus next year to get it all done!
Dad In The World 