Back From The Dead

I'm not even sure that I want to accept how long it's been since I've written. I mean, we all know that time passes quickly but six months?!? Geez, I just feel older by the day.

Ok, so the last update you guys got was me talking about entering the final phase of my stage in Lucca. Holy cow folks, what a remarkable way to end my summer. The best part? My parents and Allison joined me in Lucca for my last day of work at Caffe Delle Mura and they got to meet everyone I'd been talking and writing about. They also had dinner at the restaurant and Chef Maurizio treated them so well, sending out fabulous creations that were some of the best dishes they'd had yet during their Italy trip. To have part of my family there with me was so beyond special, I can't even really put it into words.

On my last day of work, I knew that Allison was on her way to Lucca and I kept waiting and waiting to hear from her! I was getting so anxious so I stepped outside for a bit and, next thing you know, I look up and she's standing in the kitchen looking at me. I about fell over, I was so excited! I took her on a tour of the restaurant and then up to the roof which is so awesome:

Obviously, I had to get back to work but I was just thrilled anticipating her and my parents coming back for dinner that night. I look at these photos from the evening and just break into an ear to ear smile. I'll cherish them and I'm so thrilled Allison put her photography passion to work on my behalf:

My dear friends, Cristina and Valentina, are one of the sole reasons that I found confidence and strength during some of the hard times alone in Lucca. I love these women and cherish the hearts they have and the love they showed me last summer:

I am a better woman because of them.

As I mentioned, Chef Maurizio sent out some gorgeous dishes and my parents and Allison feasted over several hours. I got to bring them into the kitchen afterward to meet the crew which was so fun. Learning from a man like Chef Maurizio will forever be one of the greatest experiences of my life:

Yep, it was me and the boys in the kitchen all summer:

Let me tell you how hilarious some of our nights together were. I seriously crack up even thinking about it, hahaha. This pretty much encompasses my nightly lessons from Chef:

Um, he speaks fast in Italian so my language practice got hugely refined from being in the kitchen with him. Just imagine what my first night was like... I miss my Caffe Delle Mura family every single day:

As we walked away for the last time that night, I just stared at the restaurant and really realized how beautiful it is:

Gosh, what memories I'll take from being there. It really makes me teary-eyed just thinking about it. 

Since my last day at work was a Friday,  I got to have a free weekend in Lucca with my family which was so fun! We started the next day off right with an espresso or two at a cute cafe near Mom and Dad's hotel:

For pretty much the whole weekend, we ate and drank our way through Lucca. Everyone loved the city! It's pretty hard not to. How beautiful are Allison's photos:

One of my favorite parts of the weekend was introducing everyone to Elizabeta, one of the kindest and most wonderful women I have ever known:

She and her husband own a cafe that I frequented during my time in Lucca and they became sweet friends of mine. I LOVED introducing everyone. I think we had about ten espressos sitting there, no joke:

We walked around all day and stopped at the open-air markets, snacked on things and took in the beauty of Lucca:

The next day, Allison surprised all of us by booking the most awesome private winery tour that I'll never, ever forget. She'd researched and found an incredible company called Tuscan Drivers that couldn't have been more awesome. It's a company that provides you a private driver for excursions around Tuscany and holy crap, was it awesome. Just check out where we spent our morning:

Are you kidding me?!?!

Time to taste:

After the first winery, we were off to a second for lunch and...hear me when I say this...I have never had a more delicious meal in my life. This is saying a whole heck of a lot considering all the months I spent in Italy and I mean it 300%. Yes, this is where we ate:

Salumi and cheese, tordelli (a native Tuscan meat-filled pasta dish), lasagna and vanilla gelato with olive oil and black pepper:

Stop it right this minute. I'm not kidding. Best meal of my life.

Our driver, Andrea, made the day seamless and spectacular:

It was a wonderful gift from Allison that provides memories I'll treasure forever.

I don't think there's any other way I could've relished in my last weekend in Lucca. I feel like the most blessed person in the world for what I experienced in my time there and to then cap it all off, I got to have an absolutely fabulous "vacation" before exams. Mom, Dad and Allison stayed for the next couple of days to do their own thing while I headed back to Colorno but we'd soon meet up for my graduation, another priceless memory.

I have more blog posts to come re-capping the rest of Italy before jumping into the next chapter of life...my move to Colorado. For now, I'm thoroughly enjoying reminiscing as I look back through Allison's photos and remember just how exceptional these experiences were. Just wait until you get to see Cinque Terre... All in due time.

The Ride to Montauk

A 'century' in cycling terms means a 100 mile bike ride. It's also code for something I never thought I could do. You couldn't have bet me on my first day out in clipless pedals that I'd ever grow confident enough to ride the way I do now. Though my interest in the sport over the past three years has been great, I had a huge fear of riding on my own. I got my very first road bike in 2009, a beautiful gift from a friend, and I put a bit of extra money into it myself, as well. I'd decided to go ahead and switch out the pedals so I'd learn right off the bat how to clip in and out which is the best decision I could've made. I'll never forget falling right over in the first five minutes I was on it and I kept thinking I'll never ever get the hang of this. Well, fast forward to the present, and I'm a radically different person on the bike. I have to giggle even at times when I think about what a process it can be to overcome fear. I think the greatest lesson is learning to not take yourself or things so seriously and to simply try. Just remember how to breathe, take things one step at a time and see what happens. More often than not, you'll be pleasantly surprised at the outcome.

On that happy note, back to the cycling. Since I've been riding so much, especially lately, a couple of cycling buddies threw out the idea of doing Ride to Montauk together. There are various mileage options you can pedal but we decided on the 100 mile route since most of us had never done a century before. We all signed up and, on June 18th, we hit the road for what would be one of the greatest, most adventurous, hilarious, bonding and memorable days for all of us.

I have to briefly mention the day prior to riding where me, Cristina, Ginna and An volunteered in order to get our ride entry free. It was seriously the most ghetto operation in history. Not only that, it was literally hard work. We loaded trucks for six hours and, if not for the hilarity that always ensues when we're together, we might have lost it. Numerous times. I love our naive smiles before the day begins:

I mean, ghet-to:

Enough of that. Soon enough, ride day got here and we were all excited! We met at An's apartment building just before 4am (this would most certainly be the start of our adventure) and off through Times Square we went on our way to Penn Station. I have to say...it was uniquely cool to be riding at that hour and to realize that we truly do live in the city that never sleeps:

We met the rest of our group at Penn, got our bikes loaded on the truck and jumped on the train to Babylon which is where our official 100 mile start would begin. It was an absolutely beautiful morning, too. We saw the sun come up on the train which was really neat and we were hanging out having coffee while we waited on our bikes to arrive, all before 7am:

By 7:30am, we hit the road! We were all in amazing spirits and each of us was ready to kill it. It truly was awesome riding along such a beautiful route as the sun was just getting a little higher in the sky:

Our first rest stop was really soon into the route at 25 miles and none of us really needed to stop. However, it was right at the beach so we had to check out how neat that was:

We got back on the road and wouldn't you know that Blue Point Brewery was just two short miles away. Wouldn't you also know that, even at 9:00am, they were up and running full swing offering free beers to cyclists. Um, that's only a little up my alley...! So, we had another lovely pit stop tasting delicious beers and cracking each other up, as usual:

We had to make ourselves be responsible and get back on the bike before our full century stayed at a quarter century. We proceeded to ride one of the most beautiful routes alongside the water, past flowers and stunning homes, and we had smiles on our face the whole way:

Around mile 75, we finally approached the rest stop that had the infamous homemade pie we'd kept hearing about. An and I had just come down from catching onto the wheel of some speed demons so I'm hugely disappointed to say that I was in no mood for pie when we stopped. I was solely concerned with gatorade and breathing but I made myself try at least a bite because I'd looked forward to that the most the entire time. It was delicious:

As we got back in the saddle to finish those last miles, An and I ran into that same speedy group again. We looked over at each other with that "let's do this" smirk and we caught their wheel a second time. We powered through the next 12 miles at a solid 25 miles an hour and, at that late point in our ride, we were both SO proud of ourselves. We came around to a final tough climb at the end (arrrrgh!) and we both rolled into the finish together feeling pretty darn amazing. By the way, it was 106 miles and not 100. Liars!

Sadly, our high quickly came down when we learned that a) the crap organization ran out of BEER (what?!?!) and most of the food and b) our girl, Cristina, flatted out with just four miles left to the finish. Luckily, the rest of our awesome crew was there with her to help get her back up and running. Those girls kick some serious ass:

When we finally regrouped, we had to break the news to the girls that there were no celebratory beers which was seriously heartbreaking. Yeah, you think I'm kidding. I'm not. However, we all stopped then and there to recognize the awesome day we'd had and it totally didn't break our spirits. That's about the time that An walks up out of nowhere with mysterious ice cold Coronas and it was like angels were singing:

Yod-An, our savior. She'd walked around and found a little place selling beers and took care of us all. I don't even like Corona but it was the best beer I'd ever had, ha. We still had to wait on the train back and all of us were truly exhausted at that point. You can certainly tell:

It was also pretty trippy to watch the sunset from the train since we'd seen the sunrise together, too:

We got back to Penn Station around 11pm and I wish I could say the night ended on a positive note. Unfortunately, due to very poor organization, we had to wait another 45 minutes for our bikes to arrive and our fatigue was getting the best of us. I'm extremely proud to say that none of us lost it, though. We kept up the positivity for as long as we could but it wasn't easy. It was after midnight when we all finally got our bikes and parted ways. After starting our day at 3:30am, I can tell you that I was dead to the world. So, when I got a terrible flat riding home on Park Avenue, that was just the last straw. I had a good cry as I walked my bike the rest of the way home because, at that point, I think I just needed to vent and that was my way of doing so.

Regardless, we had the most terrific day together. It's amazing when you laugh so hard while riding that you really almost crash. These girls have become dear to me and I couldn't have imagined a better crew to spend nearly 24 hours with. We all bring something so different to the table and it makes for a truly special, unique, rare group and I treasure it. We've been riding hard together since and have no plans of slowing down. I'm a very lucky gal to have these women in my life and I'm excited for what I know will be continued shenanigans to come.