The Many Charms of Bergen

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Every time we told someone in Oslo or Svalbard that we were going to Bergen next, they were delighted for us. It was a high bar and we weren’t disappointed.

After a long travel day, (Longyearbyen to Tromsø to Oslo to Bergen with a painful customs and security process in the hangar serving as Tromsø’s temporary airport), we got in late and headed to bed. On our first full day, we explored the city center. 

Muséhagen park (photo/Jason Rafal)

Bergen exudes beauty, fun, and youthful energy. It’s a college town with hundreds of years of history that’s also covered in beautiful murals and (frequently painfully direct) graffiti. It’s touristy but there’s enough space to get away from the crowds. Everywhere you turn there are colorfully painted houses (why does everything have to be neutral colored in the U.S.?) and tree-covered hills next to glassy water. We immediately loved it.

First, coffee (photo/Jason Rafal)

One more look at the beautiful colorful houses of Bergen (photo/Jason Rafal)

A beautiful mural (photo/Jason Rafal)

Another excellent mural (photo/Jason Rafal)

Bryggen, one of the most iconic areas on Bergen, features a row of wooden buildings that contain shops and galleries. First established in the 14th century, the area has burned down several times, and continues to be rebuilt to the original plans using traditional (very slow) methods.

Bryggen was the home of the German merchant community in Bergen, where they dominated northern European trade to both the east and west for two hundred years. The neighborhood within Bergen functioned as a self-contained village for the Hanseatic League, only integrating with the rest of the city when it lost power in the 1700s.

One of the inner alleys in Bryggen (photo/Nicole Harrison)

A ship through the wall of Bergenhus Fortress (photo/Jason Rafal)

Some of Jason’s urban bird photography (photo/Jason Rafal)

Bryggen at sunset (photo/Jason Rafal)

One of the evenings we were in Bergen, there was a culture night where various amateur groups gave performances at different stages around the city center. It was an incredibly broad selection of things - there was hip hop dancing, orchestral classical music, pole dancing, tango, and much more.

An adorable dog listens to the classical music (photo/Jason Rafal)

A pole dancing performance in downtown Bergen (photo/Jason Rafal)

Evening walks in Bergen (photo/Jason Rafal)

On day two we took the funicular up Mount Fløyen, which has a wonderful view overlooking the city. After hiking around a small portion of the beautiful and established trails at the top, we walked the steep, winding path back down to the city.

The view from the top (photo/Jason Rafal)

I was delighted that there were goats at the top of Mount Fløyen (photo/Jason Rafal)

A duck on a very calm mountain lake (photo/Jason Rafal)

One of the trolls at Trollskogen, a troll-themed park (photo/Jason Rafal)

The view up the hill to Mount Fløyen from Bergen (photo/Jason Rafal)

In the afternoon, we drove west of Bergen, near Telavåg, and went for a hike out to the coast. I found the trail by zooming around Google maps until I found some accessible public land, and it was a little longer and much muddier than we’d anticipated, but it was worth it. Sometimes the random side trips are busts, but sometimes they work out beautifully, and this was the latter.

Walking up one of the very steep hills on the hike (photo/Nicole Harrison)

The scenery was gorgeous but not at all what I expected - it was mainly huge rocky outcroppings with small plants and marshes in between. For some reason I had expected more forest and less low brush. We saw some other hikers, but the area was mostly quiet and incredibly peaceful.

Little lakes of water between the rocks (photo/Jason Rafal)

A fork in the marshy trail (photo/Jason Rafal)

Finally spotting the sea (photo/Jason Rafal)

One thing about being so far north is that the light is beautiful for a much longer period of time. We spent a few hours at the coast, and all of it was beautiful even though the sun didn’t set until after we left.

The trail was all rocks, mud, and catwalks (photo/Jason Rafal)

Nicole and the sea (photo/Jason Rafal)

Sheep grazing in the golden light (photo/Jason Rafal)

Sunset from the lovely Nordnesparken in Bergen (photo/Jason Rafal)

On our last day in Norway, we took a fjord tour. We drove out to Øystese for the tour, and stopped to see waterfalls on the way.

Mørkhølsfossen (photo/Jason Rafal)

You can see some guys doing military training on the right - we were amused that they used a rented van (photo/Jason Rafal)

In Øystese we put on thick, windproof full body suits and goggles and boarded a RIB (rigid inflatable boat) and set out into the fjord with four other tourists. Our local guide alternated between telling us about the surrounding scenery and taking sweeping, high speed turns through the water just for fun. It definitely would have been chilly if the weather was any colder or wetter, but we got lucky. The boat was very fun, had great visibility, and was able to get right up to the cliffs on either side of the fjord.

Very excited to get on the boat (photo/Jason Rafal)

A lone fall-colored tree on a rocky island (photo/Jason Rafal)

There were tons of tiny waterfalls in the fjord (photo/Jason Rafal)

A tiny rainbow in the water (photo/Jason Rafal)

One more picture of pretty water (photo/Jason Rafal)

A photogenic red boat in the green water (photo/Jason Rafal)

A little shed with a green roof hiding behind the rocks (photo/Jason Rafal)

A little rocky island (photo/Jason Rafal)

We would like this house (photo/Jason Rafal)

Jason continues to improve his bird photography (photo/Jason Rafal)

More birds (photo/Jason Rafal)

There were little towns everywhere in the fjord, some reachable by road and some only by boat. Many of them required a car or boat ride and then a short hike to reach the house.

Dramatic fjord landscapes (photo/Jason Rafal)

A boat dock deep in a fjord (photo/Jason Rafal)

A dramatic glacier background for some lovely hillside houses (photo/Jason Rafal)

Bergen was the perfect ending to our whirlwind Norwegian adventure, and we understand why people love it. We’ll definitely be back.

Bryggen from across the water (photo/Jason Rafal)

Colorful houses in Bergen (photo/Jason Rafal)

Self portrait in an art piece at the Bergenhus Fortress (photo/Jason Rafal)

78' North

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We’d been excited for Jason’s work trip to Svalbard since he got the invite. An archipelago deep in the Arctic, Svalbard is home to Longyearbyen, the northernmost settlement in the world, and we knew it would be unlike anywhere else we’d ever been.

If you haven’t heard of Svalbard, I’d recommend finding it on a map for context. It’s closer to the North Pole than it is to mainland Norway. They have four months of midnight sun, two months of polar night, and another monthish where it’s just twilight all the time. We visited in the in-between time where there was both a day and a night, but it never truly got dark.

Traditionally, the human presence on the islands has been mostly Norwegian and Russian, but the Russian settlements mostly shut down in the 1990s. The region is considered an unincorporated area of Norway, so we had to go through passport control on the way there and the way back. The first prominent industry was coal mining, which is now mostly shut down and replaced by tourism and research.

Longyearbyen from the water (photo/Jason Rafal)

We were in Svalbard because Jason had a satellite conference hosted by KSAT, who owns ground stations all over the world (though the most exciting ones are in the Arctic and Antarctic, where they communicate with satellites in polar orbit.

Our first stop when we got off the plane at the Longyearbyen airport was the SvalSat ground station, where we were greeted by the eerie sight of more than 100 radomes appearing through the fog. The antennae and the radomes that enclose them range in size, but the largest ones are massive, as you can see in the first picture. We went inside one for the conference introduction.

The scale of the larger radomes (photo/Jason Rafal)

The radomes had varying patterns (photo/Jason Rafal)

I have been a few places that I could describe as otherworldly, but nothing comes close to the plateau with these radomes. The ground was all brown and gray shale, and especially in the fog, there was nothing you could see except for radomes and the occasional building. Some of the KSAT employees mentioned that the people who live in Longyearbyen have conspiracy theories about what the ground station is actually for, and I can’t fault them for that.

Radomes in the fog (photo/Jason Rafal)

The road to the ground station also goes past the Global Seed Vault, which houses more than a million seed varietals in case of any catastrophic incident that wipes out crops. The seeds are frozen and kept in the Arctic permafrost.

Looking down the hill at the Global Seed Vault (photo/Jason Rafal)

The door to the Seed Vault (left) and a building that we can’t help you identify (right) (photo/Jason Rafal)

After we checked into the hotel, we left for a boat trip into Isfjorden. It was dark and foggy and beautiful.

We went past Bjorndalen, the area I would hike in the next day. It was cool to see this valley from the water and then later be able to hike around.

A neighborhood leading into Bjorndalen, the valley between the two mountains (photo/Jason Rafal)

We also went past one of the old Soviet towns that are no longer populated. Grumont was home to more than 1000 people, which is hard to imagine looking at it now. The remaining buildings are very apocalyptic looking, with no windows and disappearing paint colors.

The Soviet settlement of Grumont, which was abandoned in the 1960s (photo/Jason Rafal)

One of the coolest things we got to see were the jagged mountainsides emerging out of the fog. In the summer, this strip of cliffs is the home to tons of birds who make their nests here. We were in Svalbard after they had migrated away, but the cliffs were still green from all of the guano.

Some of the most colorful landscape we saw in Svalbard (photo/Jason Rafal)

A view of the radomes from the boat (photo/Jason Rafal)

Longyearbyen, the town where we stayed, is home to about 2000 year-round residents and about 1000 dogs. No other animals can be imported, and there’s no agriculture allowed. There are also 300-500 polar bears in the general area, depending on who we asked, and anyone going outside of the main town area has to carry a gun, flare gun, or both. There are about 20 miles of roads total, stretching in three directions from Longyearbyen.

Colorful houses of Longyearbyen with snowmobiles in a row in front (photo/Jason Rafal)

Some more of the colorful houses in Longyearbyen (photo/Jason Rafal)

Along with the customary ban of cigarettes in Longyearbyen public buildings, you also can’t bring dogs or guns. The dogs are tied up outside, and the guns are checked into lockers or left in vehicles.

Three things not allowed inside public buildings in Longyearbyen (photo/Nicole Harrison)

A dog patiently waiting for its owner outside the grocery store (photo/Jason Rafal)

For being quite literally in the middle of nowhere, the creature comforts in Longyearbyen were pretty solid. There was a fairly well-stocked grocery and general store (Jason couldn’t get over the fact that there was self checkout in the Arctic), multiple outdoor clothing stores (the locals abide by the general Norwegian sentiment that there is no bad weather, only bad clothing), and a few restaurants and bars. My favorite store was a husky cafe where we got some gourmet hot chocolate and spent some time with three adorable, friendly huskies.

One of the huskies we hung out with at the cafe (photo/Jason Rafal)

The most northern fuel station in the world (and I have to assume the most northern Toyota dealership) (photo/Jason Rafal)

Yes, disc golf has made it to the Arctic (photo/Jason Rafal)

This is where the photos will be of significantly lower quality, because I took them with my phone or with Jason’s camera that I barely know how to use.

While Jason was in a conference room on the second day, I took a hike in Bjorndalen with an armed guide and a very nice couple from Switzerland. It was a great trip - we walked around in the Arctic tundra and saw reindeer and whales (I was torn about not seeing a polar bear but ultimately would have been very freaked out to see one on foot). I was originally supposed to go on a longer guided hike, but two trips had to be consolidated so the itinerary changed. While I would have loved to hike on the glacier, I’m ultimately glad I was on this trip because of the whales (more on that soon).

The end of the road at Bjorndalen (photo/Nicole Harrison)

Our guide, a Swedish student who changed her major to study in Svalbard and then decided to stay after her program was complete, walked us into the valley and showed us the landscape, pointed out reindeer, and slowly spun in a circle every couple of minutes scanning for polar bears.

When I go somewhere new, it’s the presence of things that usually stand out - new architecture or city sounds or dramatic landscapes. In Svalbard, the most striking thing wasn’t the presence of anything, but the absence. It’s an absence of smells, because the tundra smells like nothing, and neither does the sea. It’s the absence of sounds, except for the occasional barnacle goose honk and the summer song of the migratory snow bunting. We had multiple people tell us with reverence of the first time they heard the snow bunting in the spring and the feeling of awe that overcame them.

There’s also the absence of trees, and bushes, and color other than brown, gray, white, and the occasional green moss. I’ve never been to a place that’s so close to sensory deprivation, and I can’t imagine what it’s like in the winter.

All that being said, there’s a striking beauty to the landscape, and the simplicity and repetition of the mountains and ocean are awe-inspiring.

Looking up the valley (photo/Nicole Harrison)

A reindeer skeleton and some leftover hair blending in with the shale (photo/Nicole Harrison)

We did see a few live reindeer, but as I was having trouble making Jason’s camera work, I had to make do with my phone.

Yes, this is the best picture of a reindeer I got - I also wish Jason had been there (photo/Nicole Harrison)

There is old mining equipment scattered around the area, and we saw some on our hike. All the mines but one have been closed, but much of the equipment is considered protected for historical purposes, so it just hangs out and poses for tourist photos.

Some of the old mining equipment (photo/Nicole Harrison)

Circling shorebirds (photo/Nicole Harrison)

After we hiked around for a while, we went back to a yurt near the airport (right next to a campground where a man was attacked and killed by a polar bear a couple of years ago) and had a hot lunch while I tried to figure out what I was doing wrong with Jason’s camera. A few minutes after I figured it out, we saw the first whales.

Belugas don’t usually breach or do anything else so dramatic, so they just look like a lot of whitecaps in the water at first. This was a lot of whitecaps, though, so we quickly walked to the edge of the water and realized that there were about 50 whales feeding right in front of us. Our guide was even freaking out, which is when you know you’re having a rare experience. I spent the next 45 minutes taking pictures and videos, shaking from cold because I had forgotten my gloves at the lunch site, and trying to absorb the moment.

Dozens of beluga whales feeding in the water (photo/Nicole Harrison)

The scarred back of a beluga (photo/Nicole Harrison)

Swimming belugas - the gray one is a baby (photo/Nicole Harrison)

Whales passing very close to us (photo/Nicole Harrison)

After the whales started moving away from the shore, we headed back to the site to sit in the yurt and warm up. We also drank a lot of toddy, which is not what I would think of as an American but was also delicious - it’s like a (non-alcoholic) berry syrup mixed with hot water.

The view of Longyearbyen at dusk (photo/Jason Rafal)

We were only in Svalbard for about 48 hours, but it was definitely one of the most memorable parts of the trip. I can’t recommend it for everyone, but if you want to go somewhere otherworldly and maybe, if you’re lucky, see some whales and maybe a polar bear, it’s a good choice.

Welcome to Norway

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Our trip to Norway started out in an amazing and completely unexpected way - we saw the northern lights from our plane while flying over northern Canada. It was the first time either of us had ever seen them, and I wish there was a better way to take pictures. It was a very special start to the trip.

Before we went to Norway, I kept hearing that Oslo wasn’t a must-see and there wasn’t much point in spending more than a day or two there, so I was a little nervous that our two and a half days would be too long. After being there, I’m not upset about our choices. If you’re trying to do all of Norway in a week or two, sure, you can get a feel for the city in a day. But there’s also great food and parks and hiking nearby, and generally plenty to do. It’s relaxing but not boring. 

Looking down a street with the palace in the background (photo/Jason Rafal)

Another lovely street (photo/Jason Rafal)

The statues outside of the Oslo city hall (photo/Jason Rafal)

A many-flagged boat in the harbor (photo/Jason Rafal)

Sunset from Aker Brygge (photo/Jason Rafal)

We spent a lot of time wandering through neighborhoods and trying coffee shops. Norway has really consistently good coffee, which was a nice surprise, and the food was great. 

We never figured out why these French public toilets were there (photo/Jason Rafal)

A friend at a coffee shop.

Looking down on Mathallen Oslo (photo/Jason Rafal)

We also explored Akershus Fortress, where some of the buildings have been since the 1200s. Something that became clear about Norway when we were there was that everything was originally built in wood and burned down several times over the years, so it’s pretty rare to have a very old building. Old areas, yes, but not as many very old buildings themselves.

Walking between the fortress walls (photo/Jason Rafal)

The telefon booths were very cute. There are about 100 left in the country, and they’re all protected. They still have phones in them, but also free libraries and a plaque telling the story of the booths. They’re charming. 

Trying out a telefon booth (photo/Jason Rafal)

As is becoming our habit, we spent some time at Oslo’s botanic garden, which features sprawling grounds, large trees, and beautiful greenhouses showcasing different plant biomes. 

The beautiful Palmehuset (photo/Jason Rafal)

A huge drooping flower (photo/Jason Rafal)

A lovely cactus flower in the desert greenhouse (photo/Jason Rafal)

Helicopter seedpod art (photo/Jason Rafal)

A cave of greenery (photo/Jason Rafal)

Another beautiful part of the botanic garden (photo/Jason Rafal)

We also spent some time exploring the Grünerløkka neighborhood, which is a lovely mix of river walks, great food, and amazing art.

Murals and graffiti (photo/Jason Rafal)

One of my favorite murals in the city (photo/Jason Rafal)

The royal palace is a cool experience because while the palace itself is guarded, the grounds are free and open to the public, which adds another giant park to the city’s list. The informational sign even said “Please walk on the grass. Hug the trees - Enjoy!” which is the happiest  message I could imagine on a park sign.

Walking through the park to the palace (photo/Jason Rafal)

The Opera House is iconic and wonderful. The sloped roof lets you walk all the way up to the top, where you get a lovely view of the city and the water. 

Walking up the opera house (photo/Jason Rafal)

Some of Oslo’s floating saunas from the opera house (photo/Jason Rafal)

Sitting in front of the opera house at sunset (photo/Jason Rafal)

The central library on the left, opera house in the middle, and Munch museum on the right (photo/Jason Rafal)

We also went to see the Oslo central library on the recommendation of our Airbnb host, and it was lovely - open, airy, lots of windows, lots of art, and lots of what people actually need from modern libraries (computers, work spaces, and good areas to hang out and talk with people).

A massive art piece in the central library (photo/Jason Rafal)

On our last day we went to explore the Vigeland park, which is known for its size and its enormous number of statues of naked people. Aside from the giant pillar of bodies, there were various interactions between pairs and triads on top of bridge railings and incorporated into steps. It was fairly weird, but some of the emotional ones were pretty interesting.

Statues at the park (photo/Jason Rafal)

The last thing we did in Oslo was head out to the peninsula that has all the museums. The viking ship museum is unfortunately closed for the next several years while they rebuild it, so we went into the Fram museum, which was also very cool and featured two 19th century polar ships that we could walk through. The fact that someone went to the south pole in 1910 is both fascinating and horrifying to me, and the fact that Admundsen also reached the north pole in 1926 is even crazier. My favorite part of the museum was walking through the ships and seeing the meticulous detail that has been restored to the living quarters, including life sized, realistic mannequins. 

Admundsen in his study (photo/Jason Rafal)

The ship’s chef (photo/Jason Rafal)

We were surprised to see they took a piano to the north pole…but entertainment is important on a six-year trip (photo/Jason Rafal)

Early the next morning, we left Oslo and headed very far north.

Tiny elevator self portrait (photo/Jason Rafal)

Eleven Miles and Six Gondola Rides

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After leaving Italy, Jason and I headed to Switzerland for a few days. We’d never been before, and we had decided to split time between Zurich and Interlaken to experience both the city and the Swiss Alps. My two expectations coming into the trip were that it would be absurdly beautiful and very expensive, and Switzerland definitely delivered on both.

We took the train from Florence to Interlaken, where we stayed in one of the old hotels downtown. It’s always odd for me, as an American, to be in a place where there is such well-established tourism infrastructure dating back hundreds of years. I felt a bit like this in Yellowstone National Park, but Swiss mountain towns are definitely a whole other level.

The afternoon that we arrived, we took the funicular from town up to Harder Kulm. The ride was steep and showed off beautiful views. At the top there is a viewing platform and restaurant.

The view from the funicular on the way up to Harder Kulm (photo/Jason Rafal)

The view from the top (photo/Jason Rafal)

The view of Interlaken (photo/Jason Rafal)

One of the decorations at the top (photo/Jason Rafal)

Alpenglow in Interlaken (photo/Jason Rafal)

The next day, we followed an itinerary I had found online that included two train rides, six gondola rides, and 11 miles of hiking in between some of the mountain towns.

The first leg of our journey was a gondola up to Grütschalp and then walking to Murren. The walk was beautiful; it was a clearly marked path that wound through the forest and meadows. We saw cows and lots of flowers.

A water trough in front of a cow barn on our hike (photo/Jason Rafal)

A whole meadow and this cow was looking for food under a pine tree (photo/Jason Rafal)

There were so many bees on these flowers (photo/Jason Rafal)

We took a gondola up to Birg, where they have installed a walkway midway below the top of the cliff that allows you to walk around the edge. While the walkway was slightly unnerving, and I’m not sure I can recommend it for people who are afraid of heights, the views were amazing. It also included some scarier elements, like walking along a cable or over a plexiglass floor.

This made us laugh because it was an insane view all the way around the mountain…but this one point was designated for photos (photo/Jason Rafal)

The amazing view from Birg (photo/Jason Rafal)

The Birg catwalk had a lot of fun and alarming challenges hundreds of feet off the ground (photo/Jason Rafal)

Gondola views (photo/Jason Rafal)

From Birg we took another gondola to Schilthorn, which was full of information about the James Bond movie that was filmed there. It had 360 degree views of the mountains all around, and while it wasn’t as fun as Birg in my opinion, it was very enjoyable.

The view at Schilthorn (photo/Jason Rafal

Tiny flowers among the mountaintop rocks (photo/Jason Rafal)

After hanging out for a while at Schilthorn, we took the gondolas back down to Murren and then hiked to Gimmelwald. It was more stereotypical Swiss pastoral beauty, always with the striking mountains in the distance.

A butterfly in the meadow on our hike (photo/Jason Rafal)

Our welcome to Gimmelwald (photo/Jason Rafal)

Once we got to Gimmelwald, we took the last gondola of the day down to Schilthornbahn and then began walking back to Lauterbrunnen to catch our train home.

More gondolas (photo/Jason Rafal)

We walked down the valley through flat pasture land and watched the crazy base jumpers landing.

A base jumper comes in to land (photo/Jason Rafal)

More meadows, cliffs, and waterfalls (photo/Jason Rafal)

Gliders in the park in Interlaken (photo/Jason Rafal)

The next day we headed to Zurich for the next part of our trip. We both really liked Zurich - it’s beautiful, easy to get around, has great vegetarian food, and generally feels very livable. It also oozes money, but in a very casual, classy way. At least half the cars were over $100k, and there were drivers waiting for their clients everywhere. When I would see a normal-looking brown Nissan or something similar, it was always a surprise.

It was also quiet. People seemed to use inside voices all the time, and I almost felt the need to whisper while walking around. The dogs were incredibly well behaved and just as quiet as their people.

One of my favorite parts of the city was the fountains. There are about 1200 of them, and they all provide drinkable water, which was lovely. The ones that were too large to reach always had a smaller, more convenient option for filling up a water bottle to the side.

One of the many beautiful (and drinkable!) water fountains in Zurich (photo/Jason Rafal)

Some of the beautiful buildings in Zurich (photo/Jason Rafal)

A cat wanders down the street (photo/Jason Rafal)

The tiniest porch (photo/Jason Rafal)

One of our activities was visiting the university botanic garden, which was beautiful. It has three domes each featuring a different climate, and also had lawn and gardens around the domes as well.

One of my favorite plants, the South American Brugmansia suaveolens (photo/Jason Rafal)

One of the beautiful domes at the botanic garden (photo/Jason Rafal)

Zurich at dusk (photo/Jason Rafal)

Quiet nighttime streets in Zurich (photo/Jason Rafal)

One of the recommendations we got from a local was to go to the Lindt factory, which was on one side of Lake Zurich. After some confusion about the ferry system, we arrived at the giant building, which features an impressive two-story chocolate fountain.

If you’re interested in chocolate production, it was a really impressive tour. We spent about an hour but could easily have spent two if we listened to all of the audio clips and read every sign. My favorite part was the room wallpapered with spectacularly high-res photos of a cacao forest, but the descriptions of chocolate additives (and the associated taste testing) was also a good section.

The real chocolate fountain in the Lindt factory (photo/Jason Rafal)

We spent the rest of the day wandering before catching our flight back to Seattle.

A giant piece of art that moved a few times a day (photo/Jason Rafal)

Most of the swans seemed very chill, but this one was hissing at the dogs (photo/Jason Rafal)

More flowers and bees (photo/Jason Rafal)

We loved Switzerland about as much as we expected - it’s beautiful, full of kind people, and we found lots of great food. We’re excited to go back.

A Villa in Italy

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In 2014, Jason and I visited Italy on our first international trip together, and when we took a day trip out into Tuscany, he said he wanted to come back someday and stay there for a week with friends. Eight years later, with friends we hadn't yet met, we fulfilled that dream.

On a whim last fall, during a boozy brunch with new friends, we booked a surprisingly cheap villa outside of Lucca for a week in June. To everyone's surprise, eight months later we actually went.

Everyone got to Lucca in various ways - some spent a couple of days in New York and then London, some just went to London first, and a few of us went to Rome for a day before taking the train north. We stayed by the Trevi Fountain, which had been wrapped up and under construction the last time Jason and I were in the city, so we finally got to see it. We also enjoyed a visit to the Roman Forum and our favorite spot in the city, the Orange Garden.

The crowd at the Trevi Fountain (photo/Jason Rafal)

The roof of the Pantheon (photo/Jason Rafal)

Some of the buildings near our hotel in Rome (photo/Jason Rafal)

Narrow streets in Rome (photo/Jason Rafal)

The Colosseum against a cloudy sky (photo/Jason Rafal)

Along the wall at the Orange Garden (photo/Jason Rafal)

One of the amazing fountains in Rome (photo/Jason Rafal)

A green wall (photo/Jason Rafal)

The Roman Forum, somewhat under construction (photo/Jason Rafal)

The view down a Roman street (photo/Jason Rafal)

We weren't quite sure what to expect when we got to the villa, since it had looked amazing in pictures but we were still skeptical of the price, but it was amazing. Five bedrooms, most of them with their own bathrooms and sitting areas, and a large kitchen and dining room greeted us. There was a second kitchen outside, as well as a grill and pizza oven, a greenhouse dining room, and a pool.

The view of our villa from the backyard (photo/Nicole Harrison)

One of our first excursions was to the Villa Reale di Marlia, which was a large, stately house surrounded by incredible grounds and gardens. If you’re ever in Marlia (for some reason?) I think all of us would highly recommend it.

One of the beautiful views on the grounds of the Villa Reale di Marlia (photo/Jason Rafal)

The villa group at Villa Reale di Marlia (photo/some random guy)

The group also did a cooking class that focused on pasta. Everything was delicious, and the surrounding winery was beautiful as well.

Making pasta dough (photo/Jason Rafal)

Filling the ravioli (photo/Jason Rafal)

Making the pasta (photo/Jason Rafal)

Finished pasta (photo/Jason Rafal)

On one of the days, we made an excursion to the town of Lucca, about 20 minutes from where we were staying. It’s a very cute town that features completely intact city walls from the Renaissance era. The top of the wall around the town has been made into a park with lots of trees for shade and a path around the parameter for walking, running, and biking.

The view down one of Lucca’s old, narrow streets (photo/Jason Rafal)

In the beautiful gardens of the Palazzo Pfanner in Lucca (photo/Jason Rafal)

Later in the week, we headed for Cinque Terre. In a day that featured a variety of transportation options, we drove to La Spezia, then took a train to Riomaggiore, then took a ferry to Manarola. The towns are absolutely beautiful - brightly painted houses against a coastline of clear blue Mediterranean water.

Looking back at the coast in Riomaggiore (photo/Jason Rafal)

Looking out across Riomaggiore (photo/Jason Rafal)

A cat lounging in the town (photo/Jason Rafal)

The buildings of Riomaggiore (photo/Jason Rafal)

In Manarola, we went swimming and cliff jumping (with various levels of difficulty - the part I was jumping off of was more like a large rock than a cliff, but some of the bravest in our party jumped off the top part of the rocks in the photo below). It was the first time in the Mediterranean, and after I got over the initial shock of the amount of salt (the sea is about 10% saltier than the Pacific), I loved the perfect temperature and the ease of treading water.

The cliff jumping area at Manarola (photo/Jason Rafal)

Manarola (photo/Jason Rafal)

On our last day in Italy, some of us left and the rest spent some time wandering around Florence. We saw the Duomo, which is always amazing, spent some time shopping at Ponte Vecchio, and walked through some of the Uffizi (we were too overwhelmed to do the whole thing). Jason and I loved Florence the first time we visited, and even though it was a bit too full of tourists this time for our liking, it was wonderful to get to spend time there again.

Some of the beautiful tile work at the Duomo (photo/Jason Rafal)

The view along the wall from the Piazzale Michelangelo (photo/Jason Rafal)

Ponte Vecchio from the Uffizi (photo/Jason Rafal)

The sea monsters detailed in a full-wall painting of the area in the Uffizi (photo/Jason Rafal)

And excellent goose in the Uffizi (photo/Jason Rafal)

Italy was our first trip out of the U.S. in two and a half years, and it set the bar high for future group vacations. It was wonderful to just hang out somewhere new, eat cheap and delicious produce, struggle with language barriers, and spend time with friends escaping the heat in the pool. Until next time, Italy.

One last group photo (photo/Jason Rafal)

2021 in Review

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In 2021, we tried to balance a lot of outdoor time with finally getting to see people in person. We moved out of our downtown apartment and bought a townhouse, and we spent a lot of time exploring our new neighborhood as well. We miss the view from our apartment, but I’m really enjoying having a private door to the outside. The pandemic has continued to be rough in many ways, but we’ve been very lucky to keep having new experiences in our adopted PNW home.

Something I have really learned to appreciate in Seattle is sunlight in January. It’s rare, but when it does happen, the low angle of the light is always beautiful, no matter what time of day. It’s almost special enough to make all of the gray days worth it.

In the spring, we spent some time playing in the snow, which I still miss from living in Colorado. Seattle stays pretty snow-free in the winter, but the snowy mountains are just a couple of hours away.

Spring also brought a lot of beautiful flowers.

Jason found many small creatures to take pictures of.

Our first camping trip of the year was at the end of a washed out forest service road, and it had an amazing view. The Jeep has opened up a lot of dispersed camping options for us, and we love it.

One of my favorite campsites

The summer was full of beautiful landscapes.

For my birthday weekend we met friends at a cabin near Mt. Adams, where we stared at the views of the mountain at every single time of day.

A selection of water pictures from the summer - waterfalls, streams, and rivers.

In the fall, Jason had a short work trip to New York. It was wonderful to be able to walk around the city and eat all the amazing food.

Jason had a weekend trip with friends to Palm Springs and Joshua Tree, where he took a lot of pictures of spiky plants.

Washington is, as always, full of tiny, fascinating plants and animals.

Since we live four blocks from the zoo, we decided we had to go see the animals.

This is a somewhat random collection of photos from around town over the year.

And then some random photos from day and weekend trips.

We ended the year in Astoria with this view of a tree and a cat.