A regal day out

Each year, when the sun stays out to play and day stretch into bed time, while the Danes burn their witches, Brits of a certain social inclination flock to the Royal Ascot. And while the royal bit is not a requisite for entry, you can bet the queen will be on hand. (Heck, you can even bet on the color she'll be sporting.)

Place your bet on the queen's fashion choice!

So my friends and I shelled out for a top-notch day of people watching, with some horses on the side.

A day rubbing shoulders at the races

My eyes just could not get enough. Every turn of my head brought on an even more cleverly, creatively composed get-up, literally from head to toe. That's because at Ascot, as tradition dictates that all the ladies are to wear a hat or fascinator. And do they ever. The ambience Ascot achieves is completely unlike anything I could imagine Stateside: so many hundreds (thousands?) of people come together, all in on the classy unironic get-ups, men in tailcoats and top hats, ladies decked brightly colored works of art, and—the icing on the cake—a queen in a royal carriage. And I even achieved a life goal I never knew I had: Took a photo with the queen! (Just a fuchsia speck in the background, but still, that speck is the queen!!)

Just your regular afternoon with me and the queen (in fuchsia, on the green) 

 Now to see if I can't bring along some arm candy in the form of my husband in a top hat next year. 😁

Day 2

That's right, yesterday was a big one: I finally ended my nearly half-year stretch of being a kept woman. Last week, a certain letter from the Home Office was warmly welcomed into our lives, and work papers were rapidly assembled. Now I've got my 9-5, and I certainly can't complain about the first twenty minutes of my daily commute.

The first twenty minutes of my commute, biking along the sea front and then waiting at the bus stop at Old Steine, just outside the Royal Pavilion

The next three and a half hours of commuting, on the other hand, I could do without. Let's just say that car ownership is very much in the works.

A Fringe-worthy performance or two

The Brighton Fringe: England's largest annual arts festival, and the reason that the Old Steine has been teeming with life for the past month, from pop-up bars to circus tents to cage dancers. With more than 970 events over the course of 4 weeks, it didn't seem right to only see one. A friend from circus class and I had gone to (what else?) a circus performance mid-May. Freshly returned from Italy, it was only right to make sure Michelle got a bit more of a proper introduction to Brighton before sending her back to the States. And with Brighton proudly strutting it's stuff for the final few days of the Fringe, the timing could hardly be better. In a half week, with a very complaisant Nicolas, we managed to squeeze in both the Bad Luck Cabaret and a Friday night performance of Circus'cision: the Ones that Made the Cut. As someone who's been studying circus for the past year, can I just saw, wow and wow. Also, a thank you to Nicolas, who sat with us in the front row and was singled out for a beating from a clown. (That's not the sort of stuff I learn in circus class.)

Snippets of Circus'cision 😉

Another giro d'Italia

It's been years since I lived in Italy, but a tour through Italy (a giro d'Italia) never gets old. There will always be a certain sense of coming home when I land in this country. It was my first proper taste of Europe, and the place where I was sold on making a life for myself on this side of the Atlantic. I've just returned from a full-week tour of the country (planned with my sister just before this eviction nonsense blasted my world.) I'd normally try to write up something nice and comprehensive after an extensive tour of a foreign country, but I'm afraid there's just a little too much going on these days. But, since the trip was mostly built around good food, gorgeous vistas, and a smattering of history, I think the pictures can do most of the talking anyway. So in lieu of your standard blogpost, I've tossed together a few random take-aways from each destination my sister and I hit up during our week-long giro d'Italia (tour of Italy). Feel free to skim through the words as you soak in the sights and imagine the delicious flavors of la dolce vita.

Rome 
1. The Villa Borghese is shockingly big, and pretty beautiful. Why had I missed this on all my previous visits?
2. The Colosseum appears to be getting rebuilt, and a handful of articles from 2015 all note that the country was earmarking millions to do so. But why?
3. Thefork, a French website through which you can book restaurant reservations and get free discounts, has a major presence in Rome. Thank you, thefork, for some delicious savings!

Rome

Vatican City
1. Michaelangelo was a real bad-ass: he picked a fight with a pope who blew him off, and had to be kidnapped to return to Rome to paint the Vatican. Just one more anecdote on Michaelangelo's extraordinary gift for art and artistic insight (our Vatican tour guide had hours of them): in the sculpture of Laocoön and His Sons (top left corner in the collage), Laocoön's upper (right) arm was missing when the sculpture was unearthed in the early 1500s. A handful of artists were called in to interpret how the missing arm would have been positioned. All but Michaelangelo argued that the arm would be outstretched, whereas Michaelangelo insisted that it would have been bent backwards in agony. A restoration with an outstretched arm was thus installed and remained for centuries, until an art dealer stumbled across the missing arm in the early 1900s— bent backwards just as Michaelangelo said it would be.
2. The Hall of Maps is way more impressive that I remembered— imagine a massively glorified version of Versailles's Hall of Mirrors.
3. Technically just outside the Vatican, but the Gelateria del Teatro lies just a stone's throw away, and its dark chocolate & wine gelato is to die for.

Vatican City

Naples
1. I never realized that there was a Gucci-Cartier-Louis Vuitton neighborhood in Naples! And just west of the historical city center, along the seafront. Thumbs up to our night on this part of the city.
2. The Chiesa Gesù Nuovo— damn. 'nuf said. (See top right picture in the collage.)
3. I have to return! There is so much more of this city than I had realized in my first two visits! I am particularly excited to go visit the Treasury of San Gennaro. Who knew that one of the world's most valuable collection of jewels was hidden in this city?

Naples

Sorrento, Capri, & Pompeii
1. The locals don't restrict themselves to limoncello or even meloncello— there are literally dozens of flavors of 'cellos here. We even took home a ciocconcello (chocolate flavored) to test.
2. In Pompeii, the crosswalks were stepping stones laid across the streets, spaced at standardized intervals so that cart wheels could glide between the stones, no speed bump effect required.
3. Il Giardino di Gennaro is a wine shop and cozy restaurant in Sorrento that's absolutely worth a return visit (and next time I won't miss their limoncello tasting tour!). Home-made pastas and perfectly paired Italian wines... mmm. And for a tasty follow-up, swing down the street for a gelato at Primavera.

Sorrento, Capri, and Pompeii. Top row: the fabulous vistas (including that from our Airbnb); Middle row: the possibly even more fabulous food and drink (plus gelato, just below; Bottom row: Pompeii, including yoga on an ancient crosswalk, and some wonderfully vibrant flowers overflowing down a wall, typical in this region.

Furore & the Amalfi Coast
1. There are fjords in Italy, apparently! (And this was pretty much the only thing of note in the absurdly picturesque not-quite-a-town where we were staying.)
2. Amalfi is not just a region, it's also a town, and one that's probably worth more than just a stop over for dinner.
3. Baked ricotta— o.m.g. How did I get through three decades of life without knowing you?

Buongiorno, Amalfi!

Too soon, it was time to say arrivederci to beautiful, sunny, delicious Italy. How I wish I could still call it home.