Fall Break

I know that I haven’t even got to Rome yet in these newsletters, but I’m taking a ten day break. Christian arrived last night from Lyon. We are renting a car and exploring the south of Italy for fall break: Naples, Pompeii, Bascilicata, and Puglia.

My students are traveling all over Europe, each of them planning to visit between three and eight countries in ten days, in addition to the several they have already visited on weekends. I decided at the beginning of the semester to stay in Italy for the whole four months. There are so many places here that I haven’t visited yet, and Italy is even more different than France from region to region in terms of culture, food, and language.

One thing I forgot to say in my Summer Vacation post is that the French completely disconnect from work when they are on vacation. Whether Christian takes two weeks or four, he does not once in that time check his email, make a work related phone call, or even think about work. It’s taken him a while to get used to the idea that I really can’t do that, especially during the semester. But I can take a break from this project, and since these are the only two weeks that we have together this semester that’s what I’m doing.

Here’s a photo from our third wedding anniversary in August. Five years together and we both still feel every day like we won the lottery.

Adventures in food and travel will continue in November!