As I close out our month in Italy, as always, I find myself looking back at the month and thinking of all the wonderful memories. Italy was amazing! While we stayed in Mirano, I visited a total of seven other cities; Venice, Naples, Sorrento, Pompeii, Rome, Florence, and Treviso. I think the month went quickly because we had 2-weekend trips within the month. Here’s my reflection of my in Italy:

Running

My goal in Italy was 80-miles again. I was confident going into the month because I’d made my goal in Amsterdam and Kyiv. What I didn’t consider was that we would be traveling for two of our weekends, which really hurts the running schedule. However, I am proud to say, I did make my goal.

While I typically do not like running in straight lines, I found a really excellent canal path in Mirano. I did try a few other loops but ended up going back to the canal path. In total it was about 5.75 miles round trip for me. It was flat & straight, the weather was terrific, and I was really fast. I think the hills in Kyiv for a month drastically improved my pace!

I also picked up new runners this month! My knees were starting to kill me, so a good friend of ours brought me a pair when she visited us in Venice. (Big shot out to Jen Wilfong — THANK YOU!)

Total Miles: 87.1

Loop Distance: 5.75 miles

Best Pace: 7:51 average pace / mile

Here are a few pictures from my Mirano loop:

^This is the start of the canal path.

^The path had really good tunnels to get under all the roads.

^My favorite building. Perfectly Italian.

^About 2-miles into my run, I hit a short super smelly stretch.  In London, it was cigarettes smoke. In Amsterdam, it was mirijuana. In Kiyv, it was body oder … and in Italy it was …. manure.

^It wouldn’t be a run in the Italian countryside without a little vineyard.

^My halfway point — AND my new runners!

^Back to Mirano, I go! I loved the sign that showed the appropriate paths for walkers and bicyclers.

Coffee

The house had a standard drip maker, which was good, but we quickly learned it was very slow … as with all things in Italy. And by slow, I mean it took about an hour to make the full 10-cup pot of coffee. Thankfully, Nolan continued to get up about an hour before me, and he is a great button pusher, so he made coffee for me every morning.

All-in-all, I would say, the best coffee I had in Italy was at the house. I tried several different coffee shops across all the cities we visited in Italy, and I never found a cup of coffee that I actually enjoyed.  Though I will say, Italy more than made up for their lousy coffee with pastries, pasta, pizza, and gelato!

My favorite coffee I found was from Caffe del Doge. I originally bought it because I loved the logo, but the coffee was really incredible too!

Self-Care

Self-Care was also hard in Italy. Mirano was such a small town, so I struggled to find options for self-care.  I did find a lash studio, but it was a 45-min bus ride from the house, so I opted to let my lashes go for October.  As for my nails, I did find a couple salons that did manicures/pedicures, but they were by appointment only and with very limited hours — which I’ve previously explained.  I went most of the month with my plain ole’ nails. Our last week in Mirano, I finally made it in for a manicure and pedicure.

I did pamper myself with a few other items while in Italy,

• Amerigo was an amazing lotion I found in Mirano, I loved it!  Unfortunately, I did leave it behind because of weight, but if I ever find it again, I am picking up a case!
• EDG was my candle this month. It was vanilla passionfruit, and it was terrific.
• Finally, at long last, I found a few more English books!  I read my last English book in Kiyv and got sucked into Netflix. I quickly realized, I hated getting sucking into TV, but I couldn’t find any English books!  When we were in Florence, Nolan and I went on a hunt for books!

What I loved about Italy:

• I really enjoyed all the food. I do not think there was anything I didn’t enjoy. I did find a scale my last week in Mirano and reluctantly stepped on — up 1.8 pounds. I don’t regret it at all!  I kept my miles up, I didn’t get to excess, and I didn’t deprive myself of anything.
• I enjoyed the country & fresh air. After being in big cities for four months, the country air was refreshing. I often sat outside in the morning, enjoying my coffee, and just taking in the fresh air. We also saw some amazing sunsets. I am ready to get back into a city, but I’ll never regret staying in the Italian countryside.
• We had some great dinners. Though we never had a fully functioning kitchen, we made it work and we had some great family dinners. I pulled out a few of our fall favorites from back home including; Pot Roast, Cheeseburger Soup, and Rosemary Pinot Noir Steak Chili.

What I didn’t love about Italy:

• Laundry. At this point, I could dedicate an entire post to laundry. I am really tired of laundry and I’m really don’t enjoy crunchy clothes. Going into our last week in Mirano, took all our clothes and towels to the laundry mat to wash/dry them. I needed fresh, soft clothes again.
• I have mixed feelings about putting this in the “didn’t love” category, but … I honestly speaking, I didn’t love the pace of life. It was fine for the short-term, but I now know that I couldn’t live in the country long-term. It’s good for a visit, but I need to get back to the city!

Overall, I loved Italy. I would vacation here anytime, though I know I would probably never live here.

Here are a few of my other favorite pictures from Mirano:

^I have a few standing meetings on my calendar for work, so I took to sitting out on the brick wall watching the sunset while listening in to my calls.  No better way to take a conference call than this!

^This is my bike. She was old, rusty, and perfect!

^I just really love this picture. I took it from one of the markets.

^This is my child. No additional comments needed.

^I always try to get a picture cooking. This is from the night I was making the Rosemary Pinot Noir Steak Chili.

^This is from Pompeii.

^This is a photo I took in Sorrento.