I took a two hour train ride from Tuscania and arrived in Rome about noon. Armed with only a souvenir map I picked up at the train station in Rome, some notes and suggestions from some local friends, and an Italian phrase book, I set out to see as much as I could before my 6:00 pm train back.

In Rome, I varied my usual travel style and focused more on destination points. I chose 7 things I definitely wanted to see and ended up getting to visit 10 just by the way I wandered in between my destinations. I was also able to really get a feel for the city by walking from one place to another rather than taking public transportation.

Here is a step by step guide in how to see many of Rome’s great sights in just one day. Even in the six hours that I had, I was able to spend quite a bit of time in each place to really look around and take in the scenery.

How to See Rome in a Day

1. Start at the Ostiense train station and walk northwest towards the Pyramid of Cestius.

2. From the Pyramid of Cestius, Start walking northeast on Vialle d Pyramide Cestia. Follow to road as it turns into Viale Aventino where you will eventually arrive at Circus Maximus (Circo Massimo.)

3. Continue walking along the street and you will soon come to The Colosseum (Colosseo).

4. From the Colosseum, walk northwest on Via dei Forti Imperiali and you will quickly see the Roman Forum (Foro Romano) on your left.

5. Continue walking up Via dei Forti Imperiali to The Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II (Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II).

6. It’s time to go off the beaten path and take some smaller side streets. From The Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, walk west past the Forum of Trajan (Foro Traiano), down Via Magnanapoli to Via Nazionale. Walking down Via Nazionale, you will quickly come to Via XXV Maggio. Head north on Via XXV Maggio and it will take you right to The Quirinal Palace (Palazzo del Quirinale).

7. From The Quirinal Palace, walk west down Via della Dataria to Via di San Vincenzo. Follow Via di San Vincenzo north, which will take you to Trevi Fountain (Fontana di Trevi).

8. From Trevi Fountain, walk southwest on Via della Muratte which will turn into Via di Pietra which will then turn into Via di Pastini. Cross over the Piazza del Rotonda to The Pantheon.

9. From The Pantheon, go south on Via della Rotonda which will turn into Via di Torre Argentina. Turn right onto Corso Vittorio Emanuele. Follow this road (which will change names a couple of times) all the way across the Corso Vittorio Emanuele bridge. Continue walking straight on Via San Pio X. Turn right when you get to Via della Conciliazione. St. Peter’s Square (Piazza San Pietro) is straight ahead and hard to miss.

This path is about 8km (about 5 miles). I found myself weaving in and out of side streets quite often but this is the basic path I took. Along the way there were a lot of great restaurants, gelaterias, cafes and shops.

I took more photographs in Rome than I know what to do with and you can see some of them on Where in the World is Basha’s Facebook page.

Free kimchi for life! Or at least for the next seven months when we’ve either spent it all or the gift certificate expires.

I attribute this win to my relentless craving for kimchi jjigae. That or it was my lucky day.

Either way, I had forgotten about this scratch off ticket the cashier had given me when I was there several days ago. Then yesterday, I was in my car at a very long traffic light looking for something in my wallet when I noticed it.

Not expecting to win anything, it took me two more red traffic lights to finish scratching it off and when I saw those three $1000, I put it back into my wallet not believing that what I saw was what I thought it was.

Now, I consider myself to be a very lucky person but I’ve never really won any ‘prizes’ in my life except a few free scratch off lottery tickets, a couple of bucks and some stuffed animals at the fair. Plus, since my move out West and career change, I’ve had to become a very frugal person. Holding a $1000 winning ticket is a really big deal for me.

Having had every single member of my family verify that the ticket was really a $1000 winner, I went into the store today to turn in my winning ticket. I went up to the counter that looked like it might be a customer service center (it was actually a counter selling cell phones but it was either that or the Hello Kitty counter) and asked the man where I needed to go to turn in a winning scratch off ticket.

He asked me how much it was for and when I said “$1000″ he started yelling across the store, in Korean and English, “She won $1000!” Cashiers started tooting horns (think clown or bike horn), store workers and customers alike were whooping it up and yelling “Congratulations!” and hard of hearing ajummas were yelling out “Olmayeyo? Olmayeyo?” (“How much? How much?”). It was kind of a circus.

It took a while to sort everything out, including having photos taken of me holding a giant, fake cardboard ticket, but in the end, I walked out feeling like a celebrity and a pocket full of gift certificates.

This win isn’t just a win for me, it’s a win for my whole family. We are a team, a win for one is a win for all. We’re all excited, all planning shopping trips and menus and feeling like kids in a candy store.

And this win isn’t about the money as much as it is about the excitement of something so unexpected. Sure, winning $1000 gift certificate to something practical and necessary like a grocery store is very much appreciated, but this feels like a real life Golden Ticket moment. A true gift that is exciting and fun and enables me to help my family.

So, want to be lucky too? Head on over and check out How to Make Kimchi Jjigae. I’m telling you, luck is in the kimchi!

One of the great things about kimchi jjigae is that it’s a great way to enjoy the spiciness and tang that kimchi offers without the heavy fermented flavors that go along with it.

Plus it has amazing healing powers. Like Grandma’s chicken soup. If I feel like I’m coming down with a cold, I eat some kimchi jjigae and it always makes me feel better.

This simple recipe for kimchi jjigae serves 4 and costs about $6 (or $1.50 per serving). I use beef broth but this can easily be made vegetarian and vegan by using vegetable broth or water.

Ingredients

• 1 cup onion, sliced or diced into bits size pieces
• 1 1/2 – 2 cups Napa Cabbage kimchi (the older the kimchi is, the more flavorful the jjigae will taste)
• 1/2 cup kimchi juice (this is the liquid that the kimchi is packaged in)
• 1 TBSP toasted sesame oil
• 1 tsp doenjang* (optional)
• 1 1/2 – 2 cups water or stock (I like using beef broth)
• 8 oz diced tofu
• Gochujang* to flavor (optional)
• Four cloves of garlic, minced

1. Saute the onions in sesame oil over high heat.
2. Add the garlic and kimchi to the pot. Cook for about 8 minutes.
3. Add the broth (or water), kimchi juice, gochujang and doenjang, string until everything is mixed well.
4. Add the tofu in and simmer for another 10 -15 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

Meat variation: Pork is a big part of the Korean diet and many kimchi jjigaes are made with pork or pork belly. Using pork add a richness and meaty flavor to the jjigae.

*Doenjang is very similar to Japanese miso paste, which can be substituted for doenjang.

*Gochujang is one of my favorite seasoning. It’s a spicy chili bean paste and is a staple in every Korean kitchen.

Sanbangsan literally means “Mountain Room Mountain” and is named after the temple cave within the mountain itself. I wrote an article about the fascinating legend behind Sanbangsan on TeachEnglishInAsia.net. Because of the mountain’s location on flat land and its strange shape, the folklore around how the mountain came to be adds to the magic of the temples.

Bodisattva Army

One of my favorite sites in the temple complex is, as my friend Jesse called it, The Bodhisattva Army. I love the image and the idea of hundreds of these little statues creating a line of peace, a line of prayer, a line of incredible meditation.

Sanbangsan-gulsa

Although there are several traditional temples on the mountain, the one that most people come to see is Sanbangsa-gulsa – The Mountain Room Cave Temple. It is the only cave temple on Jeju Island and people have been praying in it since the Goreyo Dynasty (964~1053), starting with Monk Hye-II when he came to live in this cave, bringing a statue of Buddha with him.

The View

The views from just about everywhere on and around the Sanbangsan temples is spectacular. The day I went, the outer bands of typhoon Muifa were bringing high winds, charged air, rains and an eerie sky with it, which added to mystical quality of the mountain and temples. Sanbang-gulsa is about a 15 minute hike up the mountain and the views of the ocean and flat plains below are beautiful. Approaching the temple complex from the road is an equally impressive sight.

How To Get There

One of the great things about Korea is that it’s really easy to get around, once you get past the difficult task of finding reliable information in English. You can catch a bus from Jeju City’s main bus terminal that will stop at the bottom of Sanbangsan. Most people working the ticket counter there will speak enough English to help you but it’s always a good idea to have your destinations written in Korean as well to show those who don’t.

More Photos

To see more photos of Sanbangsan, visit Where in the World is Basha’s Facebook page

Having your children cook with you is a great way to show them that vegetables aren’t scary. Let them get their hands dirty and have fun making a bit of a mess. After all, if they have fun making the vegetables, they are more likely to eat them!

Here is a great way to get your kids to eat dark, leafy greens that are rich in vitamin K, vitamin C, vitamin A, manganese, iron, fiber and a whole host of other much needed nutrients for kids and adults alike. My three year old niece loves to make kale chips almost as much as she loves to eat them!

Kale Chips

I like using curly leaf kale for this recipe because it’s a milder tasting kale than some other varieties and it’s thin enough to crisp in the oven well.

1. It’s important to dry the kale leaves off well after washing them. If they are wet, they will steam and get soggy rather than bake and crisp once in the oven.

2. Have your kids tear the kale into medium, bite sized pieces.

3. Put the torn kale into a bowl and pour in enough olive oil to lightly coat them. The kids may need some help pouring the olive oil in.

4. Sprinkle in some Herbamare, or your choice of seasonings, to taste. We love Herbamare in my house. It’s a blend of organically grown celery, leek, watercress, onions, chives, parsley, garlic, basil, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, and kelp and is a delicious replacement for salt.

5. Here comes the really fun part! Have your kids reach their hands into the bowl and mix the kale, olive oil and seasoning. Children are very tactile and love to learn and experience through touch. I guarantee they will LOVE this step.

6. It’s fun to get your hands dirty!

7. Place the oiled and seasoned kale on a baking sheet. The kale will crisp better if it there is only one layer on the baking sheet.

8. The finished product – a healthy, fun and delicious snack!

9. A little hand impatient for the kale chips to cool off.

10. Hana enjoying the buffet of kale chips and chard chips.

I also experimented with making chips out of chard. Hana liked them but they were a bit stronger in green vegetable flavor. Vegetable chips are an incredibly easy and fun activity for you and your kids. I love them so much I often make them even when Hana isn’t around to help.

You can make them with pretty much any vegetable as long as they are thinly sliced and dry. Some popular vegetables in my house – butternut and buttercup squash, carrots, bok choy, sweet potatoes, kale and other leafy greens.

Learn how to make cheap and easy polenta.

Do you have a fun way to get your kids to eat vegetables?

Who loves to go hiking? Who loves to be nude? Who wants to try nude hiking?

I’m serious. People really go hiking in the buff. Read all about it at All About Nude Hiking on OpenJourney.com.

Most of my friends thought I was crazy to go to Korea in the winter, but it’s such an amazing country I didn’t give the weather much thought (until I got there and froze my ass off). Jeju Island is an incredibly beautiful place and is hot and humid and nearly sub-tropical in the summer.

As it is cold and foggy here this morning in Northern California, I find myself day dreaming of Jeju’s beautiful beaches, warm sultry breezes and soft summer nights.

Here are some photos of where I’ll be for the next month. Sunshine and warmth – here I come!

And here is a photo of me on Jeju this past January. As you can see, it was seriously cold out. This time around I have my bathing suit packed, some flip flops and sunscreen.

You can read more about my experience teaching at a Korean English camp and about Jeju Island in the following posts:

Where in the world am I?
Jeju-si, Jeju-do
Rolling Papers and The Godfather
Stupid Siberian Wind
What is Your Korean Age?
Abba, Irony and Inappropriate Lyrics
Soup For Every Meal!
I Love My Students, Except for Today
The Peace and Chaos of Not Understanding a Word Around Me
How To Move Mountains Without Getting a Hernia
What to do When Your Classroom Turns into Junior WWE Smackdown
Where In Jeju Island Am I?
Why Getting Off At The Wrong Stop Just Might Be The Right Thing To Do
So Long and Thanks for All The Kimchi (or Annyeonghi Gyeseyo)

The walled part of Tuscania is absolutely incredible. Standing in this town that dates back to the 8th century, with people still living here, is almost an out of body experience. Naive as it may be, I feel surprised to hear radios playing, cell phones ringing and see cars squeezed into the narrow alleyways. There should be wagons being pulled down these streets and pigs and chickens running wild in the squares. It feels unreal to be in a place so old that’s still inhabited. To compare this to my American experience, I used to live the historic part of my town and the house I lived in dated back to 1920.

What’s also so amazing is that this walled part of Tuscania has been able to adapt itself for nearly a thousand years to stay habitable. Water, electricity, modern plumbing have all been installed while the buildings and walls remain.

It’s funny, some of the places I’ve visited on this trip, Tuscania included, have been so stereotypical, so exactly how I imagined them to be, that I’ve sometimes felt like I was on a movie set. Or in Disney’s Epcot. Growing up in a country so young, especially compared to European countries, this is what I have to reference it to. And I really appreciate the fact that I am still so amazed and awestruck at being in these places, even having traveled as much as I have. I don’t take one ancient stone for granted.

Tuscania actually goes back much father than the middle ages. The Etruscans were there about 700 years before Christ and there are still Etruscan ruins around and the town has a nice museum with Etruscan artifacts. You can see photos of some Etruscan remains along with more of Tuscania at Where in the World is Basha’s Facebook page.

Tuscania is about two hours north of Rome in Italy’s Lazio region. I took a day trip to Rome, where the most challenging thing is not the language barrier, but crossing the street. Check back soon to read how I attempted to see Rome in a day!

I have to admit something here. Italy has never been on the top of my list of places to go, sitting somewhere in the middle of my dream travels, but it has caught me by surprise and I feel as though I was always meant to come here. There’s this, “Oh, I remember you” feeling I have even though I’ve never been here before and have never felt a pull to this country.

I feel like I could live here, at least for a little while. There is so much beauty here and something so free about the Italians and Italy has wrapped itself around me. From the outside, it seems there is not the self consciousness we have in the United States, that uptight, Puritan heritage so ingrained in us. I watch Italians talk and see that speaking is only a part of communicating. Their body language is not subtle, it’s big, it’s loud and it’s bold. It’s free.

I want to be free in the way that the Italians are free. There are ways in which I am very free with myself, but most of the time I feel like I keep so much of myself contained, afraid to rock the boat, afraid do something ‘wrong’ and afraid to make a fool of myself. Being in Italy surrounded by such warmth and openness, I feel like I could find myself here in a way I haven’t felt able to at home in the States.

Also, Italy’s climate seems to be agreeing with me. It’s not vastly different from my home in California, but for some reason, my skin and body are really feeling good here. Maybe it’s because I’m feeling good here, or all the olive oil I’m ingesting, or all the sun I’m allowing myself to get. (I’d like to think it’s all the gelato I’m eating but odds are no.) Whatever it is, I feel very happy here, very sad about leaving and am already thinking about ways I could come back to live and study.

It’s strange, I don’t feel drawn to come back to Italy to vacation. It’s not a place I want to just spend a short amount of time in. My heart wants to reside here, to have time to really settle into the culture and to familarize (perhaps re-familiarize) itself with the pulse of this country.

I know that my love affair with Italy is just beginning. It has taken me by surprise, as many great loves do, and where there’s a will, there’s a way. In the meantime, I am enjoying every moment I have here in Milan and am looking forward to my time in the Lazio region north of Rome.

Head on over to Where in the World is Basha’s Facebook Page to see many more photos of beautiful Milan! You can also see a video of the surprise afternoon hail storm I took from a cozy cafe on YouTube.

I don’t know exactly how it happened that I came to have jobs that can be done from anywhere in the world (so long as there is internet connection), where I work pretty much on my own time, my own schedule, my own preference about where my office will be each day.

But here I am.

I only know that I wanted it with every molecule of my being and dove into myself to find the place where I could create an opening for it in my life. And I don’t take any moment of it for granted. I am fully aware of how lucky I am.

In 2008 I found myself miserable in my job, in chronic pain and so anxiety ridden I was having to pull over on my three mile drive to work to put my head between my legs, pull myself together and talk myself back onto the road.

I was a Neuromuscular Massage Therapist working in rehab. For years I loved my job, loved that I could help people feel better, loved getting to know my patients, loved working with my hands on people.

I didn’t want my job to make me so unhappy and so I told myself that my unhappiness was all in my mind and pushed these feelings down and tried to ignore them. It wasn’t until I absolutely hated my job that I realized I needed a change for my own well being. Part of my dislike for my work was that I developed severe hand pain and just holding a pencil threw me into a pain induced sweat and I grew to resent having to put my hands on my patients.

Resenting my patients made me feel guilty and bad about myself as a human being and as a therapist.

And so the cycle of deep unhappiness began. Looking back, the obvious answer would have been to just quit my job, but I had never quit anything in my life. I have stayed in situations that have sucked absolutely everything out of me for the sole reason that my deepest fear is to let anybody down. Quitting would mean doing just that, even if staying meant imploding in on myself.

There were also a lot of incredible things about my job which made thinking about leaving nearly impossible. The family I worked for was wonderful, they treated me like family and gave me a lot of freedom in my work. I was very close with my coworkers. I had a flexible four day workweek and could juggle my days around to maximize vacation time and long weekends.

But the best part of my job were my patients. I met the most amazing and interesting people in my therapy room. I loved hearing their stories and getting to know them, to see them through part of their healing process. I loved them all and could not entertain the idea of abandoning them, no matter the pain it caused me to work on them.

I remember my father once gave me a list of five questions to ask myself when I was in difficult situation. I don’t remember the first four, but the last one has stuck with me all these years and I often come back to it:

What would you do if you weren’t afraid?

What would I do if I wasn’t afraid? I asked myself this question a million times. It took about eight months before I could find an honest answer, an answer that was speaking to only me and not all the other people I felt a responsibility to. This answer came through prayer.

I am not a religious person, but I have a very personal spiritual practice and deep connection to…something. When I say prayer, that I have prayed, this is a deep thankfulness/desire/problem within me that I lay before the great unknown known by many names – That, The Universe, God, Allah, Hashem. It is not just a laying down of troubles then waiting for Him to fix them.

For me, prayer is an ongoing conversation and a dialogue with this entity whose presence I don’t need proof of but still know is there.

I hoped and prayed for so long for work, a life, where I could travel and be free of a set office and set hours and yet, the reality of creating this new kind of life for myself went against everything I had ever wanted before. Up until this point in my life I had only wanted the structure and security of a steady job and roots firmly planted in one place.

What do you do when what you’ve known as truth is no longer valid, no longer the healthy way to live your life?

I prayed. I prayed and I meditated and I read books about how to change your life. I talked with friends, I journaled, I went to church, to temple, to the ocean, to the woods. Eventually I found the courage to quit my job. I did so without another job lined up, without an idea about what the next step was. I only knew I needed to leave.

It’s a funny thing, leaving something without know where you’re going. There was fear, yes, but the sense of freedom and relief was so much stronger.

I didn’t know what was next but I knew that between me and my faith, I would find it. And it would be the right step for me.

And so here I am at this moment, working from Italy. I live 3000 miles from where I started this journey, I have worked in eight different countries in the past two years, spent weeks and months at a time traveling through the United States while working and I now know that gigantic dreams really do come true.

I suspect it is different for every person, but for me, it took wading though the darkness until I could truly feel that happiness was more important than holding on to fear.

Through prayer, hard work and a whole lot of faith, I am living my amazing, gigantic dream from anywhere in the world my heart desires.