Posted on February 5, 2010 at 7:26 pm | life thoughts | No comments

I’ve been here in Italy almost a year now…and recently was prompted to think about how this big change in my life has affected me.  Been getting into digital scrapbooking, so will post here as I create.  Here are some I’ve done already…

A New Home...

In the news 2009

thinking about my wedding...

Posted on January 18, 2010 at 7:10 pm | italy, life thoughts | No comments

Hope you have a very merry christmas, happy holidays, buone feste, buon natale, auguri…you get the drift!  Christmas day…wow, time has really flown by.  I didn’t get the chance to visit a whole bunch of towns here in Tuscany with Christmas markets as I had imagined.  It’s a pretty big deal in Italy as open air Christmas markets spring up during the holiday season with lots of goodies in pretty much all the major piazzas at one point or another.  Oh well, there will be a next time…however, I was able to visit Florence to check out the cool new street lights and decorations that have been installed.

Florence xmas lights

Some of the shops have lovely holiday setups as well…ooo…this time of year always makes me feel warm and fuzzy.  I guess it’s cool also because Chanel is right there…hehe.

Christmas trees along the street

Another big holiday setup is the nativity scenes.  People create the scene with figurines in their homes for decoration and churches setup large installations for the public as well.  This lovely arrangement was in the Duomo in Florence…ooo…Christmas…such a wonderful time of year!

Nativity scene in Florence Duomo

Posted on December 25, 2009 at 12:16 pm | italy | No comments

So that day trip to San Marino was cancelled because it snowed last weekend in Tuscany.  Why all the shock?  Well, it hasn’t snowed in this manner since 1985 and it normally doesn’t snow ever here.  We just aren’t in the snow zone geographically.  Well, things have changed apparently!  I suppose it can be worrying regarding climate change, but it was really a delightful surprise more than anything else.

Snow Capanne 2009

My first official winter in Italy and it snows, woohoo!  My family spent the weekend playing in the snow and having lots of fun together as well as eating a lot of food.  See the snowman my family made?

Pupazzo di neve

It’s all fantastic, except for the longer-lasting effects of the sudden snowy weather.  Transportation has been severely affected here in Italy, everyone says it’s just much more snowy even in places that expect it.  So of course there are the major delays of trains, cancellation of flights, blocked freeways, utilities going out due to damage, etc.  The list goes on.  We’ve been having a lot of blackouts in our town, highly annoying when I’m working on the computer.  It’s funny though that many folks used the weather as an excuse to skip work and complain about various things.  Oh Italia…

Snowy leaf

Posted on December 24, 2009 at 1:08 am | italy | No comments

Things have been a bit rough lately and I haven’t felt much like blogging my personal thoughts.  However, it’s high time I get back into the groove and share how wonderful living in Tuscany really is…to do it all justice.  The holiday season here in Italy is one of the most pretty and fun times of year.  There are lots of open air holiday markets and the old towns are decorated with lights, each with unique designs.  It’s less a time of consumerism and more a time of family – that’s how I feel as compared to typical American shopping frenzies I’ve experienced.

It’s pretty cool to see how families come together for the holidays and there is ample vacation time for kids and adults alike.  Folks get time off for Christmas, New Years and La Befana – a female Italian folklore character celebrated on January 6th.  More often than not, these holidays are strung together and many get a long vacation just like when we were kids.  Pretty nice setup…it’s always been said the Europeans know how to take it slow.

Tomorrow I am heading out for a day trip to the Republic of San Marino – an independent state within Italy.  Supposedly lovely Christmas markets and such…however, it just started snowing so I wonder if the trip is still on!  I’ll update soon.  For now, I leave you with lovely thoughts of Christmas time cheer, roasting chestnuts and snuggling at home with family.

Posted on December 18, 2009 at 6:13 pm | italy | No comments

Sometimes events converge at seemingly the worse times.  These past months have been difficult, but this past week even more testing…sigh.  But of course, we must all move on.  I read this poem and even though it is sad…it is hopeful.

Head, Heart by Lydia Davis

Heart weeps.
Head tries to help heart.
Head tells heart how it is, again:
You will lose the ones you love. They will all go. But even the earth will go, someday.
Heart feels better, then.
But the words of head do not remain long in the ears of heart.
Heart is so new to this.
I want them back, says heart.
Head is all heart has.
Help, head. Help heart.

Found via Caterina.net

Posted on October 25, 2009 at 5:13 pm | life thoughts | 2 comments

As always, the days have been flying by and lately I have been finding it difficult to concentrate on anything. I am thankful that some freelance work is picking up, so at least I am forced to be productive given certain deadlines.  My brother visited this past weekend, so it was nice to just chill and have a valid excuse to not work.

However, I am feeling the pressure this week, because a friend will be arriving this Thursday night for a two-week long visit.  We are going to Munich for Oktoberfest and then back to Italy for random roaming.  This means I must finish more than two weeks of work in about two days. Ugh! Need to really focus, but I have a knack for finding something else to occupy my time…like blogging randomly.  Sigh sigh…

Balloons during our town's Festa della Madonna - I feel like I'm just floating around...

Posted on September 29, 2009 at 11:16 am | italy | 1 comment

Whoa, another year has passed and today I must say Happy Birthday/Buon Compleanno to myself!  It’s a bit odd to feel old and young at the same time.  I started feeling old because getting to a certain age, you start thinking about how much should have been accomplished by now, by this stage in life. Funny how easy it is to think of the things you haven’t done yet, versus everything you have!  I went on a major cleaning spree instead of napping after lunch, because it feels so good to clean everything and then take a hot shower.  Reminds me of Monica from Friends, although I’m not a neat freak really…I think…

Of course on the flip side, I know that I’m still young and have so much time ahead of me. Married life is still new and there’s so much to do and experience together. The sunny side of not having done something yet, is that you can go do it still!  Yup, I’m full of contradictions.  Old…young…bahh! Well, it’s just another day after all.  My hubby is taking me out tonight, so I’m sure we’ll have lots of fun and tomorrow will be another day.  For now I leave you with some old photos as I’m going through my digipics files and organizing.  Nostalgia! I should also warn you that it might be a bit of Linda overload, so many photos of me!

Various old photos of me...

Posted on September 17, 2009 at 5:19 pm | life thoughts | 4 comments

Even though we are all appreciating the cooler weather as Autumn approaches, I am feeling a bit nostalgic and missing our summer day trips already.  More photos on my Flickr photostream…

Posted on September 2, 2009 at 1:56 pm | italy | 1 comment

The other day my husband and I decided to go on a day trip to the little town of Collodi to visit the Parco Di Pinocchio and the neighboring gardens of Villa Garzoni.  We were inspired to visit after reading about the area in a travel magazine.

Pinocchio

Although it was burning hot, I had fun visiting the locations since I had never been there and everything was new.  I also learned that the real Pinocchio story is nothing like the Disney version I grew up with.  In fact, it seems to be much darker and scarier…so I decided to buy the original book – Italian version – to sharpen my language skills and learn the truth!  There’s something exciting about reading stories in their original language as well.  Pinocchio Park was a bit disappointing as a whole because it is meant for little kids.  My husband and I were the only people around without a kid!  Oops…tourist literature failed to mention these details.  Not to mention I felt it was a big rip off as activities within the park were at an additional cost to the entrance fee.  Hmm…for the state of the park and attractions I wouldn’t say it was the best deal!

This is me strangling the snake!

The Garzoni gardens that also included the Collodi Butterfly House was much more worth the entrance fee.  Wondrous gardens like you would imagine and it was pretty cool to see the butterflies up close and personal inside the house.  We hiked up to the very top fountain of the garden as well, not realizing high noon probably wasn’t the best time with this brutal weather.  Too bad there was no entry to the villa itself, only the garden.

Looking up the Garzoni garden...

Looking down after hiking to the very top!

Overall, it was still worth visiting one time.  I decided to search for more treasures in Tuscany because I’m sure there are fabulous places to visit that might not be so openly advertised.  I would love to visit places with history and culture that inspire me as well.  I just wish the level of conservation and maintenance was higher in Italy!  It’s so sad to see the beauty from the past just deteriorate…

Pretty things I saw...

Posted on August 27, 2009 at 7:19 pm | italy | 1 comment