One Last Time – with Family!
Jane and I have been to Italy 5 previous times, a couple with friends, and they were special. However, this coming trip will be with family making it very special. They have only heard the stories, seen the pictures and I know that deep down they wanted to also experience what we feel and know about ‘our’ Italy.
Going with us will be our daughter, Kari, and her daughter, Isabelle, or Izzy. Below are each persons’ expectations, the prior experiences, the anticipation for the upcoming trip. We will try to create regular posts of our trip, so keep checking back.
Jane
Why am I so excited to return to Italy?
In a few words….the people, the food, the glorious countryside, the way it touches my soul.
This time we are traveling with family for the first time, and it will be a joy to show them the land and the places that have captured our hearts. I can’t wait to see their reactions.
The Italian people are special. They savor the day…early coffee and a sweet something, then a siesta often after noon, then dinner later at night where family gathers (even babies are expected at restaurants), followed by a nightly walk (la Passaglia), to digest the food and commune with all generations of friends and family. Very little hustle/bustle. I relax there, I feel welcome there.
I look forward to visiting innkeepers that I now consider friends….in small towns in Umbria and Tuscany, greeted with “Ciao” and an Italian kiss.
Love and understand the Italians,
for the people are more marvelous than the land.
E.M. Forster
Everyone knows the food is fantastic. Honor the regions. In Rome, it’s carbonara, amatriciana, and cacio e pepe. In Florence, it’s pici pasta with cinghale ragu (wild boar). In Venice, it’s seafood all the way. All fresh, all homemade.
Tuscany, and especially the Val D’Orcia, a small valley in central Italy between Siena and Grosseto (Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site), took my breath away the first time I saw it. It still does, when I initially glimpse the rolling hills dotted by rustic gold farmhouses and a line of cypress trees, each time I visit. I can’t describe it. I just feel at home Tuscany seems to sing to my soul. As Irving Stone described it, “Tuscany is a state of grace”.
There are only two ways to live your life.
One is as though nothing is a miracle.
The other is as though everything is a miracle.
Albert Einstein.
Kari
Izzy
Ron
One more time’ could, well, just may be, ‘One last time’. I hope not, but when you are getting up in age and have been to Italy 5 previous times over the past 12 years, you know that there will be at some point a ‘last time’. Our experiences have been a true blessing indeed. Jane and I, and with friends, have visited the major sites and cities and hill towns of Tuscany, and have spent time on Celebrity Cruise ships exploring ports throughout the Mediterranean. But, we are going ‘One more time’. This one will be extra special for we will be taking our daughter, Kari, and our granddaughter, Izzy with us for 3 1/2 weeks of adventure on land and on sea.
I am personally looking forward to spending time again at two special locations, Assisi, with Lara and her family at Hotel Ideale, and Montichiello, with Francesco at La Casa di Adelina. When you have made friends in a distant land it makes it extra special to know that you are very welcome and that they are looking forward to your visit also. And, to visit other ‘hill towns’ in the area, Pienza and Montipulciano, and to take in the scenery of Tuscany, WOW!, what an experience to again look forward to.
And then, to introduce Kari and Izzy to Florence and Venice!! Another, WOW! Venice will be introduced to them with a water taxi trip down the Grand Canal to St Marks Square. And, I have to admit, that the girls are looking forward to the shopping.
We will try to keep you up to date with periodic posts, so keep checking back.
