Old Friends in New Places

It is so much fun to have visitors in Florence. Whenever I have lived somewhere new, I always want to share the joy of where I live with the others I care about. It has been so easy in Florence!

I have made many new friends here, but nothing beats the old friends who know me personally and professionally. They know my personality, my family, my quirks, my habits, and they still like me.....go figure.

Amy and I travel together often, but have never been to Florence together. I have traveled with Amy and her sister Cheryl to NYC a few times, so it has been a real pleasure having them here to visit. We are all "foodies", and Florence is an excellent places to exercise that vice.

Cheryl had visited Florence last summer and located an excellent restaurant called Garga. I had not been there before, so for their first night here, we went. Of course, I had to take them to the bridge to show them the sunset first! We had Pasta "magnifica", Risotto with asparagus, Veal and avocado, and chicken with tomatoes and basil, which was superb. I don’t even have to tell you that we drank lots of wine do I? The meal and the restaurant were very fun and enjoyable, and met all of the accolades that Cheryl had given it previously.

Afterwards, we shared a bottle of prosecco in Piazza della Republica while watching many people make fools of themselves. In particular was one couple, who we found very entertaining. The woman thought she was Paris Hilton, and I am not sure who the man thought he was, but they entertained the entire crowd by dancing with each other and themselves. We started speculating and came to the conclusion that they worked for the restaurant and were there to bring out the worst in people and gather a crowd in the restaurant.

I am having fun showing off "behind the scenes" of Florence!

Venice in the Summer

I met Amy and Cheryl in Venice this weekend. We started our visit there, and they are coming to Florence after the weekend. The weather turned out to be beautiful, even though the forecast was for rain. The temperatures were perfect, and we enjoyed strolling the canaled streets, shopping, eating, and drinking.

Our first day there, we took a trip to the top of the campanille in San Marco Square. It was a beautiful clear summer day, and the views spectacular. This was my first trip to Venice in the summer, and contrary to reports from others that the canals were "smelly", I didn’t notice it at all!

The evening prior, we attended a concert of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in a church on San Marco. You just can’t hardly top that! Good friends, good company, fabulous seafood, excellent wine, and live classical music in an ancient church in the City of Angels. Bellisima!

Sunsets

I think I am addicted to these beautiful sunsets here in Florence. Florence is known for it’s beautiful light and the colorful cast it sends to paint the landscape in a variety of colors that will take your breath away

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Almost everyday, I head to the bridge at sundown to see the sunset. I sometimes sit there for hours. Many people gather to take photos, so it’s a good place to people watch. There is a local hang out nearby called Noir, which is also a wonderful place to grab a glass of wine and apertivo.

I might be accused of digitally enhancing these photos, but I assure you I have not. I know it is unbelievable.....but you should see it in person.

On this particular day, there had been summer showers and thunderstorms for most of the afternoon. It was raining when I left the house and went into the Center of town for a glass of wine. When I came out at 8:30, I saw the pink tinge of a cloud high in the sky, and raced to the bridge. Boy was it worth it!

A Surreal Experience-Back in the U.S.A.

Being back in the USA was a surreal experience, and I wasn’t prepared for many of my "reactions" and observations. When I came to Italy, I knew things would be different and was expecting to notice the differences. I hadn’t expected to notice so many when I went back. Here are a few of the "ah ha’s" I had:

1. I haven’t been on a plane in 5 months, and didn’t even recognize it or miss being there until I got on the plane. Odd, when you consider I flew 36 weeks out of 52 last year once or twice per week, mostly for work, but often for pleasure.
2. I cried when I left Italy
3. I couldn’t believe how "temporary" everything looks in the US. (Lots of metal and pre fab construction)
4. The menus were huge and complicated. The portions were ridiculous!
5. The roads are big and wide, and everything is spread out and huge
6. Everyone was speaking English
7. I froze to death from the air conditioning on the plane, in the airport, in restaurants, in stores, in the car, in the house
8. My eyes swelled up and my allergies started as soon as I got to Nashville. I am allergic to Nashville.
9. I didn’t hear any church bells
10. I only walked from the house to the car and back again instead of the 6-12 miles per day I do in Florence.
11. When I arrived in Philadelphia and went through customs, I felt bad for the people who did not speak English. There did not appear to be any bilingual people assisting in immigration or customs, and the signs were only in English.
12. American coffee sucks......even Starbucks.
13. Some really strange conversations can take place in the presence of pain medications and alcohol.

The Chip On My Shoulder

Having returned to Nashville recently, everyone who I saw wanted to know what I missed about the USA and what I liked better about Italy. It was a difficult conversation and one that I wasn’t prepared for, so I thought some preparation for my return at the end of the year is in order.

The preparation is for me, and those who might ask the same questions. I have already been told that before I return I must "get the chip off of my shoulder", but I have come to the realization in the past few days that the chip is there to stay....at least for a little while.

I’ve had a dream for years to live in another country and learn another language. It all started with reading Frances Mayes Bella Tuscany and Under the Tuscan Sun, and telling my husband then that I wanted to sell our house in Alexandria and travel to Europe with the kids until the proceeds from the house ran out. Well, the answer was a flat out no then, but the idea remained, and grew and finally became a reality. Another prompt to move from the country was when George Bush was elected.

WARNING! EXTREME LEFT POLITICAL PONTIFICATING TO FOLLOW! STOP READING NOW IF YOU WILL BE OFFENDED!

When I was young (too young to know any better), I was a republican, up through the days of Ronald Reagan, who I adored. Although many of my views were Democratic while Reagan was President, it was easy to see "the other side". When Clinton became President, I clearly "converted" to a staunch Democrat, and my already liberal views continued to move rapidly more and more left.

When Bush ran against Al Gore, and the polls all said it was close, I never believed it. When Bush was elected, I was shocked and appalled. I still have doubts that Bush was legally elected. ( I prefer to believe in the "conspiracy theory" than to believe that a majority of my fellow Americans would consciously make the decision to put him into office.) It was at this time that I thought....." I am not like the majority of Americans who have elected this man into office!" Also, since I believe in free will and choice, and the premise of "love it or leave it", the idea to leave the United States started to surface because of political reasons.

The second time that Bush was elected, not only did I know that I was not like the majority of Americans, I thought that the majority of Americans who made the decision to re-elect this incompetent who had lied, has no intelligence, and is the biggest security threat to Americans that has presented itself in years, were/are crazy. At this point I knew that I felt strongly enough about this that I must leave the country.

Some of you are not surprised about these comments and have heard me exercise my constitutional right of Free Speech before around this issue. I knew that if I left the country, I would get a different perspective around George Bush, The USA, and Americans. Well, it was true, I did, and many of my observations, interpretations, learnings, and conclusions are not favorable.

This does not mean that I do not love my country. I do. I also cannot say that George Bush is responsible for all of the actions that America and Americans take around policies that affect the rest of the world. Until we as Americans start realizing that it is not all about us, not only about today, and not be so concerned about how it is going to affect the conveniences in our lives, America and Americans will be viewed as "spoiled brats" by much of the rest of the world. I have man questions about the direction that we are taking, the impact on the rest of the world, concerns about how the rest of the world views us, and concerns about how our actions in the USA and outside of the USA endanger us and our future.

Seeing how other people live, hearing them talk about things they think are important, it is clear to see that people are more alike than they are different all over the world. I won’t go into specifics about my political beliefs and some of the ways that I have changed, and I will return to the US, because I have not determined what my options are about living somewhere else permanently, however, I will remain an "ex-patriot" in my heart.

I write this to you as I said, in preparation for those questions....."What did you miss?" "What do you like better about Italy?" Here are the answers. I missed all of you, and sour cream and my cats. That’s all. What do I like better about Italy? Everything.

Now, I have said enough so that you can see that I do have a chip on my shoulder, and you know a little bit about why. If you want to know more, we can have a conversation and I will defend my position and you can defend yours. One great hope I have for the future of America is that George Bush cannot run again. This is a fact and one thing that makes the thought of returning a little easier. I do have a lot of fear around who will be elected next though! Get a clue people!

Night Owls and Vampires

Who knew I was such a night owl? My current life style is very "vampirish". It’s not a schedule I have ever kept in my life, but I am enjoying it now. The weather in Florence has been absolutely beautiful...no complaints there. It very rarely rains. There has been talk of a drought, so maybe it is raining less than usual this year. The sun always shines. The humidity is not to bad (20-40%-remember I am comparing with Nashville).

I walk to school in the mornings and it is cool-around 70 degrees at 8:30 a.m. It heats up pretty quickly, but there is almost always a breeze blowing. It has been 85-90 degrees at the hottest part of the day, and it drops to 65-70 in the evening.

While 85 or 90 is not too bad, with low humidity, when you are outside and walking everywhere, it can be draining. Add to that the hoards of people in the streets and sidewalks making my pedestrian road rage go berserk; there are good reasons to stay inside during the day.

When I get home from school at 1:00 p.m. I eat, blog, read email, do homework, and then I take a nap. This is the time of day when I might use my air conditioner, but it has been rare.

In the evening when the sun starts to go down, and there is a lot of shade in the narrow streets, I get ready to go out for la passiegata. This is usually around 6:30 p.m. The tourists are off the piazzas by now, showering and getting ready for dinner which for them is between 7-9, and for Italians between 8:30-10:30.

There are lots of live entertainment in the piazzas. There are opera singers, guitar players, jazz musicians, painters, mimes, poetry readings, skateboarding, and really just about anything you can think of. My routine is to visit the piazzas and talk with friends, then I go to the bridge to watch the sunset. After the sunset, I might have a bite to eat (this is around 9:30) and then back out to listen to music, walk, have coffee with friends, and enjoy the cool evening breezes until whatever time in the morning I decide I have had enough.

Usually, I don’t decide I have had enough, but that I must get some sleep in order to get up for school the next morning. I walk through the quiet streets at 1-2 a.m. usually alone, with no fear what so ever. Ahhhhhh, la dolce vita!

I am sure that you can see from the photos what the attraction is to the nighttime!

Verona

On Saturday, after visiting Lake Garda, we drove back to Verona with the intention of finding a hotel room for Saturday evening since the campground could not take the camper. We parked along the Adige River, and entered through the Castel Vecchio into Verona.

Verona is the town famous for being the setting of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliette. It is picturesque and romantic, just as you would expect, and the balcony where Juliette allegedly had her famous nighttime encounter with Romeo is a place to visit.

Verona is famous today for their Opera Festivals held every summer in the Roman Arena in the center of town. The Arena resembles the Roman Coliseum in Rome. It was built in 30 AD and is the 3rd largest in the world, after Rome’s coliseum and the amphitheater at Santa Maria Cappua Vetere near Naples. It is very beautiful and the acoustics excellent.

We had some difficulty finding a place to park the camper, but after a while located a spot by the river and walked into the center of the city to look for a hotel. We found one relatively easily and it was just steps from the Arena which was nice.

Verona is in the Veneto region of Italy, the same as Venice. The drive out of Tuscany was a remarkable change in landscape from olive trees and vineyards and rolling hills to flat plains of produce, like corn, wheat, and many fruit trees, in particular pears. Verona, like most Italian cities is very small, and we walked around for most of the afternoon to see the sites. The buildings are romantic and beautiful, and Verona has many Roman ruins, second only to Rome.
The opera started at 9:00 p.m., but the gates opened at 7:30 and it was important to be there early as our seats were first come, first serve. We arrived at 7:00, the gates opened at 7:30 and we went into the theater. The seats were stone of course, and after 3 hours of the opera were uncomfortable. The production was beautiful, and so was the evening. The vendors of course sold wine, so we were very happy.