la mia bella vita

To be honest, I had the most magical, fairy-tale version of what Provence would be like set in my mind for months before we ever even traveled there.  And truth be told, my ideas were based completely off of assumption and fantasy.  I had pictured us staying in a tiny little village, almost in the […]

Several years ago, my Dad shared a story with us about a trip that he took in High School with his family.  My Grammy had planned a holiday through Europe for my Dad and his siblings, and while they were touring around Italy, she had heard from some other travelers about their plans to take […]

After a “not so much as we planned” week in Italy, our arrival in Greece was exactly the breath of fresh Greek air that we both needed.  But the funny thing is, had someone asked us exactly one year ago if we would be planning to go back to Greece anytime soon, we would have […]

Standing along the coast of Polignano a Mare, it’s hard not to fall in love.  At every turn there is a sweeping vista of the deep blue sea, only interrupted by the icy white waves rolling in.  The beautiful sandy cliffs catch the waves and send them flying into a million pieces, putting on quite […]

It was a Tuesday morning, and we woke up far too early to catch our taxi to the train station for our very early departure from Tuscany.  We both happily slept during our first train ride all the way to Rome, and when we hopped off to make our transfer, we had just enough time […]

It was years ago when I first fell in love with Montepulciano, but I remember it just like it was yesterday.  I showed up late on a Sunday afternoon, during the very hot month of August.  And after several flights, two train rides, and a very hilly bus ride (which most definitely did not agree […]

After a school experience that wasn’t quite what I was hoping for or expecting, I found myself feeling relieved and excited to be starting a new week in Florence.  And more importantly, to be finding myself back at the Istituto Il David. Who would have thought that finding a good school to study Italian at […]

I think that it would be easy enough to visit a city that you have been to before, and to visit it in the exact same ways as before – go to the same restaurants, visit the same sites, and walk the same streets.  It’s often all too easy to want to do the sames […]

In one of the love letters that Ryan wrote to me for while I was in Italy (to enjoy before his arrival), he said, “. . .a new week begins, and with that comes your highly anticipated return to Florence.  I am so happy and excited for you, because I know how deeply you love […]

While in class one day in Lucca, we got the opportunity to ask my teacher Stefano any questions that we had about Italy, about life, or about Lucca.  While this was a great opportunity to learn about some of the regional foods (and some of the best places to eat those foods locally), there was […]